[St. John's] The Official Project Thread

[Marty_Mcfly]

It's uninspired, but unoffensive. I'll take it over a parking lot in the middle of downtown any day.

Whether it gets approved or not I'm not sure. Considering what's across the street from it though it'll be hard to say no because its "ugly".

[Arrakis]

My exact thoughts on this also. Much like the Alt Hotel. Better than a gravel pit.

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly

It's uninspired, but unoffensive. I'll take it over a parking lot in the middle of downtown any day.

Whether it gets approved or not I'm not sure. Considering what's across the street from it though it'll be hard to say no because its "ugly".

[overboard]

Pretty sure that's what they're depending on to get this built. "Better than a literal hole in the ground" is an awfully low bar. The front looks like Hickman Motors.

[statbass]

Congratulations to the Newfoundland Growlers on their ECHL championship, in their inaugural year to boot! If I'm correct, this is the first professional championship to be won in both the city and province.

Having two professional sports teams make their respective finals was great for Mile One Centre in terms of total number of venue-days.

[Horsell]

Originally Posted by overboard

Pretty sure that's what they're depending on to get this built. "Better than a literal hole in the ground" is an awfully low bar. The front looks like Hickman Motors.

Agreed! Why should "we" (ie The City) settle for something just to get a little construction activity and/or fill up a "hole in the ground".

IF I owned that site (which sadly I don't), the first thing I would do is talk with the Murry Premesis owner and try to come to some agreement about the remaining surface lot. Why not incorporate it into the new building design, hide the lower level (2 if possible) and develop an open courtyard at the Water St. Level.

As for the design of the building I would be in 100% support if it was in Churchill Square or Kelsey Drive or even if it was in the other side of Bishop's Cove but for that site a little more attention to the "historic" (read OLD if you wish) nature of the surrounding buildings could be easily achieved.

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Horsell

Agreed! Why should "we" (ie The City) settle for something just to get a little construction activity and/or fill up a "hole in the ground".

IF I owned that site (which sadly I don't), the first thing I would do is talk with the Murry Premesis owner and try to come to some agreement about the remaining surface lot. Why not incorporate it into the new building design, hide the lower level (2 if possible) and develop an open courtyard at the Water St. Level.

As for the design of the building I would be in 100% support if it was in Churchill Square or Kelsey Drive or even if it was in the other side of Bishop's Cove but for that site a little more attention to the "historic" (read OLD if you wish) nature of the surrounding buildings could be easily achieved.

Well, the design of the building was approved by council last night. Still has to go through a formal approval yet.

The Telegram
June 11, 2019
Juanita Mercer

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — St. John’s council has approved the design of a proposed Water Street building that developers hope to start construction on this year.
The office and retail space will be located at 331 Water St. at Bishop’s Cove. Currently that area is a parking lot, located across the street from The Keg and adjacent to the Murray Premises and the old Templeton’s building.

The development has not yet been approved – the unanimous vote at the Monday meeting was approving only the design of the proposed building.

The application is currently being reviewed by city staff for development approval, and the developer still needs to submit a detailed site plan.
...

https://www.thetelegram.com/news/loc...ng-lot-320827/

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by J_Murphy

New building proposed for 331 Water Street:

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

I don’t mind the design, but the colours/materials make it boring and unappealing.

[SignalHillHiker]

The cladding is being taken off our very first skyscraper. It can't be worse than it looked before, whatever they do. Pic via jeddy1989:



When this was first proposed years ago, I emailed the company to ask would they fake windows on the wall side (when it was built, the City's intention was to replace all of Water Street with modern buildings, so it was built with a blank side to allow another building to be constructed right next to it). At that time they said no, but... here's hoping.

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

The cladding is being taken off our very first skyscraper. It can't be worse than it looked before, whatever they do. Pic via jeddy1989:



When this was first proposed years ago, I emailed the company to ask would they fake windows on the wall side (when it was built, the City's intention was to replace all of Water Street with modern buildings, so it was built with a blank side to allow another building to be constructed right next to it). At that time they said no, but... here's hoping.

Noticed this for the first time this morning. Can’t wait to see what they do.

[CBSNewbie]

Any ideas of what the reclad of the old Fort Building is supposed to look like?

[SignalHillHiker]

The owners have changed since the last render, so I wouldn't put much faith in it. But it used to be this:

[statbass]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

The owners have changed since the last render, so I wouldn't put much faith in it. But it used to be this:

Now if they would only add another 7-8 stories that be great! Hey, we can all dream, right?

I like that design, hopefully the reno will look similar. I wonder if the blank wall on the west side of the building will have some windows this time around?

[JCE]

Originally Posted by CBSNewbie

Any ideas of what the reclad of the old Fort Building is supposed to look like?

Looks like the plan is to simply remove the white vertical columns. Leave the grey ones and fill in between with glass curtain walls. Its basically going to end up looking like Cabot Place.
Oddly enough they have only applied to complete the Harbour Drive side at this time.

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...%2C%202019.pdf

[J_Murphy]

Taken June 30, 2019

[Da Jama Lama]

Just going to place these links right here........

I am not going to comment on the design in general, I leave that for this forum. I'll try and be constructive instead.

Trust me I am not pulling the 'parking is god' argument, i get the downtown can accommodate parking in a multitude of other venues; garages, on streets, etc. BUT lets be blunt, 1400 seats and 160 hotels rooms and you offer 68 parking spaces. WOW. Are they coordinating with Mile One and the conference centre for events. Its a little brazen that they are pushing over 100% of their parking back onto shared infrastructure. If this gets through council it will be shocking.

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...19_reduced.pdf

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...A%20to%20H.pdf

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...pendix%20I.pdf

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...J%20to%20N.pdf

[IronMan]

Originally Posted by Da Jama Lama

Just going to place these links right here........

I am not going to comment on the design in general, I leave that for this forum. I'll try and be constructive instead.

Trust me I am not pulling the 'parking is god' argument, i get the downtown can accommodate parking in a multitude of other venues; garages, on streets, etc. BUT lets be blunt, 1400 seats and 160 hotels rooms and you offer 68 parking spaces. WOW. Are they coordinating with Mile One and the conference centre for events. Its a little brazen that they are pushing over 100% of their parking back onto shared infrastructure. If this gets through council it will be shocking.

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...19_reduced.pdf

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...A%20to%20H.pdf

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...pendix%20I.pdf

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...J%20to%20N.pdf

Given that there are several parking garages within walking distance (351 water, the one across from MIX, the city parking garage, the Delta and even Atlantic Place) I believe parking is taken care of for this development. Let's not provide barriers for this project. One look at the render and it is obvious that this is a 'substantial' project. How fortunate we are that this is being proposed for our downtown! The NIMBY's will be out in full force, as usual, but they now have a well established reputation for opposing everything. I like it. Actually I love it! This looks amazing and will be a wonderful addition to our downtown! Let's get behind this one!

[Offshore1]

That's a good looking development. Never mind the NIMBY'S.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Decent design. Not amazing, but there's cohesion with the current JAG as well as the new Salvation Army building, so it'll give some character to a currently in-transition neighborhood.

As for the parking: we need to get over this idea that there needs to be a parking space per person downtown. That'll never be a reality here, nor is it a reality elsewhere. The concert hall, much like Mile One, won't be full every night so there won't be a huge drain on precious downtown parking. There are ample parking garages within a 5 minute walk from this proposal that can more than handle a show night. Hotels also typically do not provide a parking spot per room, so I don't see the issue here.

[SignalHillHiker]

I really like it. Materials and colours could always be better but the actual shape and placement of the building I love.

[Horsell]

Approval for this "should" be a slam dunk, it looks great, is well proportioned, and certainly adds to the look and feel of a modern West End of Water St.