[St. John's] The Official Project Thread

[kingcobra]

Originally Posted by Architype

When I was in Corner Brook last year I noticed the smoke from the mill was white. I was told that it's much better than it used to be. I didn't notice any odor either. But, then I don't live there.

This is a bit off-topic, but if you are from Corner brook you might find it interesting, a PDF file about the planning and history of the townsite:
http://www.heritagefoundation.ca/docs/townsite.pdf

Thanks for the link! It is quite interesting! The Glynnmill Hotel has some old pictures of Corner Brook and nearby towns. One of them shows a very rough and bumpy gravel road between Corner Brook and Halfway Point in the 1920s or 30s and the giant boulder stands in its way. People had to guide their horses with wagons or cars to swerve it.

I think there should be a sub-thread under St. John's that is dedicated to Corner Brook and its surrounding areas about condo projects.

[Architype]

^You're welcome. Somebody could start a thread for any topic they like, but I don't know enough of what is going on there without other people to contribute, especially with pictures and articles. There is no way to have a sub-thread that I know of, but just a regular non-sticky thread.

EDIT: There is a thread here which was titled "Newfoundland Resort Developments", now re-named to "Western Newfoundland Development" to broaden the topic:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=129408

Even for the St. John's there is not always enough participation. More input would be greatly appreciated from local forumers, as I will most likely not be able to keep up the pace. I think there will be continued interest in St. John's (& Nfld) in the future with the economic conditions improved so much.

Just going by other threads, the topics can be pretty varied, from a new drugstore to heritage conservation. Suburban development is always interesting too.

[Smevo]

I probably stretch the limits the most about stories in a development thread, but without reaching the extent to which I've done so, one could always start a thread and post anything development or devlopment-related. I do what I can in threads other than Sydney's, but it's hard enough to keep that one up to date from away. The only reason I can is because I know the area well, and that's really all a development thread needs to survive (that and the news/forumer(s) to support it). You can always try to represent an area you're interested in but not familiar with, but it rarely works out. Almost always you need a local to get the ball rolling and keep it rolling.

Corner Brook's one of those areas that most (on this forum) wants to know more about, but nobody (on this forum) is able to really represent it sufficiently well as far as developments go. Kudos, however, to Architype and others for representing Corner Brook where they could.

[Architype]

^ You do a great job keeping the Sydney, and other threads up to date. I keep posting here because it is one of the best and well informed sites on the internet for these kinds of topics, and I really enjoy the many aspects of it. You can imagine that people in a heritage oriented city are not going to be all that enthusiastic, given the name of the site though. My belief is that modern, if done properly, can co-exist with heritage, at least in the same city, and that more attention needs to be paid to the quality of the modern design that occurs, and that it not be stale or boring.

________________________________________________

Here's part of an article on second homes that mentions Nfld:

Luxury At A Lower Price
Other areas with a limited amount of luxury real estate (but a lot of buzz) include the west coast of Newfoundland and St. Andrews by the Sea, New Brunswick, which is seeing increasing traffic from the U.K. and Ireland, according to Christine Martysiewicz, a spokeswoman for Re/Max Promotions.

Although most homes in these areas don't reach $1 million in price, they're attracting attention from European investors who recognize the value. Most of the homes are right on the water, and job opportunities are growing--there is nearly $10 billion ($9.87 billion U.S.) in combined capital works projects pending for Newfoundland and Labrador's Avalon Peninsula.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/05/05/canada-second-homes-forbeslife-cx_ls_0505realestate.html

I'm not sure what their definition of a billion is, but $10 billion seems like quite a bit. I wonder what projects they are referring to?

[kingcobra]

Here's a lnk to KSAB Construction Ltd which has built several condo and subdivison projects in Corner Brook, Steady Brook and Deer Lake below:

http://www.ksab.ca/

[Architype]

Originally Posted by kingcobra

Here's a lnk to KSAB Construction Ltd which has built several condo and subdivison projects in Corner Brook, Steady Brook and Deer Lake below:

http://www.ksab.ca/

Thanks for the link. It's good to see some development there.

I think Corner Brook should treat the original townsite like a heritage area, similar to St. John's, but confined to that area only. Most of the downtown is outside that area. Most St. John's downtown buildings were only about 80 years old (but some were much older) when it's heritage area was envisioned, and the townsite area is now 83 years old. I think it has a special and unique character.

Here is a link about some heritage conservation projects, including two of the Townsite buildings designed by Andrew Cobb:
http://www.heritagefoundation.ca/docs/case_for_heritage.pdf

[Nuks]

I just found this St. John's downtown panorama, courtesy of flickr user AdamNF. Thought you all might enjoy it:



Click for bigger/smaller sizes

[Architype]

^Nice pano, I like they way they got The Rooms at the top and the courthouse on the right. I think that is from the parking garage .
___________________________________

Originally Posted by MrChills

This is not directly related to St. John's, but, check it out if you have a minute. The NL Tourism website has released a "Virtual Scrapbook", as a place to submit and rate user generated photos. I've seen a lot of great photos from some of the users here, worth adding some to the site

http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/VirtualScrapbook/

Thanks for the link, I checked it out.
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Also, another aritcle about a development in Corner Brook:
Title: Transformation in progress
Housing Work underway to convert YMCA building into apartment building
http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=137513&sc=82
___________________________________

And another article about Corner Brook:

CORNER BROOK -- Richard Damecour is hoping people in Corner Brook will warm up to the idea of a District Heating System for the community. Mr. Damecour is vice-president of FVB Energy Inc. -- the company hired to conduct a feasibility study into the use of a centralized hot water system as a source of heat throughout the city. The plan would see hot water and steam piped from a centralized location to a number of buildings throughout the community, where it would serve as the main source of heat and hot water for the structures.

Rest of article here:
http://ntv.ca/news/news.html

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EDIT: There is a thread here which was titled "Newfoundland Resort Developments", now re-named to "Western Newfoundland Development" to broaden the topic:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=129408

[Canasian]

Here is the Narrows condo site as of last week, May 28 to be exact....



Here is the 18 Lives Rawlins Cross development site, shown the teardown. (looking up from Prescott St.)

[Architype]

Thanks for the pictures. I thought the Rawlins Cross one was going to be a renno, but I guess it will be new construction.

[Canasian]

^^^^^
That's what I initialy tought too, but hey the renderings look great though.

[Architype]

Here's is a photo from bitstop.ca, which shows the Tiffany Court building between Torbay Rd & Tiffany Lane under construction (left in photo). The Kennys Pond residence on MacDonald Drive is also visible.

Edit - photo no longer available.
credit: http://bitstop.ca/

Another photo here, see June 18th:
http://bitstop-nfld.blogspot.com


Edit: Maybe as an alternative, someone else can provide a few pictures of these projects when they have time.

[Architype]

Newfoundland (St. John's) landfill gas recovery project

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has announced a $1.6 million investment for the construction of a methane gas recovery unit at the Robin Hood Bay landfill. The Landfill Gas Collecting and Flaring System (LGCFS) can potentially reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the site by 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes per year.

Rest of article HERE

[Architype]

Metro Housing Starts Up

Newfoundland urban housing starts soared during the month of May, according to preliminary data released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). May’s total housing starts soared 49 per cent, with 230 posted within Newfoundland compared to 154 a year ago. A total of 224 of the 230 starts were within St. John’s metro versus 124 last May, a record increase of 81 per cent.

Year-todate, there have been 471 new homes started across the province versus last year’s total of 395 homes during the same period. A total of 456 of these starts occurred within St. John’s metro, for a year-to-date increase of 33 per cent.

“With pent-up demand for newly built homes within the local housing market, May’s notable increase in housing starts is an example of the impact that a limited supply of current listings available for sale can have on residential construction activity,” said Chris Janes, Senior Market Analyst with CMHC in Newfoundland and Labrador. “With a buoyant sellers market, the current supply of active listings is approximately 50 per cent lower than a year ago, so buyers are shifting to new homes, simply because they cannot find a suitable existing home in the resale market,” added Janes.

http://www.stjohnsrealestateonline.com/

[Canasian]

Great news! You can feel the "vibe" here. New housing starts are pretty common right now.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by Canasian

Great news! You can feel the "vibe" here. New housing starts are pretty common right now.

I know the vibe is great. I guess my concern would be that most of the development is taking place relatively long distances from the downtown in areas such as Southlands (distance of 11 km), Paradise (10+ km), and Conception Bay S. (more than 20 km). More compact development (higher density and walkable) seems to be the best solution for the 21st century.

I know that is a very general statement, but it applies pretty much everywhere these days.

Edit:
BTW (Canasian), I added your latest great photo tour to the first page here, I've never seen Garnish before, nice pics -
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=152726

[Canasian]

Originally Posted by Architype

I know the vibe is great. I guess my concern would be that most of the development is taking place relatively long distances from the downtown in areas such as Southlands (distance of 11 km), Paradise (10+ km), and Conception Bay S. (more than 20 km). More compact development (higher density and walkable) seems to be the best solution for the 21st century.

[/url]

Thank you for the compliments Architype, I appreciate that!. There is sporadic infill here in the city, but it's coming along, albeit as you said most of the new development is in the suburbs. St. John's (city) is holding its own, IMO.

[Canasian]

I actually had to look at a development proposal for Nain, and zoning map had a residential subdivision of 30 homes!

[Architype]

Originally Posted by Canasian

I actually had to look at a development proposal for Nain, and zoning map had a residential subdivision of 30 homes!

I guess the Labrador native communities are not in population decline like most of the island outports. A photo tour of Nain would be quite something, as are any of the Nfld outports you have shown. People seem intrigued by those.

[Architype]

A Report on Business article notes that the St. John's office vacancy rate is very tight, the lowest of the surveyed cities in class A buildings:

"Energized ... maybe too energized
As Newfoundland rides resources wave, St. John's grapples with one of the tightest office markets in country"

LORI MAYNE

Special to The Globe and Mail

June 24, 2008

At national real estate conferences, Bill Balsom would smile when he saw the view of Canada on an overhead screen: Newfoundland and Labrador often wasn't even on the map.

"They'd put up this beautiful colour PowerPoint presentation and the country would stop at Halifax," he says.

That view is changing. "Finally, we are now on the radar," says Mr. Balsom, a partner in St. John's real estate consulting and appraisal firm ARA Kirkland Balsom and Associates.

A resurgent provincial economy, fuelled largely by the strong resources sector, is giving the province a shot in the arm. But it's perhaps one that the provincial capital wasn't quite prepared for - rising demand for office space and a scarcity of new buildings have left the downtown St. John's office market the tightest that some have seen in decades


However, new buildings haven't been coming on stream because rents haven't increased enough to justify costs, observers say. Neil Hardy, executive vice-president for the Atlantic region of real estate consulting company Altus Group Ltd., says rents at the seven main multioccupancy towers downtown now range from $14 to $16.50 a square foot - about 10 per cent higher than two years ago.

Downtown rents would have to reach about $25 to justify new construction, Mr. Hardy says. "I don't know if we are at that stage where a tenant would pay that money."

He believes more new space will go to St. John's suburbs where development costs would be cheaper. But he agrees some new construction will likely happen in the city itself within a year.

Office market snapshot

Vacancy rates in Class A buildings in central markets.

2nd quarter 2nd quarter
2008 2007
Vancouver 2.3% 2.1%
Edmonton 2.1% n/a
Calgary 2.3% 0.6%
Winnipeg 6.3% 6.3%
Toronto 3.9% 5.2%
Ottawa 2.9% 3.8%
Montreal 4.7% 7.0%
Fredericton 0.4% 3.0%
Saint John 5.4% 12.7%
Moncton 9.0% 10.6%
Halifax 2.2% 5.7%
St. John's 0.1% 1.1%
National 3.4% 4.3%

SOURCE: CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD LePAGE

Complete Article here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080624.PRSTJOHNS24/TPStory/Business