My girlfriend and I were up visiting my family over the holidays and spent some time checking out the locations of condo and townhouse developments under construction or planned to start soon, as we seriously consider a move up there in the next couple years.
While we were checking out the Bayhouse site we realized that the units with south-facing windows are going to be looking smack-dab into a parking garage. Even the top floor of the Bayhouse (5 stories) won't be able to see over the 7-story parking garage. Perhaps the parking garage was a required part of the development of the Marriott Residence Inn, but it seems like a huge chunk of fairly prime real estate to dedicate to parking.
I noticed while we were walking around that the parcel of land opposite the parking garage on the south side -- bordered by India, Fore, Hancock and the recently extended part of Commercial Street -- is completely fenced off. Does anyone know if there is planned development there? I would imagine that is an even more valuable piece of real estate as any south-facing units would have unobstructed views of the water, at least as things stand now. I know the old Grand Trunk Railroad building sits at the corner of India and Commercial and has some sort of historic protections to it. But it also looks like it has been vacant for quite some time. Then there is that bizarre concrete structure at the corner of India and Fore, which I think belongs to the water district, right? Perhaps that is a hindrance to development, but I can't imagine that parcel will sit empty for too long.