[DARTMOUTH] King's Wharf development | 40-90m | 10-33 fl | U/C

[Jstaleness]

I think there was a ribbon cutting ceremony today. I'm not sure if both or just one of the buildings is officially opening.

[mcmcclassic]

I drove up in front of the two completed towers the other day - these buildings certainly look great in person.

Once there are some retail establishments and people in the newly created area, I think it'll be one of the nicest spots to be in the city. Go Dartmouth go.

[bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

I think there was a ribbon cutting ceremony today. I'm not sure if both or just one of the buildings is officially opening.

Apparently it was just the Keelson. There was a little segment about it on Global News the other day.

http://www.globalmaritimes.com/video...754186#stories

[Dmajackson]

Water taxi service could start by 2014
March 6, 2013 - 7:55pm BY REMO ZACCAGNA BUSINESS REPORTER

A new water taxi service to connect the massive King’s Wharf project in Dartmouth with Halifax could start as soon as late 2014.

Construction on the third and fourth buildings of the massive project will start in April or May, with completion slated sometime in the fall of 2014.

A water taxi service linking both sides of the harbour will start up soon after that.

As many as 500 people will inhabit those four buildings by that time, and when you add patrons of restaurants and shops planned for the project, that creates a market for people wanting to use a water taxi, said Francis Fares, the developer behind the massive project going up on the former Dartmouth marine slips.

...

(rzaccagna@herald.ca)

Read More: thechronicleherald.ca

[someone123]

The first 4 paragraphs have 3 instances of the word "massive"!

I am surprised at how early they are planning to start the service. I figured it would be one of those things that might or might not happen 5-10 years in the future. I could see it being complementary to the existing ferry in the sense that you could take the ferry one way and then take the water taxi back. It will be great for people living in King's Wharf, particularly if they work downtown.

Vancouver has little ferries of about the same capacity that cross False Creek. They also take pets, unlike regular transit, and they're pretty popular.

[alps]

I was always a bit skeptical about the ferry aspect of the project because I guess I was envisioning a larger vessel. I wonder what the fares will be like? Since they're marketing it as a "taxi" complementary to the Metro Transit ferry I guess it'll be more of a premium service and most daily downtown-bound commuters will rely on the normal ferry. Neat plan, looking forward to seeing how it all works.

Some of the private housing estates in Hong Kong on the outlying islands similarly have their own ferry companies linking to Central. Some have ended up having to scale back service and/or raise fares -- but they use much larger vessels and cover greater distances.

[BravoZulu]

This could be a very interesting addition to downtown Dartmouth depending on the schedule and price. A boston whaler would be relatively cheap to operate and potentially fairly quick to cross (depending on sea state / passenger comfort / wake restrictions) which could allow it to run much more frequently than metro transit does and still be profitable.
Any guesses where they're thinking of landing on the Halifax side?

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by BravoZulu

Any guesses where they're thinking of landing on the Halifax side?

Bishop's Landing? Murphy's?

Is there any word as to whether this taxi will be public, or only for the use of KW residents?

I'm a little torn. On the one hand we have a great ferry a two minute walk away. I'd hate to see this taxi undermine it/give Council an excuse to cut back on the public ferry. At the same time, the more opportunities for crossing the harbour the better. It'd also be great if this taxi ran late, but I'm not sure they'd want drunks fouling up their fancy taxi service. It'll be interesting to see details as they emerge.

[BravoZulu]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Bishop's Landing? Murphy's?

Is there any word as to whether this taxi will be public, or only for the use of KW residents?

I'm a little torn. On the one hand we have a great ferry a two minute walk away. I'd hate to see this taxi undermine it/give Council an excuse to cut back on the public ferry. At the same time, the more opportunities for crossing the harbour the better. It'd also be great if this taxi ran late, but I'm not sure they'd want drunks fouling up their fancy taxi service. It'll be interesting to see details as they emerge.

I was thinking those two would be prime locations myself or possibly down by the seaport market if it wouldn't interfere with cruise ships.

There is a news release on the KW site, said it will be open to the public as well as residents. Initial plan is a 7-8 passenger vessel. Says they are supposed to run late night as well, should be interesting.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by alps

Since they're marketing it as a "taxi" complementary to the Metro Transit ferry I guess it'll be more of a premium service and most daily downtown-bound commuters will rely on the normal ferry. Neat plan, looking forward to seeing how it all works.

I think much like a normal taxi it is sort of an all-purpose option not necessarily targeted at commuters. I think this is a great idea - just the other day I told one of my friends that I'd consider living in Dartmouth if the ferries ran past midnight. This will almost certainly improve the prospects of the area for the 20-40 year old crowd who like to do things on the Halifax side but don't have a car. I think something like this would work well in the Northwest Arm as well.

[q12]

http://thechronicleherald.ca/spotlig...-magazine#/48/

According to this King's Wharf magazine Just Us Coffee is opening spring 2013 on the boardwalk.

[fenwick16]

According to this previously posted story from Feb 22, 2013, towers 3 and 4 were scheduled to stat in April or May, 2013 - http://thechronicleherald.ca/busines...-of-next-phase. At the time of the story, the Keelson was sold out and the Anchorage was said to be 55% sold.

According to my count, the Anchorage now has 42 of 84 units remaining (50% sold). So they haven't sold many units since Feb 22, 2013 (actually the % sold is less now than in the story). The largest number of units remaining are in the $400K and higher price category (30 of 45 units in this price range remain unsold). source - http://www.kingswharf.ca/index.php/own/the-anchorage.

On the positive side, about 55% (39 of 71 units) of the units in the 4th tower (Aqua Vista) are sold (source: http://www.kingswharf.ca/index.php/own/the-aqua-vista). So I hope that construction will soon start on towers 3 and 4.

There are still no details posted on the 3rd tower, which doesn't have a name yet - just building C.

[Chadillaccc]

That's excellent Hopefully they can get the icon tower up and moving once 3 and 4 are done next year. Very proud of the Halifax Metropolitan area!