Not so much a reclad as a complete restoration:
The
Higgins Block in Moncton is located at the corner of Main & Botsford, directly across the street from Moncton city hall.
It was built in 1901, first serving as a boot and shoe factory, subsequently undergoing several new iterations, before ending up as a nightclub in the 1980s called
Spanky's. Fun fact, the Barenaked Ladies were served here once by a waitress named Enid, and the rest is history.
The ground floor of the building has remained occupied since the early 1990s, occupied by a variety of restaurants, most importantly Mexicali Rosa's which has been a long term fixture. The upper floors however were essentially abandoned, and the windows boarded up, which was a severe embarrassment to the city given the buildings prominent location near the heart of downtown.
Last year, Adelin Properties, a local Moncton based development company finally bought the Higgins Block from the previous carpetbagging absentee landlord based in Halifax (who didn't give a fuck), and the buildings transformation has begun.
New windows have been installed on the second and third floors.
The upper floors have been gutted to the rafters and original flooring, and have been completely cleaned, ready for transformation to office space.
View of Moncton city hall from the roof of the Higgins Block.
The loft type office space that will soon be available in the Higgins Block (COVID aside) should be extremely attractive to any type of high tech company out there that would like to make the heart of Moncton it's home.
