Halifax highrise on Brunswick Street gets more units, changes to Citadel rampart sightline rules

A highrise already on the rise in downtown Halifax is now going up a little more.

And the nine-storey office building beside it on Brunswick Street will be converted into residential units.

This week, Halifax regional council made changes to the planning strategy and land-use bylaw — that also cover the rampart sightlines from the Halifax Citadel — to allow Grafton Developments (owned by the Ghosn family) to build six extra units onto their development at Brunswick and Gottingen streets.

The rules govern the space between the top storeys of highrise buildings to protect the historic rampart views from the Citadel.

Chris Markides, with Zzap Architecture and Planning, representing Grafton, said that the abutting highrise in this case is the Pearl, an eight-storey residential building also owned by Grafton.

The new building is 15 storeys, and Markides referred to it as an addition to the office building next door. With the six additional units, the two buildings will have 219 units.

Markides told council that this will be a more efficient use of land and add growth in the downtown core.

The developer applied to reduce the setback from the top part of the building from 11.5 metres to six metres for buildings over 33.5 metres.

HRM staff said the change is appropriate and still consistent with urban design goals, and sightlines remain uncompromised. It’s not site-specific and will make the change for the zone, but it would only be applicable to three properties on the west side of Brunswick Street, between Cogswell and Duke streets.

There was a public hearing Tuesday night but no one spoke, and the matter passed quickly and unanimously at council. From here, it will need a provincial review and approval.