Fire Ocean Roll at Wasabi House

A new sushi place is open on Quinpool Road! And it’s awesome to say the least. Now, Halifax has a lot of sushi of places, many of them very established and with strong followings, however I am confident that the newly opened Wasabi House on Quinpool Road will quickly grow to be a force to be reckoned with.

Opening in the space occupied for decades by the Spartan diner, Wasabi House has done some great renovations to transform the space into a more modern restaurant with a very open concept feeling. As soon as you enter you are greeted by the sushi chef directly from the sushi station. The service is top notch, water is constantly in refill mode and the wait staff are quick to help navigate the menu. The menu itself is well presented and has many unique sushi rolls and combos, as well as traditional Japanese entrees.

Dining area & sushi station at Wasabi House

I went with a few friends for lunch and ordered the Maki Diamond combo – 6pc spicy salmon, 6pc spicy tuna, 6pc California roll & 8pc dragon roll (shrimp tempura with your choice of 5 different toppings such as BBQ eel or mango). However, I substituted my dragon roll for a Fire Ocean Roll: panko crusted salmon, tuna, butterfish & cucumber roll with flying fish roe and served with wasabi mayo. Sign me up. By the way, the substitutions are very cheap, I believe they just charge you the difference in price.

Maki combo at Wasabi House

Soup & salad starter at Wasabi House

I have to say that this was some of the best sushi I have ever tasted. The fish was extremely fresh and flavorful, the toppings were incredible and the miso soup and salad were delicious as well. By the way, all of the above was $25. In my opinion this is some of the best tasting, high quality sushi in Halifax, even more so for its prices.

I really like this restaurant and suggest you go check it out today, and if you are lucky your server will be Hai – super nice and knowledgeable and truly passionate about the food. He also informed us that the owner’s wife makes amazing gyoza (dumplings), which I really look forward to trying. Go to Wasabi House today, corner of Quinpool and Oxford, directly across from the Oxford Theater – you will not regret it.

Back area of Wasabi House

1211 Queen Street exterior

Halifax has plenty of high end real estate with a number of properties well over the $1 million mark. Many of these are incredible dream homes, but sometimes it is not the most expensive house that stands out. There is currently a property on the market that to me is the perfect home, and while it’s below the $1 million price tag, it is still a little bit outside of my personal reach (for now!).

At an asking price of $799,000 I think 1211 Queen Street is worth every penny. Listed by Steve Patterson of Red Door Realty, this downtown home is on the corner of Queen and South Streets, within immediate walking distance to every imaginable amenity. From the outside it looks like a nice enough home, but not necessarily demanding of a second look. However based on the photos, the interior is where things get interesting.

The link to the listing details is at the end of the article, so I won’t get into repeating too many details that are already noted, but I’ll touch on my favorites. The entire house features high end modern finishes, combined with exposed brick walls. I am sucker for this contrast – the old with the new looks great together. On a side note this is something that opponents of downtown development need to understand – modern structures and design look great next to historical properties.

Kitchen & dining area, combining high end finishes and original character

Moving on, this property also features floating stairs on every level – an awesome feature that I think adds a very futuristic look, but because the steps are made of maple, still maintains a rustic and elegant appeal.

Floating stairs - may be dangerous if you have small children, but awesome otherwise

The coolest part of this house is definitely the upper level, which is a loft style master suite complete with a fully operational glass garage door (yes, you read that properly) which opens into a large balcony with a 6 person hot tub overlooking the entire harbor. If that doesn’t sell it, then I don’t know what will.

Top floor master bedroom with glass garage door opening to the deck, overlooking Halifax harbour

To top it all off, there is a separate 1 bedroom apartment on the lower level that brings in $800/month which should help with the mortgage payment on the $800K price tag. Speaking of the mortgage, based on the full asking price and today’s fully discounted 5 year fixed rate this property would have a monthly payment of $3,366.24, assuming the minimum down payment of 5% of the price – $39,950. If a larger down payment was available, 20% for example to avoid CMHC insurance premiums, the monthly payment would drop to $2,753.50. However 20% of $799,000 works out to be $159,800 required out of pocket. The taxes on the place are approximately an additional $450/month. Like I said above, I think it’s worth every penny.

Here’s a link to the property details on the Red Door Realty website, check this amazing property out for yourself here.

Rendering of the Grainery Lofts upon completion

New apartments! Featuring high end finishes and appliances, floor to ceiling windows, fitness facilities and views of a gargantuan concrete structure that can withstand a nuclear fallout and was probably used as the set for the movie the ‘Book of Eli’ starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis (who is one of my favorite people to stare at on my TV and has really progressed since her ‘That 70′s Show’ days). But I digress.

We’ve all seen the mysterious grain elevator eerily looming over the venerable luxury of the Halifax South End, and wondered… what the hell does that thing do, and will anyone ever develop anything around it? Apparently the answer is yes. Not only is Southwest Properties well in the process of building a 6 storey, 113 apartment complex directly next to the grain elevator, but they are also employing some rather forward thinking methods from an environmental perspective.

The Grainery Lofts building under construction on South Bland Street

The building is called the Grainery Lofts, and will be the first residential building in Atlantic Canada to receive the LEED Gold certification (the second highest available). This means that many considerations were… well… taken into consideration when putting the project together, one of which was using recycled materials from old buildings around the city. Also, tenants will be able to monitor their own energy consumption by logging onto a website and checking the electrical and water usage for their suite. The LEED certification is more common in newly constructed commercial properties, as corporate tenants often must meet certain environmentally friendly criteria in their office spaces, but it is a trend that will likely continue to develop in the residential sector as well.

Grainery Lofts building with the grain elevator looming in the background

I’m glad to see this development happening and I hope that its proximity to what is arguably the ugliest landmark in HRM does not cause problems with filling the units. One of the main reasons why I like this development is that Southwest chose to find what little land is still available in the heart of the peninsula and build UP on it, instead of continuing to add to the suburban sprawl. Don’t get me wrong, there’s lots of demand for the suburbs and they serve their purpose, but there’s already plenty of developers working on those. It’s great to see a building going up downtown, despite the potential risks posed by it’s next door neighbor. The overall location however is ideal, and these higher end units will be great choices for young professionals working downtown as well as international students considering that SMU is just up the road.

Back view of Grainery Lofts in close proximity to the grain elevator

Occupancy is expected for 2012, and I hope to see this project succeed. I am also curious if perhaps Southwest is thinking long-term with this development – the grain elevator will hopefully be torn down at some point, leaving some prime South End real estate behind. When and if this happens, Southwest will already have a foothold in the area, and can make a play at acquiring the newly available land right away. Or maybe that will never happen. Who knows… your thoughts?

The current state/look of the CD Plus building on Barrington Street

Barrington Street’s facelift just went shopping for some expensive make-up. Yet another building is going to be completely rebuilt into a fantastic modern structure, effortlessly blending in with the historic brick turrets of the Khyber next door.

The 60 year old structure that used to house CD Plus is going to be demolished and rebuilt into a 6 storey, 10,000 square foot building. The main floor will be a retail space, with the remaining floors set aside for open concept office spaces, with the idea that it will be up to the businesses that ultimately occupy them to arrange the interiors to suit their needs. The building will then be topped off with a roof top patio.

Those that have read any of my development related blog posts will know that I am automatically 100% behind this development. Our downtown certainly has beautiful historic properties that need to be maintained, but if they are crumbling from the inside out then it’s time for them to be replaced by developers with vision and a modern approach to architecture. Which is exactly what’s happening in this case, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. Construction is expected to start in 2012 (provided that the Mayans aren’t right and the world doesn’t end before then).

I’m not sure how much opposition this project received from the usual crybabies that resist change and cringe at the word “new”. The building is not very tall so the sacred views from the Citadel are not affected, and it’s only 60 years old so there’s not too much history to protect. Hopefully this means that everything will go ahead smoothly and we’ll have an exciting new modern building gracing Barrington Street in no time.

Here’s a rendering of what the project will look like upon completion, click it to enlarge:

Rendering of the rebuilt CD Plus building on Barrington Street

Exterior of Laura's Cafe on Barrington Street

Finally, a place downtown Halifax where I can enjoy some home made Russian food. Now, mind you I am in the lucky position of just going to my parents house where my mom and grandmother are more than happy to feed me this type of food as well, but a Russian restaurant has been a long time coming to Halifax and I couldn’t be happier that it is open now.

My friends Larissa and Sasha opened up Laura’s cafe, located at 1022 Barrington Street about 2 weeks ago and I have already gone 3 times over the past weekend alone. With the help of their family staff they transformed a space that used to be occupied by a Laundromat into a bright and inviting establishment, which has already been host to a wedding and a birthday dinner.

As a side note, Laura’s does also serve traditional Canadian dishes, and has lots of student friendly all day breakfast and lunch options as well, however I’ll focus on the Russian cuisine. So what is Russian food? Many different things, I’ll go through a few of my favourites.

First of all there are many appetizers, it’s important to get as many as possible, and sharing is encouraged. Many Russian meals start with a first course of soup, and borscht is of course on the menu. Borscht is a delicious traditional Ukrainian soup which is recognized for its bright red color, coming from the main ingredient of beets. It’s cooked on a meat stock, and also features many other vegetables in the mix. It is typically served with sour cream – yes you put it directly into the soup, transforming it from red to pink. Sounds strange, I know, but it makes it even better.

Pelmenni w/ sour cream - I ate half of them before remembering to take a photo

There are also a few traditional Russian salads such as Stolichniy (‘Capital’) and Vinaigrette, both are great. Next we have the meat dishes, and pelmenni is my favourite hands down. Pelmenni are little hot dumplings filled with ground beef and also served with sour cream. They are greasy (in the best meaning of the word), and absolutely delicious. You can either order them in an appetizer or main dish portion. There are also blini or blinchiki (crepes), which are very popular in Russian cuisine. These are filled with your choice of meat, vegetables, potato & mushroom etc. These are also of course served with sour cream.

For the main dishes there is a great selection of shishkabobs – meat skewers served with salad and rice, stews, fish dishes and a few other items. All of these are a must have, and are cooked directly on the spot on a daily basis. The owners would rather run out of something that day than serve you something that has been laying around in the back of the freezer.

Shishkabobs cooking at Laura's Cafe (photo courtesy of Andrew Shalin)

If you can’t tell already I give Laura’s cafe my 100% seal of approval, and I strongly urge anybody that reads this to go there are soon as possible and give it a try. It’s delicious, unique, and a local downtown business – what more could you ask for? Go eat at Laura’s tomorrow, bring your friends, and check them out on Facebook here.

There are few viable options on how to live while avoiding an actual expense for your housing needs. Some options would include living with your parents forever, having no home at all or jail. All of these are to be avoided. Renting or buying comes with a payment, so where does that leave us?

Buy 2 houses combined into one! In other words, a 2 unit property. And I don’t mean get a room-mate, I am talking about a legally zoned property with two self contained units, with their own entrances, separate living quarters, kitchens, etc. You then live in one unit, and rent the other out to a tenant of your choosing. You might ask – “Wouldn’t a property like this cost more?” Let’s examine some real life scenarios from my mortgage business to find out.

SCENARIO #1

You are looking to buy a house. You find a property that you like for $250,000, and you are making a 5% down payment ($12,500). Let’s say that you take a 5 year fixed rate term, and a 30 year amortization to help keep the payment low as it is your first property. Here’s how the numbers look:

If this fits in your budget, then you have found yourself a great deal and you can stop renting and start growing your equity! However, let’s take a look at a few specific examples using both Halifax and Dartmouth as areas of comparison.

SCENARIO #2

Recently I had the opportunity to arrange the mortgage financing for a great 2 unit property in central Dartmouth – the property is located on Hawthorne Street, directly across from Sullivan’s Pond. One of my great Realtor partners – Chandler Haliburton of RE/MAX Nova, had helped our client locate and identify this property as soon as it came on the market. Our clients purchased the home with the intent of living in one of the units, and renting out the other for approximately $950/month.

Hawthorne Street 2 Unit Property

Keep in mind a 2 unit property can still be purchased with a 5% down payment as long as you actually live in one of the units. This mortgage was also structured under the best available variable rate at the time:

While this property was $30,000 more than Scenario #1, the monthly net payment is drastically lower given the rental income. Of course this makes a lot of sense economically, but are these properties hard to find? They can be – if you’re in the market for this type of property, you can rest assured that you are not the only one. In addition this property was in Dartmouth – do the numbers still work on the other side of the Harbour on the Halifax peninsula? The answer is yes.

Let’s take a look at this 2 unit property that another great Realtor partner of mine, Charlene Mills of Exit Realty Metro, has recently sold on Newbery Street in the North End of Halifax:

Newbery Street 2 Unit in North End Halifax

This great 2 unit property in trendy North End Halifax sold for $272,900. While I can not be sure of the specifics of the mortgage details on this property, let’s assume it was also set up with 5% down payment, under a variable rate. The numbers would look like this:

While the price was a few thousand lower, the property taxes were a little higher, however the bottom line payment after the rental income is again considerably lower than the monthly payment on a personal residence with no rental component.

It also is important to note that the last round of government intervention in the mortgage market has increased the minimum down payment on any rental property to 20% of the price, but only of the property is 100% rented out. If one unit is owner occupied, then a 2 unit property can still be purchased with 5% down, while a 3-4 unit can be bought with 10% down as long as one unit is owner occupied.

This strategy is not for everybody as the responsibilities and potential headaches of being a landlord are too much for some people to bear. However for those that don’t mind the potential risks, the financial reward of taking this route can be very well worth it – living in an appreciating asset while someone else makes the bulk of your monthly payment. If this is something that you have ever considered, or are curious about, then give me a call. Our Team has helped many clients purchase property using this strategy, and we will happily provide you with the information you need to decide if this option is right for you.

Taro and Watermelon Bubble Teas

“What is that?” is a common question you hear when drinking bubble tea. Well, it’s flavored, milky iced tea which is consumed through an extra wide straw to accommodate the black “bubbles”, which are little tapioca pearls that are at the bottom of the cup.

That may sound outlandish or ridiculous, but it’s a very popular drink in Asian countries and in many North American cities as well, Halifax just happens to have a limited supply of it. Personally, I love the stuff. The tea is very refreshing, and comes in many different fruit/berry flavors like strawberry, watermelon, mango, peach, etc. as well as other more unique ones like green tea, or taro. All of them share a similar underlying taste, but they do each have a distinct flavour based on the type that you choose.

Sounds good so far, right? Right. Unfortunately, I think where a lot of people take issue with this drink is the tapioca, and particularly their texture. They don’t really have a flavour of their own, but they are a little rubbery and shoot up through the straw very quickly, often taking first time bubble tea drinkers by surprise. Tapioca is a root, and is used in many different things including rice pudding – a staple dessert in any Greek dinner. In the case of bubble tea I would imagine the little tapioca spheres are meant to add to the overall experience and uniqueness of the drink.

A glass of this stuff costs about $5.00 and the place I always go to is aptly named “Bubble Tea Shop”, on the corner of Inglis Street and Victoria Road in the South End. I suggest you go try it out, if for nothing else than to say that you tried something new. Who knows, you might even like it, I definitely do. The owner of the bubble tea shop is very nice and it is very interesting watching him mix the drink, there’s quite a technique to it and he takes it very seriously.

Drinking a Taro Bubble Tea

Rendering for the proposed St. Joseph's Square development on the corner of Gottingen & Russell Streets

A new condo development project is one step closer to moving forward in North End Halifax. The proposed project would be on the corner of Gottingen and Russell Streets, very close to the Hydrostone neighborhood. The project’s site was previously occupied by St. Joseph’s church which was demolished in 2009.

The project design is pictured above, and would include a 2 level parking garage, 5,000 square feet of commercial space, 12 street level townhouse units and 83 total units standing at 9 stories high. This is actually a revised design as the original plan for the property was to be 11 stories tall with 85 units. The height adjustments were made to appease concerns of conformity with the neighborhood’s existing buildings and their respective heights.

As readers can guess I am 100% behind this project, as I firmly believe that peninsula growth is very important and since experienced businesspeople (developers) continue to fight to get these projects approved and completed then there must be a demand for these developments. Regional council must have thought the same as they approved land use amendments on Tuesday of this week, and the project’s development agreement’s next step is to get approved by Peninsula community council before it can be built.

The Chronicle Herald reported that as usual there were naysayers and Negative Nancy opponents of the project, and for our entertainment they even offered a few quotes. One person suggested that NOTHING should be built on this site, except for perhaps a park. While a park is not a bad idea, the suggestion of ‘nothing’ suggests to me that this person should not be suggesting anything. Others were concerned about the noise and the… get ready for this… DUST that this project would create. You live in the largest city East of Montreal. Things get built. Get over it. If your neighbors complained about the noise and dust that was created when your home was built, then you would be homeless.

Others expressed concerns about the 2 schools that are directly next to the project and the impact that the construction and extra traffic would have on the children. The construction is not happening inside the classrooms, and the kids are already crossing one of Halifax’s busiest streets as it is, not much change there. How about the impact that an urban landscape has on those around it? A growing, vibrant and entrepreneurial landscape and community inspires those around it to grow, be vibrant and forward thinking. But maybe we should stick to the above suggestion and build nothing, the current site is pretty inspiring too:

The current state of the site on the corner of Gottigen & Russell Streets

About to get started on my Burrito Jax lunch

What makes a perfect meal? There are certainly many things to consider such as of course taste and flavour, presentation, ability to satisfy hunger, calorie count, level of healthiness, speed of preparation, etc. However, overall compact simplicity should be a factor as well. And this is where Burrito Jax packs a serious punch.

A burrito is the perfect food: meat, vegetables, cheese and dressing tightly packed into a wrap. The pure simplicity of this all encompassing wrap should never go overlooked. There are a few similar alternatives such as pitas in many Mediterranean kitchens, but none are quite like this. Let’s take a look at what makes Burrito Jax my absolute favourite place in Halifax in the “fast, yet high quality” category of food.

1) First of all it is downtown (very important).
2) Secondly it’s open until the early hours of the morning on the weekends.
3) The staff are super friendly and genuinely into their product.
4) And finally the food is amazing.

You have your choice of 2 sizes of burrito, small or regular (go regular if you are hungry). Then you have your choice of meats: chicken, Jax chicken (specially spiced), pulled pork, pulled beef and steak. There is also a no meat option if that’s your thing. This is followed by a few signature toppings – rice, smashed beans, black beans and sweet potato. The sweet potato is a little different but I love it and usually get a little extra. Guacamole is also available for an extra charge unless you get the vegetarian option (then it’s free). This is followed by vegetables and cheese. Then you get into the sauces, which there are 2 categories of. First the salsas & hot sauces – there are a few in varying degrees of spiciness, I always go for the cranberry salsa. Finally you have the option of sour cream or “burrito sauce”. Burrito sauce is basically sour cream on steroids – it is infused with garlic and lime. I always go for this option unless I have appointments later because it leaves quite an impression on your breath.

All of these amazing things are rolled into a thin tortilla and then placed on a grill. And then this perfect compact meal is placed into your hands, and then your stomach. There is truly nothing like it.

My pulled beef burrito well under way... note the perfect combination of all of the ingredients within the tortilla

My personal burrito goes like this: Regular sized pulled beef with rice, smashed beans and extra sweet potato, followed by green pepper and tomato, cheese, cranberry salsa and burrito sauce. I have perfected this over a few hundred attempts, but there are plenty of other winning combinations as well.

Go there today and tell them that Igor told you to, it is located at 5215 Blowers Street, and you can check out their website by clicking on the logo below.

.

New One Way streets coming to Downtown Halifax (photo credit: John Richard)

Some of my worst experiences with road rage have stemmed from downtown traffic. New traffic changes being implemented in the downtown core starting this Fall will hopefully help keep my blood pressure to a more normal level, assuming this is possible.

The major change that is being put into effect is that many streets that currently allow for traffic in both directions will be converted to one way streets only. I believe that this is a great idea, considering that on some of our historic glorified alleyways turned streets even one way traffic is a stretch. Throw in the current two way traffic situation, plus a few parked delivery trucks, illegally parked motorists, struggling cyclists and an incapable driver or two and something definitely needed to be done.

The changes will be implemented in 3 phases: Below is a map of the changes, click it to enlarge and please study it carefully lest you find yourself staring into someone’s headlights via your windshield a month from now.

The upcoming changes to Downtown Halifax traffic - click the map to enlarge it

The main changes are that Lower Water Street will become a one way heading North, and Sackville and Blowers will also become one ways heading East (downhill toward the Harbor). The Sackville Street change is a bit of a surprise for me, and I am not sure if I am overly happy about it since I used to count on Sackville as a good downtown exit artery, but I am sure it will work out.

My concern with these changes is that not all of us are downtown very often. Some people rarely visit their city’s center at all (shame on you!), and as such can hardly navigate it as it is. What happens when all of the buzz around these changes dies down 1 year from now, and a family decides to take their annual downtown drive-through tour? Good chance that they will simply stick to going the way that they have always gone, which could be completely against the direction of traffic under the new rules – that’s dangerous stuff! But, I’m sure this has already been thoroughly thought through and there will be plenty of highly visible traffic signs to point drivers in the right direction. Also, here is the timeline of when these changes will come into effect:

Schedules of Downtown Halifax traffic changes

I am 100% for this change, and would even take it a step further in suggesting that some streets, Argyle Street for example, be completely shut off to regular car traffic. Thoughts?