[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[MonctonRad]

Power lines, trees on Assomption Boulevard will be moved: city
Power lines and trees are being moved in preparation for major redevelopment, and for flood mitigation: city
Author of the article:Alan Cochrane
Published Oct 16, 2024 • Last updated 17 hours ago • 1 minute read
https://tj.news/moncton-miramichi/power-lines-trees-on-assomption-boulevard-will-be-moved-city (paywall)

“Overhead power and communication lines are being relocated from the north side to the south side of Assomption Boulevard between Downing Street and Westmorland Street as part of ongoing work to prepare for downtown redevelopment,” the city said in a news release Wednesday. “A future phase of the project will include raising Assomption Boulevard to mitigate flooding in the area.”

This is all necessary work before commencing the Ashford/Downing project.

[Monctoncore]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Power lines, trees on Assomption Boulevard will be moved: city
Power lines and trees are being moved in preparation for major redevelopment, and for flood mitigation: city
Author of the article:Alan Cochrane
Published Oct 16, 2024 • Last updated 17 hours ago • 1 minute read
https://tj.news/moncton-miramichi/power-lines-trees-on-assomption-boulevard-will-be-moved-city (paywall)





This is all necessary work before commencing the Ashford/Downing project.

This is all good signs!

[Philbilly]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Franklin Yards current status:


Infinity Aerials photo

Now completed excavation for building five (of nine). The assembly line continues........

They have started the foundation on the 6th building. This has to be the most efficient project ever in the region.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by Philbilly

They have started the foundation on the 6th building. This has to be the most efficient project ever in the region.

The sheer amount of available undeveloped space in Moncton would have had this be 2 or 3 much taller buildings in a smaller footprint anywhere else. It's a good problem to have, don't get me wrong.

[MonctonRad]

The Franklin Yards is turning out to be a well run and high quality development project. It still bugs me though that nine of the buildings will be virtual clones of one another.

[lirette]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The Franklin Yards is turning out to be a well run and high quality development project. It still bugs me though that nine of the buildings will be virtual clones of one another.

I also wish they had set all of these buildings right at street level rather than surface parking in front, or added some type of commercial component with a restaurant/shops and some patio/courtyard space. If they built the commercial component at the end of the development closer to Rocky Stone/Grand Trunk it would only be a 10 minute walk to the football field and pond at centennial park.

Rocky stone and centennial park are busy spaces from basically the start of spring football until early november, and even now theres the skating track in the winter. One thing though that is missing is dining options within walking distance.

[adamuptownsj]

Originally Posted by lirette

I also wish they had set all of these buildings right at street level rather than surface parking in front, or added some type of commercial component with a restaurant/shops and some patio/courtyard space. If they built the commercial component at the end of the development closer to Rocky Stone/Grand Trunk it would only be a 10 minute walk to the football field and pond at centennial park.

Rocky stone and centennial park are busy spaces from basically the start of spring football until early november, and even now theres the skating track in the winter. One thing though that is missing is dining options within walking distance.

From a residential perspective, putting all the buildings AWAY from Millennium as close to the park as possible would probably work just as well.

The vacant area across the street between the rail spur and Millennium could plausibly hold a trio of decent-sized buildings with commercial on the ground floor. IIRC it's easier to build next to a slow spur than a full-speed main rail line. It's seven PIDs (8 if you include the commercial building at 335 Millennium, which would be ideal) plus a portion of the warehouse complex at 296-320 Killam. 180K square feet, 260K with 335 Millennium included. There's another 135K beyond that beside the ballfields in disuse. Align entrances with the Franklin Yards complex.

[Photo1]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Power lines, trees on Assomption Boulevard will be moved: city
Power lines and trees are being moved in preparation for major redevelopment, and for flood mitigation: city
Author of the article:Alan Cochrane
Published Oct 16, 2024 • Last updated 17 hours ago • 1 minute read
https://tj.news/moncton-miramichi/power-lines-trees-on-assomption-boulevard-will-be-moved-city (paywall)






This is all necessary work before commencing the Ashford/Downing project.

Wish they'd put the lines underground instead.

[Riberview]

Originally Posted by Photo1

Wish they'd put the lines underground instead.

I would think this particular area to be quite tricky to bury lines.. They've got to raise the road (see Westmorland St) to get away from 100 year flood level or something to that effect? which won't do much for the buildings alongside.. but hey

[Riberview]

Originally Posted by Nashe

The sheer amount of available undeveloped space in Moncton would have had this be 2 or 3 much taller buildings in a smaller footprint anywhere else. It's a good problem to have, don't get me wrong.

What is the deal with Millenium @ Vaughn Harvey/ Ocean Limited way?

three office buildings and stagnation..

Was ALL of this land remediated back when CN left? Or is it all considered brown (?) and thus unusable for anything other than office space?

Is it still Canada Lands? are they impossible to deal with? are they asking an arm and leg for the land? what what what!

anyone know anything?

SO MUCH potential here.

[Photo1]

Originally Posted by Riberview

I would think this particular area to be quite tricky to bury lines.. They've got to raise the road (see Westmorland St) to get away from 100 year flood level or something to that effect? which won't do much for the buildings alongside.. but hey

I get that it would definitely be more involved, but with the work planned for Downing in the not so distant future planned anyway...now would be the time I would think...I'd just hate to see it not done now, only to have to be done later.

[Mapleton_Roadie]

Originally Posted by Riberview

What is the deal with Millenium @ Vaughn Harvey/ Ocean Limited way?

three office buildings and stagnation..

Was ALL of this land remediated back when CN left? Or is it all considered brown (?) and thus unusable for anything other than office space?

Is it still Canada Lands? are they impossible to deal with? are they asking an arm and leg for the land? what what what!

anyone know anything?

SO MUCH potential here.

That's ironic, we were just discussing this at work. The exact same line of discussion too in regards to the land being remediated and a prime location.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by Mapleton_Roadie

That's ironic, we were just discussing this at work. The exact same line of discussion too in regards to the land being remediated and a prime location.

AFAIK the last was remediated but I don’t know to what extent. You’d think if it’s okay to work in for 8 hours a day it would be okay to live in. I’m not sure who owns it now but I’ve seen advertisements where they have retail along Vaughan Harvey.

This would be a PERFECT opportunity to build a mid city high density mixed use development. In an ideal world, you would just get rid of the office buildings and start over.

[MonctonGoldenTri]

An acquaintance of mine told me yesterday their close friend is working on a rendering that involves moving the baseball fields on assumption over to the old dump, the current baseball fields would be some kind of outdoor event center/location.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by MonctonGoldenTri

An acquaintance of mine told me yesterday their close friend is working on a rendering that involves moving the baseball fields on assumption over to the old dump, the current baseball fields would be some kind of outdoor event center/location.

Interesting. When rumours were flying around about nine months ago about The Gateway development, and the potential sale of a couple of the ballfields to Lafford, the city swore up and down this was not true. It turned out Lafford only wanted the stub of Foundry Street and the adjacent ditch. The impression the city gave at the time was that the Hal Betts Complex was safe.

Was this a city commissioned rendering, or someone in the private sector preparing to make a pitch to the city about repurposing the land???

It's interesting this is coming up at a time the city is having a public consultation regarding the Riverfront Park. Maybe this will be presented as one of the options after the consultation is completed.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by MonctonGoldenTri

An acquaintance of mine told me yesterday their close friend is working on a rendering that involves moving the baseball fields on assumption over to the old dump, the current baseball fields would be some kind of outdoor event center/location.

The land that the ball fields currently occupy could be repurposed into a real gem of a space that would make a nice western anchor to the downtown section of the riverfront trail.

It wouldn't surprise me if the city is considering moving them to the old dump site so they can remodel the current fields. It just makes a lot of sense location wise.

[lirette]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Interesting. When rumours were flying around about nine months ago about The Gateway development, and the potential sale of a couple of the ballfields to Lafford, the city swore up and down this was not true. It turned out Lafford only wanted the stub of Foundry Street and the adjacent ditch. The impression the city gave at the time was that the Hal Betts Complex was safe.

Was this a city commissioned rendering, or someone in the private sector preparing to make a pitch to the city about repurposing the land???

It's interesting this is coming up at a time the city is having a public consultation regarding the Riverfront Park. Maybe this will be presented as one of the options after the consultation is completed.

I thought it was interesting the way the survey was worded..I don't have it in front of me but I believe it was asked multiple times about having an improved outdoor event/concert site, as well as a shipping container type village similar to SJ.

Its interesting to me because you already have multiple setups on the riverfront for concerts. The park has a small grandstand for smaller festivals and acts, there's another setup when ribfest happens and then you have the canada day setup in the large parking lot.

A space that you could have a summer outdoor concert series with mid level acts (thinking like 2500-5000 capacity) would be a game changer to get more people into the core in the summer.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by lirette

I thought it was interesting the way the survey was worded..I don't have it in front of me but I believe it was asked multiple times about having an improved outdoor event/concert site, as well as a shipping container type village similar to SJ.

Its interesting to me because you already have multiple setups on the riverfront for concerts. The park has a small grandstand for smaller festivals and acts, there's another setup when ribfest happens and then you have the canada day setup in the large parking lot.

A space that you could have a summer outdoor concert series with mid level acts (thinking like 2500-5000 capacity) would be a game changer to get more people into the core in the summer.

This is all very true. I filled out the survey too, but I didn’t twig onto the leading questions like you did. You may very well be right! Perhaps there might be something afoot.

[MonctonGoldenTri]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Interesting. When rumours were flying around about nine months ago about The Gateway development, and the potential sale of a couple of the ballfields to Lafford, the city swore up and down this was not true. It turned out Lafford only wanted the stub of Foundry Street and the adjacent ditch. The impression the city gave at the time was that the Hal Betts Complex was safe.

Was this a city commissioned rendering, or someone in the private sector preparing to make a pitch to the city about repurposing the land???

It's interesting this is coming up at a time the city is having a public consultation regarding the Riverfront Park. Maybe this will be presented as one of the options after the consultation is completed.

He hesitated sharing this information, the details were vague but he did say the renderings look amazing.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by MonctonGoldenTri

He hesitated sharing this information, the details were vague but he did say the renderings look amazing.

I'm sure they do.

I imagine Moncton wants a venue to compete directly with what Dieppe has accomplished with their MusiquART site.

https://www.dieppe.ca/en/explorer-et-samuser/site-musiquart.aspx

YQM Country Fest is becoming one of the go to summer concert events in eastern Canada. Meanwhile, the Magnetic Hill Concert Site is doing nothing but growing weeds.

Magnetic Hill is a dead venue. It is well away from the core of the city, with difficult access, and no surrounding amenities. It would make sense to start over with a new venue closer to downtown. Placing such a venue where Hal Betts is now would only make sense.

Atlantic Nationals could be held there. The Moncton Highland Games uses Hal Betts now. They might like a more coherent venue absent of fences and pitcher mounds. How about craft fairs, like the Victoria Park Craft Fair? Rib Fest would be another natural for this site. How about the Bill Lynch shows when they come through a couple of times a year. Add in a major music festival and a couple of other assorted concerts each year and you would have a well utilized site.

It would essentially become the Moncton version of the Halifax Commons.

Having an events venue next door would certainly be good for any businesses locating in the podiums of the Three Sisters and the Gateway Towers, and, might help stimulating other new businesses as well.

Win, win, win.

Of course, if Hal Betts is forced to move to the dump site, the city will have to make sure that the new sports complex is even better laid out than the current one. The entrance to the "new" Hal Betts would obviously be off of an extension to Assumption Blvd. I think a pirpose built new sperts complex here might be fantastic.