[Halifax] Mount Royale

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by Duff

Absolutely. As fairview continues to grow and cost of living increases closer to the peninsula, people will move further and further up the hill.

It really depends whether enough retail/things to do are added. There's already a good connection to Bayer's Lake, and it's near established areas like Dutch Village (which I could see flourishing in the coming years) and Dunbrack and Lacewood. It's actually pretty well positioned to support transit and walking. If some retail/food options are established around Dunbrack and Main and along the Main-Washmill Lake stretch this could actually be a pretty attractive focal point for upper Fairview, especially if some forest is preserved. Improved bus service between Dutch Village (Bayers Road term.) and Bayers Lake, and along Dunbrack, would also make this development work a lot better. If the retail amounts to another convenience store and a dry cleaner then yeah I can see this becoming a very dull place to live pretty quickly.

[Dmajackson]

If someone can grab a completed photo of the buildings on Bentley Drive it'd be awesome.

Royal View Apartments (@ 35 Bentley Drive)

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[-Harlington-]

Not all the buildings are completed, the brick one furthest up the street is but the others are not. They're gettin there though, I'll try to remember my camera next time I'm in the area

[kph06]

Here are some I got on the way home from work the other day:

Royale Summit (website):


36 Bentley (that's not its spire)



Royal View:



16 Bentley:

[Keith P.]

I feel badly for the people who bought the expensive single family houses up there. I wonder if these apartment blocks were known about by the purchasers at the time.

[Wishblade]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I feel badly for the people who bought the expensive single family houses up there. I wonder if these apartment blocks were known about by the purchasers at the time.

These apartments/condos have been in the plans from the start, so they must have known. And the way I see it, progress is progress. If they didn't want to live next to apartment blocks then they should have moved to a neighbourhood that had no chance of them going up.

[Dmajackson]

The Royale Summit is almost complete now. Occupancy will start in May (2013).

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Royalesummit.ca

[kph06]

Looks like there is a little competition going on for ugliest building in Mt. Royale (photos by me):

[Aya_Akai]

I don't know if it's been addressed or not yet, but WTF is the deal with most of the buildings up there having that "blank" floor at ground level, either no windows, or the windows all blocked and bricked up.. like, did they not think about adequate elevation for underground parking or what? It looks absolutely awful :\ I am pondering if it was something like "cookie cutter" building plans that they couldn't bother modifying to work on the hill

[RyeJay]

It's very depressing how suburban these apartment buildings are.

[someone123]

I don't know about these buildings but a lot of Clayton Park buildings with underground parking still have blank ground floors, setbacks, and some surface parking out front.

This isn't going to change unless the planning regulations for these areas change.

[Jstaleness]

There is no excuse for exterior parking given the footprint of these buildings. 2 underground levels would be more than enough. The only exterior parking should have always been 10-15 visitor parking spots BEHIND the buildings.

[citycentre]

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

There is no excuse for exterior parking given the footprint of these buildings. 2 underground levels would be more than enough. The only exterior parking should have always been 10-15 visitor parking spots BEHIND the buildings.

I'm not sure if you have ever been in an apt building before. Most if not all buildings are under parked inside. The best you would see is 1 spot for every unit. Most people have 2 cars and need to put it somewhere...

[citycentre]

Originally Posted by HaliStreaks

I don't know if it's been addressed or not yet, but WTF is the deal with most of the buildings up there having that "blank" floor at ground level, either no windows, or the windows all blocked and bricked up.. like, did they not think about adequate elevation for underground parking or what? It looks absolutely awful :\ I am pondering if it was something like "cookie cutter" building plans that they couldn't bother modifying to work on the hill

Its a good question, but there are 2 reasons why buildings are built with the "underground" parking above ground.
First, if there is bedrock, it would cost way too much to break it out, or blast and remove. The best solution is to sit the building up on the bedrock rather than in it.
Second reason is that the first floor of the building is off the ground. This avoids issues like water under patios, potential security problems and tenants inviting guests in over handrails. Personally, I like the garages above grade, but to each their own!

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by citycentre

Second reason is that the first floor of the building is off the ground. This avoids issues like water under patios, potential security problems and tenants inviting guests in over handrails. Personally, I like the garages above grade, but to each their own!

Also while this is not a concern in Mount Royal apartments that are partially or fully below ground tend to flood. My cousin just lost her place in Mission (Calgary) from basement flooding.

BTW welcome back citycentre. Do have any updates on the Bayview (50 Bedford Highway) project? I'm excited to see that get underway.

[Aya_Akai]

Originally Posted by citycentre

Its a good question, but there are 2 reasons why buildings are built with the "underground" parking above ground.
First, if there is bedrock, it would cost way too much to break it out, or blast and remove. The best solution is to sit the building up on the bedrock rather than in it.
Second reason is that the first floor of the building is off the ground. This avoids issues like water under patios, potential security problems and tenants inviting guests in over handrails. Personally, I like the garages above grade, but to each their own!

Don't get me wrong, those are great points and all, but it would be nice to see them overcome the bedrock issue (which, given the geology of the area is most likely the issue here) at least try and make that lower level a little more aesthetitcally pleasing instead of just looking like the building lost a floor and the filled the windows with brick

[Jstaleness]

Originally Posted by citycentre

I'm not sure if you have ever been in an apt building before. Most if not all buildings are under parked inside. The best you would see is 1 spot for every unit. Most people have 2 cars and need to put it somewhere...

I certainly have and that was my point. The standard is one space per unit normally. There would be enough room under most for 2 per unit and the second would be at a cost per month/year. I hate Apt buildings sitting in a lake of parking. I have to agree though that unfortunately for some of these low rise suburban style buildings it may not always be cost effective to dig into the bedrock.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by citycentre

I'm not sure if you have ever been in an apt building before. Most if not all buildings are under parked inside. The best you would see is 1 spot for every unit. Most people have 2 cars and need to put it somewhere...

I don't think most people living in apartments have TWO cars. (I don't even have one car). But anyway, as others said, one space per apartment is the standard--even in condos, you usually have to buy a second space, rather than just get it.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

I don't think most people living in apartments have TWO cars. (I don't even have one car). But anyway, as others said, one space per apartment is the standard--even in condos, you usually have to buy a second space, rather than just get it.

I dunno - maybe in the downtown area that's the case, but in most cases that I'm aware of, if there are two adults living in an apartment there are two cars for that apartment.

At first I thought you meant only 2 cars... and I was gonna say "I know... how can they get by with only 2 cars..." Uh... nevermind...

Just kiddin' ya...

[citycentre]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Also while this is not a concern in Mount Royal apartments that are partially or fully below ground tend to flood. My cousin just lost her place in Mission (Calgary) from basement flooding.

BTW welcome back citycentre. Do have any updates on the Bayview (50 Bedford Highway) project? I'm excited to see that get underway.

Good point on the flooding! There is a building downtown on Barrington Street (I believe) that tends to have its garage flood on occasion.

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, we have completed ground testing and all came back ok. We are just finalizing a few last details with suite layouts and are looking to start digging later this year.
We have switched a few things up in the podium levels and are exploring different avenues on how to wrap the building. We want to cover the building in glass, but aren't sure if we want to do the regular curtain wall or the new window wall system. Fares is using it on his new building, St. Lawrence, but have heard he is having issues with leaks. Hopefully I can hear someone chime in on this!