Q LOFTS SET TO RISE IN NORTH END HALIFAX
Environmentally friendly units planned - to be built with ARXX ICFs.
Halifax, NS - December 17, 2012
Construction of a multimillion-dollar condominium project in north-end Halifax began Friday.
Concrete work on the Q Lofts, a $10-million to $20-million 72-unit condominium building on Roberts Street, just off James Street, is in full swing, with the first section of the footings poured Friday.
Pouring of the insulated concrete form perimeter walls in the parkade started Monday morning.
Developer Peter Polley, head of Polycorp Properties Inc., said construction was to begin last April, soon after a 15,000-square-foot industrial building at 5666 Roberts St. was demolished, with a completion date of next summer or early fall.
But a variety of factors, including a municipal building permit that “took quite a period” to procure, delayed the starting date until now.
The Q Lofts building will have a unique layout, with two-level units featuring 4.8-metre cathedral ceilings in the living room and front entry and a large bedroom loft overlooking the lower level.
Polley said they’re aiming to achieve platinum status from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and preliminary LEED scoring is “looking very good.”
Among the environmentally friendly features are a large hot-air solar collector that will cover almost the entire south end of the building, and a greywater heat recovery system that will allow heat to be extracted from sewage greywater before it is discharged into the municipal sewer system.
In-floor radiant heating, central geothermal heating, triple-glazed windows, solar thermal walls and extra insulation inside the perimeter walls are also being planned for the building.
Heat, water and hot water will all be tracked on a user-pay basis, and Q Lofts residents will be able to access online data detailing their personal patterns of use, creating a “strong incentive for residents to minimize consumption.”
“I am quite confident and proud in saying that when the building is complete that it will be one of the greenest, most energy-efficient large-scale multi-unit residential buildings in North America,” Polley said.
Units will range in price from $400,000 to $500,000.
Polley has elected to forgo a typical pre-sale period before construction, opting instead to open a sales centre at 2414 Agricola St. next month, about 16 months before the first resident is scheduled to move in.
“We’re confident that the units will sell, and we have the financial resources to start the building without requiring bank financing like most builders typically do,” he said.
As a result of the late start for the Q Lofts, work on the $15-million Jazz condominium project at the corner of Barrington and Cornwallis streets will also be pushed back.
“We haven’t done a lot on it, we’ve been busy trying to get the Q Lofts project up and running,” Polley said. “We’re hoping that as this project starts to wind down, that we’ll be getting started with the Jazz project.”
Construction work continues at the intersection of Roberts and James streets on Monday afternoon. Polycorp is developing 'green' Q-lofts on the site. (RYAN TAPLIN / Staff)
Read the full Herald.ca article here.