[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by drewber

Someone threw out a unb campus in one of the two buildings. Seems like a smart idea. Downtown core would be a good young crowd.

Given the major cuts in foreign student visa's by Ottawa and the resulting large reduction in income for colleges and Universities I can't imagine any of them are going to be in expansion mode for the foreseeable future . Most are shrinking, cutting programs and laying off staff.

[MonctonRad]

Province to give $5 million for UdeM gym upgrades
UdeM to use $5 million from province to fund gym upgrades as it eyes further sports facility expansion
Author of the article:Sarah Seeley
Published May 12, 2025 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 2 minute read
https://tj.news/moncton-miramichi/province-to-give-5-million-for-udem-gym-upgrades (paywall)

D’Amours, joined by UdeM president and vice-chancellor Denis Prud’homme, said the project will be done to prepare for the 2029 Canada Games which is to be hosted in Moncton and Saint John.

UdeM’s director of communications Paul Ward said the renovations will include a new floor, stands, lighting, and audiovisual. Construction is set to begin during the summer.

The gym renovation is just the beginning of what UdeM’s plan to expand the space. Prud’homme said the hope is for future renovations to include the track, the pool, indoor soccer field, and moving the J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena on campus to be part of the facility, so the complex could become more environmentally friendly.

The university estimates the cost of the complete project at $130 million

Ambition has never been a problem for UdeM.

[MonctonRad]

Rising Tide apartment complex won't include seniors centre: Hicks
Rising Tide now plans to create 30 apartments and lease the bottom floor to a collaborative medical care clinic.
Author of the article:Alan Cochrane
Published May 13, 2025 • 3 minute read
https://tj.news/moncton-miramichi/rising-tide-apartment-complex-wont-include-seniors-centre-hicks (paywall)



The original paln to place a seniors centre on the basement level of the building was caught up in bureaucratic red tape.

Hicks said Rising Tide will now move ahead with a revised plan to create 30 affordable apartment units for seniors on the top two floors, while leasing the bottom floor to a group of doctors who want to create a collaborative medical care clinic for the western portion of the city.

[Sandbagger]

Moving the J-Louis Levesque Arena would be a major project. The article seems to imply that it is not currently on campus. I did not know this. Is it city owned? I know the hospital has used it for overflow parking before and it is also frequently used by various rec hockey leagues and teams, but who gets the revenue from that? Interesting.

[SevenSquared]

Originally Posted by Sandbagger

Moving the J-Louis Levesque Arena would be a major project. The article seems to imply that it is not currently on campus. I did not know this. Is it city owned? I know the hospital has used it for overflow parking before and it is also frequently used by various rec hockey leagues and teams, but who gets the revenue from that? Interesting.

The arena and the land on which it sits are university property, not the city.

The J-Louis Levesque is approaching 60 years of age. I'm not surprised they're finally looking at a replacement.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by benvui

I work at 1234 Main so when you said this I checked with our facilities team to see if they have heard anything about a change in management or sale of the buildings. The only thing he knew about was that he had given a tour of our floor to some Crombie execs a couple of weeks ago. He is going to do some digging to see if he can find out if they in fact have changed hands.

I'm really curious about this - so I was wondering if you've heard anything further from the facilities manager? This is such a prominent location, and unfortunately it seems as though Crombie has no intention of investing in it.

The potential here is massive, especially if the adjacent land can be incorporated into a larger development. The possibilities are pretty wide-ranging.

I've always thought that 1222 Main Street was a blight on this area of downtown Moncton, so I really hope that the rumours are true. A new developer with a big vision could do something really spectacular with this property. It would be pretty exciting for us to have another major downtown project to follow! One thing that encourages me is that Crombie is a Halifax company, and that the rumoured new developer is out of Halifax.

[benvui]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

I'm really curious about this - so I was wondering if you've heard anything further from the facilities manager? This is such a prominent location, and unfortunately it seems as though Crombie has no intention of investing in it.

The facilities manager has been out sick for 2 weeks so no word yet.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by benvui

The facilities manager has been out sick for 2 weeks so no word yet.

My contact got back to me to say the supposed closing date was wrong. I have heard nothing since.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by benvui

The facilities manager has been out sick for 2 weeks so no word yet.

Hopefully when he's back, he'll be able to get some "inside information" for us. I really hope the rumours are true. A Halifax developer who'll want to obtain the adjacent vacant land for a larger development.

Does anybody know if the old telegraph building is now vacant?

[MonctonDowntown]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

Hopefully when he's back, he'll be able to get some "inside information" for us. I really hope the rumours are true. A Halifax developer who'll want to obtain the adjacent vacant land for a larger development.

Does anybody know if the old telegraph building is now vacant?

Do you mean the Transcript heritage building at the corner of Main and Westmorland or the Times & Transcript building at Main and Bonaccord?

[MonctonPerson]

Originally Posted by MonctonDowntown

Do you mean the Transcript heritage building at the corner of Main and Westmorland or the Times & Transcript building at Main and Bonaccord?

I assume they're referring to the brick structure beside the Avenir Centre that was previously the CN telegraph building.

[Leroy321]

there is now a folded tower crane on the Waterloo site. I'm not sure if this is considered a full or mini tower crane but if its a full one it will be our 7th at one time in greater Moncton.
Untitled by Leroy Bannister, on Flickr

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by MonctonPerson

I assume they're referring to the brick structure beside the Avenir Centre that was previously the CN telegraph building.

Yes that's the one I'm referring to. That property could be very strategic to a larger development including 1222 Main Street.

I was talking to a worker on site when they were gutting 1222 Main and he told me that the plan was to move all the electronic equipment to the basement of 1234 Main Street. (That led me to believe that it was still necessary and functioning). He said it was a big job that wouldn't happen over night. But this conversation was probably 4-5 years ago.

That's why I was asking - essentially to know if the building was sell-able, and hence the land able to be developed. Even if 1222 was sold by Crombie and was redeveloped on its own, the vacant land along Main Street in combination with the telegraph building land, could handle a significant project.

And we haven't even spoken about the massive amount of surface parking behind these buildings.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

My contact got back to me to say the supposed closing date was wrong. I have heard nothing since.

More information. The closing date is now apparently mid June. The interested party is apparently Doucet Developments/RCS Construction out of Halifax. They have a history in Moncton. One of their subsidiaries is TierToo Properties.

https://doucetdevelopments.ca/

Again, still a rumour at this point.

Still, if true, this could be exciting. They are planning this for the downtown Sydney (NS) waterfront:



They are capable of nice things.

[jonny golden]

They are capable of nice things.

That's good to hear. It was Tier Too Properties and Gray Group Real Estate Development that purchased the Riverview mall. So it sounds like they''ll be busy.

[Mud]

Noticed the empty lot across from Resurgo Place was fenced off. Anyone know what for?

[MonctonRad]

I was just made aware of this. Specifically, this is the empty lot across Belleview Avenue, immediately west of Resurgo Place on the eastern portion of Mountain Road.

This is very definitely construction fencing. This lot has been vacant for years. PAOL indicates it was last sold in 2021. My gut feeling is that this will be a downtown residential infill project.

Does anyone have any ideas?

[Mud]

Actually just noticed the same for the empty lot at 263/257 Université across from Georges-L.-Dumont. Maybe this is the summer of small infills.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Mud

Actually just noticed the same for the empty lot at 263/257 Université across from Georges-L.-Dumont. Maybe this is the summer of small infills.

Interesting. Actually, a building lot in this location could be destined for a specialist medical clinic. The specialist respirology group at the Dumont has a clinic right across the street from the hospital. Maybe this will be similar.

In any event, infill is good.

[Riberview]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I was just made aware of this. Specifically, this is the empty lot across Belleview Avenue, immediately west of Resurgo Place on the eastern portion of Mountain Road.

This is very definitely construction fencing. This lot has been vacant for years. PAOL indicates it was last sold in 2021. My gut feeling is that this will be a downtown residential infill project.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Staging for equipment and materials related to infrastructure renewal on Spurr, Steadman, Stafford, and Fergus streets