Nova Centre
The Nova Centre is a mixed-use development in Downtown Halifax. It comprises a hotel, two office buildings, the Halifax Convention Centre, commercial space, and Rogers Square, a public pedestrian arcade that was formerly part of Grafton Street. It was developed at a cost of $500 million by Halifax developer Argyle Developments.
History
The Nova Centre complex occupies two city blocks in downtown Halifax. One block was formerly home to the longtime headquarters of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald newspaper.The project received federal, provincial, and municipal public funding as it would house, in the podium levels and basement, the new Halifax Convention Centre operated by the Crown corporation Trade Centre Limited.
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 would remain open to the public as a covered pedestrian arcade, and was rented out for events by the developer.
In October 2015, the Bank of Montreal signed a 10-year lease agreement and naming rights deal to relocate their Atlantic Canadian headquarters to complex. The north tower was alternatively named BMO Tower. The bank's flagship downtown branch is also relocated on the ground level of the building.
In April 2017, it was announced that Grant Thornton had signed a lease for of space in the complex and would move there from the Cogswell Tower.