The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by Fischbob

A few shots from various vantage points on Fort Howe this evening (all photos by me)

Uptown skyline


West Side


Harbourfront Condos. Now we just need to go back in time and and prevent the Old Customs House from being demolished!


Market Square Tower and environs (do I spy work on the Hilton's roof too?)


Peel Plaza overview


Fortress of Vengeance + Harbour Cleanup infrastructure (lift station, of which quite a few are underway around town)


5-lane Viaduct + bike lane


Old housing, new housing, hospital, church, refinery, hills


Harbour Bridge


Greenery and industry

Nice shots! Thx!

[KnoxfordGuy]

great update!!! I was wondering if someone was going to!

[cdnguys]

On the second pic it appears as though Canaport LNG is very nearby - but in fact it must be 12 KM's away. Also, Mercantile is a very beautiful building - probably the nicest one of the Class A office buildings. Be neat if buildings were built to their original conceptions - Brunswick Square office tower was supposed to be 18 stories higher, Mercantile Centre 4 stories higher and Three Sisters Condos 1 story higher. Overall the city has a very impressive skyline for it's size - and no doubt even nicer once Coast Guard site gets built.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Also, Mercantile is a very beautiful building - probably the nicest one of the Class A office buildings.

Absolutely agree with you on that one. Mercantile is one of my favourite buildings in the city, both inside and out. It would be awesome if it were four stories taller as originally planned, but i'm fine with it's height now anyway

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

On the second pic it appears as though Canaport LNG is very nearby - but in fact it must be 12 KM's away. Also, Mercantile is a very beautiful building - probably the nicest one of the Class A office buildings. Be neat if buildings were built to their original conceptions - Brunswick Square office tower was supposed to be 18 stories higher, Mercantile Centre 4 stories higher and Three Sisters Condos 1 story higher. Overall the city has a very impressive skyline for it's size - and no doubt even nicer once Coast Guard site gets built.

The Mercantile would look much better if done according to plan, as you can see, the glass portion that protrudes from the top slightly would have been higher than the stone portion, and much more visible as a midrise on the skyline.

[Helladog]

Here is an old pic I came across, showing construction of City Hall...


Credit: Urban Renewal Saint John: A City Transformed, p 499.

[KnoxfordGuy]

Someone should take a photo of the new UNBSJ Commons being built on their campus so people (I) can get a chance to see it.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by KnoxfordGuy

Someone should take a photo of the new UNBSJ Commons being built on their campus so people (I) can get a chance to see it.

Will do that for you either today or tomorrow. It's essentially finished at this stage. I won't be entirely convinced and appreciative of it until I get to use the building and see if the hype is legitimate. Slapping a bunch of environment goodness stickers on it doesn't really turn my crank.

On the plus side, the new medical building looks incredible.

[JRocca]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

On the second pic it appears as though Canaport LNG is very nearby - but in fact it must be 12 KM's away. Also, Mercantile is a very beautiful building - probably the nicest one of the Class A office buildings. Be neat if buildings were built to their original conceptions - Brunswick Square office tower was supposed to be 18 stories higher, Mercantile Centre 4 stories higher and Three Sisters Condos 1 story higher. Overall the city has a very impressive skyline for it's size - and no doubt even nicer once Coast Guard site gets built.

We originally designed the Mercantile centre and then sold the land and design to Ellis Don. To the best of my recollection,the built height is the same as the plans.
The height of our Harbourfront condos has not changed.It was approved as 9 stories from Water Street and 6 from Prince William and that's what we've built.

[JRocca]

Great pictures-thanks!!!

[Wolkenkratzerliebhab]

Originally Posted by JRocca

We originally designed the Mercantile centre and then sold the land and design to Ellis Don. To the best of my recollection,the built height is the same as the plans.
The height of our Harbourfront condos has not changed.It was approved as 9 stories from Water Street and 6 from Prince William and that's what we've built.

Yes, but doesn't the model, the one in the Brunswick Square/City Hall area show a ten-story condo?; and I definitely remember seeing a model of the Mercantile Centre at eleven floors? Later, however, I remember it was cut shorter at eight.

I don't know if you would tell us if you did, but do you have any future high-rise plans for Saint John? I'm amazed that even a small city like Yellowknife has more and taller buildings then Saint John with approximately five times the population.

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by JRocca

We originally designed the Mercantile centre and then sold the land and design to Ellis Don. To the best of my recollection,the built height is the same as the plans.
The height of our Harbourfront condos has not changed.It was approved as 9 stories from Water Street and 6 from Prince William and that's what we've built.

The confusion stemmed from your model on display showing 10 stories and the renditions on web site that have since been removed. Are you able to say if the second building is moving forward - and how many stories?

[JRocca]

Originally Posted by Wolkenkratzerliebhab

Yes, but doesn't the model, the one in the Brunswick Square/City Hall area show a ten-story condo?; and I definitely remember seeing a model of the Mercantile Centre at eleven floors? Later, however, I remember it was cut shorter at eight.

I don't know if you would tell us if you did, but do you have any future high-rise plans for Saint John? I'm amazed that even a small city like Yellowknife has more and taller buildings then Saint John with approximately five times the population.

Maybe Ellis Don incresed the height to test market demand for more space after they purchased from us.What I do know is that the existing height is the same height we designed it for originally.
The number or density of buildings is typically a reflection of market demand which in turn isa based on economic activity and population growth. During the past 50 years Saint John has had modest economic activity and no population growth.So, it's mostly the same occupants moving around from one location to another rather than new growth[eg Police and Justice facilities]
As to my future plans, I intend to do less rather than more.The biological clock is ticking, so I will be recalibrating my time to spend more of it with family and friends, do volunteer work in areas that I am passionate about including development.

[JRocca]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

The confusion stemmed from your model on display showing 10 stories and the renditions on web site that have since been removed. Are you able to say if the second building is moving forward - and how many stories?

I suspect it will be next summer before we know the timing of phase 2.
Once we can show buyers the finished suites in September, I anticipate we will quickly sell out the remaining phase 1 suites.Then we need to see how quickly the investors owned suites sell.Investors typically put their suites up for sale immidiatly after the closing-November in our case.You typically need 6-8 months for the marketplace to absorb the investors suites.That's when we know how much demand is left and how much demand there will likely be by the time that phase is completed.
The existing design for phase 2 calls for the building to be one floor less than the phase 1 building.

[Fischbob]

Discussion fodder from tonight's Council agenda:

- Public hearing on the proposed minihome subdivision off of Heatherway. Should be quite the showdown, since there seems to be a lot of local opposition/NIMBYism.
- The final nail will likely be hammered into the coffin of development on the east side of Sandy Point Road tonight as council votes on a rezoning of the land to Park.
- Three greenspace-related projects are on the agenda courtesy of our Friendly Neighbourhood Oil and Gas companies. Emera Pipeline intends to donate some surplus land in the Milford area for the development of a park, which local residents have already raised some funds for. Irving Oil has some very detailed plans for improvements of the parkland near Little River Reservoir ("The Res"), including a trail encircling the reservoir. Repsol will build a new staircase and gravel walkway near the beach in Mispec Park.
- Reconstruction of Prince William Street from Queen to St. James is to start on August 22nd, which includes burying overhead utilities, new sidewalks with brick and the whole gamut. That still leaves the section from Princess to Queen to do.
- Suggestions from councillors on considering the future of the Sydney Street Courthouse and closing King Street to automobile traffic during events like the Canada Day market.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Fischbob

- Public hearing on the proposed minihome subdivision off of Heatherway. Should be quite the showdown, since there seems to be a lot of local opposition/NIMBYism.

In fairness, if you paid money for one of the news homes in the area, would you like a 'minihome subdivision' in your backyard? Can't blame them. What happened to all of the grandiose plans for Heatherway when it was first created?

If the city denies the subdivision off Loch Lomond and then approves the minihomes there won't even be words to describe.

[Fischbob]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

In fairness, if you paid money for one of the news homes in the area, would you like a 'minihome subdivision' in your backyard? Can't blame them.

Believe me, as someone who experienced a Prestige home getting trucked into a formerly wooded area on our mature street a couple years ago, I know the feeling.

I found it interesting, though, how many of the opposing presentations towed a very fine line between "we don't want this development" and "we don't want the [stereotypical] people associated with this development". The proposed subdivision was characterized by certain opponents as a "ghetto" where residents would "live like animals". In some cases this language brought a response from councillors. I can understand concerns about building with the existing (albeit parcelized suburban) context in mind, but much of the opposition went well beyond that.

At any rate, the existing development approval is more than adequate for that area and I'm certainly okay with Council denying the application.

What happened to all of the grandiose plans for Heatherway when it was first created?

Well, seemed like a nice place to build out when our population was projected to increase to 200,000+

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by Fischbob

I found it interesting, though, how many of the opposing presentations towed a very fine line between "we don't want this development" and "we don't want the [stereotypical] people associated with this development". The proposed subdivision was characterized by certain opponents as a "ghetto" where residents would "live like animals". In some cases this language brought a response from councillors. I can understand concerns about building with the existing (albeit parcelized suburban) context in mind, but much of the opposition went well beyond that.

Isn't this area already low relatively low income housing?

[Fischbob]

Originally Posted by nwalbert

Isn't this area already low relatively low income housing?

I'll admit I haven't spent very much time in the area, but from what I can tell it's a real grab bag of housing types (check out oblique aerial photos #1 and #3 here, and photo #10 and others here). You've got duplexes, single family, townhouses and apartments, most of which are on fairly small-sized lots, at least for SJ. Deveolpment of many subdivisions seems to be ongoing. There's also institutional (Simonds High), rural residential and Hanwell Road-style commercial in the surrounding area. At the hearing, certain properties were alluded to being in the $200,000's, though I'd expect there to be a significant price range considering all the different housing types. Can anyone more familiar with Heatherway comment?

[JHikka]

EXCITING NEWS!!11!1one!

New Tim Hortons by the intersection of Bayside and the Causeway being planned.

That's all.