The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

AllNewBrunswick has an interesting new article headline:
“Homes For 40,000 In Moncton’s Vision Lands?”.

Given the amount of land they want to preserve around Hall's Creek for a natural parkland, it appears they are thinking pretty high density.

Does anyone have access to the AllNB article???

[tmacdougall]

Highlights AllNB - Vision Lands (19/07/24)
- Roughly 541 acres
- Roughly 18,000 residential, single to high-density units (40,000 people)
- 1M sq. ft. of commercial space
- 2 new schools
- 1 new recreational facility
- estimated 200 acres of green space
- city officials working with the Irvings that could see the highest density, where heights could reach 12 to 18 stories.
- New infrastructure required and the city plans to cost-share with developers

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Given the amount of land they want to preserve around Hall's Creek for a natural parkland, it appears they are thinking pretty high density.

Does anyone have access to the AllNB article???

[MonctonRad]

Sounds impressive. I look forward to the city releasing more information about this plan.

I am particularly impressed they are connecting with Irving regarding the possibility of a cluster of apartment buildings 12-18 storeys in height. The Irving property is close to the TCH near Mapleton and would be visually interesting to passing traffic on the TCH. The Irving lands presumably would also be the focus for the 1M sq ft of commercial space envisioned. This has the makings of an impressive suburban town centre.

Engagement with the landowners is essential to make anything like this work.

[adamuptownsj]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Sounds impressive. I look forward to the city releasing more information about this plan.

I am particularly impressed they are connecting with Irving regarding the possibility of a cluster of apartment buildings 12-18 storeys in height. The Irving property is close to the TCH near Mapleton and would be visually interesting to passing traffic on the TCH. The Irving lands presumably would also be the focus for the 1M sq ft of commercial space envisioned. This has the makings of an impressive suburban town centre.

Engagement with the landowners is essential to make anything like this work.

Maybe this will spur an 'Irving Development' sub-business.. there's lots of under- or unused Irving land in basically every city in the province.

[MonctonRad]

Very interesting graphic posted by q12 over on the Halifax subforum:



This shows high rise construction activity in North America as of July 2024.

By and large Canada is blowing the US out of the water (4 out of the top 10 city total highrise projects under construction, and 9 out of the top 10 per capita).

Only Halifax and Moncton show up in the Maritimes. We have two under construction (presumably the second and third Sister. If the stars aligned next year, we coild have as many as 4-5 under construction concurrently (Third Sister, at least one Gateway tower, the Infinity Tower and St. Bernard Place).

[jonny golden]

If the stars aligned next year, we could have as many as 4-5 under construction concurrently (Third Sister, at least one Gateway tower, the Infinity Tower and St. Bernard Place).

There is something I've been wondering about. It's obvious that the ICON development in Riverview will take a few years to complete, being 3 concrete buildings x 6 floors each. Can ICON continue full speed with this project, and simultaneously build the Infinity building? That's a lot to be working on at the same time.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

There is something I've been wondering about. It's obvious that the ICON development in Riverview will take a few years to complete, being 3 concrete buildings x 6 floors each. Can ICON continue full speed with this project, and simultaneously build the Infinity building? That's a lot to be working on at the same time.

Who's to say ICON is going to build the Riverview development all at once? Maybe their initial commitment is only to the first building, after which (next year) they will shift their focus to the Infinity Tower.

I have a strong suspicion they want to start Infinity as soon as possible.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Who's to say ICON is going to build the Riverview development all at once? Maybe their initial commitment is only to the first building, after which (next year) they will shift their focus to the Infinity Tower.

I have a strong suspicion they want to start Infinity as soon as possible.

Good point. I really hope Infinity remains at 30 floors and they start next year. Add in the Saint Bernard project and we're talking about two major additions to the Moncton skyline.

[sailor734]

delete

[MonctonRad]

So, as part of the rezoning process for the Gateway Towers, they have decided to update the Downtown Moncton Core Community Improvement Plan to include the Three Sisters and Gateway Towers developments.

I decided to screen capture several of the key images for discussion.

Overview:


- You can see the Three Sisters and the Gateway Towers added in on the bottom left of the image.
- Other buildings have been added in on the ocean of surface parking (all fanciful), but, you can see the completed Downing Street, including the proposed roundabout at it's intersection with Assumption. You can also see the completed Ashford Development, including the city market/convention space (strategically adjacent to the Delta Beausejour), as well as the "signature tower" on the NW corner of the roundabout (height TBD). The new east west street south of Main lies between these two components of the Ashford project.

Master Plan Legend:


- The numbers on the legend correspond to proposals (no doubt some fanciful) within the development area.
- The most intriguing one to me is #11 "new academic facility", which will be located behind the courthouse. How certain is this? What type of "academic facility" will this be? UNB recently mentioned in the media about having an enhanced presence in Moncton. Could this be a small downtown campus for UNBM? Or, could it be something more boring, such as a relocated UdeM law faculty (given it's location next to the law courts). Enquiring minds most certainly want to know.
- #6 is a "future civic project." This is located on the little parking lot behind Blue Cross. Could this be a new downtown library? Another possibility could be a modern art museum (as previously hinted at). This is an important lot right on Downing Street, so, an important civic building seems reasonable.

Public Space Network:


- This image shows all the parkland, and the mixed use corridors planned in the development area. Of note, the NB Power lot next to the Gateway Towers appears to be designated as greenspace, but, this is privately held land, and, could be purchased for development instead. How set in stone is the plan to have this reserved for greenspace? Could another couple of towers be built here to complement the Gateway Towers? Anything built here would not impact on the riverfront trail system.
- Also, #7 (the small bit of land to the south of the Third Sister) has been designated as a "stormwater detention area." It would appear that development here will not be possible.
- Otherwise, the plan seems very pedestrian minded, with lots of interconnectivity between all the public spaces, some using mixed use corridors. You can also see all the connection point to the Riverfront Park from the downtown core, one of which extends between the two Gateway towers.

Street Network:


- Pretty self explanatory. It will be very nice to see an actual street gid reestablished south of Main Street. There appears to be an emphasis for on street parking. This is not just a business friendly decision. On street parking by it's very nature is a bit of a traffic calming technique.

Thoughts anyone???

[MonctonRad]

Enrolment surge continues in Moncton-area schools even as new buildings open
Anglophone East adding 26 portable classrooms, Francophone South says more schools needed
Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Sep 03, 2024 6:00 AM ADT | Last Updated: September 3
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...city-1.7308053

Two southeast New Brunswick school districts say they're continuing to see significant enrolment growth that's putting pressure on capacity even as new schools open.

Thousands of new students have enrolled in recent years in the anglophone and francophone districts serving the Moncton area.

Statistics Canada reported recently the region had one of Canada's fastest-growing populations, mainly driven by international migration.

It's led to students being taught in spaces such as libraries, cafeterias and portable classrooms.

Francophone South, which includes Fredericton and Saint John, has about 17,500 students enrolled in its 38 schools. That's up 530 from last year, a figure Boudreau expects will rise to about 800 in the coming weeks.

Around 60 per cent of the growth is in the Moncton region, Boudreau said.

Randolph MacLean, Anglophone East's superintendent, says enrolment has topped 20,100, up about 900 from last year.

"Enrolment it continues to climb," MacLean said. "It's very, very exciting."

The (anglophone) district requested 26 more portable classrooms from the province, bringing its total to 85. Some of those portable classrooms are already in place, while others will be added over the coming months.

If all goes to plan, a new middle school in Moncton's west end opens its doors Tuesday. The Wabanaki School has a capacity of 783 students, and MacLean said 730 students are enrolled there.

The opening is expected to ease capacity pressure in several schools around the city that had converted non-teaching spaces to classrooms.

One downtown school, Edith Cavell, will once again have a library. Northrop Frye's cafeteria is once again a cafeteria.

The district has requested the province build or upgrade nine schools. Planning is underway for new or larger schools in Shediac, Dieppe and Salisbury.

While the Anglophone East district education council was told in February that the Shediac site was expected to be announced soon, MacLean said the province is still working on that.

He said it should not affect the construction schedule. The education council was told in February that construction would start in 2025-26, with the school open in 2027. The council was told the school offering kindergarten to Grade 12 could have a capacity of 1,000 students.

I can't help thinking that despite having new schools in the pipeline, it will be too little too late.......

[benvui]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

]
I can't help thinking that despite having new schools in the pipeline, it will be too little too late.......

I don't disagree, right now Shediac Cape is adding more portables, last year half the students were in portables.
I will say that my son was looking forward to seeing how many new kids would be in his class this year and there was only 1. He is in French immersion so I would suspect that number would be higher in other classes.

[MonctonRad]

The Moncton Hospital has had a bit of an official promotion.

It doesn't really change a whole lot on the ground, but, TMH is now officially designated as a University Affiliated Hospital.

The Moncton Hospital already was a teaching hospital and a tertiary care centre, and also already had an affiliation with DMNB at UNBSJ, so nothing really changes, but, this official designation makes the hospital a bit more attractive for specialist recruitment, and will help to attract more funding for research activities.

I was in the doctor's lounge at the hospital the other day, and perused a poster on the wall showing pictures of all the medical learners in the facility. There were 26 of them, including senior medical students (clinical clerks), as well as residents in family medicine and internal medicine. The hospital actually has full fledged residency training programs in both these disciplines, and may very well add more in the future. We also get other residents in other disciplines rotating to the Moncton Hospital too for elective rotations (general surgery, obstetrics, neurosurgery etc,).

Having 26-30 medical learners at the Moncton Hospital at a time is actually pretty impressive. I look forward to a time when there will be 50-60, and, this may not be that far off.

There are now two university hospitals in Moncton.

[Photo1]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

So, as part of the rezoning process for the Gateway Towers, they have decided to update the Downtown Moncton Core Community Improvement Plan to include the Three Sisters and Gateway Towers developments.

I decided to screen capture several of the key images for discussion.

Overview:

Do you know if they be building some sort of 'pedway' over the assumption round about?

It just seems silly to slow the flow of traffic there with pedestrian traffic and stop lights on a round about.

Plus it could be a really cool aesthetic feature in that location.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Photo1

Do you know if they be building some sort of 'pedway' over the assumption round about?

It just seems silly to slow the flow of traffic there with pedestrian traffic and stop lights on a round about.

Plus it could be a really cool aesthetic feature in that location.

No plans AFAIK.

Roundabouts are OK for cars, but less so for 18 wheelers. They are also problematic for pedestrians and cyclists.

I am generally neutral on roundabouts, but, I can see a lot of conflicts with a roundabout in this particular location. I wonder if they should reconsider this concept.

[Photo1]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

No plans AFAIK.

Roundabouts are OK for cars, but less so for 18 wheelers. They are also problematic for pedestrians and cyclists.

I am generally neutral on roundabouts, but, I can see a lot of conflicts with a roundabout in this particular location. I wonder if they should reconsider this concept.

It's certainly an odd location on that street/intersection for sure.

As it seems they are creating a pedestrian area there, it would be weird to not factor in getting that foot traffic past the round about that doesn't interrupt auto traffic.

[jonny golden]

If Irving were to become active in property development in Moncton, that would be fantastic. They certainly have the resources to be a major player.

There's another potential major player who already has a significant presence in greater Moncton:
Killam Properties.

From their web site: We’re always looking for ways to grow our building portfolio by improving, developing, and constructing properties across Canada.

Are these companies even looking at property development in the Moncton market? Who knows. One thing is for sure - the housing demand is strong, and the interest rates have dropped and are expected to go lower.

[Leroy321]

Just taking a look at CanadaConstructConnect.com, there’s a couple interesting things to share.

Apartments
stage: design development
Starting date: nov 2024
Funding: private
Value: $13,000,000
Work type: New
Building type: residential
No idea what this one could be.

Apartments
Stage: pre design
Start date: mar 2025
Funding: state/provincial
Value: N/A
Work type: alteration
Building type: residential

Apartments
Stage: design development
Start date: apr 2025
Funding: private
Value: $20,000,000
Work type: new
Building type: residential
Could this be infinity or St. Bernard square?

Retail Stores, Apartments, Townhomes
Stage: design development
Start date: May 2025
Funding: private
Value: $33,800,000
Work type: new
Building type: residential
Could this be the Downing Street redevelopment? May 2025 seems soon we could see a proposal really soon if so

Dormitories
Stage: pre design
Start date: apr 2026
Funding: state/province
Value: $12,000,000
Work type: alteration
Building type: educational
This is interesting I wonder where this will be?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Leroy321

Dormitories
Stage: pre design
Start date: apr 2026
Funding: state/province
Value: $12,000,000
Work type: alteration
Building type: educational
This is interesting I wonder where this will be?

Well, you mentioned on the Northwest thread that the new roadwork up by NBCC would free up some space for student housing.

Hmmmm............

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by Leroy321

Just taking a look at CanadaConstructConnect.com, there’s a couple interesting things to share.

Apartments
stage: design development
Starting date: nov 2024
Funding: private
Value: $13,000,000
Work type: New
Building type: residential
No idea what this one could be.

Next building on the assembly line on Millennium Blvd perhaps.

Apartments
Stage: pre design
Start date: mar 2025
Funding: state/provincial
Value: N/A
Work type: alteration
Building type: residential

Affordable housing somewhere in the city maybe?

Apartments
Stage: design development
Start date: apr 2025
Funding: private
Value: $20,000,000
Work type: new
Building type: residential
Could this be infinity or St. Bernard square?

More likely St. Bernard’s Square then Infinity.

Retail Stores, Apartments, Townhomes
Stage: design development
Start date: May 2025
Funding: private
Value: $33,800,000
Work type: new
Building type: residential
Could this be the Downing Street redevelopment? May 2025 seems soon we could see a proposal really soon if so

Sounds exactly like Downing Street!!

Dormitories
Stage: pre design
Start date: apr 2026
Funding: state/province
Value: $12,000,000
Work type: alteration
Building type: educational
This is interesting I wonder where this will be?

Likely something for NBCC or UdeM.