‘Iconic’ Mills Bros. replacement pledged
Plans continue for replacement suitable for prime Halifax location
For many decades, at this time of year, people from all around would make a trip to Spring Garden Road in Halifax to look at the Christmasthemed window displays in the stores.
And the star of the show would be, without a doubt, the displays created by the people at the Mills Brothers women's clothing store.
Those days are gone, and anyone travelling on Spring Garden Road now will be greeted by an empty lot where Mills Brothers once stood.
The Micco Group, owned by brothers Mickey and Colin Macdonald, in partnership with Westwood Developments, owned by developer Danny Chedrawe and partner Mounir Haddad, recently tore down the old Mills Brothers building in preparation for the start of construction on an estimated $100-million mixed-use structure.
The 47,000-square-foot parcel of land on Spring Garden Road is bound by Queen and Birmingham streets.
In an interview in March, when plans for the former Mills Brothers site were announced, Mickey Macdonald said workers had been labouring on the inside of the building before the demolition crew started.
Initially, the plan called for an eight-storey building that could be built on that location. It was to include about 40,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor, and about 180 apartment suites above and 160 parking spaces below ground.
On Monday, Macdonald told me the details of the project are still in the planning stage. The Micco-westwood team is working closely with some talented people to make it a special building, he said.
“It's an iconic location, and we want to make sure it's an iconic building that's there to represent (the city). It's right in the heart of Halifax, so we're excited about creating something that's going to be noteworthy and something that will be there for generations,” Macdonald said in a brief interview.
“That's the exciting part about this, we're doing something that is going to have historical value.”
Demolition was supposed to have started in June, with construction expected to begin by the fall, but those plans were complicated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Macdonald said the municipal planning department and everything related to construction was slowed down.
The building was torn down in November, and Macdonald said construction probably won't start until sometime in January. The new structure is still set to be completed in early 2023.
"Spring Garden Road is experiencing strong growth, and the partners believe this venture fits well in terms of location and time to market to coincide with the $20-million public makeover of Spring Garden Road," the development partners stated in a news release in March.
“With the Halifax Central Library and the Doyle already recognized for their architecture and use of public space, the intersection of Spring Garden Road and Queen Street will become one of the most recognized intersections in Atlantic Canada,” said Chedrawe in the release.
Westwood also happens to be the developer of the the Doyle project.
“Colin and I are looking forward to working with Danny and Mounir in developing an iconic building in the very heart of our city and creating something that will become a piece of our family's legacy to Halifax,” Macdonald said in the same release.
Despite the many fond memories people have of the old Mills Brothers store, it was a mishmash of old buildings put together over the years by the various owners of the business, first the Mills and then the Maclellan family.
"There was nothing historic about it," Macdonald said during the March interview.
On Monday, speaking as a one-time owner of Mills Brothers, Macdonald said he believes retail has taken a big hit during the pandemic and that it will take some time for it to recover.
“What I'm thinking, in my humble opinion, we're going to see smaller retail spaces.”
Macdonald told me in March that it took a lot to renovate the building after he acquired it, but he didn't regret not tearing it down sooner. He sold the Mills business in 2012 to new owners who moved it down the street, but Mills finally shut its doors for good in 2015.
Despite the concern about the pandemic, Macdonald said, he has been lucky to keep working, although he said his wife keeps telling him to slow down a little.
Nevertheless, aside from the Spring Garden Road project, he said, he's building a small subdivision in the area of Larry Uteck Boulevard and, in the same area, he's starting a business he's calling a car spa.