The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[bingun]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

[IMG][/IMG]

Just one building, then I think. I am interested to see the style of this one, hopefully not too depressing a facade.

[cdnguys]

Construction fence up at St. Pat’s and brick repointing under way. Port-a-potties on site

[bingun]

Originally Posted by adamuptownsj

Buried in the council agenda for tonight, under Charlotte Street infrastructure upgrades... the presumed Lafford project at Tin Can Beach will be 404 units (see page 36): https://pub-saintjohn.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=26246

IIRC, Three Sisters is about 450 units and Gateway is 375.

Replying back to your original post for simplicity, Donna explicitly mentions this in this quick construction update video she made -

"We have an opportunity for a couple of large apartment buildings across Broad Street" or words to that effect.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1212625058593353

[cdnguys]

Murphy Hospitality Group (Gahan House) purchased Lemongrass / Peppers Pub)

[bingun]

Finally, an update on Martello Tower.

Martello Tower's unexpectedly long closure leaves its Saint John neighbours impatient

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-bruns...o-tower-west-side-parks-canada-9.7228595

Parks Canada expects to be able to remove some of the upper scaffolding this summer to allow for a partial view of the upper part of the tower but says it won't be fully open and accessible to the public until 2027.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by bingun

Finally, an update on Martello Tower.

Martello Tower's unexpectedly long closure leaves its Saint John neighbours impatient

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-bruns...o-tower-west-side-parks-canada-9.7228595

If they meet that schedule this reno will have taken 11 years. Just for comparison it took the British army engineers approximately 2 years to build the tower starting in 1813.

[cdnguys]

Some interesting numbers released this month for May from the New Brunswick Labour Force statistics:

Southeast Moncton region: May 2026 employment up +2,800; YOR down -(3,500). Unemployment rate 8.8% in May, up 2.7% YOY. Labour force (employed + unemployed) grew by +400 over last 12 months.

Southwest Saint John region: May 2026 employment up +2,100; YOR up +4,700. Unemployment rate 5.6% in May, down 1.7% YOR. Labour force grew by +3,300 over last 12 months

Central Fredericton region: May 2026 employment up +1,200; YOR down -(400). Unemployment rate 7% in May, YOR down 0.8%. Labour force grew by +300 over the last 12 months.

So Saint John region is doing really well it appears, paired with the most capital investments in all of the province this year. Hopefully the momentum will continue. There are so many new restaurants opening after a big boon of restaurant openings last year, which is a leading indicator of business confidence and employment/population growth. Most interesting for me is that the labour force is growing while the unemployment rate is falling, meaning there must be strong population growth. But who knows, Saint John numbers are notoriously hard to nail down and can fluctuate wildly.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Some interesting numbers released this month for May from the New Brunswick Labour Force statistics:

Southeast Moncton region: May 2026 employment up +2,800; YOR down -(3,500). Unemployment rate 8.8% in May, up 2.7% YOY. Labour force (employed + unemployed) grew by +400 over last 12 months.

Southwest Saint John region: May 2026 employment up +2,100; YOR up +4,700. Unemployment rate 5.6% in May, down 1.7% YOR. Labour force grew by +3,300 over last 12 months

Central Fredericton region: May 2026 employment up +1,200; YOR down -(400). Unemployment rate 7% in May, YOR down 0.8%. Labour force grew by +300 over the last 12 months.

So Saint John region is doing really well it appears, paired with the most capital investments in all of the province this year. Hopefully the momentum will continue. There are so many new restaurants opening after a big boon of restaurant openings last year, which is a leading indicator of business confidence and employment/population growth. Most interesting for me is that the labour force is growing while the unemployment rate is falling, meaning there must be strong population growth. But who knows, Saint John numbers are notoriously hard to nail down and can fluctuate wildly.

I am always a little skeptical of the CMA-level statistics for things like this because of the limited data available, but I have also noticed some positive signs.

Last year, we had all this dramatic news coverage about how Saint John was the most tariff-affected city in Canada, and while there have been some effects, little has changed. None of the news coverage got into the details that the vast, vast majority of our exports were petroleum products from the refinery, which Trump hasn't shown any interest in targeting.

The image below shows some of what you mentioned - the unemployment rate by CMA in the Atlantic Region (seasonally adjusted). Halifax seems very stable, as does NB as a whole. Moncton's recent uptick is a bit concerning but could just be noise. Saint John seems to have had a great start to the year.

For added perspective, Saint John's recent unemployment rate is lower than every CMA west of Quebec, except Thursday Bay and Victoria.

However, the participation rate in Saint John still sucks, barely scraping above 60% and under that during the winter months. This is largely thanks to the large numbers of retired folks in the city, which isn't something easily fixed. Skilled interprovincial and international immigration is the only cure for that one.

[bingun]

AllNB has an article titled - $12.5M Water Projects Unlocked 404 Potential SJ Housing Units.

I assume this is about Lafford?

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by bingun

AllNB has an article titled - $12.5M Water Projects Unlocked 404 Potential SJ Housing Units.

I assume this is about Lafford?

Yes would be.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

This has to be the ugliest proposal I’ve seen for housing since moving to Saint John. While it’s still infinitely better than Brent Harris’s, “Better Belyea” proposal, it still seems the city is hellbent on putting as low income housing as possible into this vast site, which is currently one of the biggest green spaces on the West Side.

They could get just as much housing units, or more, and still save a lot more green space by building up 6+ storeys… and that’s without even talking about below and above ground parking solutions. I’m still confident the best solution for the former Belyea site is multiple condo/apartment towers, where the remaining green space is utilized, respected, and prioritized.

We have apartment buildings going up all over the Maritimes left and right… the city really couldn’t have found a developer that wanted to build a multi tower high rise development across this expansive, oceanfront site?

[bingun]

Similar to the old fire station, the document below shows how proposals were scored. They asked for a high number of units and affordable housing, and, frankly, tightly packed, ugly townhouses are among the most effective ways to achieve that. This isn't a heritage area; as long as it meets code, the city can't deny them on stylistic grounds. Using townhouses instead of apartments is supposed to be more palatable for the neighbours, but most don't seem pleased.

https://saintjohn.ca/sites/default/files/documents/EOI2.bid%20400%20Lowell%20Street.pdf

I do feel for the neighbours, but I also can't see this not happening; this is exactly what the city asked for and will make a material difference to the city's housing supply, particularly on the west side.

Also, the below comment was my highlight, credit to Brenda, she speaks her mind. 32 calls to whom I assume was Joanna. Good riddance.

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

This has to be the ugliest proposal I’ve seen for housing since moving to Saint John. While it’s still infinitely better than Brent Harris’s, “Better Belyea” proposal, it still seems the city is hellbent on putting as low income housing as possible into this vast site, which is currently one of the biggest green spaces on the West Side.

They could get just as much housing units, or more, and still save a lot more green space by building up 6+ storeys… and that’s without even talking about below and above ground parking solutions. I’m still confident the best solution for the former Belyea site is multiple condo/apartment towers, where the remaining green space is utilized, respected, and prioritized.

We have apartment buildings going up all over the Maritimes left and right… the city really couldn’t have found a developer that wanted to build a multi tower high rise development across this expansive, oceanfront site?

The site is basically surrounded by low-rise residential so not the best candidate for taller buildings under most zoning codes/municipal plans. I think we also need to be careful about banging on the green space drum too much. Green space on its own isn't necessarily inherently virtuous. A lot of green space is perhaps aesthetically pleasing at best, or is seen as better than having the area developed even if it isn't currently maintained or used. A quick look at Google Maps shows there is hardly a lack of green space in this area, though admittedly little of it is activated in any way. But I think a small park with actual amenities is much more useful to have in a city neighborhood than acres of lawn and trees.

Saw a good quote from Jane Jacobs about this just yesterday:

[adamuptownsj]

I agree in principle, but this is a sports field that does see use, if only through community maintenance. Also, none of these row homes appear even have ocean views, despite incredible ones being right there.

If this was me, I'd load the southwest corner along Lowell with 3-4, ~10,000sf-footprint, 6-storey apartment buildings with parking north of them. That gives you about 60 decent sized units per building. Then extend Clarence Street into a new cul de sac and build some stacked townhouses at the northwest end of the property.

Sure people would complain but the current design has an insane amount of asphalt and doesn't seem to acknowledge the 160-degree ocean views.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Agreed. Not going with some six storey apartments here just seems like an incredible wasted opportunity given the surrounding ocean views. Like, the surrounding neighbours are gunna be pissed off whether they went 3 storeys or 6

Had ChatGPT take another stab at my previous attempt to throw some high rises on this property, it looks better, but the placement is incorrect.




Tried to replace the arena with a parkade with a rooftop patio, but it just looked goofy every time. Yeah, this type of development is probably “dreaming”… but the picture speaks for itself, its prime ocean view real estate… with the right zoning.

With even 6 storey apartments, well more than half of the units would have ocean views, and people would probably be a lot happier living in those units with ocean views than in these rowhouses packed and stacked together like sardines. 😅

[RR Drummer]

While walking today going through upper part of Forest Hills with my dog I noticed a section of land behind/between the long established townhouses in Highmeadow has sold and being developed. Last time I walked through there was last month but seems to be happening quickly enough as nothing was going on then. There is fencing up, and ground has been broken. This land has long been for sale. I can’t remember hearing of the land being sold and/or any plans talked about for development by anyone. Interesting.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by RR Drummer

While walking today going through upper part of Forest Hills with my dog I noticed a section of land behind/between the long established townhouses in Highmeadow has sold and being developed. Last time I walked through there was last month but seems to be happening quickly enough as nothing was going on then. There is fencing up, and ground has been broken. This land has long been for sale. I can’t remember hearing of the land being sold and/or any plans talked about for development by anyone. Interesting.

More townhouses, I believe. I recall seeing a building permit for it not long ago. Good to see highmeadow 'finished'.

[cdnguys]