[Bedford] Bedford Commons

[hfx_chris]

Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ

Personal Note: While I am all for development in Bedford this could spell disaster for the rest of the town. Canadian Tire is currently in Sunnyside Mall and having worked there I know that as soon as the new location opens the current one will close. CT is a major tenant in the mall and there's already many deserted storefronts in Sunnyside. This couple with a major drop in quality and quantity of stores in Bedford Place Mall is bad news. The only silver-lining I can see for the CT location is that HRM could buy the lot and convert it into a bus terminal which Bedford is currently lacking. And I've had a look on the HRM Transit plan and they do want a bus terminal in the Sunnside area eventually.

Personally I would be glad to see it gone, that's a horrible store, parking is the shits and it's just really dated. CT needs a new store. Plus, if both malls are slowly emptying, maybe they can combine everything in one and demolish the other one.
Re a bus terminal along there... are there really that many people transferring along that stretch who couldn't transfer at Cobequid? Or is the idea to include a park and ride component.

[pnightingale]

Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ

"In these dire economic times it is encouraging to see developments of this magnitude proceeding,"

Is anyone else getting REALLY tired of hearing the phrase "dire economic times"?

And is it just me, or is there something shady about the fact that it's a secret who is putting up the $50M for that project? Is that common?

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by hfx_chris

Personally I would be glad to see it gone, that's a horrible store, parking is the shits and it's just really dated. CT needs a new store. Plus, if both malls are slowly emptying, maybe they can combine everything in one and demolish the other one.
Re a bus terminal along there... are there really that many people transferring along that stretch who couldn't transfer at Cobequid? Or is the idea to include a park and ride component.

I doubt the two malls would ever combine. They're owned by different companies and are sworn competitors.

For me I say keep the two malls open for a couple of years to see what stores move or go out of business and then consider combining. This might be bias since I worked in Sunnyside but I think BP should be closed since it presents a cool oppurtunity to develop the lot into a landmark. With the river nearby, Nottingham in back and the Sackville Trail on the property they could create a cool little "village".

But back on topic I believe the future terminal was going to be a park-n-ride and that eventually a MetroLink was in the plans.

[someone123]

Those two malls have also had their ups and downs in the past. There was a time when both Bedford Place and Sunnyside were pretty dull and empty (mid-late 90s I guess), then they both renovated, got some new tenants, and became much busier - this was around 2001 or so I'm guessing, maybe a bit earlier for Sunnyside.

I don't think the malls need to be torn down, I think they need a bit of renovation so that they have more modern interiors and commercial spaces. As already mentioned, the Canadian Tire location there is quite poor and that whole end of the mall is awkward and dated.

Bedford Place has it a little tougher because it competes more directly with big boxes - it has stores like Zellers and Winners (if they are still there). It is like Downsview, Penhorn, or Bayers Road. Sunnyside is more like a mini HSC or Mic Mac Mall.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by someone123

I don't think the malls need to be torn down, I think they need a bit of renovation so that they have more modern interiors and commercial spaces. As already mentioned, the Canadian Tire location there is quite poor and that whole end of the mall is awkward and dated.

I really like set-up in Sunnyside from the Marketplace to about Indigo but you are right about the awkwardness past there. If they torn down the CT lot they could easily upgrade the rest of the area up to Lawtons and leave the some space at the end for a bus terminal (or LRT terminal in dreamland). One thing they could also do is extend the third floor of Bedford House to the rooftop parking and open the floor to more offices.

Bedford Place has it a little tougher because it competes more directly with big boxes - it has stores like Zellers and Winners (if they are still there). It is like Downsview, Penhorn, or Bayers Road. Sunnyside is more like a mini HSC or Mic Mac Mall.

Yes Zellers and Winners are there for now but the last time I was in Zellers they had most of the electronics on sale (not a good sign) and they didn't have anything else in stock.

To put it simply the is how badly Bedford Place is doing; Its doing so badly it lost both a MacDonalds and a Dollarama!

[hfx_chris]

Funny, I prefer Bedford Place to Sunnyside. I find every time I'm in Sunnyside, I can't wait to get out. Everything is tight and crowded, from just getting around inside the mall to getting around the parking lot. I know they're owned by different companies, but they can't stop their tenants from moving across the road.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by hfx_chris

Funny, I prefer Bedford Place to Sunnyside. I find every time I'm in Sunnyside, I can't wait to get out. Everything is tight and crowded, from just getting around inside the mall to getting around the parking lot. I know they're owned by different companies, but they can't stop their tenants from moving across the road.

Well up the road but yes I know what you are saying.

Everybody has their own opinion. BPM is for people who like spaced out cheaper, national-chain store, and SSM is for people who like localized, crowded, pricier stores.

I realize that it won't help them keep there stores but iit would be less likely for the two malls to combine if they are owned by different companies.

[Dmajackson]

Once again some more stuff from the Ekistics Website





Bedford Commons PDF

[DigitalNinja]

It will be nice for people in Sackville to have some place to go! There is nothing here, and specially now with Walmart gone. Once this place gets up its only a short bus ride away for me.

[q12]

I'm not sure if it was mentioned yet but the Future Shop appears to be open in Bedford Commons now.
That makes 3 Future Shops in Metro and 5 in Nova Scotia (New Glasgow and Sydney) along with Best Buy in Dartmouth Crossing.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by q12

I'm not sure if it was mentioned yet but the Future Shop appears to be open in Bedford Commons now.
That makes 3 Future Shops in Metro and 5 in Nova Scotia (New Glasgow and Sydney) along with Best Buy in Dartmouth Crossing.

I was up there a couple of nights ago and the Future Shop isn't quite open yet. Probably going to open sometime in June.

[Dmajackson]

HRM issues stop-work order to Bedford Commons development
Halifax News Net
BEDFORD

By Yvette d’Entremont – The Weekly News
When Jim MacLeod drove past the Bedford Commons last week, he was very upset to see a road being constructed in an area where he always enjoyed watching nesting Canada geese, ducks, two loons and even swans.
“I haven’t seen any of them since they started putting that in there,” MacLeod said last week. “It bothers me that they’d do that. Why fill it in? That swamp was there a long time before Bedford was and now here we are taking away their habitat.”
On June 8, HRM issued a stop-work order at the site, confirmed public affairs spokeswoman Shaune MacKinlay. She said the stop work order was issued because the project contravened a part of the municipal planning strategy that applies only to Bedford.
“Bedford has a planning strategy where there’s a requirement for a permit if you are going to alter the grade of a property, and that was not in place,” MacKinlay explained. “The land- use bylaw requires a set back of 100 feet from a water retention area. (The developer) will have to rectify these shortcomings and show he’s in compliance.”
Besim Halef of Banc Developments is the developer working on that piece of land. Halef said he received proper approval from the Nova Scotia Department of Environment, and that the portion of land in question was not determined to be a wetland.
He said he was unaware different rules applied to Bedford and believed all he needed was the province’s approval.
He stopped work on the site immediately after HRM informed Banc Developments of its oversight, and said he’s hoping to get back to work as soon as possible.
“If we didn’t have approval, we wouldn’t touch it. We don’t contravene the rules,” Halef said.
ydentremont@hfxnews.ca

[q12]

Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ

I was up there a couple of nights ago and the Future Shop isn't quite open yet. Probably going to open sometime in June.

I see it's open now. I also noticed that New Minas has a future shop u/c. That will mean there will be 6 Future Shops in total in Nova Scotia and possibly 7 if Truro is next on the list.

[Aya_Akai]

Originally Posted by q12

I see it's open now. I also noticed that New Minas has a future shop u/c. That will mean there will be 6 Future Shops in total in Nova Scotia and possibly 7 if Truro is next on the list.

I was in Kentville/New Minas last week... got a chance to poke my head in and around there, it looks like a slightly smaller carbon copy of the one in Dartmouth Crossing. I find it funny too, how it's right across from a home depot... just like at the crossing haha.

[Dmajackson]

Project shifts to save wetland
Bedford hotel, road project will be relocated
By HEATHER AMOS
Mon. Jul 6 - 4:46 AM

A wetland at the Bedford Commons development will be restored.

Work to build a hotel and road at a wetland area near Duke Street in Bedford had just begun when construction was halted about a month ago.

Halifax Regional Municipality issued a stop work order because the developer, Banc Developments, hadn’t acquired the proper permits from the city. The developer had received the go-ahead from the provincial Environment Department and hadn’t realized they also needed the city’s approval.

Tim Outhit, councillor for the Bedford area, said that city staff began working with provincial staff and the Banc Developments to decide if construction should be allowed to continue.

A decision was made to restore the wetland and relocate the project to an area nearby, said Outhit.

Outhit says Besim Halef, president of Banc Developments, made an innocent mistake by not obtaining municipal approval.

Halef says he finds the process of getting development permits in Bedford to be confusing.

"We hadn’t even started and we got stopped by the city because apparently Bedford has different bylaws," he said.

Halef said he would like to see consistency and clear guidelines.

Lower Sackville resident Marilyn Challis will be pleased with the outcome.

She was concerned about the wetland, and contacted Outhit when construction began. Outhit sent out investigators and they issued the stop-work order before much work had been completed.

After issuing the stop-work order Outhit explained the city was investigating two options for the wetland area.

"Either we’ll find a way to protect this wetland and the work will go ahead, or the other discussion that staff is having with the developer is perhaps relocating his project."

Challis wanted to see the wetland restored to its original condition. Wetlands are important cleansing agents and wildlife habitats, she says.

"The Environmental Act has to be revised to reflect a more positive approach to wetland protection," the Lower Sackville resident said.

Challis worries about the amount of development in Bedford, which is why she spoke out about the construction at the Bedford Commons.

"Bedford has been hard-hit with development," she said. "Americans don’t come to Nova Scotia to look at our condos, they come here to look at our green space and enjoy nature."

Outhit recognizes the need for development in the community.

"I’m pro-development, but you have to do it within the rules, and those rules are there to protect the environment, and I am a big believer that they can co-exist."

Halef said the Bedford Commons project is one of his company’s biggest. He expects it will create about 2,000 jobs and have a tax base of over $20 million for the municipality.

For Halef to get Environment Department approval to alter 0.25 hectares of wetland, three conditions had to be met.

Bruce Nunn, a spokesperson for the department, explained that Banc Developments had to prove the area couldn’t be avoided, that there would be minimal environmental damage, and Halef had to offset the environmental harm by donating $17,000 to the Nova Scotia Environmental Trust Fund.

The department rejected the developper’s first proposal, Nunn said. Banc Developments appealed to the environment minister at the time, Mark Parent, who upheld his staff’s decision.

Nunn said department staff later issued the permit after the developer made changes to the proposal.

( hamos@herald.ca)

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For anyone unfamiliar with the area the wetland extends along Duke St (Glendale Ave) from Damascus Rd to about half way to Rocky Lake Rd. The only road that has been allowed to cross it is the entrance to the Gary Martin Rink. It is actually a very cool looking swamp and I'm very happy that nothing will be built along it.

One upside not mentioned before is without more entrances built along the road it will make the street easier to widen once the Burnside Expressway is built.

[worldlyhaligonian]

"Bedford has been hard-hit with development," she said. "Americans don’t come to Nova Scotia to look at our condos, they come here to look at our green space and enjoy nature."

This is the most ignorant statement I have ever heard...

Hard hit by development, as if development is a bad thing.

Nobody goes to Bedford that visits Halifax (no disrespect DJ).

Plus, American's don't come here for nature. We have no old growth forest, we have shitty natural settings as compared to any other province (save PEI) and most US states.

Are these people motivated by what they say (environment, etc) or are they just on the NIMBY tip, looking out for numero uno and their current property. I believe the latter.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

"Bedford has been hard-hit with development," she said. "Americans don’t come to Nova Scotia to look at our condos, they come here to look at our green space and enjoy nature."

This is the most ignorant statement I have ever heard...

Hard hit by development, as if development is a bad thing.

Nobody goes to Bedford that visits Halifax (no disrespect DJ).

Plus, American's don't come here for nature. We have no old growth forest, we have shitty natural settings as compared to any other province (save PEI) and most US states.

Are these people motivated by what they say (environment, etc) or are they just on the NIMBY tip, looking out for numero uno and their current property. I believe the latter.

None taken, bud.

Bedford isn't spposed to be a tourist town.

We're really a middle-class working community that serves as a major commutershed for Halifax.

That's why we only have fast-food chains and cheap motels to cater to the toursits that pass through and not hotels.

Ask any Bedfordian and they'll tell you nobody visits Bedford out of choice. Instead they come if there is family out here.

As for the forest arguement I'm all for untouched forests that might one day become old-growth as long as densification happens to replace the developments on the forest land. The only reasonable argument to save the forests is the environmental factor (which she mentioned).

[DigitalNinja]

I really don't mind that this happened, yes it's a setback to the development, but the things will be built somewhere else close by.

And I think Americans come up here for the people more than anything. Where else can you find grown men in skirts at a fort thats not across the puddle?

[Jonovision]

i think this was a great move. Its nice to know one person with a genuine good cause can still have an effect. There are way too many wetlands that are just plowed over to make way for subdivisions.

[Dmajackson]

New Bedford rink to open next month
Halifax News Net
BEDFORD
By Yvette d’Entremont – The Weekly News

The Gary Martin dome rink in Bedford is opening its air-locked doors next month.
Rocky Lake Development Association chairman Barry Mason’s enthusiasm was evident last week as he discussed the impending and long-awaited opening of the dome rink. After years of working to secure additional and desperately-needed community ice space, volunteers with the association are ready to open the 40-foot-high dome rink for use.
“We’re looking at Oct. 15, or a few days around that,” Mason said last week. “We’re getting very, very close and are now putting on the finishing touches, which is very exciting for the community.”
With the refrigeration equipment onsite and ice surface pipes expected to be laid in the floor any day, Mason said the dream is finally becoming a reality. Last week, Mason described the dome area as a beehive of activity. Dressing rooms that will adjoin the dome rink are under construction and workers are also busy in the dome, the mechanical room, and are finishing a roadway to the site.
“The members of the board really need to be applauded for their efforts,” Mason said.
“It’s now just a question of putting the pipes in the floor, then the final cement goes on the ice surface, we make the ice, and then we put the kids in.”
Despite the fact the dome rink isn’t yet officially open for eager young athletes, Mason said requests for ice time are already pouring in from all areas of HRM. The Bedford District Minor Hockey Association, which primarily serves Bedford, Waverley and Fall River, will be the dome rink’s anchor tenant.
But Mason said some ice time will be made available to other groups.
“This will hopefully free up time at other ice rinks as well so kids in other communities can use those surfaces,” he said.
“We’re telling people this isn’t a crystal palace, it’s a bare bones arena, a very economic facility that we’ve constructed.
But it is an ice surface and it will be good ice, and the dressing rooms are brand new. There’s a lot of buzz and the kids are excited.”
The opening of the Gary Martin dome rink will mark the first phase of development planned by the Rocky Lake Development Association. Mason said the association has 50 acres of land at the Rocky Lake Common site that they intend to develop in a second phase. That will provide other much-needed recreational facilities like soccer fields and gymnasiums.
“We’re thrilled the community will get to enjoy this (dome rink) project, which we always knew the community needed,” Mason said. “The problem is we could have five ice rinks up here and we still wouldn’t meet the demand for the community.”
Additional information about the Rocky Lake Development Association can be found at rockylakecommon.com.

ydentremont@hfxnews.ca