The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[random11]

So, there is a lot of steel in the ground @ Long Warf and this is not the kind of 'test' steel. Clearly, something is going up and with the amount of steel on the ground I find it hard to believe that this is not a permanent - or the beginning of (a permanent) - structure in line with the Irving headquarters. I confess I am a tad out of the loop - does anybody know the latest update?

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Originally Posted by random11

So, there is a lot of steel in the ground @ Long Warf and this is not the kind of 'test' steel. Clearly, something is going up and with the amount of steel on the ground I find it hard to believe that this is not a permanent - or the beginning of (a permanent) - structure in line with the Irving headquarters. I confess I am a tad out of the loop - does anybody know the latest update?

I believe they are putting in piles on speculation that they get approvals. I think it was in the paper that they will "restore" the wharf to its previous state if the project doesn't go forward.

[Joe]

A picture of the piles at Long Wharf from this mornings TJ.

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by Joe

A picture of the piles at Long Wharf from this mornings TJ.

Good. It would have been nicer to see this as a part of the growing uptown community of Harbourfront Residences, Coast Guard Redevelopment, Peel Plaza. Leave it to Irving to do something on time and on budget.

[JHikka]

From what i'm hearing there are a couple of people who have bought a property in the North End and are looking to refurbish the entire building. It's the old former hotel/apartment building/crack house/fire pit on the corner of Main & Kennedy. Apparently they've spent $100K on the building and lot and (From what I hear from trades' folk) would take about $1Million to refurbish.

I can get some pictures of the site in the next few days. (It's on my street )

I wish these people luck for being prospective, but it's clear that they've been watching too many home salvaging shows on TV and are in over their heads on this one.

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

From what i'm hearing there are a couple of people who have bought a property in the North End and are looking to refurbish the entire building. It's the old former hotel/apartment building/crack house/fire pit on the corner of Main & Kennedy. Apparently they've spent $100K on the building and lot and (From what I hear from trades' folk) would take about $1Million to refurbish.

I can get some pictures of the site in the next few days. (It's on my street )

I wish these people luck for being prospective, but it's clear that they've been watching too many home salvaging shows on TV and are in over their heads on this one.

Maybe so, but more ppl like that are needed or the run down areas will never come baq to life.

Ironically, if the city walks away from Peel Plaza, the old church, "jellybean" buildings, and carnagie building will continue to sink into the ground. No one wants to buy them, but everyone wants to save them.

[thebrad]

TORONTO — As of today, residents in several Canadian cities can check out their streets, homes and neighbourhoods on Google Street View.
The Google Maps feature was rolled out today displaying images on the Internet from a street-level perspective.
The service is now available in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Vancouver, Squamish, B.C., Whistler, B.C., Ottawa, Kitchener, Ont., and Waterloo, Ont.
Once on a Google map, the user clicks and drags the image of a small yellow figure on a left-side scale and places it on the map.
A photo of the street, including a 360-degree view, then appears.
In response to privacy concerns, Google has said it would blur the faces of people captured in the photos used in Street View.
Street View was earlier made available in the United States and several other countries across Europe and in Australia and Japan.
Google began filming Street View images in the Canadian cities brought online today since 2007.

[mylesmalley]

Hopefully SJ, Fredericton and Moncton won't be too far behind.

god knows what they'll look like though. Google's contractors seem to have a knack for only going out on dreary days after all the deciduous trees have lost their foliage.

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

Hopefully SJ, Fredericton and Moncton won't be too far behind.

god knows what they'll look like though. Google's contractors seem to have a knack for only going out on dreary days after all the deciduous trees have lost their foliage.

It's odd that Saint John isn't up yet, I thought the reports of the Street View car in the city pre-dated the sightings in Halifax by a couple of weeks.

[mylesmalley]

Could be that they hire different contractors to do the driving for different markets, and that they only process the data at the end of a job.

[thebrad]

it also says that these cities were photographed in 2007. it may be 2011 before we see the rest of the cities they filmed.

[homebody]

Was by East Point Friday and noticed that steel erection work was coming along quite nicely on the new Costco. Probably about one third done (Steel that is).

[michael_d40]

Costco is going up really quick,, anybody been able to get a couple pics?

[kirjtc2]

Originally Posted by thebrad

it also says that these cities were photographed in 2007. it may be 2011 before we see the rest of the cities they filmed.

Not so sure. The Halifax photos are definitely from the spring of 2009, so there's a somewhat quick turnaround time.

[JRocca]

Originally Posted by Joe

Saint John investors upset over condo delays
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 | 10:21 AM AT Comments3Recommend7CBC News
A developer's illustration shows the future Harbourfront Residences at Three Sisters in Saint John, N.B. (Courtesy of Harbourfront Residences)Delays at a luxury condominium complex overlooking Saint John harbour have some investors frustrated and trying to pull their money out of the project.

Saint John council approved the 125-suite Harbourfront Residences at Three Sisters complex a year ago but ground has still not been broken on the project.

The luxury condo complex was heavily advertised last year but construction has been delayed three times and the finish date has been pushed back a year to 2011.

Cathy and Ian Cooper have almost $40,000 tied up in the condo project and they say at least five others want out of the project that they were once so excited to invest in.

"That was a wonderful, exciting time for us," Cathy Cooper said.

"But it went from that to frustration and now regretting getting involved in this project at all."

Ian Cooper said their faith has been shaken in the project and its timeline is not compatible with their moving plans.

"If it's ready by January or February, good. But they haven't even started yet," Cooper said.

"They haven't even put a shovel in the ground! It's crazy."

Developer calling meeting
John Rocca, the project's developer, said in an email to CBC News that the setbacks have been spurred on by unexpected site problems and he has hit last-minute permit snags.

Rocca said all projects of this size face unexpected delays and he said most investors are satisfied.

The developer has called a meeting with investors next month to update them on the project's delays.

Mary Dobson has invested $27,000 in a condo and she was expecting to sell her house and move into the luxury suite next spring.

Dobson said she's not happy with Rocca's handling of the development project.

"He should have all his ducks in order before he started to sell this project," Dobson said.

"There's a lot of money on the line. He has a lot of people's money."

I normally try to avoid commenting on our projects unless there is something serious.
This story was done when I was out of the Country. CBC e-mailed me for a comment on the reason for the delay.I left canada on September 15h and returned October 8th.
Before leaving we advised the condo owners that the start of construction would be delayed until next spring and gave them the supporting information as to the cause of the delay.
The delay is attributable to Council in 2008 not realizing that it needed to vote on 2 motions included in the City manager's report that we all assumed they had voted on when they moved the motion to approve the rezoning.This oversight was discovered by the City Solicitor's office three business days before the purchase date of the land and too late to put the item on the agenda for that Monday's Council meeting.
The need to wait two more weeks to get the motions approved closed the window of opportunity to start and complete the excavation of the undergroung parking before winter freeze up.
We invited buyers to either a 'one on one' meeting or a group meeting after my return to answer any other questions or concerns they had.Most buyers preferred a 'one on one' meeting.Only 8 buyers asked for a meeting and we have met with 7 of them already [including those that were on CBC] .They are as disappointed as we are with the delays but the overwheling majority of them understand that the delays are for reasons beyond our control.
There is a point I would like to clarify about the article itself. Mary Dobson's last comment: "....He has a lot of people's money", has led some people to speculate that delays may be financially good for us.Nothing could be further from the truth.
Delays cost us a lot of money as we need to pay interest on the millions we have invested so far in the project.
We don't have access to the Purchasers' money to help reduce our interest costs.
The Purchasers' money is help in trust by the Law firm of Gilbert McGloan Gillis at the bank of Montreal in an interest bearing account earning interest for the Purchasers not us.
The deposits are only released to us at the closing date.And The closing date is scheduled for 60 days after the buyers are given occupation of their condos.

[magee_b]

Just a quick notice. One of my favourite urban space magazine/blogs is setting up an Atlantic section to cover NB,NS,PEI & NL. There's a picture a page or two back from Saint John. Official launch will be later this month.

http://spacingatlantic.ca/

[Wrightguy0]

Originally Posted by JRocca

The deposits are only released to us at the closing date.And The closing date is scheduled for 60 days after the buyers are given occupation of their condos.

So, you won't make any money of the deposits until late spring 2011, and even then the deposits I'm assuming are security deposists, therefore the purchasers can get those back if they choose to sell before or after moving in, but before a certain date, as stipulated in any agreement they signed at the time of sale.

Now as for council, that was a bureaucratic blunder on their part, but it's bound to happen, you go through so many proposals, not to mention try to run a city, you're bound to slip up now and then, the important thing is that they got everything sorted out. (hopefully)

I can't wait to see the start of excavation work.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

For those of you who don't venture into the south end on a daily basis, Tannery Court is now under construction.

[Dmajackson]

So out of curiousity what is Saint John's tallest under construction right now anyways?

[mylesmalley]

Chateau Saint John, which I believe is eight stories?