[Bedford] 910 Bedford Highway | 36 m | 12 fl | Approved

[mcmcclassic]

Originally Posted by kph06

United Gulf must be looking for money, this is up for sale:

910 Bedford Higway

Might want to change that link - it linked me to a girl's twitter picture of that huge French plane that landed at YHZ the other day.

[kph06]

Originally Posted by mcmcclassic

Might want to change that link - it linked me to a girl's twitter picture of that huge French plane that landed at YHZ the other day.

Fixed - here is the new link Partner's Global Listing

[mcmcclassic]

Originally Posted by kph06

Fixed - here is the new link Partner's Global Listing

I wonder which of the renderings presented were the most recent ones? That listing uses the original one we had on this thread, but a few posts up there was that other one.

Let's hope someone like Fares comes along and buys this up for a song and starts building ASAP.

[kph06]

I would assume this would be a very attractive buy as it could be started with short turnaround. I bet the major holdup will how much money United Gulf is expecting to get for it.

[OldDartmouthMark]

I noticed that the temporary building on the corner of Moirs Mill and Bedford Highway has been removed this week. Could this be an indication that they are going to start this project soon?

No updates on United Gulf's website yet.

http://www.unitedgulf.ca/communities...edford-highway

I have to say the rendering in application for amendment to the development agreement from last year is much less attractive to me than the one on UG's website.

http://www.halifax.ca/boardscom/NWPA.../19168Memo.pdf

[kph06]

This lot was up for sale. I think that rendering pre-dates the more modern looking ones.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by kph06

This lot was up for sale. I think that rendering pre-dates the more modern looking ones.

Thanks for that.

Any idea on whether that project is still going forward?

[OldDartmouthMark]

Noticed an excavator on site yesterday, so it appears that something is happening there...

[kph06]

They have cleared some trees when I went by tonight. I don't know if United Gulf ever sold the site, all of a sudden they have a decent amount if work on the go.

[Haliobserver]

Frank Magazine reporting that Navid Saberi has been hit with a Stop Work Order on his site at 910 Bedford Highway because of unapproved clear cutting.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Haliobserver

Frank Magazine reporting that Navid Saberi has been hit with a Stop Work Order on his site at 910 Bedford Highway because of unapproved clear cutting.

The excavator was working on site this morning.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Wow... has it been almost 2 years since this was last discussed?

Understandable, though, as the lot is still empty. The excavator I had mentioned in the previous post only did a little clean-up presumably for some environmental or erosion control purpose. Nothing has been done since then.

What's up with developers clearing land and then just leaving it vacant and untouched for literally years?

There's another spot on the Bedford Highway not far from this site that was clearcut, existing houses torn down, initial excavation started and left empty for several years: https://www.google.ca/maps/place/910...!4d-63.6775168

Can't help but wonder why there isn't some kind of bylaw requiring developers to at least do some landscaping to make it look better while they are trying to figure out whether they can do a project or not...

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

There's another spot on the Bedford Highway not far from this site that was clearcut, existing houses torn down, initial excavation started and left empty for several years: https://www.google.ca/maps/place/910...!4d-63.6775168

That is Southgate Village. I bussed by last week and work has started there on the townhouses along Glenmount Avenue

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

That is Southgate Village. I bussed by last week and work has started there on the townhouses along Glenmount Avenue

Thankfully they are doing something there. It has been quite an eyesore for the past 7 years or so.

Thanks for the update!

[OldDartmouthMark]

There are excavators on this site now, breaking rock. Don't know if this means that it is going forward or not, as it seems like the norm for them to work on it every couple of years and then stop...

[OldDartmouthMark]

This site has continued to be an ugly empty lot since I last posted in this thread almost 2 years ago... it pretty much looks the same as the Sep '21 google streetside view (https://goo.gl/maps/iagqWY7v6jAFAwg9A), except some of the black tarping has blown loose and the fencing is looking worse for wear.

This past week there was an excavator on site, but it wasn't clear what they were doing, it just looked like they were moving some rocks around (haven't seen any dump trucks on site). If it follows previous patterns, they will remove the excavator soon and the site will sit free of activity, in all its partially-started ugliness, for another year or so before they again place some equipment on site for a week or two to do some other kind of 'activity'.

Their activity pattern seems strange on this site. I'm curious as to why they would bring an excavator on site every year or so to move things around a little without apparently accomplishing anything? Are they skirting around some bylaw? It just seems weird.

Anyhow... maybe this will be the year when they actually build something here.

As a side note (but related), just down the street is another curiosity to me. It was excavated 10+ years ago, changing its appearance from a more natural landscape with mature trees (2009 Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/HmRABRb6ckaUKUgc8) to an unattractive excavated site (2012 Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/UN3JAVdmc1TVCGS56). And it has been left like this to the point where it has almost grown over again (2021 Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/sTmbVwn93JkqAAzr7), which is decidedly less attractive than if it had just been left alone. I'm assuming this was a project started by a company who faced financial troubles, but I really don't know the circumstances - only that it was dug up, had some stone dumped on site, and then left as-is.

Maybe I'm starting to sound like some nutjob complaining about unsightly premises, but I have come to realize that I'm really not a fan of companies digging up a site and then just leaving it sit (not unlike the downtown Texpark/Skye site), nor do understand why the city considers it an acceptable practice to just walk away and leave an excavated site in all its ugliness for years like this. I suppose it's just a pet peeve of mine, but I wish developers would just leave a site in its natural state until they are actually ready to do something with it (yeah, an overreaction on my part... ). Okay... rant finished.

[Dmajackson]

^I can address both issues you've raised.

Regarding 910 Bedford Highway the site is owned by United Gulf so I imagine this is quite far down their priority list. For now according to Councillor Outhit they have a lot grading permit and are working on stabilizing the slope. There is no DA or construction permit approved.

The other site you mentioned is called Southgate Village. A couple of houses were built on Glenmount as a part of an approved development agreement. The developer has since applied to change the remainder. Case 21946 shows the current proposal.

PS United Gulf owns this project and Texpark/Skye Halifax. I really hope once they finish up Boss Plaza they'll move ahead on Skye Halifax and then their projects in Bedford (this one and Moirs Mill West).

[OldDartmouthMark]

Thanks for that!

Regarding 910, it's good to know that something will eventually happen with the site, although the lack of DA (plus waiting for the Skye site to happen) makes it seem like we will still be waiting a long time, like another 5 years minimum of slope stabilization efforts. Probably more like 10 years, though.

I'm not in the development game, but you would think that leaving the site in its natural state would have been less costly than digging it out and then having to deal with slope stabilization, runoff, etc. Not to mention that the lot before excavation was nothing special, but at least it wasn't the eyesore that it is in its current state. Really, though, I'd just like to see the development happen - I don't think I would have the patience to work for a developer... you could spend your entire career waiting for a particular development to happen.

Regarding the Southgate Village project, sounds like an improvement overall, switching from 30 townhouses to larger residential buildings, but the single-storey commercial unit perplexes me - essentially a strip mall with a lot of surface parking that takes up a huge chunk of land. I'm surprised that there would be a need for this type of development given the two recent motel-to-commercial conversions in the area (Esquire Motel site looks like it's getting close to being done). One wouldn't think there would still be more need for yet another such plaza. I'd much rather see another multi-storey residential with some commercial at ground level on that part of the site.

I appreciate the update, but still don't get the 'excavate first, ask questions later' approach...

[Dmajackson]

United Gulf is seeking to modernize the approved development agreement. Case 23370 Details


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)