[someone123]

**this should actually be moved to the suburban section**

This is a United Gulf project currently under construction near Northwest Arm Drive.

Rendering (from http://www.unitedgulf.ca):

http://www.greaterhomes.ca/waterton/images/renderingfeather.jpg

[Wishblade]

This is definately one of my favorite developments in the city. I like it more than Gladstone Ridge in fact. Does anybody have any fairly recent pics of the construction site?

[Amanita]

I got some pics, but they were mainly of the crane- notice it looks a little different than most of our local Tower cranes- "topless" design.
I heard a rumour that the construction company had been thrown off the jobsite because they could not find an operator for it, however on a recent trip into town, the crane was working. So perhaps they did manage to pull their butts out of the fire and get somebody.

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3961/img0791nk0.jpg
This crane's a Comansa, same type they had in "Casino Royale".

[worldlyhaligonian]

How new is that picture with the crane? I thought the site would be farther along than that at this point.

How visible are these buildings going to be?

[Amanita]

I took that picture a little over a month ago. However, it was only very recently that anyone got up in that crane to do some work. So probably not much progress yet.

[worldlyhaligonian]

how many floors are up?

[Wishblade]

Does anybody have a progress update on this? I know it was slowgoing when it was last talked about. I was just wondering if anybody had been near the construction site as of late.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Updates??

[terrynorthend]

Haven't been out to the site but I was in the vincinity of Strawberry Hill/Windsor yesterday morning, and looking across it is clear that progress is being made. Four-five floors have crested above the horizon. Looks like it will add nicely to the vista of Fairview when it is complete.

[kph06]

I drove by there the other day, they are setting up the form work for the 7th floor above grade. I think it is the building on the left in the above picture they are working on? The basement/garage for the second building is poured along with the columns, I suppose they are waiting for the first building to be finished before they move it's crane over for the second one.

[worldlyhaligonian]

cheers

[Wishblade]

Yeah, Im noticing it peek above the horizon when crossing the MacKay and going into the Windsor st intersection. Good to see progress being made.

And just to add, does anybody think the crane for this project is a little massive considering the building heights? It looks huge coming from Dartmouth lol.

[Spitfire75]

Could someone post a google map screenshot or something of where exactly this is? Thanks.

[someone123]

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=44.63189,-63.632786&spn=0.002096,0.005879&t=h&z=18

[Spitfire75]

thx

[kph06]

Here are two photos I took today.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2034/2434698390_060cbee71a_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3250/2434698160_5f89601c5e_o.jpg

[Jonovision]

A fresh shot out of my window in Dartmouth. I realize the quality is horrible, but thats what a 24x zoom does. Normally all you can see is the crane and the building is hidden in the trees.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/jonovision/IMG_0909.jpg?t=1211909338

[Wishblade]

Good lord that development looks huge from that perspective :eek:

[terrynorthend]

Lol..the condos that ate Halifax!! Just one of those optical illusions caused by telephoto lenses..they have a relatively greater effect on distant objects than near ones...

[someone123]

It's not an illusion, it's just a different lens compared to the ones humans have in their eyes. ;)

This effect is what you get from having a longer focal length. Many project renderings and elevations are orthographic, which is what you get when by extending this effect to infinity (a single object looks equally large no matter how far away it is). They're therefore very different from what the final product looks like in person.

[terrynorthend]

Yeah, that's what I said.. Lol!!

[Jonovision]

Here's the clear shot I promised.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/jonovision/IMG_0918.jpg?t=1213848646

And also a random one looking through the bridge up towards Clayton Park.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/jonovision/IMG_0930.jpg?t=1213848736

[Bedford_DJ]

Does anyone have updates for this project?

[worldlyhaligonian]

i have a visual update from today, the first tower is almost done with its exterior work and looks amazing. This is my favorite development currently U/C.

[Jonovision]

I'll try and take another pic from my window.

[Wishblade]

I saw this development the other day while travelling to bayers lake. And it's looking really good. The design features at the top of the building kind if remind me of the top of Juno Tower in Stad.

[Jonovision]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/jonovision/IMG_1616.jpg?t=1220121232

[Bedford_DJ]

Today at the Shopping Centre this building could very easily be seen on the horizon. Its beautiful.

[Wishblade]

Today at the Shopping Centre this building could very easily be seen on the horizon. Its beautiful.

Which shopping centre would that be? Regardless, its a pretty visible building from many places.

[terrynorthend]

I'm guessing Halifax Shopping center..there is a great view from the little ballfield atop MacDonald Road (follow Mumford across Chebucto..almost to Quinpool).

On a side note, in that picture above, its nice to see they went with the same colour scheme as Ocean Towers, since they line up so cleanly in your window, Jono. :jester:

[Bedford_DJ]

Which shopping centre would that be? Regardless, its a pretty visible building from many places.

yah it was the Halifax Shopping Centre.

Depending on what side the other building is on it might be blocked from where i was standing. The towers around Armdale are pretty tall...

[worldlyhaligonian]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/jonovision/IMG_1616.jpg?t=1220121232

Will tower 2 be on the right or the left on the tower currently U/C? as pictured above

[Haliguy]

Will tower 2 be on the right or the left on the tower currently U/C? as pictured above

I believe it will be on the left.

[Bedford_DJ]

I believe it will be on the left.

So then it will be blocked from where i was standing at the HSC. I think the nloocking building is where the Cronicle Herald moved to...

[Haliguy]

Here's an updated pic from today..

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j260/a_gallant/IMG_0030-1.jpg

[Bedford_DJ]

Is that the second tower on the left? or its that some other building nearby?

[worldlyhaligonian]

The building on the left is the Roxbury, the second tower will be the exact same as the first and is only at the foundation.

This development is moving quickly which is good news, especially with UG being the developer.

[someone123]

It's interesting how common these larger concrete apartment and condo developments have become. Certainly they make suburban Halifax seem somewhat larger.

[kph06]

The building on the left is the Roxbury, the second tower will be the exact same as the first and is only at the foundation.

This development is moving quickly which is good news, especially with UG being the developer.

I think this development is actually about 6 months behind, there was delay after delay when construction began. I think it's on track now, but I doubt they will make up the lost time. I think people were suppose to have moved in by this past summer. The foundation for the second building was poured with the first one but I've heard a number of different rumors of why its on hold.

[worldlyhaligonian]

I meant fast in relative terms, the tower went up faster than Spice took to get its foundation in.

[Bedford_DJ]

I meant fast in relative terms, the tower went up faster than Spice took to get its foundation in.

Well the Moes aren;t winning any awards thats for sure...

Its now a joke in my family. Oh look they got another panel up! That only took 6 months! :haha:

[macgregor]

I took a trip out to the sales office for the Waterton in the summer. The agent there said that UG wanted to sell all of the units in the first tower before they begin the second one. I have a price list dated June 26, 2008 that shows that 60/154 units still need to be sold. The agent said that the design of the building had changed some at one of the ends of the top few floors. I've looked at the photos a bit, but can't seem to see the difference.
I also seem to remember the agent saying that the delay was due to workers being in short supply, and that they might have refunded the deposits of some buyers.
Looking at the large number of units to be sold, I start to wonder if UG would intend to start building their Hollis/Sackville towers after one or both Waterton towers are done (though realizing that this may not be the only thing that would keep that from proceeding).

[sdm]

I took a trip out to the sales office for the Waterton in the summer. The agent there said that UG wanted to sell all of the units in the first tower before they begin the second one. I have a price list dated June 26, 2008 that shows that 60/154 units still need to be sold. The agent said that the design of the building had changed some at one of the ends of the top few floors. I've looked at the photos a bit, but can't seem to see the difference.
I also seem to remember the agent saying that the delay was due to workers being in short supply, and that they might have refunded the deposits of some buyers.
Looking at the large number of units to be sold, I start to wonder if UG would intend to start building their Hollis/Sackville towers after one or both Waterton towers are done (though realizing that this may not be the only thing that would keep that from proceeding).

All that indicates to me is condo sales are slow. If he wished to proceed with Hollis street they would likely need greater then 60% presold to secure financing. With Trillum trying to actively presale now they very well could absorb some possible purchasers from UG project.

Time will tell, but the clock is ticking on the development agreement downtown.

[kph06]

It's true one delay was not getting enough workers, but the main reason behind this was they didn't want unionized workers for the general contractor. This is why it took so long to get the crane running because they had to find a non-union crane operator, the guy they finally got was from Australia. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I have some serious doubts about the downtown buildings happening.

[worldlyhaligonian]

I took a trip out to the sales office for the Waterton in the summer. The agent there said that UG wanted to sell all of the units in the first tower before they begin the second one. I have a price list dated June 26, 2008 that shows that 60/154 units still need to be sold. The agent said that the design of the building had changed some at one of the ends of the top few floors. I've looked at the photos a bit, but can't seem to see the difference.
I also seem to remember the agent saying that the delay was due to workers being in short supply, and that they might have refunded the deposits of some buyers.
Looking at the large number of units to be sold, I start to wonder if UG would intend to start building their Hollis/Sackville towers after one or both Waterton towers are done (though realizing that this may not be the only thing that would keep that from proceeding).

I wonder if tower 1 sales are complete at this point... the construction seems to be going at a good pace now.

[Wishblade]

Does anyone have any updated photos of this project? I've only been able to see it from afar and cant really get a sense of how far along this is. Although it does look like the first tower is near completion.

[kph06]

Here are two photos I took today, of course I decided to wait all day to take them so the sun was going down. The exterior is pretty much done, cladding still has to be placed on the north end of the top two floors I think this is suppose to give it an all glass look.
Another interesting point is that the other building base as been sealed off. This fall the garage level had no roof on it and all the columns were exposed and this is where all the "flyers", the bracing system used to form the floors were all stored in the garage. So now as the second photo shows, the main floor has been poured. It seems work will not start at least for the winter because none of the development length (rebar overlap between floors) is exposed for the columns, suggesting more floors will not be poured above this level for the time being. There is however a hole covered over by plywood which I would suspect is the opening for the crane base, so that is a good sign.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/3104920311_a4bb5f5f8b_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/3105750318_0f062906c5_b.jpg

[sdm]

Developer wins appeal to build 12-storey towers
PAUL MCLEOD, METRO HALIFAX
December 24, 2008 05:00

A developer has won two appeals against HRM and now has the right to build two 12-storey towers in Armdale.

The municipality originally blocked the United Gulf Developments Ltd. project at 60 Walter Havill Dr. in April 2007. The developer also had to appeal the Chebucto Community Council, which refused to amend a development agreement to permit the towers.

Much of the debate focused on whether both towers could be 12-stories tall. Under the original agreement, one tower was limited to four stories. The developer asked community council to revisit the agreement, but this was rejected without a public hearing.

The case ended up being brought to the Utility and Review Board. Yesterday they released their ruling that the community council’s refusal to amend the agreement failed to reasonably carry out the region’s planning strategy.

The UARB also ruled HRM development officer Andrew Faulkner’s rejection of the project conflicts with the development agreement.

[Bedford_DJ]

So is this what was holding up the second tower from going up?

If so this id great becase they might be able to start the second one next year. :)

[sdm]

Armdale apartment decision must be appealed: councillor
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 | 11:56 AM AT Comments0Recommend0CBC News
Halifax municipal officials are considering whether to fight a decision by the provincial regulator allowing two 12-storey apartment buildings to go up in Armdale.

Regional council has asked legal staff to look into the possibility of an appeal.

Coun. Linda Mosher said the decision by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board sets a bad precedent, and she wants a court to overrule it.

"To say that two 12-storey buildings connected by the same underground parking is one building is ludicrous," Mosher said Tuesday.

There are a number of issues to consider, such as wind, shade and view planes, she said.

United Gulf Developments Ltd. first proposed one 12-storey building and two smaller units. It later asked the Chebucto Community Council to modify the development agreement and allow two 12-storey units.

The community council rejected that, prompting the developer to turn to the utility and review board.

On Dec. 23, the review board sided with United Gulf Developments' plan for two towers, saying council had no policy basis for refusing the developer the changes it wanted.

The municipality has about two weeks to decide if it will appeal to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

[worldlyhaligonian]

wtf!

seriously, the first one is already built... the site would look awkward without the other tower. mosher is totally off base on this one.

I'm moving away from Halifax again, this kind of news is BS.

[sdm]

wtf!

seriously, the first one is already built... the site would look awkward without the other tower. mosher is totally off base on this one.

I'm moving away from Halifax again, this kind of news is BS.

I would think they would want to promote density and job creation in that area.

[kph06]

View-planes????

Are you kidding me? What historic view planes are out there? Secondly if this crucial view plane does exist, the first building doesn't encroach on it?

[Keith P.]

View-planes????

Are you kidding me? What historic view planes are out there? Secondly if this crucial view plane does exist, the first building doesn't encroach on it?

She is clueless as usual. She is using the term "view plane" instead of "view", I can only presume. I base that upon some interviews I saw on the news the other night where nearby residents were complaining that a second tower would change the look of the area for the worse. But who knows...

God forbid that someone comes along and wants to develop a piece of scrubland in the burbs to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in new tax revenue.

[Barrington south]

I'm not a huge fan of this building(s)...reminds me of an old fashioned 1950's Slab with a couple of curved add ons on the roof to try and break up the monolithic nature of the building

[someone123]

I guess this is NIMBY central since it happens to fall within Armdale, but really it's off of NW Arm Drive and is pretty much Clayton Park. Plenty of 10-12 storey towers have gone up or are going up in this corner of the city.

As for wind and shadow, those just sound like excuses. The fact is that they would have prepared these studies and presented them to the community council, so what exactly is the problem? Tornadoes are going to spawn and take out that car wash shack 100 m away?