The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[PostModernPrometheus]

Waterfront boss to be named soonPublished Tuesday August 26th, 2008

Development Ross Jefferson's replacement hails from Fredericton
C3John Mazerolle
Telegraph-Journal

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Waterfront Development Partnership seems to be full of good news, though they are not ready to share it all just yet.

Charlie Swanton, the chair of the partnership, says they have chosen their newest general manager, since the departure of Ross Jefferson in early July to head the Benefits Blueprint.

"He is from Fredericton," Swanton said of the new GM. "That's all I can tell you. But I think he'll be an excellent person for the waterfront."

An announcement is expected in the next two to three weeks. Swanton said about 50 people applied for the job, which was narrowed down to a shortlist of five, and then two.

Other good news involves the status of the coast guard site. The partnership has requested a closed-door meeting with council. Land negotiations must be discussed in private, but Swanton said the meeting is a positive one.

He said negotiations with preferred developer, the Hardman Group, and the federal government are both going well.



*sic*

full link: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/396984

anyone have any idea who the replacement is???

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by PostModernPrometheus

anyone have any idea who the replacement is???

Well I can tell you that I was one of the 50 people who applied and was contacted, but it definitely isn't me




Anyway, I'm very excited about the Market Square expansion, I've been waiting for something to happen on that "development pad" for years. I think it'll be a great addition to Uptown, and if it means an expansion to the Museum or to the Convention Centre, then those will be big parts of maintaining the city's core as a destination for citizens and tourists alike. The only concern I have is that the article posted mentions "The facade materials will be brick or precast metal and glazing." Now I don't know know a lot about precast materials, but if the other examples in the city are any indication, I definitely don't want any of it at such a prominent location. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Originally Posted by PostModernPrometheus

I'd hazard a guess that the MSq expansion would be mostly to accomodate the NB museum...they've been looking to expand, and the planned expansion section of the complex would be kind of cut off from the rest of the retail shops...

Another option would be to move the offices from above the restaurants to the expansion, and add retail to where the offices are.

[PostModernPrometheus]

North Of Union Public Meeting Tonight
August 26, 2008
By: News 88-9 staff DeniseBarkhouse



SAINT JOHN, N.B.- You will have an opportunity tonight to check out the latest plans for a major uptown development.

The North Of Union development will comprise a new police headquarters along with a justice complex and parking garage at a price tag of between 90 and 100 million dollars

Mayor Ivan Court says people will be pleased with how the plans have turned out. "It does incorporate many of the things people spent time trying to put into the plan", Court says. " It tries to meet the needs of the citizens and to the historical makeup of the whole area".

Court says a considerable amount of time and effort has been spent on this project and they want to get it right.
Tonight's meeting gets underway at 7PM at the Saint John Arts Centre.
Another public consultation will be held tomorrow evening.




(from the news889.com site)

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by PostModernPrometheus

North Of Union Public Meeting Tonight
August 26, 2008
By: News 88-9 staff DeniseBarkhouse



SAINT JOHN, N.B.- You will have an opportunity tonight to check out the latest plans for a major uptown development.

The North Of Union development will comprise a new police headquarters along with a justice complex and parking garage at a price tag of between 90 and 100 million dollars

Mayor Ivan Court says people will be pleased with how the plans have turned out. "It does incorporate many of the things people spent time trying to put into the plan", Court says. " It tries to meet the needs of the citizens and to the historical makeup of the whole area".

Court says a considerable amount of time and effort has been spent on this project and they want to get it right.
Tonight's meeting gets underway at 7PM at the Saint John Arts Centre.
Another public consultation will be held tomorrow evening.




(from the news889.com site)

Thanks for posting the time, as I was considering going to the meeting tonight if I get the chance.

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by kwajo

Thanks for posting the time, as I was considering going to the meeting tonight if I get the chance.

i'm in st john's NL for the week, otherwise i'd be there.....

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by PostModernPrometheus

i'm in st john's NL for the week, otherwise i'd be there.....

I'm considering going, but the last time I went, it was no fun.

[kwajo]

Not quite a new development, but related to it:

Slum landlords, bad tenants and minimum standards
Published Wednesday August 27th, 2008


C1
JOHN CHILIBECK
PUBLIC EYE
For every angry neighbour calling upon city inspectors to do something about rundown buildings, there's a landlord crying that upgrades are too expensive.

This is obvious to reporters who have done their share of slum housing stories in Saint John, of which there have been many. On one side are neighbours who say the buildings are unsafe, unsightly and killing property values, and on the other are landlords who complain they can't make a buck because of high taxes, overzealous inspection officers and bad tenants who skip rent and vandalize properties.

The newest version of the city's minimum standards bylaw is supposed to address both problems. Inspectors now have the power to ticket landlords for violations, but they can also fine tenants who create a horrendous mess or safety hazards, such as blocking fire exits or stripping batteries from smoke alarms.

What's truly noteworthy about the new bylaw is the way it reflects Saint John's rising fortunes. Sometimes forgotten in the slum landlord versus miserable tenant debate is what created the conditions in the first place: poverty and ignorance.

Bad tenants are generally bad because they lack some serious life skills. Sometimes their brains have been fried by too much drink and drugs. Sometimes they've got a chip on their shoulder because they've been down on their luck for so long.

What to make of landlords who complain about bad tenants and expensive upgrades? Some are truly unscrupulous, but most are just lousy at business. They think they can supplement their income by buying a property and collecting rent without first doing some homework. That means finding out what the rental market is like and what upgrades need to be done, besides doing regular maintenance.

Traditionally, the city trod lightly with most landlords who violated minimum standards because there were far too many buildings to address. Forcing every property owner to meet all the standards was far too cumbersome and would bankrupt some half-decent landlords, leaving many of the poor with no place to live.

Today, there are still way too many buildings in violation for inspectors to handle, and the poor are still in danger of being displaced. But what's curious about the push from politicians and everyday citizens for better enforcement is it coincides with rising wealth in the older neighbourhoods.

The level of poverty dipped slightly in recent years and out-migration has slowed significantly. Property sales are up and more building permits are being taken out.

Some people warn this slow gentrification of the older neighbourhoods risks putting poor people on the street. The older buildings, if brought up to standards, would only make money if landlords charged much higher rents. Many of the apartments would have to be razed and rebuilt from scratch. This puts poor people in a pickle because there are already long waiting lists for subsidized housing.

Last week the city introduced a grant program for non-profit agencies that build affordable housing, with $50,000 in funds available a year.

Coun. Gary Sullivan also successfully passed a motion recently to have the city manager to study land banking in an effort to find more space for affordable housing.

This is a good start but it's clearly not enough. It would be nice to think the energy boom will make everyone rich, but it won't. Although the unemployment rate is low in the city, it excludes people who don't bother looking. The fact remains that one-third of people of an employable age are not working in Saint John.

Until more affordable housing is built, the rest of the community will likely have to continue to put up with derelict properties.

John Chilibeck is a Telegraph-Journal reporter who writes about issues that affect the Saint John region. He can be reached at [email protected] or by calling 645-3267.

[random11]

SAINT JOHN - City residents voiced little concern with the redesigned proposal for the north of Union development during a public presentation Tuesday night - and even answered with applause.


About 40 residents, packed into a gallery at the Saint John Arts Centre, looked on as city, provincial and architectural design officials outlined the new proposal.

"This plan, in my opinion, is a big improvement over what was initially thought was going to happen," Howard Pearn, a Rothesay resident who works uptown and participated in a focus group on the redesign, said after the presentation.

"And this came out of the consultation process they had with the public."

The design, approved by common council earlier this month, would see a police headquarters built on Union Street, between Hazen Avenue and Wellington Row, a provincial justice complex located at the old YMCA-YWCA site and a parking structure between Sewell and Carleton streets.

The footprints of the buildings are no longer subject to change, but the city is open to tweaking smaller features of the plaza, said deputy city manager Pat Woods.

The proposed parking garage has not been formally designed and the city is looking at incorporating features from other cities, said Coun. Chris Titus, chairman of the Saint John Parking Commission.

Both the police station and justice complex would be built under rigorous environmental standards.

Leona Laracey, who lives and works uptown, said she is pleased the new design retains more of the existing residential and commercial development in the area than the previous proposal.

"It's important to retain the existing residential and retail (development) we have uptown and not to demolish that, but to make better use of the vacant spaces we have here," said Laracey.

The new design also rightly features two exits for the proposed police station, one on Carleton and an alternative on Hazen, Pearn said.

"They really should have two exits, and that could also cut down on traffic," he said.

During a question-and-answer period following the presentation, residents raised some concern over potential traffic snarls on Carleton Street as a result of the new parking garage and underground entrance for the police complex.

Titus said a study is underway to determine the best methods to manage an increase in traffic. He said the parking garage will likely have a secondary entrance on Sewell Street.

"But there will be traffic there, no question," said Titus.

Marian Perkins, who works in the Elizabeth Fry Society's building on Carleton, said traffic could be a problem for pedestrians.

"It will be a lot of congestion, not just for us, but for the general public," she said.

Dave Thompson, a city resident and director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, said he was pleased with the emphasis placed on environmental standards and energy efficiency in the design of the police and justice buildings.

"I'm pleased to hear there will be energy conservation measures that will better the standards with these buildings," he said.

*** About 40 residents came out? Wow, so much for all the public fuss about this project. That doesn't seem like much interest to me. I remember all the noise being made about this pre-municiple election and I can't help but wonder if that was all just a game at the time to create support for specific people who were running for the Mayor's seat ..

[random11]

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Port Authority must prove to Ottawa that a proposed land swap with Irving Oil is in the best interest of the port and the two properties to be exchanged are of comparable market value before the deal can go through, says Transport Canada.

Those are two overriding criteria the port authority must satisfy before the federal government can allow Irving Oil to build its corporate headquarters on Long Wharf in exchange for acquiring the former Lantic Sugar site, said Jean Riverin, spokesman for the federal transportation department.

"Before receiving approval from the minister (of Transportation) to proceed with a land exchange, port authorities must demonstrate that there is enough land available for them to maintain port activities and services in the short- and long-term," said Riverin.

"To be treated as a land exchange, the properties to be exchanged must be of comparable market value. There is no exception to this."

The port authority's application for the land swap must also address any First Nations and environmental concerns. And it must assure the minister of Transportation the property to be acquired will be used to support the activities that are listed in the authority's letters patent, the document that outlines how the authority operates.

The port authority is expected to file its formal application with Ottawa in the next 60 days.

"Upon receipt of the official request, Transport Canada will review all details of this file to determine whether it is consistent with the Canada Marine Act and the port's letters patent," said Riverin.

"This would include a review of such items as appraisal reports, environmental site condition reports, public consultation feedback and title documents."

Since the Canada Marine Act was passed in 1999, there have been about 10 completed land exchanges dealing with port property, including Halifax, Fraser River, B.C., St. John's, N.L., and Vancouver ports.

In Saint John, federal approval is one of three major hurdles the port authority and Irving Oil face before their proposed real estate deal can proceed.

The remaining two include the appraisal of the Lantic Sugar site and the suitability of the Long Wharf site for what Irving has planned.

The city, Irving company and port authority are each conducting appraisals of the property and are expected to be completed by next month. Once that is done, the land will be sold at the average appraised value, unless the city's figure is the highest, in which case it will be the sale price.

The appraisals are important because Irving Oil has the option to either pay or walk away if the sale price of Lantic Sugar is higher than $1 million. Equally important, the sale price will determine how much land on Long Wharf the company will be able to own under the land swap.

Given that federal approval requires both properties are of comparable market value, which means the values must be within 15 per cent of each other, a low appraised value of Lantic Sugar could mean Irving Oil would get a smaller share of Long Wharf and decide to walk away.

Port authority chairman Stephen Campbell said port officials are still compiling reports on environmental and First Nations issues, and are preparing for public consultations on the deal. He said the authority is confident its application will meet all necessary criteria.

"We think the arguments in favour of us doing this are compelling and they will be viewed favourably by Transport (Canada)," he said.

Pat Riley, business agent for International Longshoremen's Association Local 273, said the union is waiting for information from the port, including the size of Long Wharf land to be swapped, before it makes an official presentation to federal officials.

"Before we can develop a position we have to know what the truth is," said Riley.

Riverin said Transport Canada is aware of the union's opposition to the deal and vows to take all views into account before making a final decision.

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by random11

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Port Authority must prove to Ottawa that a proposed land swap with Irving Oil is in the best interest of the port and the two properties to be exchanged are of comparable market value before the deal can go through, says Transport Canada.

Those are two overriding criteria the port authority must satisfy before the federal government can allow Irving Oil to build its corporate headquarters on Long Wharf in exchange for acquiring the former Lantic Sugar site, said Jean Riverin, spokesman for the federal transportation department. .

what a farce....typical federal mentality....quiet as mice when $ and infrastructure is needed, come out fighting when there's $ to be generated

[thefishingnut]

Originally Posted by PostModernPrometheus

what a farce....typical federal mentality....quiet as mice when $ and infrastructure is needed, come out fighting when there's $ to be generated

I don't have a problem with this. Long Wharf is owned by the taxpayers, and what they've articulated as the criteria used to evaluate the swap I think are appropriate. It isn't a combative thing, just an open statement on what is considered.

Also, I think the process is necessary to ward off legal action from the Unions. Knowing what the criteria are, openly going through the process, will take the wind out of the sails out of the Union.

The Feds, the land appraisals, aren't the things which will take this project off the rails. What the guys on the docks are going to do is what to be concerned about.

[random11]

Originally Posted by random11

The building in question has been vacant for many, many years. Personally, I thought this would have been an excellent building for Revenue Canada as it could have easily been connected to their existing building. However, they opted to construct their new building on McAllister Drive. I'm sure cost was the main factor - much cheaper to build new rather than renovate the building in question on Canterbury which would cost in the millions. It is unfortunate though that the Federal Government didn't move on it. Nevertheless, I do hope somebody is doing something with it. The building itself seems sound (from the outside) and the view from my deck on Germain reflects that the roof is still in good shape.

Update on this building: This week workers started removing the plywood that has been covering the windows of this building for the last 15 years (at least) and they are installing all new windows. Something must be going in or perhaps they are upgrading to make it easier to rent. In any event, this large building is seeing heavy work for the first time in a very long time.

[davehook_729]

Bernard Cyr... does anyone know of what his "biggest plans for Saint John" are yet, or is that the hotel currently under construction on the throughway that he's referring to? I thought I remembered someone saying something about north of Union.

[thefishingnut]

Originally Posted by davehook_729

Bernard Cyr... does anyone know of what his "biggest plans for Saint John" are yet, or is that the hotel currently under construction on the throughway that he's referring to? I thought I remembered someone saying something about north of Union.

I mentioned North of Union before, but it was in the context that I hoped his big announcement would be a yet unannounced project in NofU. I don't know anything one way or another.

If it is really the hotel project, maybe we could run a poll on how many floors have had concrete poured prior to announcement.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Originally Posted by random11

Update on this building: This week workers started removing the plywood that has been covering the windows of this building for the last 15 years (at least) and they are installing all new windows. Something must be going in or perhaps they are upgrading to make it easier to rent. In any event, this large building is seeing heavy work for the first time in a very long time.

This is the listing for the property I think you are referencing:
http://www.prop2go.com/ViewCommercial.aspx?id=1278

[PostModernPrometheus]

If it is really the hotel project, maybe we could run a poll on how many floors have had concrete poured prior to announcement.


9!!!!!

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by thefishingnut

The Feds, the land appraisals, aren't the things which will take this project off the rails. What the guys on the docks are going to do is what to be concerned about.

i guess my point is that most of the time you see definitive action from ottawa is when there is a vested interest for them whether that interest be revenue generation or vote generation... (yeah, i know..."NEWSFLASH"); i'm not concerned with the various federal dept's derailing the project; i'm more concerned about where their opinions and strong positions are with other more valuable local matters that they tend to shut up on (i.e., digby ferry, infrastructure & for the hectares upon hectares of piers and wharfs and seawalls on the west side of the harbour that are in shambles....crying foul over a few hundred thousand dollars max that may be lost in a land swap is petty and hypocritical, IMO....)


Good points about the implication for the unions, tho....

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by PersonPlaceorThing

Another option would be to move the offices from above the restaurants to the expansion, and add retail to where the offices are.

good point....

also, i hadnt thought about possible expansion of the trade & convention centre either, but the area of proposed expansion would be in the right place for it....

[thefishingnut]

Originally Posted by PostModernPrometheus

i guess my point is that most of the time you see definitive action from ottawa is when there is a vested interest for them whether that interest be revenue generation or vote generation... (yeah, i know..."NEWSFLASH"); i'm not concerned with the various federal dept's derailing the project; i'm more concerned about where their opinions and strong positions are with other more valuable local matters that they tend to shut up on (i.e., digby ferry, infrastructure & for the hectares upon hectares of piers and wharfs and seawalls on the west side of the harbour that are in shambles....crying foul over a few hundred thousand dollars max that may be lost in a land swap is petty and hypocritical, IMO....)


Good points about the implication for the unions, tho....

Quick, someone whisper in the PM's ear that fast movement on this file is worth a pile of votes in SJ! It would be a great election campaign announcement.

Good points about the other priorities. It's a real shame to see some of those facilities falling into the harbour.