The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I am pretty sure that the new Sobey's development off Elmwood will include the NBLC as well as a Lawton's. The site plan for this development was posted here about 80 pages or so back.

If so, I presume the Lawton's already existing on Elmwood will close.

I can't find it. Could you post it again?

[gehrhardt]

Originally Posted by theshark

Thx for the pictures, its nice to see color on the page!! And with all that melting snow, construction season soon!!

What are the major projects this summer for the metro Moncton???

Hopefully fixing the d@#n roads.

[David_99]

Originally Posted by josh_cat_eyes

I can't find it. Could you post it again?

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=4925587&postcount=7256

Building B is the Liquor Store and C is the Lawton's.

[Architype]

The before picture is better than the after picture.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Architype

The before picture is better than the after picture.

Many people here in Moncton were sad to see the old convent torn down.

and in other news.........

Building permits indicate busy year in Metro
Published Thursday March 17th, 2011

Projects at Champlain Place and downtown federal building kick off 2011
Times & transcript staff

Building permit figures from Moncton and Dieppe indicate a busy year for construction and development.


RON WARD/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
A new residential complex is under construction in Dieppe.

The City of Dieppe this week reported that its building permit numbers so far this year have doubled, while the City of Moncton reports that its value of permits has also increased from the same period last year.

In its report for February, Dieppe said it granted 12 permits in February, worth $691,163.

The Dieppe residential sector leads with seven permits worth over $374,564, followed by the commercial sector with five permits worth over $316,599.

As of the end of February, a total of 29 permits have been granted, counting one unit worth $1,477,375.

"This time last year, the city had granted 19 permits worth $724,188 for five units," said Dieppe Mayor Jean LeBlanc. "Our numbers have doubled, making this a very good start to the year."

Two major permits worth nearly $300,000 were granted to Cadillac Fairview for renovations to the SportChek store and the Bath & Body Works store, both in Champlain Place.

The City of Moncton said it issued 28 permits valued at over $6.4 million in January 2011. The number of permits is one less than January 2010; however, the total value of permits has increased by 160 per cent compared to the same time last year.

"We're pleased with our building permit numbers for January," said Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc. "The $6.4-million figure is the second best we've seen over the past 10 years. And January's construction activity was particularly welcomed during what has been a very challenging winter with record-high snow accumulation."

The number of residential construction permits in Moncton were down in January; however, Moncton's Building Inspection staff have been busy completing mandatory inspections at the pre-backfill, framing, pre-drywall and pre-occupancy stages in single, two-unit and semi-detached dwellings as a result of permits issued in late 2010.

In January 2011, a total of five permits were issued for institutional and government dwellings valued at $6 million. This was an increase of 828 per cent from January 2010. There were five commercial and industrial permits issued in January, which represents a decrease from last year.

Two permits of particular note were at the Dominion Public Building located at 1045 Main Street, which include interior building upgrades, window repair and replacement and heritage masonry repairs and restoration on the 1933 and 1956 exterior façades, as well as dismantling and reconstruction of the 4th floor.

"I want to commend the federal government, particularly Public Works and Government Services Canada for this conservation project," Mayor George LeBlanc said. "This four-storey building is of great historical value to our city."

Highlights from Moncton's January report include:

* Two permits were issued for interior building upgrades in the value of $445,000 and restoration of façade in the value of $4,778,000 to the Public Works and Government Services Canada building located at 1045 Main Street.

* A permit was approved for interior renovations in the Pavilion Rémi-Rossignol at l'Université de Moncton in the value of $385,000.

* Rogers Communications Inc. had a $100,000 permit approved for interior renovations on the first and second floors valued at $100,000.

The Town of Riverview's building permit report for February includes some repairs to institutional and commercial buildings for a total value of $104,000. In Hillsborough, there was one permit for repairs worth $20,000. In Salisbury, there was one permit worth $10,000 for building repairs.

Personal note: While the city will no doubt continue to demonstrate impressive growth this year, I fear that the upcoming year will be relatively uninspiring. In particular, there are no real "signature" projects on the horizon and I fear for the future of the proposed downtown arena/events centre. The window of opportunity for that project may have passed.

[mylesmalley]

This year will be a good test of how sustainable the local construction market is. With the exception of a few upgrades to institutional buildings, we probably won't see much by way of provincial or federal government spending. With big projects like the casino, hospital expansion, courthouse, north end school, etc all wrapping up or completed, this year will undoubtedly be dominated by private sector investment. Hopefully we'll see that office building on Assumption materialize, but other than that, I expect it'll mostly be residential and industrial. But that's all stuff that's more sustainable and better for the economy anyway.

Long story short, we may not have any marquee projects, but I'm not too worried either.

[curious]

Thank you..I guess there are more places to eat at now. Too bad the shopping downtown is not great. I would be nice to dine and shop downtown. I don't think we are the only city having this issue. I was in Halifax and Barrington St is ghostly.

I would love to open up a store downtown but what is the question

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Somewhat abridged from today's T&T

New eateries open in Metro
Published Tuesday March 15th, 2011

By Eric Lewis
Times & Transcript Staff

M.I.C. Canadian Eatery & Whisky Pub is now open in Place 1604 on Champlain Street in Dieppe. The eatery is decorated with images of great Canadians of all walks of life and serves quintessential Canadian dishes and Canadian whiskies. The first opened in Sudbury, Ont., a little more than a year ago when the owner of the local Don Cherry's sports bar decided to drop the franchise and open a new pub with a distinctly Canadian flavour.

M.I.C., after all, stands for Made In Canada.

Just last week, Tom Betts and Greg Mitton did the same thing. The owners of the Dieppe Don Cherry's decided to rebrand their own restaurant to M.I.C.

So, how Canadian is it?

In addition to artwork depicting Canadian actors, actresses, musicians, philanthropists and more, the pub plays only Canadian music and offers only Canadian whisky, wine and beer.

There's a sample tray of some high-end Wiser whisky products and rare bottlings like Forty Creek's Confederation Oak whisky. (Betts is careful to note that's "whisky" without the "ey" at the end, which is reserved for American and Irish whiskies. Canadian and Scottish products simply use the "y".)

Typical Canadian beers are offered and Betts is hoping to offer New Brunswick-microbrewed products soon.

The menu is loaded with Canadian and Acadian dishes, with smoked meats, poutines, chicken fricot, sugar pie, apple crisp, bread pudding, spinach salad with smoked salmon and products made with premium Alberta beef offered.

"All the people that we've had for our first opening week have been very receptive and really liked the menu," Betts says.

The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day, with the pub side staying open until 2 a.m. Live entertainment will be appearing in the future, Betts reports.

Meanwhile on the restaurant beat, Catch 22 Lobster Bar in the old Bogarts location on Main Street in Moncton opened recently and Tide & Boar Gastropub, which has replaced Kramer's Corner on Main, is set for its grand opening on April 1 and 2. Nova Scotia band Signal Hill is performing both nights, which are already sold out.

A Relish Gourmet Burgers location is set to open in the old location of Jagoe's Jewelry, but a date for opening hasn't been set yet, its owners told the Times & Transcript yesterday.

On the other side of the Petitcodiac River in Riverview, a small restaurant seems to be leaving a big impression on those who have tried it out.

Alto Express Restaurant opened with little fanfare in December on Pinewood Road in the strip mall across from Home Hardware, but the restaurant has earned rave reviews thus far, offering a lengthy menu with Greek and Mediterranean dishes along with some German food.

Owner Adam Tabet says the response to Alto has been great.

"Riverview, I think, is a market that hasn't been explored yet," he says. "And now, after four months of business, I can tell that it's a great place to do business and the community here is wonderful. We're really happy here."

The Algeria native moved to Canada roughly 15 years ago, settling in Montreal before moving his family to New Brunswick about four years ago. The family moved here as they felt it was a nicer place to raise children.

Tabet has been in the restaurant business for most of his life, and he brought to New Brunswick a Quebec restaurant tradition that is fairly new to this area.

Alto doesn't serve liquor, however it has a licence that allows its patrons to bring their own wine. The only catches are that the wines must be purchased from NB Liquor stores (homemade wines aren't allowed), and there is a $5 corking fee one must pay at the restaurant.

Tabet says his patrons have enjoyed this unique feature Alto offers.

Initially, it took patrons, and even health inspectors not used to the idea, by surprise, he says with a laugh.

The restaurant owner says he is in the process of adding new seafood and Greek items to Alto's menu.

Currently, Alto is open from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. during the week. They stay open a little later on weekends, and Tabet hopes to start a breakfast menu once he adds some staff in the future.

Personal note - curious, a couple of pages back was wondering what had happened to Cafe Cognito. I knew at the time that it had been forced out at the end of it's lease. I remember now what is happening to that space. The Tide & Boar, which is taking over the old Kramers space, is going to put in a small market and takeout service next door where Cafe Cognito used to be. I believe Cafe Cognito is looking for other space elsewhere on Main Street to reopen.

[josh_cat_eyes]

As long as Highfield Square remains empty, and the Coliseum remains the way it is, I don' think the window of opportunity will ever pass. What I fear is that they aren't going to let it reach its potential. I fear its going to be a 9,000 seat arena and thats it. I also have a feeling the City is working on a back door deal with a big corporate company to buy Highfield and the surrounding properties, but keep hitting road blocks and hence can't confirm or deny any "potential locations" of the new arena.

On another half-related note, I read something the other day saying that Target would be doing quick renos to select stores before relocating them. Do you think that could happen in Moncton? Maybe in Mapleton, that should be done by 2012 (I'd hope anyway). Then could The Bay potentially move into one of the old Zellers locations in time for work to begin on a new arena?

[MonctonRad]

The need for a new arena is absolute.

I was at the Wildcats game last night. It was a near sellout with about 6,000 people in attendance. Meanwhile, the Moncton Home Show was in progress in the adjacent Agrena.

Needless to say, there was traffic chaos! it took me about 15 minutes to get off Killam into the Coliseum parking lot and then there were no parking spots to be had. I had to end up parking on a residential strret over half a km away.

It's like this every Spring with the trade show and hockey seasons bumping into one another. The Wildcats frequently get bounced out of their own building and if they happen to make a deep playoff run, it can be damn near impossible for them to come up with appropriate playoff dates. Last year when we won the Q League championship, the "Battle of NB" (with SJ) for the Q League championship was damn near played in Halifax because the Coliseum was unavailable!

Enough is enough. The QMJHL, the Moncton Wildcats and Robert Irving are fed up, and so am I.

[MonctonRad]

Moncton sits on pro basketball radar
Published Saturday March 19th, 2011

Halifax Rainmen owner feels Metro would be a great place for Premier Basketball League
by neil hodge
Times & transcript staff

Halifax Rainmen owner Andre Levingston has a vision for the Premier Basketball League.

"I've said all along that Moncton is a very attractive city for a professional basketball team," he said yesterday. "I think it has a lot to offer and I think in the future there could possibly be a professional basketball team there.

"There's a lot of excitement brewing out of Moncton and rightly so. That city is growing. It's attracting a lot of new businesses. I just think professional sports adds a lot to the fabric of a city."

The Canadian Football League's first ever regular season game in Atlantic Canada took place last September in Moncton. A capacity crowd of 20,725 showed up at the city's new stadium to watch the Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos do battle.

The CFL is coming back to Moncton for another regular season game this September with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats facing the Calgary Stampeders.

"Moncton has had success with professional football coming to town," said Levingston. "You have a very successful hockey franchise there (with the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League).

"Professional basketball would just make Moncton even more attractive. I don't see why the city wouldn't just be overjoyed with the possibility of a professional basketball team there."

The PBL has seven teams - Halifax, the Saint John Mill Rats, Quebec Kebs, Kentucky's Blue Grass Stallions, Dayton Air Strikers of Ohio, Rochester RazorSharks of New York and Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry of Oklahoma.

This is Saint John's first season and it's averaging 3,400 fans per game after seven outings at Harbour Station. The Mill Rats need 2,000 fans per game to be financially viable and hoped to average 2,500 this season. They have 1,700 season tickets.

The Mill Rats have three home games remaining, facing Quebec on March 24 at 7 p.m., Lawton-Fort Sill on March 27 at 4 p.m. and Halifax on March 29 at 7 p.m.

Teams have a $150,000 salary cap and they're allowed to have a maximum 10-man roster. Player salaries range from $1,500 to $5,000 per month.

Teams play a 20-game regular season and playoffs. The regular season began on Dec. 31 and it ends on March 31.

Halifax is in its fourth season in the league. Levingston, who's also the president and CEO of the Rainmen, wouldn't say his club's annual operating budget or be specific about an average annual budget to run a team in the league.

"It's different for every franchise," he said. "Everybody runs their organization differently. You can run your organization for $1 million or less per year. It just depends on what kind of market you're in, what it takes to market and promote your team, the staff you have, a lot of different variables.

"We need 2,700 to 3,000 fans per game to make it viable in Halifax. We average about 4,000 fans per game and that definitely takes care of our bottom line. We're having a great year and looking forward to many, many more.

"Saint John is getting a lot of fan support also. I'm really excited about what's happening there in their first season. One team's success is everybody's success. We're all working together to grow the league."

Ian Fowler is the general manager of economic development, tourism and culture for the City of Moncton. He said earlier this month the possibility of a Moncton professional basketball team is "a file that's still alive."

Halifax held part of its training camp at the Moncton Coliseum last November.

"I've known Ian over the years and he and I have chatted quite a bit," said Levingston. "It would mean a lot to Halifax and Saint John for travel purposes and rivalry purposes to have a team in Moncton. Ian and two of his business partners were in Halifax for the Rainmen game (on Thursday night)."

Fowler couldn't be reached for comment yesterday. He said earlier this month that Moncton has done most of its work through Levingston when it comes to investigating the possibility of a PBL franchise here.

"With teams in Saint John and Halifax, we would like to be able to find a way to get a team here," said Fowler at the time. "We're continuing to work the file and some meetings are scheduled in the next few weeks to continue to explore it."

Yet another reason why we need a new downtown arena/events centre.

Just think. with the Wildcats of the QMJHL and the Moncton Mudskippers of the PBL, that would mean that the venue would automatically be busy for 45 nights a year (excluding playoffs). Throw in at least a dozen concerts a year and a few other special events and the Arena would be busy about 25% of the time. Just think what this would do for downtown!

My only concern is with the long term viability of the PBL itself. I know nothing about the league. The Rainmen and the Mill Rats are doing well. How about the other franchises?

[MonctonRad]

It would appear that the days are numbered for the dental offices on Mountain Road at the Wheeler Blvd. interchange.

There is now a large sign erected out front of the building, facing the street showing a "big box" type store front, stating "for lease" and "occupancy Fall 2011".

I am not surprised. The writing was on the wall as soon as we heard about the new medical/dental building being built on Mapleton Road. This lot was begging for retail development, located as it is adjacent to Old Navy and at the entry to the Wheeler Park Power Centre.

[gehrhardt]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It would appear that the days are numbered for the dental offices on Mountain Road at the Wheeler Blvd. interchange.

There is now a large sign erected out front of the building, facing the street showing a "big box" type store front, stating "for lease" and "occupancy Fall 2011".

I am not surprised. The writing was on the wall as soon as we heard about the new medical/dental building being built on Mapleton Road. This lot was begging for retail development, located as it is adjacent to Old Navy and at the entry to the Wheeler Park Power Centre.

I'd like to see an L.L. Bean store or outlet at that location. I know they don't currently have any Canadian retail stores, but Moncton would be ideal. They're based in Maine and the amount of Canadians that go to the Freeport stores is crazy. It'd be nice if a company based in Maine would throw a bone NB's way.

It's not that crazy of an idea. A few years ago, L.L. Bean was considering expanding to Canada. I wonder if the recession is what stopped those plans.

[porchmouse]

Happy Monday...here's some pics to kick off the week.


The new Jitter Bean Cafe on Mountain Road in the Lighting Design Center location. I haven't visited yet as I am not a huge coffee drinker (don't hate me) but I have been told they have various hot beverages and sandwiches. Has anyone been in yet?





The new medical building under construction on Mapleton Road








Future location of Relish Gourmet Burgers (in the 800 Main Street block next to the Paramount and Cut Throat Pizza). Looking forward to this one as I believe Moncton needs a good burger destination.











Work happening on the Bell Aliant Tower





Progress on the Community Peace Centre, 150 Queen Street (corner of Queen and Church)





Stay tuned for pics of Dieppe.

Cheers,

-porchmouse

[porchmouse]

Here's some pics of a few things we spotted in Dieppe over the weekend.


New mini mall location off of Champlain Street across from Mathieu Martin. Tenants include Ed's Subs (not yet opened), Blossoms Fresh Fruit Arrangements, and a veterinary clinic.





The new residential development off Dieppe Blvd between the Co-op and the Aquatic Centre.







That's all I have for now. Always have my camera on hand as I'm in the hunt for new pics. Have a great night!

-porchmouse

[Lrdevlop]

Wow! Nice pics! Thanks a lot!

[MonctonRad]

Yes, nice pictures porchmouse

I think we should appoint you the forum's new official photo documentarian!

[porchmouse]

Thanks so much MonctonRad and Lrdevlop! I love this forum and am happy I have found a way to contribute.

[curious]

Do you think an outdoor adventure store would do well in Moncton. I contacted MEC and Cabela's and neither stores are willing to open in Moncton. I tried to franchise it. I wonder if something independent would work?

Originally Posted by gehrhardt

I'd like to see an L.L. Bean store or outlet at that location. I know they don't currently have any Canadian retail stores, but Moncton would be ideal. They're based in Maine and the amount of Canadians that go to the Freeport stores is crazy. It'd be nice if a company based in Maine would throw a bone NB's way.

It's not that crazy of an idea. A few years ago, L.L. Bean was considering expanding to Canada. I wonder if the recession is what stopped those plans.

[MonctonRad]

They are moving a construction trailer onto the site of the (now) vacant lot at the southeast corner of Evergreen/Mountain Rd.

Something is definitely afoot here. I think it was porchmouse who thought this is where the rumoured north end Swiss Chalet was going to be built.

It appears that the springtime construction season is beginning to get into gear.

[theshark]

Ok you got me confused, are they opening a second swiss chalet?? I was under the impression it was just moving??