Halifax considers moving forward with new high-density neighbourhood

Halifax Regional Council is considering moving ahead with a plan that could see a new neighbourhood with thousands of housing units near the Windsor Street exchange — but the area councillor says it will likely end up looking quite different than what was proposed.

The Strawberry Hill Future Growth Node development plan was submitted to council by Fathom Studio, an architecture firm based in Dartmouth, on behalf of the developers, Dynamic Properties Co. Ltd. and other investors.

The proposed high-density neighbourhood would see the construction of 14 buildings with a total of 3,656 units in an area along Strawberry Hill Street and Windsor Street.

The developers are also looking to create a new road connecting Windsor Street and Connaught Avenue to Strawberry Hill Street, as well as parkland, publicly accessible open spaces, new sidewalks, and separated walking and biking infrastructure.

During a council meeting Tuesday, councillors unanimously voted in favour of directing the city’s chief administrative officer to initiate a process to consider amendments to the regional centre’s municipal planning strategy and land-use bylaw to enable the development.

The CAO would also follow a public participation program to make the community aware of the project and invite feedback.

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During the meeting, area councillor Lindell Smith said he has heard about “some nervousness from the community when they saw the renders.”

He noted that the rendered images are what the landowners want, but “it’s not what they’ll get.”

“This is a long process … There’s still lots of discussion that has to be had around planning, in policy, in land use,” said Smith.

“That was just an ask from the landowners, but it’s not actually what the city will be moving on with because we have to do a planning process and understand what can happen there.”

Smith said the proposed development is in its very early stages, and it will take “some months” to finish the work, which will likely be taken over by a new council after the next municipal election in October.

Rob LeBlanc, the planning director for Fathom Studio, told Global News Monday that the development is “the best way to grow.”

“Rather than building and growing into wild green areas, it allows us to concentrate a lot of units and address that shortfall where there’s already services,” he said.

“It’s close to transit, it’s close to active transportation, you can walk to get your groceries — so these are the types of sites that HRM is looking at.”

If the plan goes forward, LeBlanc said construction isn’t expected to start for at least another two years, with the entire project taking up to 20 years to complete.

— with files from Mitchell Bailey and Skye Bryden-Blom