The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread - Page 194

Helladog · #**3861** Posted **Jan 22, 2009, 11:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helladog

The yet unnamed hotel..."Chateau Saint John"

Oops, I meant to add a picture here...don't know what happened

michael_d40 · #**3862** Posted **Jan 23, 2009, 1:47 AM**

According to some land prints I seen. Its going to be condos.

PersonPlaceorThing · #**3863** Posted **Jan 23, 2009, 2:40 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helladog

I was wondering what was going on there...does anyone know how that area is zoned? I remember there used to be both residential and commercial, so maybe it's already a mix. In any case, there is a nice view from that location, not to mention it's proximity to the other townhouses in the Fort Howe area.

The zoning appears to be RM-1, which allows for residential development up to 3 storeys.

SJTOKO · #**3864** Posted **Jan 23, 2009, 10:47 PM**

I don't have a blog so I thought I would write about this here.

I’ve been back in Saint John for the past few weeks visiting friends and family. So far my vacation has been great. I have especially enjoyed the renewed sense of confidence that is clearly evident on the faces of the citizens here. One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to feed the ducks at Lily Lake with my 5 year old niece. I usually go to Bens Bakery on the West Side and get some expired bread for a dollar.

Today, everything was going according to plan. I picked her up at school and we went to Lily Lake. I immediately noticed that only a tiny portion of the lake was open for the ducks to swim in. They looked tired and hungry. They probably burn a lot of calories trying to keep warm. Some of the ducks wander out onto the road, either to keep warm or to go and sit in the stream of running water on the opposite side of the road.

Most motorists stop and watch the ducks as they scatter about trying to keep warm and find food. However, what happened today was utterly shocking and disgraceful. While we were feeding the ducks near the edge of the pond a car full of teenagers approached slowly and then sped up, hitting and killing one duck and injuring several others. I immediately distracted my young niece as I didn't want her to witness such a shameful unhumanlike act. Thankfully she was too overwhelmed by the cute little ducks pecking away at her snow pants trying to steal her loaf of stale bread. I watched one badly injured duck take its last breath and die right in front of me.

This may seem silly to some of you and I have never considered myself an "over the top" animal lover. Nevertheless I do believe that there is something ingrained in us as humans. An undeniable love for animals. I almost felt like crying. I am not an unreasonable person so I tried to rationalize the situation. I realize that some people like to speed up a little bit in order to see the ducks fly off in every direction. However, most logical and humane people know that these ducks are very tired and maybe even starving from trying to keep warm and get enough food. Many simply don't have the energy to get away in a hurry. I also realized that the driver and his passengers must have heard the sound of the ducks hitting their vehicle (I sure did). Disgusted and deeply hurt I emptied out the rest of the bread into the lake and put my niece back in the car. I sat in waited for the culprit to return (there is only one way out). He emerged to see the carnage he had left at the side of the road and passed me by laughing it up with the rest of his friends. He was clearly proud of what he had done. This was a dark point in what otherwise was a fantastic vacation. I took down the license plate number but I realize that there is nothing I can really do. Anyway, that's my rant and I don't really feel any better. I am still very upset.

Sabien · #**3865** Posted **Jan 24, 2009, 2:26 PM**

Just before Christmas I took my family there for a walk and we saw a flat duck on the road by the pond. We were fortunate not to have witnessed it as it happened but we still felt pretty bad about it.

When I was a teen, I used to lifeguard at Lily Lake and on a busy summer day some kids came running to us to say that some teenagers were throwing rocks at a family of ducks. They killed two of the baby ones. There are always a few families of ducks on that lake in the spring and if you're there often you can watch the babies grow and develop until they are the same size as the mother by September.

I can't believe what makes some people tick sometimes. Even when I was a self-centered, immature teen, I could never have imagined being so cruel. I think some people are just wired differently...or missing a few wires altogether.

PersonPlaceorThing · #**3866** Posted **Jan 24, 2009, 2:29 PM**

The old law office that was located in the path of Peel Plaza came down this morning. More photos are on my blog: http://urbanplans.blogspot.com.

kwajo · #**3867** Posted **Jan 24, 2009, 4:00 PM**

Well they'd better build Peel Plaza now, because otherwise we have been tearing down a bunch of old buildings in our urban core for no reason.

Is that old law office building perhaps the location of the new YMCA? From the site plans it doesn't appear that the police station would need that land, so why else would they be tearing it down?

PersonPlaceorThing · #**3868** Posted **Jan 24, 2009, 4:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwajo

Well they'd better build Peel Plaza now, because otherwise we have been tearing down a bunch of old buildings in our urban core for no reason.

Is that old law office building perhaps the location of the new YMCA? From the site plans it doesn't appear that the police station would need that land, so why else would they be tearing it down?

I've heard that the daycare on the corner is coming down because the new road configuration needs that corner, perhaps the law office is needed for that too.

random11 · #**3869** Posted **Jan 25, 2009, 4:06 AM**

Dealermine - currently located in the former Ponderosa on Rothesay Avenue - is opening it's new uptown location on Canterbury Street on Monday. The building is situated between Revenue Canada and John Law. It's been vacant for probably 15 + years. It has been completely renovated and refurbished and it's really cool to see the 3 floors all lit up at night after a decade plus of darkness.

random11 · #**3870** Posted **Jan 25, 2009, 4:10 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helladog

Oops, I meant to add a picture here...don't know what happened

I have never seen a building move so slow in the construction process as this. In this age of construction, this thing is moving at a snails pace - of note, it won't even be open until 2010.

SJTOKO · #**3871** Posted **Jan 25, 2009, 4:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by random11

I have never seen a building move so slow in the construction process as this. In this age of construction, this thing is moving at a snails pace - of note, it won't even be open until 2010.

How long has it been?

PersonPlaceorThing · #**3872** Posted **Jan 25, 2009, 2:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by random11

I have never seen a building move so slow in the construction process as this. In this age of construction, this thing is moving at a snails pace - of note, it won't even be open until 2010.

Is this the first poured in place concrete construction in SJ? I don't know if I've ever watched this type of construction before.

kwajo · #**3873** Posted **Jan 26, 2009, 7:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by random11

I have never seen a building move so slow in the construction process as this. In this age of construction, this thing is moving at a snails pace - of note, it won't even be open until 2010.

It started out pretty quickly, but they've been stalled around the 3rd floor for the last while, I'm not sure what is going on.

On the other hand the transit garage is coming along quickly these days and it actually is beginning to look somewhat impressive. Coming along Thorne Avenue yesterday you can really see how large it is as it stands tall at the top of the hill. Those lucky bus drivers are going to have a nice view

Alberta Bound · #**3874** Posted **Jan 27, 2009, 3:53 AM**

The Q4 Royal LePage survey showed much stronger prices for Saint John than I was thinking we'd see. Average bungalow is now over $200K and a two-storey up to almost $300K.

FOURTH QUARTER 2008 ROYAL LEPAGE AVERAGE HOUSE PRICE CHART



    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          Detached Bungalows          Standard Two Storey

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       Q4 2008  Q4 2007 Bungalow   Q4 2008  Q4 2007 2 Storey

    Market             Average  Average % Change   Average  Average % Change

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Halifax            215,000  201,333     6.8%   259,667  231,667    12.1%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Charlottetown      157,000  152,000     3.3%   188,000  180,000     4.4%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Moncton            150,000  151,000    -0.7%   126,000  135,000    -6.7%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Fredericton        162,000  155,000     4.5%   210,000  197,000     6.6%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Saint John         225,064  196,500    14.5%   294,695  255,000    15.6%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    St. John's         190,050  157,667    20.5%   261,800  219,333    19.4%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Atlantic           190,921  173,150    10.3%   238,310  212,000    12.4%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Montreal           261,372  258,150     1.2%   334,850  342,491    -2.2%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Ottawa             321,333  308,583     4.1%   317,083  306,500     3.5%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Toronto            411,483  448,133    -8.2%   513,417  550,705    -6.8%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Winnipeg           219,650  214,494     2.4%   247,029  237,571     4.0%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Regina             274,167  229,200    19.6%   238,260  199,000    19.7%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Saskatoon          300,000  292,500     2.6%   328,750  321,250     2.3%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Calgary            410,333  429,889    -4.5%   408,263  461,811   -11.6%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Edmonton           301,429  336,786   -10.5%   337,075  370,000    -8.9%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Vancouver          743,750  795,250    -6.5%   837,500  895,000    -6.4%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Victoria           425,000  425,000     0.0%   433,000  456,000    -5.0%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    National Average

     House Price      $319,640 $335,850    -4.8%  $376,140 $401,300    -6.3%

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2009/26/c2563.html

nwalbert · #**3875** Posted **Jan 27, 2009, 1:16 PM**

Wow, it is quite amazing how much the prices have gone up in just 12 months. Good for the city, but bad for a few friends that are looking.

nwalbert · #**3876** Posted **Jan 27, 2009, 1:17 PM**

A few weeks back they announced the expansion to the Market Square and said that a single tenant had leased the entire two floors. The tenant was supposed to have been announced the following week but I did not see anything. Has anyone heard anything about this?

kwajo · #**3877** Posted **Jan 27, 2009, 2:07 PM**

Ditto. Its great for Saint John, but as a renter who would like to own, it's a crappy time to be a young person starting their career.

On a gloating note: In your face Winnipeg/Halifax/Moncton/Fredericton/Charlottetown/St. John's! (kidding

)

mylesmalley · #**3878** Posted **Jan 27, 2009, 4:11 PM**

It's good to see property values rising in Saint John. But bear in mind that having such high prices is not necessarily a good thing. It's certainly a seller's market, but that could discourage less wealthy people from buying. As well, it could cause home builders to flood the market with new construction, which could force prices down pretty quickly too. Such a big increase in value could also be the result of a bubble formed out of speculation on some of the big projects in the works.

And because I know people will jump at me because I said that...

Moncton's numbers aren't necessarily good either. Although it's obviously the place to buy a house in Canada (and how exactly is a bungalow more expensive than a two story?), the fact that prices are dropping somewhat could mean that either demand is slowing, builders have gone overboard with construction, or worst case, people are trying to sell but can't and the price is lowered because of it. I personally think it has more to do with the fact that the city has seen a big spike in apartment and condo construction and that there is just less demand for detached homes. As a person who will likely be buying a home in the next few years,

I'll say one thing though, I find it pretty heartening to think that I'll pay 1/6 in Moncton than I would in Vancouver

kwajo · #**3879** Posted **Jan 27, 2009, 6:13 PM**

Quote:

Such a big increase in value could also be the result of a bubble formed out of speculation on some of the big projects in the works.

I agree that there might be a bit of a bubble forming in the market, but just to clarify about the big projects, most of them will no-doubt go ahead or are already underway. The fact is that these megaprojects are going to be built and Saint John (and all of NB) are under the gun to make sure that we use them to jumpstart momentum, not follow the age-old boom and bust scenario that we've seen all too often around here.

I'm still surprised at how different Moncton and SJ are in those numbers, I had been under the assumption that our real estate markets, like our populations, were virtually indistinguishable.

PersonPlaceorThing · #**3880** Posted **Jan 27, 2009, 6:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwajo

I agree that there might be a bit of a bubble forming in the market

I think the single family residential market is correcting itself, prices were too low. On the other hand, there is a definate bubble inflating in the small (6 to 12 suite) apartment market. These properties have been trading like hot cakes and it doesn't seem any price is too high.