Galway - St. John's Newest Development

[goodgrowth]

Work Underway To Secure Costco Move To Galway:
http://vocm.com/news/work-underway-t...ove-to-galway/

The developer behind Galway in the capital city’s west end says progress is underway on securing Costco’s move from the east end.

Danny Williams provided the update this week, saying they’re in the process of finalizing the engineering and the development applications should go before council within the next month.

The move of Costco is considered a major coup for the Galway development.

[Offshore1]

http://galwayliving.ca/terry-lane-lo...able-purchase/

http://galwayliving.ca/wp-content/up...ugust-2017.pdf

I don't see these being snapped up in a hurry, given the current state of the economy. The cheapest lot, of those that went on sale yesterday, is $125K.

[niccanning]

I can't believe we are still building like this!

[wmemeadusjr]

My nephew and I took a stroll through Galway Living. It will be a beautiful neighborhood when it's finish. I'm really impressed with the way everything is done. This comes with a price however. All of these aesthetically pleasing features are added to the prices. When I stopped to look at the information signs in front of a couple of houses, I heard the security truck start up and before I knew it, he was pulled up beside us to ask us how we were doing. A "friendly" way of letting us know we were being watched. I told him I couldn't afford any of these homes, and, in fact, I am probably too poor to even walk through here -even though I will keep doing so.....in an equally "friendly" way of course.

[goodgrowth]

Danny Williams suing city over stalled building permits for Galway:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou...tion-1.4400051

Williams has filed an application with the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, claiming the city has "exceeded its authority" — specifically that the city is withholding additional building permits until Williams agrees to give up his right to take the city to court if any disputes arise.

[IronMan]

This Galway development is starting to smell funny to me.

[colinpeddle]

Originally Posted by IronMan

This Galway development is starting to smell funny to me.

I'll bite.. :-D

Why?

[IronMan]

What’s going on with the city? Why the delays? Why the court action? Is there something underlying and legitimate or is it just Danny sooking again because sonething is not going his way. For such a wonderful development there seems to be a lot of problems - more than the regular snails pace experience that we have been seeing. Just my observation! ������

[MrX]

If I were to wager a guess, there are councillors or x-councillors that have a lot of skin in the game in the east end and can’t bare to think that Costco is moving and will drag down the value of their buildings that are fetching top rent, or will lower the value of the home starts they have planned. Why else would there be resistance to a very well planned community? Someone in the east stands to lose an almighty dollar.

[Horsell]

My thoughts exactly. I would not be surprised at all if there isn't a bit of "arm twisting" going on at the staff level at City Hall. I agree with Mr. Williams that there are times when Council should be allow to make decisions and not have everything held up by staff. Yes, the staff SHOULD offer expert opinions however they should not have the final say. If council feels that don't have enough information to make a decision then yes, consult staff until they do. As for the conditions that the City won't approve permits until the developer gives up the right to sue, that sounds like blackmail.

[IronMan]

What's this rumour about a Costco business centre? Any truth to this I wonder?

[overboard]

I think people are reading more into this than is there.

Council had no trouble approving this development over the last few years. Yes, it has been subject to more stringent regulations than many previous developments. It is above the 190m contour so it is a different beast, rules have changed, and current/future councils can't be bound by the way previous councils operated. If the claim is staff are holding this up I am not what the motive is. What interest would any staff have in preventing development of the west end? Could it be that this is just overloading the approvals process? Maybe there are delays, but I really doubt they are nefarious.

I would also caution anyone from believe too much of what comes up in the media. Danny is an expert manipulator. Why else would media show up to a routine scheduling hearing for an impromptu press conference on the courthouse steps? The City is restricted from commenting, but they are free to spread any half-truths they please. Wanting decisions to go to council seems reasonable except when you realize that political processes are easier to manipulate than bureaucratic ones. Council really should not be involved at the level of individual permits, etc. To demand it for this development would set another strange precedent.

Basically it is probably not all one way or the other and hopefully it shakes out at court without major cost to the rest of us.

[jjavman]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou...lway-1.4438219

[colinpeddle]

actual link for Galway dispute article :-D

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by colinpeddle

actual link for Galway dispute article :-D

Whhoops ..thanks

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by colinpeddle

actual link for Galway dispute article :-D

...and here's the affadavit mentioned.

http://stjohns.ca/sites/default/file...%20Sinyard.pdf

[goodgrowth]

Danny Williams responds to City of St. John's affidavit:
http://www.thetelegram.com/news/loca...idavit-170477/

Developer and former premier Danny Williams is firing back amid his lawsuit against the City of St. John’s, alleging the city has acted in a “discriminatory manner” against his Galway development.

Williams alleges his access to information requests show “development agreements have not been required in most circumstances and lends credence to the arbitrary, ad hoc and discriminatory manner in which 10718 has been treated while the city breaches its own regulations at will.”

[Horsell]

Has anyone been out around Galway lately? I heard someone say today that the new Costco is built (????) and that it can be seen from the highway. Can anyone verify, or deny, this?

[rthomasd]

That's not likely, given that Danny and the City are in the courts. I haven't seen any building permits mentioned in the City meeting minutes.

They'll be lucky to get a new building built this year.

[Horsell]

I went out to Galway yesterday just to satisfy my curiosity re: Costco, as I suspected, NOTHING...NADA...the building in question was a small warehouse in the Glencrest Industrial Park area along the TCH. I might have known, based on the source of the original comment.