The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by Seely32

From my understanding this will be thier headqaurters so seeing as it is that, I couldnt see them make a box with nothing aesthetic I agree with you it will make economic sense but..I see them making this thier jewel. I couldnt imagine bringing new business oppurtunities to a ugly office building thats not impressive. Economics is one thing doesnt mean they have shortcomings in thier headquarters. With not many places uptown to have a huge footprint I think up is the only way to go. With multiple tenants they will require a fair amount of square footage, and they could recover the money that it took them build it.

Even if they dont build big which I think they will mind you any fight from the city....I can still hope and dream.

I think ultimately, if the 2nd refinery & plans for a new office tower do go ahead, the final tower product will be something moderate...not a nondescript street level box, but not a 20+ floor gleaming white tower....it would likely be in the middle somewhere....blending economical sense with the current / future business needs . . . I agree that most places in the uptown have smallish footprints to build on, so maybe i'll be proved wrong & there will be a really skinny 25+ story tower go up some day. . . .

[Seely32]

Originally Posted by PostModernPrometheus

I drove up to this site last evening - trying to make sense of what exactly is being done on this site...is it a full expansion (more offices, etc)? it almost looks at this point like it's an addition housing an elevator shaft or something....

I agree I dont understand what they are doing to it.

The Saint john energy building has some steel up now and it does not seem to high maybe they will go a little bit higher. There is some ironwork behind it and I am wondering what will happen behind it.

The bridge seems like its taking forever and I wonder if they plan on painting the lights and railings blue as well.

[mmmatt]

Why dont they spend the money on repaying the massive loan they have on that bridge? Im sure people would be happier to pay less of a toll instead of having a blue bridge.

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by stu_pendousmat2

Why dont they spend the money on repaying the massive loan they have on that bridge? Im sure people would be happier to pay less of a toll instead of having a blue bridge.

lol...good point - the original cost of the bridge, if i recall correctly was about 18 million dollars (i'm not sure if this figure is adjusted to current day value or not)...more than 20 million has been paid on it, with more than 20 million left to go...I know that there have been calls for debt forgiveness on the bridge, and i think its fair to say that the city and its citizens have more than paid for their part of that old project...as it currently stands, i dont think it's possible to pay down the bridge debt....

PS- re: the new bridge paint job .....i do like the blue better than the green

[michael_d40]

Originally Posted by PostModernPrometheus

lol...good point - the original cost of the bridge, if i recall correctly was about 18 million dollars (i'm not sure if this figure is adjusted to current day value or not)...more than 20 million has been paid on it, with more than 20 million left to go...I know that there have been calls for debt forgiveness on the bridge, and i think its fair to say that the city and its citizens have more than paid for their part of that old project...as it currently stands, i dont think it's possible to pay down the bridge debt....

PS- re: the new bridge paint job .....i do like the blue better than the green

Yeah, the blue is pretty sweet. Were really classin up the place around here lol

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by michael_d40

Yeah, the blue is pretty sweet. Were really classin up the place around here lol

Someone post a picture...I wanna see!

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by stu_pendousmat2

Why dont they spend the money on repaying the massive loan they have on that bridge? Im sure people would be happier to pay less of a toll instead of having a blue bridge.

That bridge requires repainting almost continually. The toll was raised recently to have the bridge paid off within 10 years, cause the debt isn't going to be forgiven.

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by PostModernPrometheus

I think ultimately, if the 2nd refinery & plans for a new office tower do go ahead, the final tower product will be something moderate...not a nondescript street level box, but not a 20+ floor gleaming white tower....it would likely be in the middle somewhere....blending economical sense with the current / future business needs . . . I agree that most places in the uptown have smallish footprints to build on, so maybe i'll be proved wrong & there will be a really skinny 25+ story tower go up some day. . . .

I'm talking completely without any knowledge of Irving needs, but considering the golden ball has an average footprint and is about 7 stories as it is, add all the other Irving Oil offices, call centre, additional requirements due to the new refinery, LNG/Canaport and aquired partners, and unless they buy up a couple of city blocks and increase the footprint, they've got to be looking up...

From what I understand, they already committed to uptown, and there isn't a whole lot of space to sprawl around on.

I must admit, I'd also like to see a different building dominate the skyline besides the 70's Brunswick Square tower, preferably something more appealing to the eye.

[thefishingnut]

Originally Posted by GUB

I agree with you Kwajo in regards to the majority, if not entirety of Rothesay town council. The decided placement of bus stops in Rothesay simply does not make any sense. For godness sake---in front of Riverside Country Club?! Are Saint Johners going to grab the bus to Riverside and proceed to pay $100 green fee?!

I was thinking about this when I drove past Riverside yesterday. There is a new bus shelter built which looks pretty nice, and it's very close to the parking lot for the park, which was paved in the past 2 weeks. So structurally there are some positive elements about it if a spouse would be dropping off their partner to catch the bus in to work, or if parents would be dropping off/picking up the kids from there. For a 1 car family in the area, it's probably a pretty good setup.

It seems odd that Rothesay would bother building a bus shelter if they didn't want to participate long term.

[Seely32]

I was at the east Point shopping center today and they have a media and public relations office.

They have a floor model of the entire east point shopping center, It includes all the other phases. It looks massive it was closed today so I can't go into any specifics but it looks nice from the window. I plan on stop by later in the week if anyone beats me to it be sure to post....But you are not allowed to take pictures of the floor model. So I wont be able to get everything.

[michael_d40]

Originally Posted by Seely32

I was at the east Point shopping center today and they have a media and public relations office.

They have a floor model of the entire east point shopping center, It includes all the other phases. It looks massive it was closed today so I can't go into any specifics but it looks nice from the window. I plan on stop by later in the week if anyone beats me to it be sure to post....But you are not allowed to take pictures of the floor model. So I wont be able to get everything.

Im sure you could sneak a picture with a cellphone or something lol

[Seely32]

Ready for some big steps
Development Announcements soon on justice complex, Coast Guard site, bus garage: mayor

John Mazerolle
Telegraph-Journal
Published Monday August 27th, 2007
Appeared on page C1
SAINT JOHN - Mayor Norm McFarlane says three projects that many Saint Johners have been clamouring for should each take major steps forward in the coming weeks.

A police-justice complex in the uptown, redevelopment of the Coast Guard site on the waterfront, and the city bus garage's move east to make way for retail development on the West Side have each caught the public's attention, but they've all been slow going as the city negotiates land deals.

"I think we're getting to the point in a month or so we'll be able to make announcements," McFarlane said in an interview.

The projects have been in the works for years, and McFarlane said getting them underway will make it easier to pitch Saint John to investors because the growth he constantly boasts about will become more real. "It's a little bit easier to sell," he said.

The Coast Guard project has been in limbo since an announcement in 2005 that the Hardman Group Ltd. had been selected to develop the site. City manager Terry Totten said in late 2006 that the development was "a long ways away" because the federal government's asking price for the site was too high.

The plan is for the city to buy the property, then recoup the money through a lease to the Hardman Group.

In recent months, there have been signs the project is inching forward. Bill Hardman, of the Hardman Group, said in July that he would be able to talk about the project in a month or so. (He could not be reached for comment.)

In addition, company vice-president Colin Whitcomb this summer talked openly about expanding the area they plan to develop, to include Loyalist Plaza.

The scope of the $75-million project would be the largest for the uptown since the development of Market Square more than two decades ago. If the project moves ahead, the site would be redeveloped to include a hotel, condominiums, residential units, commercial and retail space, parking and an educational technology complex, all connected to Harbour Passage and the inside pedway.

Meanwhile, the West Side retail development has always been dependent on moving Saint John Transit's bus terminal from its current location on Fairville Boulevard to a new location, rumoured now to be McDonald Street, near Loch Lomond Mall.

McFarlane said earlier this year his goal was for work to begin at the current transit site this fall. On the retail side, the city is negotiating with Plaza BNG, Inc., the Montreal-based group behind the development. A message left on the appropriate official's cellphone was not returned.

As for the police-justice complex, McFarlane said last week's tender call for demolition of the YMCA-YWCA building on Hazen Avenue is the step that sets the construction of the entire project in motion. The province's tender for demolition closes Sept. 6 and the building should be removed by December.

McFarlane said the city will "be right behind" the province when it starts its work on the provincial justice building. The city is building a new police headquarters that will replace the Saint John Police Force's cramped and inadequate location in City Hall.

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by michael_d40

Im sure you could sneak a picture with a cellphone or something lol

Ill have to bring along some a flirtacious hottie to distract them while I go clickin' away!

[PostModernPrometheus]

[QUOTE=Seely32;3034775]Ready for some big steps
Development Announcements soon on justice complex, Coast Guard site, bus garage: mayor

John Mazerolle
Telegraph-Journal
Published Monday August 27th, 2007
Appeared on page C1
SAINT JOHN - Mayor Norm McFarlane says three projects that many Saint Johners have been clamouring for should each take major steps forward in the coming weeks./QUOTE]



Good to hear....particularly about the Harman site, as the propsed Coast Guard site redevelopment is quite possibly the single most important / visible project that will help to usher in a new era for the uptown area.

[Seely32]

I havent heard anything new on the cruiseship welcome centre I wonder if its still ago.

Also I was wondering if we could make a group list of all the projects around town to update the main page and I need one for my site I know you guys can remember more than me?

[PostModernPrometheus]

Subcommittee will suggest possible stadium funding
John Mazerolle
Telegraph-Journal
Published Monday August 27th, 2007
Appeared on page C1
SAINT JOHN - The rebirth of the Canada Games Stadium will cost about $3.5 million, say two key members of the city's Recreation Implementation Committee.

"We've got a good foundation from which to launch and we hope to see it started within a year or so," said Bill MacMackin, a member of the Canada Games Stadium redevelopment subcommittee.

The subcommittee will make a presentation to common council at its regular meeting tonight. The upgrade of the stadium was one of the top priorities identified in the so-called Wallace Report on recreation in Saint John, released in 2005. The idea is to get the once-proud university stadium back up to national standards, make it more part of the community, and attract some premier events similar to the ones it staged in the 1980s and 1990s.

In August 2006, the city and the University of New Brunswick agreed to contribute $10,000 each toward a designer that would come up with the conceptual plans. /



Article Truncated

[PostModernPrometheus]

WATERFRONT PROJECT ON TRACK
August 27, 2007 - 7:12 pm
By: Denise Barkhouse - News 88.9 Staff



SAINT JOHN, NB - The company behind a proposed seventy-five million dollar project for the Saint John waterfront is aiming to break ground late next year.

Hardman Group Vice President, Colin Whitcomb tells us at this point the project is entangled in negotiations.

"Between the city and the Hardman Group, we have to determine who is going to take on what responsibilities for the different portions of the land once it's acquired from the federal government. So we're negotiating that back and forth with the Saint John Development Corporation." Whitcomb said.

Whitcomb said once an agreement is reached, the company plans to make a presentation to city council ( which will hopefully happen in October) for the proposed acquisition strategy from the federal government.

The four phase, ten year project, will include condominiums , 130 room hotel, and a parking garage.

[Helladog]

The company behind a proposed seventy-five million dollar project for the Saint John waterfront is aiming to break ground late next year

So much for starting this fall...at least council is for this one as opposed to the Dean's Hill project 10+ years ago that went bely up in BS.

[GUB]

To me, this is typical Saint John. Everything takes forever to get going.---All talk, no action. Maybe I'm just being impatient, but these delays are hitorically commonplace in SJ. That being said, I think the mayor is doing a respectable job. Compared to the former mayor, Mayor Macfarlane is light years ahead of his predecessor, but then again a 12th grader could have accomplished what she did.

[michael_d40]

Originally Posted by GUB

To me, this is typical Saint John. Everything takes forever to get going.---All talk, no action. Maybe I'm just being impatient, but these delays are hitorically commonplace in SJ. That being said, I think the mayor is doing a respectable job. Compared to the former mayor, Mayor Macfarlane is light years ahead of his predecessor, but then again a 12th grader could have accomplished what she did.

Actually, that SHE is the reason why Harbour Passage is up and running, Incase you havnt noticed, Harbour Passage has been the catelyst for the the recent explosion of uptown activity,
So ease up and give her a break.