Tender for redevelopment of Cogswell District pushed back to 2021

The tender for the redevelopment of the Cogswell District in downtown Halifax is now expected to be issued in early 2021.

The project, one of the biggest development projects ever planned for Halifax, would see a new neighbourhood being created. The sprawling project will connect the city's north end, waterfront and the downtown core.

Work on replacing the Cogswell Interchange with a mixed-use neighbourhood is behind schedule partly because of the pandemic but mainly because land negotiations have taken longer than expected.

In order to build a roundabout near Cornwallis Street, a parcel of land had to be purchased from the Department of National Defence.

"It does require some land to create the new leg that will go into the DND," said John Spinelli, the project manager. "Those negotiations are now complete and signed off."

The project also needs to buy a triangle of land owned by Crombie REIT in order to create a park and transit hub near Granville Street.

"That will be Ordinance Park, which is key, it's a pretty important piece," said Spinelli. "It's close, but I don't think it's going to hold up the project going to tender."

Even if a construction company is hired by next spring, Spinelli thinks it will be the fall of 2021 before any work gets underway. He said it will be done in phases so commuters and port traffic will be able to get through the area.

"One of the first things we will do is create a four-lane bypass road," said Spinelli. "It'll get shifted around a bit, but there will be two lanes north and two lanes south."