Development Rumours

[Dmajackson]

We might have land-banking going on along Bilby Street between Agricola and Robie.

5822 & 5842 BILBY STREET have had demolition permits submitted in the last few months. They're not adjacent properties but I have a hunch that the two small lots in between are also developer owned and will be demolished.

Can someone please check the ownership of #5816 (00161042), #5822 (00161034), #5830 (40048357), #5832 (00161026), and #5842 (00161018) Bilby Street?

If this is a development site it has potential to be a large project. It has CEN-2 zoning with 6 FAR on a 17'800sq ft lot so the total developable is over 100'000sq ft.

[Dartmouth lifer]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

We might have land-banking going on along Bilby Street between Agricola and Robie.

5822 & 5842 BILBY STREET have had demolition permits submitted in the last few months. They're not adjacent properties but I have a hunch that the two small lots in between are also developer owned and will be demolished.

Can someone please check the ownership of #5816 (00161042), #5822 (00161034), #5830 (40048357), #5832 (00161026), and #5842 (00161018) Bilby Street?

If this is a development site it has potential to be a large project. It has CEN-2 zoning with 6 FAR on a 17'800sq ft lot so the total developable is over 100'000sq ft.

5822 is owned by FS Industries Limited and all the others are owned by K-Wright Communications Limited which I am sure is a division of Eastlink/ Bragg Communications. Eastlink has been using these buildings for technical operations for years.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by Dartmouth lifer

5822 is owned by FS Industries Limited and all the others are owned by K-Wright Communications Limited which I am sure is a division of Eastlink/ Bragg Communications. Eastlink has been using these buildings for technical operations for years.

Thanks for looking.

I guess these are not bundled together. It is unusual to see two demolition permits on the same small block submitted at roughly the same time and not have them be related.

Bilby has seen so many developments over the last ten years I just assume any demolitions on the street means another apartment building.

[IanWatson]

FS Industries Limited has John Bragg as a Director so it would seem that they are indeed related.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Thanks for looking.

I guess these are not bundled together. It is unusual to see two demolition permits on the same small block submitted at roughly the same time and not have them be related.

Bilby has seen so many developments over the last ten years I just assume any demolitions on the street means another apartment building.

It would be good to see this block redeveloped. The whole neighbourhood west of Agricola is ripe for rebuilding, including Macara and Russell Streets above this. Similar redevelopment potential as the Almon/Isleville mid-rise cluster had before that started getting built-up.

Unrelated, some demolition will be going on down on Queen Street in a week. I assume this is the vintage row buildings. A lot of people are going to be mourning this stretch; I honestly am not too bothered by this (compared to other potential losses, like the Alehouse--though apparently there may be some negotiations underway with Ramia on that). What bothers me more is that, to my knowledge, the development here isn't imminent, which means the land will be cleared and empty for who knows how long before it gets replaced.

[MastClimberPro]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

FS Industries Limited has John Bragg as a Director so it would seem that they are indeed related.

Seems likely that it isn't a coincidence aftr all. I thought I read recently that Bragg wanted to get more active in real estate development, but I can't trust my memory any more.

[Keith P.]

Eastlink has been on Bilby St since its inception and that is now valuable real estate for development. I can see them relocating their facilities elsewhere and doing another large residential tower on the site.

[Dmajackson]

First off I'd like to say hello to the AllNovaScotia reporter that reads this forum.

They looked into the demolition permit and John Bragg owns six parcels in a row along Bilby Street. The company won't say what they're planning but last year they did hire a specialist in real estate development to help move along their redevelopment plans for their various lot holdings in North End Halifax.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

First off I'd like to say hello to the AllNovaScotia reporter that reads this forum.

They looked into the demolition permit and John Bragg owns six parcels in a row along Bilby Street. The company won't say what they're planning but last year they did hire a specialist in real estate development to help move along their redevelopment plans for their various lot holdings in North End Halifax.

Is it all of these vinyl clad chopped up houses? Does it include the Silver Dragon?

https://maps.app.goo.gl/fm3zQjTsREQsuBAi8

A tower would add great density here and improve the aesthetic...

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

Is it all of these vinyl clad chopped up houses? Does it include the Silver Dragon?

https://maps.app.goo.gl/fm3zQjTsREQsuBAi8

A tower would add great density here and improve the aesthetic...

Yah, while well taken care of they gotta go. They look like orphans in the middle of the City.

[Jonovision]

I heard a rumour this week of a 26 storey tower planned in Dartmouth at 1 Crichton Ave. The site of the old auto body shop that sold last year.

Anyone know anything about development on this lot?

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

I heard a rumour this week of a 26 storey tower planned in Dartmouth at 1 Crichton Ave. The site of the old auto body shop that sold last year.

Anyone know anything about development on this lot?

PID 00128454 is currently approved for 7-storey, 65-units.

The zoning in theory allows for a 90 metre building provided that you meet the F.A.R. of 5. At 13'000 sq ft that gives you ~66'000 sq ft or roughly a hundred units if you made them all tiny one bedrooms.

Chances are whoever you were talking to was talking about 10 EDWARD STREET which is better known as 40 OCHTERLONELY STREET. It's just down the street and has a few different permits one of which I think was 26-storeys. It currently has 32 floors in its approved building permit.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

I heard a rumour this week of a 26 storey tower planned in Dartmouth at 1 Crichton Ave. The site of the old auto body shop that sold last year.

Anyone know anything about development on this lot?

FWIW, that was an Irving service station for literally decades, and I think more recently a private repair shop.

I think it would be a nice place to live, next to Sullivan’s Pond and the daylighted river. It was a great neighborhood to grow up in.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

FWIW, that was an Irving service station for literally decades, and I think more recently a private repair shop.

I think it would be a nice place to live, next to Sullivan’s Pond and the daylighted river. It was a great neighborhood to grow up in.

Undoubtedly you remember its twin, Don & Ev's Irving on Thistle, at the top of Maple, across from the foundry. If I remember correctly (which, lamentably, seems to happen less frequently these days), they eventually operated both stations for a short time. Neighborhood landmarks for sure.

Agreed, Dartmouth was a terrific place to be a kid in those days (not that it isn't now).

[terrynorthend]

Is that the lot that became that weird little OReagans, or was it across the street where the townhouses are? I have a vague memory of it, but I'm a titch younger than you I think.

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Undoubtedly you remember its twin, Don & Ev's Irving on Thistle, at the top of Maple, across from the foundry. If I remember correctly (which, lamentably, seems to happen less frequently these days), they eventually operated both stations for a short time. Neighborhood landmarks for sure.

Agreed, Dartmouth was a terrific place to be a kid in those days (not that it isn't now).

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by terrynorthend

Is that the lot that became that weird little OReagans, or was it across the street where the townhouses are? I have a vague memory of it, but I'm a titch younger than you I think.

The Irving station was where the townhouses are. The O'Regan's lot is where the old iron foundry was.

[terrynorthend]

Right, Thanks! I remember the station but not the foundry. I guess maybe as a kid I didn't know what it was so it didn't make much of an impression.

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

The Irving station was where the townhouses are. The O'Regan's lot is where the old iron foundry was.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Undoubtedly you remember its twin, Don & Ev's Irving on Thistle, at the top of Maple, across from the foundry. If I remember correctly (which, lamentably, seems to happen less frequently these days), they eventually operated both stations for a short time. Neighborhood landmarks for sure.

Agreed, Dartmouth was a terrific place to be a kid in those days (not that it isn't now).

Yes, I remember it, and all of the other 7 service stations that were in the neighbourhood in the 1970s, that eventually went as time passed, except for one.

There was:
1) The station that still exists on the corner of PA Road and Ocht.
2) The 2 that we are discussing.
3) 2 on Ocht, between Pine and Victoria.
4) A Texaco at the bottom of Pine, across from Greenvale School.
5) The one located on the lot where the Edward St project is happening.

Times change, fuel economy improved, the local service bays fell to the muffler chain shops and proprietary dealer service information. Now HRM won’t even let anyone open a new service station (errr… gas bar and convenience store), and eventually they will be replaced by charging stations.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Yes, I remember it, and all of the other 7 service stations that were in the neighbourhood in the 1970s, that eventually went as time passed, except for one.

There was:
1) The station that still exists on the corner of PA Road and Ocht.
2) The 2 that we are discussing.
3) 2 on Ocht, between Pine and Victoria.
4) A Texaco at the bottom of Pine, across from Greenvale School.
5) The one located on the lot where the Edward St project is happening

And Bedford Highway was even more congested with gas stations. Seemed like there was one every thousand feet or so.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

And Bedford Highway was even more congested with gas stations. Seemed like there was one every thousand feet or so.

Yes! And every one of them had some high school kid pumping gas, often to help pay for his own car. I suppose this concept must seem quite odd to anyone not old enough to remember it. Life is so different in so many ways now.

Oops… straying away from “development rumours “ a little…