‘Little Brooklyn’ development project expected to make Dartmouth unrecognizable, councillor says

A development project in the old Dartmouth shopping centre, known as Little Brooklyn, is set to make the area unrecognizable.

Dartmouth, N.S., has undergone significant developments in recent years and more are in the works.

“There’s thousands of units coming to Wyse Road, there’s the massive redevelopment of the Dartmouth Shopping Centre, there are other stand-alone projects all along Wyse Road so Wyse Road is really booming,” says Councillor Sam Austin.

Tim Rissesco with the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission says there are several new developments downtown.

“We have four active developments we are seeing just around here in downtown Dartmouth and then there are more up and around the Macdonald Bridge. It’s really picked up in the last two to three years and we are going to see more of it,” says Rissesco.

Many of the new developments across the region are residential.

“You’ll have ground floor commercial in most of these sorts of projects so there is a commercial component but all the upper floors, we don’t really have much of an office market, it’s residential right, it’s places that people want to live,” says Austin.

One major project is “Little Brooklyn,” which will include four 40-storey buildings and some 12-storey structures.

“A new definition of urban living, we will have an urban grocery store – the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada – as well as a different venue out here, all this parking will be, this array of parking will be gone, it will be all walkable, outdoor cafes, and other local shops,” says Joseph Daniel, Cresco CEO and one of the partners in the development of Little Brooklyn.

“Our development is going to have ground level commercial, we have two anchor stores that we are going to accommodate that will complement multi-residential housing above. There will be 1,600 apartments plus or minus above it,” says Jim Kanellakos, owner of J2K Properties and partner in Little Brooklyn.

The development will also have a couple hundred thousand square feet of commercial space and these developers want to help put Dartmouth on the map.

“It was an opportunity for us to get involved in a little more of the urban construction. Most of what we have done has been in the suburban and the rural. We saw the opportunity and we felt this was great to be part of redefining this area of Dartmouth,” says Daniel.

“Dartmouth a few years ago was recognized as being one of the top 10 up and coming vibrant communities in the country and we really recognize that and want to be a part of it,” says Kanellakos.

Austin says Dartmouth is finally tapping into its potential.

“You skip forward five or 10 years; it’s going to be unrecognizable. Instead of suburban style strip malls, vacant lots and parking lots, we’re turning into a very urban neighborhood with high density living,” says Austin.

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