September 25, 2018

Halifax advisory committee recommends approval of new development, though a shorter version

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An advisory committee is recommending a massive development for central Halifax go ahead, though preferably a shorter version.

Regional council’s Halifax Peninsula Planning Advisory Committee met Monday to consider the proposal for the corner of Robie St. and College St.: a 400-unit residential building with 32,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and two towers, one 26 storeys and one 20.

The proposal, from Kassner Goodspeed Architects on behalf of a numbered company owned by Peter Rouvalis, is the second for the area bounded by Robie St., Spring Garden Rd., Carlton St. and College St. Together, the two developments would transform nearly the entire block in the heart of peninsular Halifax, near Dalhousie University.

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At its last meeting in August, the committee recommended the first: a proposal from Dexel Developments for a 250-unit residential building with towers of 30 and 16 storeys on the Spring Garden Rd. side.

On Monday, the committee also recommended the second but tacked on a long list of non-binding recommendations for planning staff and the Halifax and West Community Council to consider.

Chief among those suggestions was a request to lower the buildings’ two towers down to the heights recommended in last year’s draft of the Centre Plan — the long-awaited group of documents that will guide growth in the urban areas of Halifax for the next decade. The Centre Plan recommends 16 to 20 storeys for the site.

Based on its access to services like transit, committee member Ashley Morton said this site is the right place to add “significant residential density” — but maybe not this much.

Keep reading in The Star Halifax

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