Development agency exec wants more tall buildings

[sdm]

Development agency exec wants more tall buildings

By MICHAEL TUTTON The Canadian Press
Fri. Apr 25 - 5:45 AM

It’s economically vital that Halifax city council allow exceptions to proposed rules on downtown building heights, says the chief executive of Nova Scotia’s economic development agency.

Council is expected to hear a proposal next month that would set firm height restrictions in the downtown to protect the view of Halifax Harbour from the top of Citadel Hill and ensure that streets aren’t cast into deep shadows.

The height guidelines are part of a broader proposal to create an urban plan for the city’s downtown.

Under current policies, maximum heights must be negotiated through a lengthy process.

Stephen Lund, chief executive of Nova Scotia Business Inc., told an audience of business-people Thursday that the city needs more office space if his agency hopes to attract more businesses to the province.

"If we don’t do anything, then it’s probably going to be game over," he said.

Without "flexibility" in height restrictions, it’s possible that businesses the agency is trying to attract to the city will choose another location, he said.

Lund said companies want to be downtown, where the city hasn’t had a major new tall building in 18 years.

He said the new urban plan, called HRM by Design, is promising, but "it needs to be flexible."

"It needs to allow for the right development downtown, and I am talking about height. (Companies) want to be downtown. They want to be in a cluster where their competitors are."

Heritage groups argue that the proposed rules are already flexible enough to allow development and there is already a considerable amount of vacant space in existing buildings.

Philip Pacey, president of Heritage Trust, said Lund has approached him before to make similar points.

He said he’s told Lund the provincial government could quickly move departments around, emptying out downtown office space, if the Crown-owned development agency attracts new companies.

In addition, he said there are several buildings already approved for development in the city’s downtown, but there hasn’t been enough of a market to warrant construction.

"I know a developer has an approval to build an 11-storey building, I believe, and they don’t build because there isn’t sufficient demand," Pacey said.

"If Mr. Lund wants, he just has to call these people and say ‘OK, I’ve got a tenant.’"

During his speech, Lund also emphasized a need for the city’s businesses to believe passionately in the coastal city’s prospects.

[sdm]

What the heck, does Pacey live in a bubble? Lots of Vacant office space downtown? I work in the industry and i can say there isn't any sizable space in the downtown for rent today, and won't be for sometime due to many tenants signing long term leases.

Funny thing is that government is one of the tenants that is starting to consume more space downtown, filling the vacancies over that past 2 years. How they would just move out and give way for new companies is just a no starter.

How do we stop these people from killing our city.....Other cities are starting to leave Halifax in the dust.

[hoser111]

Pacey does not live by the adage "better to be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt"!

[Canopus]

WTF is Pacey commenting on the availability fo real estate and office space for anyway?

He's a historic preservation guy not an office space expert and truthfully, his opinions are totally irrelevant and beside the point in this case.

If a specific building is going to be demo'd or affected then yeah he can speak up but that's all.

[Takeo]

I agree that we need more flexibility to respond to market conditions... but how is that possible with the current view plane and rampart bylaws?

[sdm]

Originally Posted by Takeo

I agree that we need more flexibility to respond to market conditions... but how is that possible with the current view plane and rampart bylaws?

OR with HRM by design. HRM by design will make it even harder and less economically feasible to develop downtown.

Read the details of what they are presenting (HRM by Design) and you will see it limits growth.

[Canopus]

Originally Posted by sdm

OR with HRM by design. HRM by design will make it even harder and less economically feasible to develop downtown.
.

I haven't yet reviewed it but I was under the impression that a goal was to create clear and understandable guidelines that developers want and that use issues would be essentially thrown out. I know there are height restrictions but I thought only for a couple major sites.

What specifically is the issue?

[sdm]

Originally Posted by Canopus

I haven't yet reviewed it but I was under the impression that a goal was to create clear and understandable guidelines that developers want and that use issues would be essentially thrown out. I know there are height restrictions but I thought only for a couple major sites.

What specifically is the issue?

These are my own observations

Issues: Height, capacity, economics, etc

There will be 70 foot height restriction for most of downtown. The suggested 3 million square feet Capacity is over stated and is more like 1.5 million, of which only half is public owned. The remaining land is government owned.

Reduced height means higher cost per square foot to build and therefore greatly increases the economic rent number developers will need to achieve to make a return. The market will never support these numbers now or many years into the future. Therefore development will continue to stall.

HRM by design makes downtown a museum and is a step backwards. If you read the details it makes new development nearby or the redevelopment of Heritage properties impossible. Heritage properties will now be considered 3 dimensional, and therefore the roofline and interior will need to remain.

It is all agreed we need rules, but these rules are not feasible.