HALIFAX -- Work on Halifax’s largest building project has just begun in the city’s north end, and residents say they’re already having to adjust to the work being done at the site.

Once complete, the site will boast five buildings with green spaces and parking. Developers say it will contain affordable housing and offices in nearly one million square feet of buildable space.

Until then, residents and employees who live and work in the Almon Street area are having to contend with loud blasting during the day.

That includes staff at the CNIB, including Hope, a 10-month-old guide dog in training.

“When they first started blasting, Hope was quite nervous, and so immediately we started working on strategies to help calm her,” says Catherine Kieran, manager of communications. “Now, Hope starts wagging when she hears those blasts and she’ll come over to me and say, I’d like a treat!"

Kieran says Hope has become accustomed to the blasts and now she sleeps right through them -- but it took training, with YouTube videos of explosions and lots of treats.

“That’s our job, to introduce the puppies to all kinds of different circumstances, and so Hope is prepared for loud noises,” says Kieran.

Around the corner, the blasts have left a more lasting mark on a café, where there is now a crack running down the wall. A heavy sign also had to be fixed after it fell over.

“It must have happened at the end of the day when our staff were gone. So, when we got in, we didn’t even notice it until my staff called me and said, ‘The sign looks like it’s going to fall down on me,’ so I had to come and get it fixed up, but we haven’t had any problems since,” says manager Chad Whiteway.

Whiteway says the construction is a big topic of conversation for people who live in the building that houses his business.

“I think everyone’s feeling it here,” he says.

Developers say the blasting and ground preparations will continue for a few months, with construction slated to start this summer.