Bedford West Developments & Discussion Thread

[Dmajackson]

So it looks like Symonds Road is not going to connect to Gary Martin Drive

[Dmajackson]

From the weekend;

[-Harlington-]

Theres been alot more houses built and worked on since last time i was there, the arena looks about the same though
but all in all its commin along soo

[farfot]

What price range are these houses?!

[Dmajackson]

From the weekend;

Gary Martin Drive:



Innovation Drive:



Capstone Cresent:



Lasalle Court:



Northwood:





4-Pad Arena:

[Wishblade]

Full steam ahead for Bedford West
First phase of residential development for 18,000 people begins today


The door is about to open and the developers are getting ready to rev up housing and commercial development in Bedford West.

A new $21.6-million interchange connecting Bedford West with Larry Uteck Boulevard will accelerate development in the area. The interchange will be ready for vehicles this fall.

"The project is on budget and on schedule," said Steve Smith, a spokesman for the provincial Transportation Department, referring to the interchange.

Dexter Construction is handling the big crossing over Highway 102.

It should be completed by the end of the summer and ready to link up this fall with new roads and a series of traffic roundabouts Halifax Regional Municipality is building on both sides of the highway.

Completion of the highway interchange, which has been responsible for lots of traffic delays in recent months, opens up a huge tract of previously inaccessible land for development.

The first residential phase of the Parks of Bedford West, called Stonington Park, is ramping up prior to completion of the new interchange. The developer is officially launching the project at an event today.

West Bedford Holdings Ltd. plans to build homes in the 526-hectare development for as many as 18,000 people over the next 25 years.

"Stonington Park is the first of five major residential parks which make up the newest and largest planned community in Atlantic Canada," the developer said in a news release Tuesday.

West Bedford Holdings is a partnership between Clayton Developments Ltd. and Cresco Homes. Clayton Developments is a subsidiary of the Shaw Group and Cresco Homes is part of a group headed by president Taleb Abidali and vice-president Hossein Mousavi.

A business park and a walkway connecting both sides of the highway are included in the development.

Stonington Park will be developed at a site between Kearney Lake and Hammonds Plains Road.

[Dmajackson]

Since this development is mainly single family houses and its located out of town I'm mostly avoiding taking photos however I can tell you Capstone Cresent is getting filled in with houses and the new section should be open soon to wandering around Lasalle Court just up from Capstone is open and as of two weekends ago no buildings had started construction.

[Dmajackson]

From the weekend;

Four-Pad Arena;



Gary Martin Drive Extension (from Lasalle Court);



Lasalle Court Walkway (to Hollyhock Way);



Capstone Crescent (Hollyhock Way intersection in second photo);

[Canadian_Bacon]

I was in around this site about a week ago. I was wondering what all of it was.

I have a relative who is building a house in a subdivision down the road from this... I can't remember the name, but I think it's voyageur estates or something like that. The place with the big fancy homes.

Great pics.

[halifaxboyns]

I've been saving up to buy property as a joint venture between my mother and myself (I have a relatively 'cheap' condo out here in Calgary).

I'm hoping to come home before Christmas and take a look at this area; the houses are quite nice and she likes living in Bedford (compared to Fairview - where she owned a house where I grew up).

She's downsized to a condo; but she likes having students from ESL programs stay with her - so I've said that if she wants to sell her condo and move into a house that I will eventually buy out - that's fine.

We have a few on the list - they look nice and prices are pretty good (compared to the Calgary market).

[Dmajackson]

Public information meeting
Mon, September 27, 7pm – 9pm
273 Basinview Drive, Bedford NS

Case 16104 - Application by West Bedford Holdings Limited, for the lands of West Bedford Holdings and Halifax Water (115 acres /46.54 ha), located west of Highway 102, south of Kearney Run, east of Kearney Lake Road and northwest of the new Larry Uteck Boulevard interchange at Highway 102. The proposal is to enter in to a development agreement to permit a residential subdivision containing a mix of residential land uses including single unit, townhouse and multi-unit dwellings.

---

Basically its for the area to be accessed off of the new interchange on Larry Uteck Blvd West.

[halifaxboyns]

I was a little curious to see what the overall density calculation would be for the phase that's been approved. I too was impressed with the number of multi units.

But the numbers in the end, didn't impress me.

178 units (on the commercial land) on 29 acres;
1054 maximum units allowed on remaining lands (147 acres).

In terms of units/ha = 29 acres is about 11.74ha, where as 147 acres is about 59.49ha.

So it breaks down like this:
178+1054=1232 maximum possible units/71.23 total ha = 17.3 units/ha (rounded up).

It's still higher than typical density of Calgary subdivisions and is only for the approved section, not total build out. The current case 16104 would be a density of 14.85 units/ha if the information in the fact sheet is correct.

[Dmajackson]

Just to check did you include the multi-residential buildings included along Gary Martin Drive?

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Just to check did you include the multi-residential buildings included along Gary Martin Drive?

The calculation is based on the numbers indicated in the report in case 00970 and case 16104.

If the ones on Gary Martin weren't in either one then no they wouldn't have been included.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Public information meeting
Mon, September 27, 7pm – 9pm
273 Basinview Drive, Bedford NS

Case 16104 - Application by West Bedford Holdings Limited, for the lands of West Bedford Holdings and Halifax Water (115 acres /46.54 ha), located west of Highway 102, south of Kearney Run, east of Kearney Lake Road and northwest of the new Larry Uteck Boulevard interchange at Highway 102. The proposal is to enter in to a development agreement to permit a residential subdivision containing a mix of residential land uses including single unit, townhouse and multi-unit dwellings.

---

Basically its for the area to be accessed off of the new interchange on Larry Uteck Blvd West.

Proposal Fact Sheet

Basically there's going to be 202 houses/townhouses and 489 units in 8 multi-unit buildings.

~700 units/46.54 hectares = 15 units per hectare.

[someone123]

So 6 units per acre. Plenty of single unit suburban developments hit that density. Many of the new housing developments in suburban Halifax are very poorly planned and will have a lot of transportation problems in the future. Low density and poor road connectivity mean poor transit service and traffic is already pretty bad along the Bedford Highway.

Partly I think people are misguided and believe that adding more trees to developments so that they look greener reduces traffic. This is true on the small cul-de-sacs but not true on collector roads and major arteries. For most people, this kind of development results in a lower quality of life as they spend more time sitting in their car. For the city it means higher maintenance costs.

[DigitalNinja]

I have been looking for this map for a long time. This map shows how this will fit in with the new interchange, and the ravines. Does anyone know if all of stonnington park is approved? INC the 12 story places?

http://www.theparksofwestbedford.ca/...pApril2010.pdf

[Dmajackson]

^That PDF keeps on giving me an error message and won't open.

The whole area is subdivided into 12 (?) sub-areas and Stonington Park itself lies within at least two of them so I'm not sure if both areas have received approval or if only Sub-Area 4 has.

EDIT: I just looked it up and Sub-Areas 3 and 4 are approved which allows for development about 4/5ths of the way to Kearney Lake Road.

[Dmajackson]

Sub-Area five as mentioned earlier in this thread is going through the approval stages. The area is west of the Larry Uteck Interchange and will be mainly centred on Larry Uteck Blvd West. Heres a snapshot of the proposed plan for the area;

[Canadian_Bacon]

Wow, that looks great. Thanks for posting the pic, as the pdf will not load for me either. I'll have to update.