[Dartmouth] Wyse Tower (5 Williams) | 84 M | 27 FL | U/C

[Dmajackson]

BOSTON DEVELOPMENTS has a new rendering up saying construction will start Summer 2022. Only hint is it says Dartmouth, NS and it's about 26 storeys tall.

Boston Developments Ltd Instagram

Anyone recognize this project?

[someone123]

1 Williams Street? You can see the address in the rendering near the front entrance of the building. It is a small street that runs for 1 block on the Dartmouth side of the Macdonald bridge approach.

[Dmajackson]

^Good catch so I assume that is the MacDonald Bridge in the background then. So its the vacant site along Faulkner Street between Williams and Dickson.

[Dmajackson]

This project is going before Design Advisory Committee next week for approval.

Case 23998 Pre-Application Site Plan Approval Report

Tower and entrance will be oriented to Williams Street. The lot is the entire Willams/Faulkner/Lyle/Dickson block minus the tattoo shop. There is a public art piece proposed for Faulkner/Williams street corner by Vasilis Vasili.

- 160 residential units
- 26 floors
- 84 parking spots all indoors on three levels
- F.A.R. of 3.49
- Window wall and composite panel exterior

[terrynorthend]

Very nice. 29 floors to the high roof line.
This is on the north side of the bridge, add the 3 proposed towers to the south of the bridge and the tower where the law office is now on the Sportsplex corner...that will be quite the gateway to Dartmouth when driving across the bridge from Halifax!

[DigitalNinja]

Don't forget this development too https://www.thestar.com/halifax/2019...rey-tower.html

If everything gets built this will probably be the most dense block of high rises in Halifax.

EDIT:

I downloaded Sketchup and played around with it a bit and came up with this massing of the area. No judgement this was my first time playing with the program. Heights of the buildings are true to what's available of them online.

https://imgur.com/a/Bks6RU9

[atbw]

It's looking like this area is kind of Dartmouth's version of Robie/Almon/Young - formally a car-centric wasteland, with the potential to become sort of another downtown.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by DigitalNinja

EDIT:

I downloaded Sketchup and played around with it a bit and came up with this massing of the area. No judgement this was my first time playing with the program. Heights of the buildings are true to what's available of them online.

https://imgur.com/a/Bks6RU9

Pretty cool. When you see them all together it really will be quite impressive.

[fatscat]

Originally Posted by atbw

It's looking like this area is kind of Dartmouth's version of Robie/Almon/Young - formally a car-centric wasteland, with the potential to become sort of another downtown.

Yup. Seeing pockets of these developments go up. Stretch of Joe Howe nearest to the shipping terminal is the same. On the 1km stretch between the Bedford ramps to Bayers rd there are 5 either active, shovels-in-ground or planned developments. Howe is still a car-centric mess, but those developments are a forcing function towards stronger communities.

[Colin May]

And these proposed developments show the necessity of the infill project at Dartmouth Cove. https://www.saltwire.com/halifax/opi...ing-100740249/
The pyritic slate from these sites is a short distance to the infill site and will reduce emissions from trucks.
Who remembers Hurricane Blanche in late July 1975 and the SEDCO rig breaking loose from the shipyard and grounding at Shannon Park ?

[atbw]

Originally Posted by Colin May

And these proposed developments show the necessity of the infill project at Dartmouth Cove. https://www.saltwire.com/halifax/opi...ing-100740249/
The pyritic slate from these sites is a short distance to the infill site and will reduce emissions from trucks.
Who remembers Hurricane Blanche in late July 1975 and the SEDCO rig breaking loose from the shipyard and grounding at Shannon Park ?

Honestly I wouldn't really mind the slate infill if there was actually a long term plan to do something with the space once it's filled. A pile of rock in the harbour in front of what's going to be a revitalized area is a total waste of space though.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by atbw

Honestly I wouldn't really mind the slate infill if there was actually a long term plan to do something with the space once it's filled. A pile of rock in the harbour in front of what's going to be a revitalized area is a total waste of space though.

There is the Bedford fill area. Still empty, right? I think it must be nearly 20 years old now.

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by fatscat

Yup. Seeing pockets of these developments go up. Stretch of Joe Howe nearest to the shipping terminal is the same. On the 1km stretch between the Bedford ramps to Bayers rd there are 5 either active, shovels-in-ground or planned developments. Howe is still a car-centric mess, but those developments are a forcing function towards stronger communities.

Now all of these development hotspots just need to be connected by serious transit.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by someone123

There is the Bedford fill area. Still empty, right? I think it must be nearly 20 years old now.

Location of the new ferry terminal scheduled to open in 2026?

Not my field of expertise, but isn't it a good idea to give all that fill some time to settle before building on it?

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Now all of these development hotspots just need to be connected by serious transit.

Unfortunately the Williams St development is several blocks straight uphill to the ill-positioned Transit terminal. They really could not have put it in a worse spot.

The only way it might work is if there was somehow a pedway in the sky from a mid-to-upper floor of the new building over Wyse Rd and then to the terminal, oriented so that it was almost a level trek.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Unfortunately the Williams St development is several blocks straight uphill to the ill-positioned Transit terminal. They really could not have put it in a worse spot.

The only way it might work is if there was somehow a pedway in the sky from a mid-to-upper floor of the new building over Wyse Rd and then to the terminal, oriented so that it was almost a level trek.

Having some kind of pedway or tunnel system crossing Wyse and Nantucket would probably work well here. As it stands it's not a very pleasant area for pedestrians and having more people cross at surface level will create more traffic problems, and realistically, accidents.

The Bridge Terminal works well for transfers and as a place to wait at but it's pretty awkward to get to on foot coming from the Wyse Rd side. If you look at an overhead view you can see that the design anticipated people using the trails across the roof of the terminal and entering from the top (a fairly elegant design solution and a neat feature IMO) but few people seem to know this option exists and so most people just cross at ground level, which blocks the buses.

https://goo.gl/maps/Sg6zW6gw2q2UZaJ88
https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.67085.../data=!3m1!1e3

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

...

Case 23998 Pre-Application Site Plan Approval Report
...

Flipped through the submission: the layouts of the 1BR units on Levels 2 and 3, between grids F and H and 6 and 8 look pretty tight. I understand that the furniture is just illustrative, but it looks like quite the squeeze to get around the 2-seat loveseat to get from the dining area to the beroom. yikes.

[LikeCranes]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Having some kind of pedway or tunnel system crossing Wyse and Nantucket would probably work well here.

I would love to see a four way pedway at that intersection. A big ol square tube letting us cross wherever.

[JET]

Originally Posted by LikeCranes

I would love to see a four way pedway at that intersection. A big ol square tube letting us cross wherever.

Maybe a scramble. I quite enjoyed the scrambles in Auckland.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Drove by this site earlier today and envisioned what a huge change this will be for the area. Currently the empty lots are almost country meadowish, surrounded by small single family homes (I think that most are homes built to house workers during WWII that were later sold off by CHMC after they had concrete foundations installed).

It was very quiet, almost serene, despite being next to the Mac-D bridge. In its current state, it takes quite a bit of imagination to envision an area densely populated with a number of tall residential buildings.

This will be quite interesting to watch in the next few years.