Nova Centre

Nova Centre
Nova Centre
	Nova Centre (glass towers in background) in July 2017
General information
Status	Under construction
Location	Halifax, Nova Scotia
Topped-out	January 2016
Cost	C$500 million
Design and construction
Architect	Noel Fowler Architect
Architecture firm	IBI Architects Atlantic
Developer	Argyle Developments
Website
	novacentre.ca

Nova Centre is a mixed-use commercial development under construction in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It comprises a hotel tower, two office towers, the new Halifax Convention Centre, retail space, and Grafton Place, a public pedestrian arcade that was formerly part of Grafton Street. It is being developed at a cost of $500 million by Halifax developer Argyle Developments Ltd.^[1]

History[]

The Nova Centre development occupies two city blocks in downtown Halifax. One block was formerly home to the longtime headquarters of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald newspaper.

The project has received federal, provincial, and municipal public funding as it will house, in the podium levels and basement, the new Halifax Convention Centre operated by the Crown corporation Trade Centre Limited (TDL).^[2]

In 2014, Halifax Regional Council approved the sale of a section of Grafton Street, running through the Nova Centre site, to Argyle Developments at a cost of $1.9 million. This section will remain open to the public as a covered pedestrian arcade, and will be rented out for events by the developer.

In October 2015, the Bank of Montreal signed a 10-year lease agreement and naming rights deal. The bank will establish their Atlantic Canadian headquarters in the office tower, and one of the towers will be named BMO Tower. The bank's flagship downtown branch will also be relocated to the ground level of the building.^[3]

In April 2017 it was announced that Grant Thornton had signed a lease for 36,000 square feet (3,300 m²) of space in the complex and would move there from the Cogswell Tower.^[4]

Elements[]

The complex under construction in 2016

Office towers[]

The two office towers are actually connected, and the floorplates can be combined, but the towers have separate cores. They are called the BMO Tower and South Tower respectively. Each tower offers 14,000 square feet of space per floor, or a combined 28,000 square feet per floor.^[5]

Convention centre[]

The Halifax Convention Centre is a conference centre that replaced the nearby World Trade and Convention Centre as the main convention venue in the city. The new, larger convention facility houses 120,000 square feet (11,000 m²) flexible event space that allows Halifax to accommodate conventions and events that the former convention centre could not handle. The convention centre opened on December 15, 2017.