[Halifax] Seton Ridge (Motherhouse Redevelopment) | Approved

[Wishblade]

Originally Posted by Halifax Hillbilly

I imagine Superstore or Sobeys are both unlikely since they have stores on Joe Howe and Lacewood respectively. Shame though. Is there anyone else in the local market other than No Frills?

I think that will be a significant step as Halifax becomes more urban and vibrant: the return of small and medium scale grocery stores instead of only huge stores catering to big catchment areas and people driving.

Maybe Pete's will open a location here.

[someone123]

That's one big difference between Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver and Halifax. I've lived in a few neighbourhoods of walkups and houses in Vancouver and they've all had half a dozen or more grocery store options within walking distance. There are the Safeway and No-Frills type stores but there are also lots of small produce places, some butchers, etc. In the nicer neighbourhoods there's also a higher level of stores similar to Pete's (Whole Foods, maybe Urban Fare, Capers, Stong's, Choices...). It is great to be able to walk to a small shop daily to pick up fresh food.

Instead of that sort of vibrant commercial ecosystem, neighbourhoods like Quinpool have giant 1970s-era grocery chains combined with a limited set of small shops. Downtown Dartmouth doesn't have any grocery stores as far as I know. How great can a neighbourhood really be if grocery options consist of a 15 minute drive to Superstore?

[resetcbu1]

Calgary seems to have that issue as well , not that there is a lack of grocers but they all seem to be big chain stores other than a couple like sunterra market. I honestly believe this to be a result of the way in which the city is built ...... it's like terrible suburbia as soon as you leave Downtown/Mission/17 Ave area. The business area is very dense but as soon as you leave this area it seems like a 1970's suburban nightmare, most people don't even know many of their neighbors other than next door or across the street..... this seems like the way to build new sub-urbia well thought out , friendly , and easy to picture living with all types of amenities

[Dmajackson]

The halt on this project that HRM introduced last year has been removed. Eric Burchill has stated that the MPS amendments and Development Agreement will be brought forward to HRM shortly and he is hoping for excavation to begin in the spring.

Source : "Jim Spatz Can Start Motherhouse Project" (November 14th, 2013) - AllNovaScotia.com

[sherwooddavid]

Just got a notice that there is an information meeting tonight at 7PM at Mount Saint Vincent,Seton Building.

[miesh111]

photo from southwest.ca/motherhouse

Looks like they've posted a site plan for this development!

[Keith P.]

Is there any talk of making Seton Road the main connector up to Lacewood and eliminating the use of Bayview in Clayton Park?

[Dmajackson]

Very nice! Finally a greenfield suburban development with a proper town centre.

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Is there any talk of making Seton Road the main connector up to Lacewood and eliminating the use of Bayview in Clayton Park?

The so called "Lacewood Connector" proposal should fix the Bayview issues. Seton Road will be a "Active Transportation Urban Minor Collector" which is the same designation as Gary Martin Drive in Bedford. There are plans to utilise the new road as the transit corridor for Mainland North.

[Dmajackson]

Just some additional notes from their website (Southwest.ca/motherhouse);

- The development agreement application has been submitted to HRM. It should be initiated on July 22nd, with a public meeting in September and approval in early 2015.

- The subdivision will be split into two applications of 50 acres and 15 acres. The first one includes all shown above but the single-family home area on the very top.

- The first phase of construction will consist of connecting Seton Road to Lacewood and building four mixed-use buildings in the core.

- Southwest is planning to aim for LEED-ND and LEED certifications for the whole devleopment and individual multi-use buildings respectively. There will be on-site storm water management, natural gas, and all electrical wires will be underground.

[JET]

The Sisters must have done well with this.

[curnhalio]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

The so called "Lacewood Connector" proposal should fix the Bayview issues. Seton Road will be a "Active Transportation Urban Minor Collector" which is the same designation as Gary Martin Drive in Bedford. There are plans to utilise the new road as the transit corridor for Mainland North.

I keep reading about the Lacewood Connector on here but I can't find anything official about it. Where would it go?


I can't wait for this to be built. I know it will take many years for the full completion, but it's a great dense, compact development. I wish we didn't have to go off-peninsula to build this type of project but c'est la vie I guess.

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Just some additional notes from their website (Southwest.ca/motherhouse);

- The development agreement application has been submitted to HRM.

- Southwest is planning to aim for LEED-ND and LEED certifications for the whole devleopment and individual multi-use buildings respectively. There will be on-site storm water management, natural gas, and all electrical wires will be underground.

Natural gas ??

In February 2014 the cost of natural gas for the Irving paper mill in Saint John was $1,000,000 .....the normal cost : $75,000 for the month.
Irving was paying $19 cu and the spot market price was through the roof. Friends who have NG told me how their gas biill this winter was way higher; not surprising considering the deep freeze from the mid-west to the Atlantic combined with the uptick in the US economy.

[Ziobrop]

natural gas should be cheap here since we have it in the ground. irving issues was buying on the spot market. they paid more then had they bought a contract a few months out.

Gas is cheaper, but cost factors aside, its more reliable then electricity, and you have none of the concerns of a leaking oil tank, and its regular fill-ups.

[mcmcclassic]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

natural gas should be cheap here since we have it in the ground. irving issues was buying on the spot market. they paid more then had they bought a contract a few months out.

Gas is cheaper, but cost factors aside, its more reliable then electricity, and you have none of the concerns of a leaking oil tank, and its regular fill-ups.

We're also one of the last regions in the world to be using home heating oil. There are lots of benefits to natural gas for sure.

Overall I hope that this project's nice amount of density makes the rest of CP and Fairview grow up as well. It's fine that this is happening off the Penninsula - most major cities have a downtown district, inner suburbs, and outer suburbs.

We're finally beginning to develop that idea of inner suburbs - the links below are some examples of what could become in CP and Fairview (obviously without the wide boulevards but perhaps maybe)

Brookline (Boston,MA)

Spring Garden St. (had to use this one cause of the name)(Philadelphia,PA)

[xanaxanax]

Pete's food has just been announced as the first retailer

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by xanaxanax

Pete's food has just been announced as the first retailer

That will be a great addition - we've seen a huge rush in Calgary to food stores into new or even redeveloped communities. Once you know groceries are available; people start flocking to the area.

Speaking of grocery stores - has anyone been to Toronto and seen the Loblaw's at Maple Leaf Gardens? All I can say is wow - talk about a fantastic store. I was in Toronto for world pride and then again to visit family in late July and I cannot believe how much development is going up around that store. I got to talk to the manager and regional VP (who were doing an inspection) and I guess Calgary will be getting some stores in the inner city like MLG. My question is where!?

[Dmajackson]

The Chronicle Herald has an article on the Pete's announcement.

Having a grocery store move into a residential development in its first phase is quite impressive and a welcome start to what will likely be one of Halifax's best greenfield developments.

And just a FYI they have named this development Seton Ridge. The thread title and development lists will start reflecting this change over the next while.

[portapetey]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

The Chronicle Herald has an article on the Pete's announcement.

Having a grocery store move into a residential development in its first phase is quite impressive and a welcome start to what will likely be one of Halifax's best greenfield developments.

And just a FYI they have named this development Seton Ridge. The thread title and development lists will start reflecting this change over the next while.

This is great. I live nearby and will be happy to have an alternative to the Superstore on Joseph Howe. (Sobey's Lacewood doesn't count - oh how I hate that store.)

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by portapetey

This is great. I live nearby and will be happy to have an alternative to the Superstore on Joseph Howe. (Sobey's Lacewood doesn't count - oh how I hate that store.)

everyone hates the lacewood sobeys, but the company is reluctant to change it as it is apparently the most profitable store in the chain.

[curnhalio]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

everyone hates the lacewood sobeys, but the company is reluctant to change it as it is apparently the most profitable store in the chain.

They have easy access to a lot of "captive" shoppers, apparently.