[St. John's] The Official Project Thread

[statbass]

Originally Posted by J_Murphy

Cool photo tweeted by councillor Burton yesterday on this. Not sure if this was shown in previous council agenda or not, but here it is:

https://twitter.com/mmburton/status/...828068352?s=20

I'm glad to see this one get through the approval phase. I think it fits with the area well.

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by J_Murphy

Cool photo tweeted by councillor Burton yesterday on this. Not sure if this was shown in previous council agenda or not, but here it is:

https://twitter.com/mmburton/status/...828068352?s=20

Ugh, Glad something is going there, but the design doesn't exactly inspire me.

To me it looks like a white version of the A-Place parking garage. I was hoping for something to better compliment the clock tower section in the square.

This issue has come up before with proposals. Obviously it will give a boost to merchants in the area, but why are our architectural offerings so banal? Cheaper to build?

I realize it's somewhat subjective, so maybe I'm out to lunch. Could also be a poor rendering I suppose.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Nice to see the height put in perspective there. From the stand-alone rendering it seemed rather tall, even for 6 storeys. Having something to compare to really helps though. I'm glad that a councilor (can't remember who) even said with regards to height concerns that 6-storeys isn't tall, even by St. John's standards.

[statbass]

Another car dealership expansion. Looks like Nissan may renovate the existing dealership to expand the current Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover dealership.

CBC News
Sept 10, 2019

Shiny new dealerships and a multimillion-dollar expansion are signalling a healthy auto industry in Newfoundland and Labrador, according to one dealer.

Rick O'Neill, owner of O'Neill Nissan, says sales are so strong he's moving to a new location after nearly four decades at the same spot on Topsail Road in Mount Pearl.

"We've outgrown our facility so we've had to increase the size of it," O'Neill said.

"I think our industry is healthy.… Newfoundland has not seen the downturn in Canada, which was only minimal at best," he said.

"Newfoundland seems to be flying along pretty well."...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...owth-1.5276239

[Arrakis]

Here’s a link to a document from the city of Mount Pearl showing some renderings of what the new dealership might look like.
https://www.mountpearl.ca/wp-content...itage-Info.pdf

Originally Posted by statbass

Another car dealership expansion. Looks like Nissan may renovate the existing dealership to expand the current Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover dealership.

CBC News
Sept 10, 2019



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...owth-1.5276239

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Arrakis

Here’s a link to a document from the city of Mount Pearl showing some renderings of what the new dealership might look like.
https://www.mountpearl.ca/wp-content...itage-Info.pdf

Thanks for posting! From the renderings it looks like a snazzy spot. Looks like O'Neill Auto Group is planning a lot of development in the near future. In the report it states the current Jag, Land Rover, Volvo dealership will be renovated into Jag Land Rover dual dealership; whereas Volvo will be split off and developed into dual dealership with another yet to be announced premium brand.... Lexus, perhaps?

Doesn't O'Neill own Acura? I thought they acquired it off Tucker a few years back. However, it's not mentioned in the document.

[J_Murphy]

Originally Posted by statbass

Thanks for posting! From the renderings it looks like a snazzy spot. Looks like O'Neill Auto Group is planning a lot of development in the near future. In the report it states the current Jag, Land Rover, Volvo dealership will be renovated into Jag Land Rover dual dealership; whereas Volvo will be split off and developed into dual dealership with another yet to be announced premium brand.... Lexus, perhaps?

Doesn't O'Neill own Acura? I thought they acquired it off Tucker a few years back. However, it's not mentioned in the document.

Yes, O'Neill owns Acura. If I'm not mistaken, Steele bought it from Tucker and then sold it to O'Neill. Steele didn't own it for very long.

[jjavman]

Interesting blurb on Mark Dobbin's problems:

https://www.thetelegram.com/news/loc...halted-350438/

[Sctttmmy]

That document appears to pre-date the Acura acquisition and is probably the premium car brand mentioned.

Originally Posted by statbass

Thanks for posting! From the renderings it looks like a snazzy spot. Looks like O'Neill Auto Group is planning a lot of development in the near future. In the report it states the current Jag, Land Rover, Volvo dealership will be renovated into Jag Land Rover dual dealership; whereas Volvo will be split off and developed into dual dealership with another yet to be announced premium brand.... Lexus, perhaps?

Doesn't O'Neill own Acura? I thought they acquired it off Tucker a few years back. However, it's not mentioned in the document.

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Sctttmmy

That document appears to pre-date the Acura acquisition and is probably the premium car brand mentioned.

Good point. However, the document states that the existing Jag, LR, Volvo dealership will be renovated to include Volvo and another premium brand. Acura has it's own (newer) location - something to think about. Of course, given the document is a couple years old, O'Neill may have updated their plans after acquiring Acura and Volvo may end up being a standalone dealership... Remains to be seen.

[cdotr]

Originally Posted by statbass

Good point. However, the document states that the existing Jag, LR, Volvo dealership will be renovated to include Volvo and another premium brand. Acura has it's own (newer) location - something to think about. Of course, given the document is a couple years old, O'Neill may have updated their plans after acquiring Acura and Volvo may end up being a standalone dealership... Remains to be seen.

The O'Niell document also mentions the relocation of FixAuto to 969 Topsail Road. The FixAuto franchise is now owned by Capital Auto Group and is in Donovans.

There aren't many premium car brands that we don't currently have in St. John's. Other than moving Acura across the street the other brands that we don't have that would make sense are Lexus and Porsche. Lexus is usually associated with the local Toyota dealership as Lexus is a Toyota brand.

Also given that Porsche is next to Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo in Halifax... it makes me think Porsche could be the un-named luxury brand.

I wouldn't expect to see a Lamborghini or Ferrari or Alpha Romeo dealership here.

[statbass]

Originally Posted by cdotr

The O'Niell document also mentions the relocation of FixAuto to 969 Topsail Road. The FixAuto franchise is now owned by Capital Auto Group and is in Donovans.

There aren't many premium car brands that we don't currently have in St. John's. Other than moving Acura across the street the other brands that we don't have that would make sense are Lexus and Porsche. Lexus is usually associated with the local Toyota dealership as Lexus is a Toyota brand.

Also given that Porsche is next to Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo in Halifax... it makes me think Porsche could be the un-named luxury brand.

I wouldn't expect to see a Lamborghini or Ferrari or Alpha Romeo dealership here.

It'd be really cool to have a Porsche dealership here in St. John's; however, I don't think the demand warrants having one. May be there'd be more on the road if a dealership came here. But I think anyone in the position to buy a Porsche doesn't really care if it has to be shipped from Halifax.

Lexus is Toyota's luxury brand and I also read somewhere that Toyota plaza can ship them in for customers. Acura is Honda's luxury line but is owned/operated locally by O'Neill; whereas Honda is locally owned by Steele. I always find it a bit funny how that works out.

Given the age of the document, the more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to agree with Sctttmmy and say the other luxury brand is likely Acura.

Prove me wrong, O'Neill!

[Crisisnf]

Originally Posted by statbass

It'd be really cool to have a Porsche dealership here in St. John's; however, I don't think the demand warrants having one. May be there'd be more on the road if a dealership came here. But I think anyone in the position to buy a Porsche doesn't really care if it has to be shipped from Halifax.

Lexus is Toyota's luxury brand and I also read somewhere that Toyota plaza can ship them in for customers. Acura is Honda's luxury line but is owned/operated locally by O'Neill; whereas Honda is locally owned by Steele. I always find it a bit funny how that works out.

Given the age of the document, the more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to agree with Sctttmmy and say the other luxury brand is likely Acura.

Prove me wrong, O'Neill!

I had heard a few months ago that a Porsche boutique was opening in the Jag Hotel. No inventory on site but you would be able to order a vehicle and have it brought in.

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Crisisnf

I had heard a few months ago that a Porsche boutique was opening in the Jag Hotel. No inventory on site but you would be able to order a vehicle and have it brought in.

Hmm...Interesting. Jag hotel is owned by Steele who also own a few dealerships in the province. Sounds pretty cool to order a Porsche. I guess ordering from Jag will lower freight cost since Steele could ship them with other cars in the dealerships - probably one advantage over buying from O'Regans in Halifax. However, it would be nice to have a physical building with a showroom (not that I'd be buying a Porsche any time soon!)

[Arrakis]

The developers of this proposed building have just applied to be allowed to increase the height of this proposed building project to 18 metres from the original 15 metres.
http://stjohns.ca/public-notice/appl...1-water-street

Originally Posted by J_Murphy

New building proposed for 331 Water Street:

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...,%202019_2.pdf

[rthomasd]

They found that the water table was too high for that site ( surprise ? ) so instead of two underground parking levels they want to go with one and make the building higher.

[SignalHillHiker]

Sigh.





We're turning into Drogheda.

https://www.thejournal.ie/drogheda-t...80191-Feb2016/

[statbass]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Sigh.





We're turning into Drogheda.

https://www.thejournal.ie/drogheda-t...80191-Feb2016/

Man, that is one uuuugly looking building right there. It is sad something like that is being built downtown. Kelsey Dr area maybe, but downtown... really? I'm trying to re-orientate myself here, but where is this located? Is it on Water St. side or Duckworth?

[SignalHillHiker]

It's where The Landing was supposed to be. Old Crazy Horse or whatever it was called. Top of Hill o'Chips.

[Horsell]

Looks like a case of cut your losses and get out. The proposal from 4 or 5 years ago had so much promise...and with that comes so much opposition. I hope the NIMBY's will be please with these "lovely" store fronts. Well at least one good thing came from the failed proposal, the Bannerman Brewery across the street.