[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

Makes me really sad that Fredericton's leadership doesn't see a similar vision for Fredericton. We have (had) two excellent spots adjacent to downtown for an Avenir Centre style development that could in turn have helped further densify the core... and we've thrown them away. The Ex grounds (the better site admittedly) is still somewhat on the table, but isn't likely to be developed that way.

Freddy need an events centre. The Aitken Centre just doesn't cut it as a sports and entertainment venue. Freddy has a bad habit of piggybacking on university infrastructure (Aitken Centre, aquatic centre). This has to stop. Freddy is a CMA now, not just some sleepy little governmental and university town. It has to start acting like a CMA.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It's all because of the Avenir Centre.

I don't care what the naysayers say, the Avenir Centre saved the downtown core. The Avenir Centre is the entertainment hub of the city. People want to live close to it. Visitors want to stay in hotel rooms close to it. How many hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent or planned for nearby developments since it was built.

George LeBlanc and Ian Fowler were visionaries who started this whole thing going. Dawn Arnold saw it through to completion.

It's astonishing that 1222 Main Street has been sitting vacant for all these years, given that it's literally next door to the Avenir Center.

I can't imagine it ever filling up as an office building, so I'd love to see Crombie sell it to a credible developer. So much wasted potential. It needs to be repurposed!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

It's astonishing that 1222 Main Street has been sitting vacant for all these years, given that it's literally next door to the Avenir Center.

I can't imagine it ever filling up as an office building, so I'd love to see Crombie sell it to a credible developer. So much wasted potential. It needs to be repurposed!

This is all on Crombie. Their development focus is really only on HRM. This is where their most prominent developments are. They own properties all over, but, for the most part, unless they are in HRM they don't get much attention.

They will be waiting a long time if they are looking for some white knight commercial tenant to fill 1222 Main. They need to think outside the box. They need to look at something like residential or hotel conversion.

I don't know. Perhaps they are trying to be creative, and work with the vacant lot next door (between 1222 Main and the Avenir Centre), but, are being stymied by the recalcitrant owners of the Telegraph Building who are repoted to want an exorbitant amount of money for their property.

There is the potential for a large mixed use development here, but all we hear is crickets. Is there anything going on behind the scenes, or is Crombie just sitting on the property waiting for a miracle to happen.

[jonny golden]

This is all on Crombie.

Bingo!
I took a look at the Crombie website, and they have several developments under way and planned for the future. All the way from Halifax to Vancouver, but absolutely nothing about Moncton.
An interesting note was that they have 1.1 M sq.ft. Commercial potential, but 9.5 M sq. ft. Residential potential.

From the Crombie site:

By merging residential, retail, office, and retail-related industrial properties, our development projects are a cornerstone for our vision of creating thriving communities where people live, work, shop, and play.

Crombie has traditionally been a commercial real estate developer, but is obviously adding residential assets to their holdings. Given market conditions, that's not surprising.

They are currently working on The Marlstone in downtown Halifax, with 291 residential units expected to be complete in Q2 2026.

https://themarlstone.ca/

They could absolutely redevelop 1222 Main Street, but it doesn't look like it's even on their radar.

[Monctoncore]

There was an article on CBC today that was very concerning for development. The fear of tariffs and reciprocal steel tariffs has developers talking about pausing projects for the foreseeable future, unless there is more stability in the costs of steel example I beams.

Could this delay larger projects like Infinity, Ashford and Laffords second development.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Monctoncore

There was an article on CBC today that was very concerning for development. The fear of tariffs and reciprocal steel tariffs has developers talking about pausing projects for the foreseeable future, unless there is more stability in the costs of steel example I beams.

Could this delay larger projects like Infinity, Ashford and Laffords second development.

This certainly could be a concern.

I would imagine projects already under way will continue, even those in site prep (like the Gateway Towers), but other projects not yet started could be in jeopardy.

Thing is, a complex construction project is more than the steel. There are other considerations such as crane rentals, lining up project managers, tradespeople, and subcontractors, and financial arrangements that all have to fall into place to make these things happen.

It is a tight balancing act.

[Monctoncore]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

This certainly could be a concern.

I would imagine projects already under way will continue, even those in site prep (like the Gateway Towers), but other projects not yet started could be in jeopardy.

Thing is, a complex construction project is more than the steel. There are other considerations such as crane rentals, lining up project managers, tradespeople, and subcontractors, and financial arrangements that all have to fall into place to make these things happen.

It is a tight balancing act.

I can only assume any projects that are in planning to start this year, would probably have began purchasing things in advance. Which may not have an effect right away, but possibly down the road. Who knows, we will have to wait and see.

[lirette]

Originally Posted by Mud

I was thinking about this the other day as I was walking around the area. I couldn't come up with a single new apartment, restaurant, hotel or notable revitalization of an existing building downtown that isn't within a 10-minute walk of the Avenir Centre.

The western portion of the downtown core has been a hive of activity since it's opening while east of Lutz has not had a single project break ground since 55 Queen. I don't know how people can still complain about the Avenir Centre as being some sort of boondogle (and trust me they still do).

There is a vocal group online of people who make comments about how they miss the old coliseum and how it was packed and noisy for all the hockey games.

This is how I remember the coliseum:

-Uncomfortable seats
-Limited bathrooms
-Limited Events
-2$ rubber hamburgers I wouldn't sell my worst enemy
-zero atmosphere around the arena prior to games
-20+ minute waits to get out of the parking lot
-arena full of fog if the temperature was above 10 degrees.
-Entire arena sweating and disgusting if it was above 20 degrees
-not a single meaningful development built around the arena for its 40+ year lifespan
-crowded and claustrophobic entrance
-long lines to get in if god forbid we actually got a concert
-horrible acoustics

They live in a delusional world, nostalgia is great but its also dangerous in some ways. People remember the stuff they liked from the past but forget about all the bad stuff.

With Avenir we have something the community can be proud of, it serves as a true gathering space to make you feel part of the city especially when you factor in the Oval and what they've been able to do for events like NYE where the entire block becomes an event space. I've probably visited restaurants 15-20 times prior to events downtown since its been built. At the coliseum I could get a hot dog at ayer convenience.

[new kid in town]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

A new Infinity Aerials drone shot showing the site prep going on for the new six storey apartment building by Seville Properties on Waterloo Street, and it's relationship to the Three Sisters project, and to the Gateway Towers development also in the site prep stage on Assumption Blvd.



Talk about transformational change in a single Moncton neighbourhood!

Seville is big enough for a tower crane. Some people here have speculated that Lafford might put up a tower crane for the Gateway Towers before they are finished with the tower crane for the Third Sister. I somwhat doubt this, but, if this were true, then there would be three tower cranes in this one small area. Who would ever have thought this ever possible.

Ah I have so much love for this corner of our city. It eliminates the "downtown is one street/just Main street" atmosphere

The fact that the projects here are moving really fast is another factor. I'm still anxious about those projects out east like St. Bernard Place and Infinity. I know Icon is busy in Riverview, but for the largest and most ambitious scale project yet slated for the city, the lack of concrete (heh) progress is always worrying. Especially with all these talk about tariffs and population growth slowdown.

[Manny2727]

Originally Posted by lirette

There is a vocal group online of people who make comments about how they miss the old coliseum and how it was packed and noisy for all the hockey games.

This is how I remember the coliseum:

-Uncomfortable seats
-Limited bathrooms
-Limited Events
-2$ rubber hamburgers I wouldn't sell my worst enemy
-zero atmosphere around the arena prior to games
-20+ minute waits to get out of the parking lot
-arena full of fog if the temperature was above 10 degrees.
-Entire arena sweating and disgusting if it was above 20 degrees
-not a single meaningful development built around the arena for its 40+ year lifespan
-crowded and claustrophobic entrance
-long lines to get in if god forbid we actually got a concert
-horrible acoustics

They live in a delusional world, nostalgia is great but its also dangerous in some ways. People remember the stuff they liked from the past but forget about all the bad stuff.

With Avenir we have something the community can be proud of, it serves as a true gathering space to make you feel part of the city especially when you factor in the Oval and what they've been able to do for events like NYE where the entire block becomes an event space. I've probably visited restaurants 15-20 times prior to events downtown since its been built. At the coliseum I could get a hot dog at ayer convenience.

packed and noisy? they must have attended different events than i did. moncton has never been a loud crowd for hockey games and stuff like that and it's the same now at different venue.

[David_99]

Originally Posted by Manny2727

packed and noisy? they must have attended different events than i did. moncton has never been a loud crowd for hockey games and stuff like that and it's the same now at different venue.

I know several people who still claim the Coliseum was superior. We’ve had many discussions. Each point they bring up can easily be countered. It always boils down to “Well… at least you could park at the door”. And there it is. They are simply lying to themselves and others to hide their pure laziness.

[jonny golden]

Wasn't there an idea put forth a while back for residential development on the perimeter of the coliseum parking lot? The idea was that there was now little to no use of develop-able land. Not a great location to live imho.

[MonctonGoldenTri]

Still no activity at St Bernard

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by MonctonGoldenTri

Still no activity at St Bernard

Of all the proposals for downtown, this is the one I am most concerned about possibly not proceeding, given the current concerns over the economy (and Trumpian tariffs), as well as the shutdown of the immigration pipeline.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Of all the proposals for downtown, this is the one I am most concerned about possibly not proceeding, given the current concerns over the economy (and Trumpian tariffs), as well as the shutdown of the immigration pipeline.

Who knows what's going on behind the scenes - it could be positive or it could be bad news. If the current proponent doesn't proceed, that will be two in a row that didn't follow through with their plans for this property. I'm really hoping that they're just getting their ducks in a row and will go ahead with the project. It's one that I've been really looking forward to, as it would be a fantastic addition to downtown Moncton. But the long delay doesn't give me confidence.

[MonctonGoldenTri]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

Who knows what's going on behind the scenes - it could be positive or it could be bad news. If the current proponent doesn't proceed, that will be two in a row that didn't follow through with their plans for this property. I'm really hoping that they're just getting their ducks in a row and will go ahead with the project. It's one that I've been really looking forward to, as it would be a fantastic addition to downtown Moncton. But the long delay doesn't give me confidence.

Just sell it Lafford already lol.

[lirette]

Originally Posted by David_99

I know several people who still claim the Coliseum was superior. We’ve had many discussions. Each point they bring up can easily be countered. It always boils down to “Well… at least you could park at the door”. And there it is. They are simply lying to themselves and others to hide their pure laziness.

I believe it is mostly this and also the coliseum was in this sort of pre-inflation world over the last 4-5 years so they remember prices being different, but dont realize if we were still at the coliseum that $5 beer would now be $8, that $2 rubber hamburger would now be $5 etc. Like when the older generations dream about spending 25 cents on a can of pop, bag of chips and chocolate bar in the 60's and 70's. That $15 game ticket would now be $20 (perhaps you wouldnt have the Ticketmaster fee).

I wish they had gotten the memorial cup host this year, it would have been an incredible time to showcase the avenir and the area around it with late may/early june weather. Concerts in the plaza every day etc.

[Riberview]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

Wasn't there an idea put forth a while back for residential development on the perimeter of the coliseum parking lot? The idea was that there was now little to no use of develop-able land. Not a great location to live imho.

Greater if the west facing side didn't look at the public works yard.. and the east facing side didn't look at the old coliseum..

Killam Drive seems a little black hole like. Too bad given its proximity to the north east entrance of Centennial Park

[jonny golden]

Just sell it Lafford already lol.

Lafford has a lot on his plate as is.

I just hope that this project gets built and doesn't wind up like another Robinson St. parking lot fiasco - nothing happening for years, then poof, gone.

[new kid in town]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

It's one that I've been really looking forward to, as it would be a fantastic addition to downtown Moncton. But the long delay doesn't give me confidence.

I agree. I think it would have great synergy being close to Assomption Place for some height, and Queen 55 for modernity. At 18 floors, it would likely stand taller than the Three Sisters and even perhaps the Gateway Towers (base podium notwithstanding). But like others said, the lack of progress is also making me think it's not likely to happen anymore. And between this and Infinity, I'd much rather prefer to hope the latter will push through.