Four towers planned for former St. Pat’s site in Halifax
HALIFAX, N.S. — It’s a mighty vision for what’s now an open field of grass in downtown Halifax.
Lydon Lynch Architects, on behalf of property owners Banc Investments Ltd., recently posted several images and a video of what they have in mind for the 1.33-hectare property site that used to be home to St. Patrick’s High School on Quinpool Road. It involves four towers of residential, commercial and retail space.
They’re calling it St. Pats Crossing.
“Four dynamic flowing towers surround a courtyard on a major block in downtown Halifax, mediating between an active commercial frontage and adjacent residential areas,” was posted on the Lydon Lynch Architects website.
“This development creates a strong, recognizable, and cohesive design signature across the four buildings, each of which exhibits its own distinct variation reflecting its program and proximity. The undulating shape of the western towers transform throughout the day in response to lighting conditions, creating various wave forms evocative of its oceanic-centred city site.”
The page states there will be four towers: Two will be 29 storeys and the others will be nine and 11. Under the Centre Plan, most of the site is zoned CEN-2, which allows highrises with maximum heights of 90 metres, which is about 28 to 30 storeys.
It also lists a completion date of 2027 but a spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Municipality said on Monday that there is no development agreement for the site and they have not received an application to redevelop the site to date.
The high school was closed in 2007. The property declared surplus in 2014 and it was demolished in 2015. HRM closed the sale on the site in Feb. 2020 for $37.61 million to BANC Investments Ltd.
In an interview with SaltWire in 2020, Alex Halef with BANC Investments Ltd., said they were focused primarily on residential and commercial, and wanted to take their time with the design.
“This is an important property so I don’t want to rush it,” Halef said at the time. “We’re looking at multiple buildings come out of a common podium, it’s complicated I don’t want to rush this type of design.”
Lydon Lynch Architects say on their website that retail spaces and street-level patios will support a “vibrant pedestrian environment along the southern side of the project along Quinpool Road and Windsor Street. At the northern side, they plan to install two multi-residential buildings to “form a central park amenity” that will connect to Halifax’s cycling network.
Interview requests for Lydon Lynch, BANC and the Quinpool Road Mainstreet District Association were not returned on Monday.
