[Saint John] Uptown Thread
 

The Saint John Uptown Thread focuses on developments in the historic business center and residential neighborhoods (Waterloo Village, and South End).

created: September 16th, 2019

The old fire station at 150 Union Street is undergoing renovations by well known local business owners Holly and Ken Singh. This is apart of an effort to revitalize a key corridor in the central peninsula. Hopefully, someone will fix up the adjacent buildings because their exteriors could really use some attention. I've noticed some nice additions to other buildings on this street so next time I get the chance I'll take some pictures. The big project set for this street is a 6 story mixed-income apartment building is planned for this street earliest fall 2019 and latest Spring 2020.
https://i.imgur.com/05FP9hl.jpg

Wow!!

The historic Imperial Theatre is otherwise known as a treasure of the city. Earlier in the year, the marquee was upgraded to house an electronic screen to project show information and promotions. Renovations of the lobby took place all summer but have completed in time for a new season.
Along with the adjacent new 12-story Irving Oil World Headquarters, the Imperial Theatre is adding to a new vibrant Uptown Saint John

https://i.imgur.com/yfOZTHx.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EE2waWbX...g&name=360x360 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EE2waWoX...g&name=360x360


VIDEO
https://twitter.com/danimccreadie/st...86908679004161

Does anyone know what they're doing at Prince Edward Square? They have the underground parking "de-lidded" where it runs under surface parking.

They are renovating/updating the underground parking garage.

Well that's less exciting than I had hoped. But from what I understand long overdue as I was under the impression that garage had been starting to really show its age.

GOTHIC ARCHES a historic church that has a prominent presence on the uptown skyline has been SOLD!

https://i.imgur.com/0KjHHKZ.jpg

You may remember this site has had a bit of a history with a very ambitious proposal (see below). No word on what will happen to the building but fixing up the exterior is a guarantee. Sounds like we will find out in a couple of months according to Mr. McVicar. When approaching the central peninsula this church is visible from every single angle given its large scale and the fact it sits on the highest point of the central peninsula so seeing this saved from the wrecking ball is a relief. This is also a big win for local residents who have had to deal with falling debris which has the potential of seriously hurting someone. This is yet another example of Saint John leading the way of preserving historic structures.

https://i.imgur.com/RjMdyRM.jpg

Yup, I can definitely agree with this one, that's for sure.

We shouldn’t assume new owners are fixing up the building. It could be the case they will demolish for their own development. Or open a ruin bar like in Budapest. Already the back half facing Leinster Street is unsalvageable and must be torn town (even in the previous owner’s rendering you can see it’s replaced by a modern section.

We have an update on Gothic Arches, Develop Saint John just put out this update:
https://developsaintjohn.com/recent_...c-arches-site/

Some key points to highlight:
Encouraging news see Percy Wilbur is the buyer after his project at 1 Charlotte Union.

The plan is to have somewheres between 50-80 new high-end apartments. As Mr. Wilbur stated they're in the early design phase but dismantling work will begin before the end of the year. I'm saddened by the fact the structure will not be saved but after a decade of neglect, there isn't much you can do about that. Let's hope this project has some height to it, the church stands out pretty high today so losing that would be a shame. All in all, this is good news for the area and is now the 3rd major construction project slated for uptown next spring.

70-76 King is being renovated with a constructed addition on the back side.
https://i.imgur.com/ohi44CN.jpg

Disappointing to see it go but I can't say I'm surprised. Let's just hope this isn't another false start and that we see the redevelopment of the site take place relatively quickly, and that it's of a quality that lives up to its role as successor to the landmark former church.

In other Uptown development news there were surveyors on site today at the former Jellybean location at Union and Wellington. Hopefully that bodes well for The Wellington, which we haven't from in a while.

That's encouraging to hear. That project has remained silent for a while but my understanding was shovels are to be in the ground by spring 2020

Here's a small project that's flying under the radar - I noticed some equipment taking down the rear wing of a building on the last block of Leinster and upon further investigation found this permit:

https://i.imgur.com/NAgsw2u.png
Source

Turns out they're putting on a new addition that will increase the number of apartments in the building from 3 to 7. Nice to see smaller projects like this going forward - the fine-grained incremental stuff matters just as much as the larger developments in turning around the neighbourhood.

very well said, these are just a few examples of some of those kinds of projects that are currently happening on the central peninsula

https://i.imgur.com/9TCFJyC.jpg?1

May I also add I've noticed a lot of changes in the neighborhood behind the new Irving World Headquarters. Several buildings are being fixed up and are being converted to house apartments.

Not sure if these have been shared on the forum, but the vendors of 222 Water Street have retained Acre Architects to produce an updated concept for the building's redevelopment. Apparently an engineering study indicates up to 2 additional floors could be added to the building. Renders below (conceptual only, there are no firm redevelopment plans at this point until a buyer comes along):

https://sjcommercialre.files.wordpre...1000&h=&crop=1
Source

https://sjcommercialre.files.wordpre...1000&h=&crop=1
Source

I do like this concept much better than the older artist's rendering that was done, which puzzlingly included surface parking accessed from the Prince William Street side, as well as a notable steakhouse chain restaurant:

https://sjcommercialre.files.wordpre....jpg?w=1200&h=
Source

As long as the redevelopment takes advantage of the fantastically named “Murder Hill” that exists on the north side of the building and doesn’t build over it. I love the Acre rendering that terraces the hill and makes it a feature, for example

I noticed they’re already beginning to take valuable assets out of Gothic Arches. If the timeline for construction holds to be true we should be seeing some big demolition equipment onsite within a month or so.

A new business is opening up on Prince William Street in the old bank of New Brunswick building., Woodchucks Bringing Axe Throwing To Uptown Saint John

https://huddle.today/woodchucks-brin...wn-saint-john/

Seems like a really neat concept that I’m sure with cater to a demographic of Saint John. I wish them success