[Saint John, NB] 99 King Street | 13 storeys | Under Construction

[Joe]

"From this morning - Percy's Hole is no more. No sign of the new crane or pre-fab yet."



I stopped for a look while I was up there this past Thursday. Before the bucket in the image along the foundation is a large base. I was told by a supervisor that it's the crane base. The base needs to come up another 7 feet.

[bingun]

Thanks for the information! Yes, I also noticed that strange concrete base they were building, but that explains it. You can see it better in this picture.

I guess once we see that finished, the crane should follow shortly.

[sailor734]

I was speaking with someone last night who had a conversation with Percy Wilber earlier this week. He expects structure and precast concrete panels (apparently they arrive complete with windows) to start rising next month. Target date to be fully enclosed and weather tight is December. The building is now going to be 13 floors with the top floor consisting of two large setback penthouses.

[bridgeoftea]

Originally Posted by sailor734

I was speaking with someone last night who had a conversation with Percy Wilber earlier this week. He expects structure and precast concrete panels (apparently they arrive complete with windows) to start rising next month. Target date to be fully enclosed and weather tight is December. The building is now going to be 13 floors with the top floor consisting of two large setback penthouses.

Pretty sure from the King's Square side of the building counting up, I counted 11 floors in the previous render. So they must be including the 2 "lower floors" that go down King Street to be street level.
Where is Envision when you need him to show Percy if he builds up to 28 floors there will be big ocean views.

[Joe]

"The building is now going to be 13 floors"

I've heard this as well, not from anyone connected to Percy Wilbur, from persons working onsite.

"Pretty sure from the King's Square side of the building counting up, I counted 11 floors in the previous render. So they must be including the 2 "lower floors" that go down King Street to be street level."

I thought this as well however they said not including the 2 parking levels. I guess we'll see in the end.

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by bridgeoftea

Pretty sure from the King's Square side of the building counting up, I counted 11 floors in the previous render. So they must be including the 2 "lower floors" that go down King Street to be street level.
Where is Envision when you need him to show Percy if he builds up to 28 floors there will be big ocean views.

Unless it’s the latest rendering the city used on a presentation with it looking more white and 2 penthouse looking places on top.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by bridgeoftea

Pretty sure from the King's Square side of the building counting up, I counted 11 floors in the previous render. So they must be including the 2 "lower floors" that go down King Street to be street level.
Where is Envision when you need him to show Percy if he builds up to 28 floors there will be big ocean views.

lol, here I am.

There will still be pretty great ocean views from like 5 floors up or something, but yeah, obviously there would be a lot more units with ocean views if this project was 20-30+ storeys.

It’s a shame they didn’t try and raise more capital for a more ambitious build.

The city should be pushing developers to build taller on these high rise projects, as it’s in their best interest to get as many ocean view units built in Uptown Saint John as possible.


All that being said, this project is certainly going to be an improvement over what was there before, and this latest rendering looks a little better… but the the “turrets” or whatever we want to call them on the four corners of the roof still look ridiculous! Really hope they amend or delete this unaesthetic design element.

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

lol, here I am.

There will still be pretty great ocean views from like 5 floors up or something, but yeah, obviously there would be a lot more units with ocean views if this project was 20-30+ storeys.

It’s a shame they didn’t try and raise more capital for a more ambitious build.

The city should be pushing developers to build taller on these high rise projects, as it’s in their best interest to get as many ocean view units built in Uptown Saint John as possible.


All that being said, this project is certainly going to be an improvement over what was there before, and this latest rendering looks a little better… but the the “turrets” or whatever we want to call them on the four corners of the roof still look ridiculous! Really hope they amend or delete this unaesthetic design element.

Taller would not fly due to it blocking the sun to King’s Square later in the day. Prime for 30+ story buildings would be by red rose building, Smythe street, station street, Vulcan st area.

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Unless it’s the latest rendering the city used on a presentation with it looking more white and 2 penthouse looking places on top.

Between the precast panels and the low grade renderings we keep getting, I have very little faith in this building looking good when it is completed.

I hate to be negative about housing investment in our urban core - something that has been sorely lacking for a long time - but I wish the standard was just a little higher.

[bridgeoftea]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Taller would not fly due to it blocking the sun to King’s Square later in the day. Prime for 30+ story buildings would be by red rose building, Smythe street, station street, Vulcan st area.

I'd do 30 on 30. (30 Wellington). A big, tall bastard on the hill.

[sailor734]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the most recent renderings show no balconies (and small-ish window) other than the top 1 or 2 floors?

The small windows probably go hand in hand with the prefab panels as I was told the panels come with windows already installed.

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by sailor734

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the most recent renderings show no balconies (and small-ish window) other than the top 1 or 2 floors?

The small windows probably go hand in hand with the prefab panels as I was told the panels come with windows already installed.

That’s the rendering before one above, and one on signage at site. But the description given of 13 stories and 2 penthouses jives with rendering above.

[sailor734]

Well, from the sounds of things we'll have a pretty good idea of how it will look in a few months. It's going to be great to see it finally going up.

[cdnguys]

Here is a good video about precast buildings. I love the benefits of it, plus it’s a designed, made and owned in Saint John solution

https://youtu.be/AIj2HP3XCWY?feature=shared

[cdnguys]

[bingun]

Hot off the press...

Another new rendering? The balconies are gone again. I would like to think that OSCO/Strescon know what kind of pre-cast they are going to be installing, but at this point, who knows?

[darkharbour]

Well, that's certainly a building.

[cdnguys]

If this is the final rendering, it’s a modern day Admiral Beatty. They certainly aren’t going to fetch the high end of the rental market without balconies. I’m curious because someone had said a worker indicated 13 stories, whereas this rendering appears to be 11 stories with a penthouse section. The rendering with balconies is 13 stories, but then again I can’t see Strescon putting out outdated information. The beige surfaces look very similar to IOL HQ. I’m reallylooking forward to Lafford’s proposal now.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

If this is the final rendering, it’s a modern day Admiral Beatty. They certainly aren’t going to fetch the high end of the rental market without balconies. I’m curious because someone had said a worker indicated 13 stories, whereas this rendering appears to be 11 stories with a penthouse section. The rendering with balconies is 13 stories, but then again I can’t see Strescon putting out outdated information. The beige surfaces look very similar to IOL HQ. I’m reallylooking forward to Lafford’s proposal now.

1925 called. They want their building back. Hardly imaginative architecture

Edit. It was Percy Wilber that said 13 stories just last week. At this rate everybody will know how tall it is and what it looks like when they finish.

[Mud]

I know it's not the most impressive building considering it's prominence but frankly I think I like this better than the other renders I've seen. I think going simple might be saving it from some of the more erratic elements of the other renders.