[St. John's] The Official Project Thread

[AllBlack]

Originally Posted by codyLawrenceDylan14

Has TD Place stopped construction for the winter??

No they're still picking at it. Gonna be a while before it's done though.

[MrChills]

The Job Building looks amazing, St. John's need these buildings, time to move into the 21st, err.. 20th century

[statbass]

Looks as if Danny-land is one step closer to reality:

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&id=20111&latest=1

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by statbass

Looks as if Danny-land is one step closer to reality:

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&id=20111&latest=1

Allowing development on lands above the 190m contour will also open up a lot of development along the higher parts of kenmount road and along the hills in that area

[jeddy1989]

This is interesting!

Local Company Unveils New Digs

Today marks the start of a new era in film and visual arts for Mount Pearl-based Best Boy Entertainment.
From the road, 236 Park Avenue looks like a newly-built home, however it's anything but. The building houses Best Boy's new state-of-the-art 6,000-square foot high definition green screen, film and television production studio. Private investment and a hefty loan from ACOA made the new facility possible. The new facility can hold two full movie sets at any one given time. Best Boy also plans on installing a full-motion caption system similar to the technology used in movies like Avatar and Lord of the Rings.

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&id=20159&latest=1

[PoscStudent]

I drove by that new building being constructed on the old Breens site on Logy BAy Road, across from MacDonald Drive, and it's looking really good. They've just installed windows and the design looks pretty cool in my opinion. I believe AllBlack said the building belongs to an architectural firm.

[Marty_Mcfly]

A little history lesson about the site for 351

Prime location

There's a buzz - and the hum of heavy equipment - coming from 351 Water St. The erection of East Port Properties' six-storey tower continues in earnest behind the blue wooden barrier along Water Street and the fencing on Harbour Drive.

It's the first office tower to be built in downtown St. John's in more than a quarter century, a project expected to breathe new life into part of one of North America's oldest streets.

"It's a very significant, modern development to revitalize the older section of St. John's," says Coun. Frank Galgay.

But while the estimated $50-million project is creating a buzz, it's hardly the first development at that address - the area from 351 to 359 Water, to be exact - to set the harbour hopping.

The Telegram has researched the area's past and collected details about some of the enterprises which operated at that location.

Interestingly, the site, or at least a good portion of it, was originally part of the harbour. It's now on made ground, with some of the fill coming from the rubble left after major fires in the 1800s.

According to a 2010 archeological assessment by Gerald Penney Associates of St. John's, there was a small brook and cove at the eastern side of the parcel of land, "which we have speculated was one of the closest approaches of the natural shoreline to the south side of Water Street, within five metres."

The western side of the block was a prime spot for migratory fishermen from the early 1600s to early 1800s.

According to the Penney report, the brook came in handy when they were cleaning cod, the water was deep enough to weigh anchor and the short streets provided decent shelter.

"As such, they were historically 'ships' rooms, where residents were forbidden to build. Migratory fishing ships' captains occupied these upon arrival at the beginning of each season, first-come-first-served."

The western half of East Port's site became a favoured spot and was known as the Vice-Admiral's Room, or Lady's Room.

The archeological assessment suggests that room may have extended from 351 to 359 Water and beyond, even across to what's now the post office on the other side of Water Street.

It's plausible, the document continues, that the property saw gradual encroachment prior to 1811, when J&W Stewart, a merchant from Scotland, leased a large swath of it from the Crown.

"Known as Foxy Stewart's ... the firm is credited with being the first in Newfoundland to establish a fish trade with Brazil," reads J.S Stewart's entry in Volume Five of the "Encyclopedia of Newfoundland."

In the latter part of the 1800s, two main commercial premises occupied the addresses: J&W Stewart, and E.J. Duder - the latter, at one point, according to the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland, was "believed to have the largest number (of ships) of any company in the world."

The lots were considered prime berths, according to Penney. Stewart's buildings were stone. Duder's were brick. Their properties included retail stores at the Water Street level.

The narrow lane to the left of 359 became known as Stewart's Cove, which still exists between East Port's construction site and the Hong Kong Restaurant.

The laneway immediately to the east of 351 Water was called Duder's Arch.
Between the two merchants was a structure called the Office Building. It had a unique facade that can be seen in the far right of the Duder photo on page A1.

There were few structural changes from 351 to 359 for decades.
However, the ownership of the properties - which were outside the path of the Great Fire of 1892 - changed hands a few times.

James Stewart returned to Scotland in 1827, and his company lasted until 1888.

E. J. Duder went bankrupt following the 1894 bank crash.
Maps periodically created to access fire insurance liability between 1880 and 1946 indicate the Stewart premises (or portions of it) would be owned by C.F. Bennett, the Newfoundland Produce Company and the Munroe Export Company.

During the same period, the Duder property was home to the Newfoundland Produce Company, and Crosbie and Co.

Shops in the properties over those years include dry goods stores, wholesale stores, a drug store, a barber shop, a telegraph office and a hotel.

A "moving pictures" theatre a few doors down at 345 Water was a significant development. It first shows up on the 1914 map and it a later became the Crescent Theatre, a cinema alive in the memories of many.

"If you missed seeing a movie at the Star, you went down to the Crescent Theatre," recalls historian Paul O'Neill. "It played there for three days after it left the Star."

It may have been cheaper to watch a movie at the Crescent, but the film house didn't always enjoy the best reputation.

"In our day, it was called the Bug House," O'Neill says. "Mother would say, 'Now don't you guys go to the Bug House this afternoon. Go to the Paramount or the Capital.'"

F.W. Woolworth's built its first store in 1952 at 351-353 (the area of the Duder property). It's opening was a huge deal.

"There can't be anything newer or more modern than Woolworth's was in its day," says Gerald Penney, whose company conducted the archeological assessment.

"When I came to St. John's, that was the place - escalator, and a hotdog machine and a popcorn machine. Woolworth's was it - America from the '50s. I guess 351 is going to be North America again from the 21st century."

In 1966, Woolworth's expanded to the neighbouring western block, the Stewart property. The store was a central shopping destination for decades.

It closed in the early '90s. A Bargain Giant operated in the space for a few years, but the building hasn't had a major tenant for awhile.

"That area has a rich commercial and mercantile history," says Galgay, who represents that area of downtown and is an author of local history
He thinks it's important for East Port to be sensitive of 351's historic past.

"I would hope (the developer) would make provision, either within the structure itself or somewhere outside of the building, to commemorate the rich history, either by storyboard of some other means," Galgay says, adding he'd like to see history recognized in all new developments on significant sites.

John Lindsay, owner of East Port Properties, says the history at 351 will indeed be incorporated in the new tower.

He said there'll be access from Water Street to Harbour Drive, as there has traditionally been, and people using the passage will pass by retail shops, which is also in keeping with the site's heritage.

"And we're going to call that either Duder's Lane or Duder's Arch," he says. "We're going to recognize the fact that this was the Duder family's business location."

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2012-01-21/article-2870402/Prime-location/1

There's also a video with this article, but I haven't seen it yet. Nice read, however.

[Marty_Mcfly]

How should St. John's grow?

What do you want the city of St. John's to look like in 25 years?
That's what city council and staff want to find out as they prepare to draft a new municipal plan.

Anyone who wants to have their say on how the city should evolve will have several chances over the next 18 months through a number of public forums.

The process will begin with a mayor's symposium - scheduled for Saturday Feb. 25 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at city hall.

If the event has to be cancelled due to poor weather, it will be held on Sunday, Feb. 26 from 1-4:30 p.m. instead. The symposium was discussed at a city planning committee meeting this week.

The event will be facilitated by the provincial government's rural secretariat and will use what's called "clicker technology" to offer real-time voting on suggestions and ideas raised by the public.

People attending the forum will get a copy of the data collected before they leave. At the committee meeting, staff said they'd soon have the questions to be posed during the symposium.

Deputy Mayor Shannie Duff raised the possibility of the information being biased because of the way those questions are phrased.

However, other members of the committee pointed out that the symposium is only one way the city will collect data during the 16 to 18-month process.

People interested in participating are asked to pre-register, as there's only space for 100 people.

The city will hold additional meetings if there's enough demand.
Coun. Sheilagh O'Leary asked that information packages be prepared beforehand for people who pre-register, to outline in broad strokes how the city makes its planning decisions.

After the meeting, planning committee chairman Coun. Tom Hann told The Telegram council is anxious to get the project moving.

"That will be the first major piece of work to be done," he said of the symposium.

"Over the next 18 months we're going to ... take it into the wards and have public meetings. We're going to give the various interest groups in the city the opportunity to have their input."

Hann said the city wants to hear from people from all walks of life to get as complete a picture as possible of what the citizens want.

"Sometimes when you get into this kind of thing you get self-interest groups that will come out, and what we are trying to do is to make sure everybody in the city has an opportunity to have input," he said.

"That means the ordinary person ... and not just ... advocacy groups, while they will (also) have their opportunity."

He said the information collected at the meetings should be a comprehensive set of comments and ideas which the city can use to start drafting a new municipal plan.

Hann said one of the main things the city wants to do is strike a balance between encouraging development and preserving history and heritage.

Social media will also play a role, as the city wants to give people who can't or don't want to attend public meetings have their say.

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2012-01-21/article-2870401/How-should-St.-Johns-grow/1

I think this article could really open up the flood doors of ideas, both good and bad. I think I know how most people on this website feel about development within the city, but let me pose the question (yet again). What do you think the city should be doing in terms of development (residential, commercial, and industrial) within the city boundaries? Is it advantageous to consider amalgamation when it comes to growth? Or how about a regional government, much like what's in place in Halifax?

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2012-01-21/article-2870401/How-should-St.-Johns-grow/1

I think this article could really open up the flood doors of ideas, both good and bad. I think I know how most people on this website feel about development within the city, but let me pose the question (yet again). What do you think the city should be doing in terms of development (residential, commercial, and industrial) within the city boundaries? Is it advantageous to consider amalgamation when it comes to growth? Or how about a regional government, much like what's in place in Halifax?

I think that's a good question. I feel in order to promote and sustain smart growth there has to be some sort of 'regionalization' such as amalgamation or a regional municipality (e.g. Halifax). Which one is better, I'm not entirely sure; there are definite pros and cons to both. One thing is for sure, in order to grow smart we need all of the municipal leaders in the region to be on the same page.

Adding to my point, I feel that the uniqueness of this region adds a different lens to how we look at smart growth here. I don't think St. John's (and surrounding area) can look to cities in Ontario or out west as models for growth, well, at least not entirely. We are very different geographically, and culturally, as well as being over 500 years old.

This is going to be a tough task but I think the city is taking the right steps by holding these public forums. Yes, you're going to hear ideas that will run the full gamut from 'amazing' to 'absolutely horrible', but it's a good start.

I know that writing a couple of paragraphs on a forum is not going to do much justice to such a contentious issue.... but hey, this is just my opinion!

[PoscStudent]

I'll add more points overtime but one thing I think that the city, and probably more so the surrounding communities, needs to do is to stop approving "smallish" residential developments. I guess this all just comes down to better planning but I think when it comes to developing subdivisions all municipalities should have some sort of master plan for the developments. I find there are way to many of these one road developments getting built in many of the towns in the area, even though there is lots land around. I understand that not all developers can take on large scale projects but the communities should take it upon themselves to have detailed plans for areas.

[niccanning]

I'm excited to see the specs!

Duckworth development discussedProposed hotel to blend modern architecture with historic flavour
Published on January 23, 2012
http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2012-01-23/article-2871436/Duckworth-development-discussed/1

The east end of Duckworth Street in St. John’s will look drastically different if a proposed development goes through.

Members of city council who attended a planning committee meeting earlier this week all seemed pleased with what a proposed pair of buildings will look like.

Republic Properties wants to replace the former Crazy Horse bar with a hotel, designed somewhat in the style of the well-known wedge-shaped Gridiron building in New York City. Across the street — where the former east end Fire Station is currently being used for storage and city offices — the company wants to add a companion building which would be for long-term accommodations for those in town on business for weeks or months at a time.

The city’s heritage advisory committee has already given the designs the green light, but the developer must file a land use assessment report with the city before it moves on to a public meeting, the next steps in the development process.

Planning committee chairman Coun. Tom Hann said he thinks the proposed buildings will enhance the area and create a gateway into the downtown.

“This will be an example of how new buildings can co-exist in a heritage area with older buildings. And the design of the exterior and everything else. It fits right in,” he said.

Hann said he thinks when people see the drawings of the proposed buildings, they’ll approve.

He said issues about traffic sightlines in the area have already been addressed by the developer in the proposed designs.

But a controversy may still be brewing.

The company has secured an option to buy city-owned land — the site of the former fire station — for $556,000, if and when the project gets final approval from council.

Republic Properties first secured that option to buy last year, and recently had the deadline for the option extended by council.

But both times council voted on the option to buy there was opposition from the council table. Concerns were raised over how the option was obtained.

While some councillors changed their vote when the extension was put to a vote earlier this month, Couns. Frank Galgay and Sheilagh O’Leary, along with Deputy Mayor Shannie Duff contend the process was unfair.

Those members of council want to auction off the land to the highest bidder, if it is to be sold at all.

That way, they say, the city wouldn’t be giving favourable treatment to one developer over others.

[niccanning]

West end residents question office tower proposal

West end downtown homeowners raise questions about noise, traffic
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundla.../01/25/nl-office-tower-proposal-125.html

A small number of residents and business owners in the west end of downtown St. John's expressed concerns about a proposed office building at a public meeting Tuesday night.

They're worried about increased traffic, noise, and parking demands in the neighbourhood.

The developer behind the proposal, well known St. John's businessman Dean MacDonald, wants the city to rezone the area to allow taller buildings.

MacDonald's building, 10 stories high and triangular shaped, would be located at the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Job Street. It's just one of four building proposals for that neighbourhood.

"Hopefully this building can be iconic," said MacDonald. "It has character and hopefully people will feel as strongly about it as we do."

Peter Lakin: 'It's going to change the way I live in the neighbourhood.' (CBC)"I really do like the look of the project and I know that we need more office space," noted homeowner Peter Lakin. "But it's going to change what I look at, it's going to change what I hear, and it's going to change the way I live in the neighbourhood."

Danielle Lemelin, who lives on Pleasant Street, was another of the half-dozen people who spoke out. She's worried about the number of developments in the area. "If you put all four of those together with the Delta (Hotel) right on that one corner which is already one of the busiest corners of the city, what's going to happen?" asked Lemelin.

If the city council approves MacDonald's proposal, construction on the office building could start in the summer of 2012.

Another public meeting will be held at St. John's city hall on Wednesday night about a proposed hotel development in the neighbourhood.

[PoscStudent]

The 2011 Economic Review is out! The population of the metro area is now over 195,000.

http://www.stjohns.ca/business/pdfs/EconomicReview2011.pdf

[Marty_Mcfly]

There's really no way to please everyone, there will always be people who complain about these issues. You could build an office tower on Kenmount and people would complain. Build a tower by the ORR (like many people with little to no knowledge about city planning like to suggest), and residents of King Williams or Virginia Waters will complain. It's time for residents in the Hamilton Ave/Springdale St. area to realize that they live downtown, and in an area best suited for high-density development, with its proximity to the highway, and in such they should expect these developments to be approved. A guy is complaining about losing his view? I didn't know his view of the highway on-ramp was so cherished.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Breaking ground

Work begins extending Team Gushue Highway

It’s just past 3 p.m. Tuesday and The Telegram Jeep is bobbing and weaving its way through alarmingly deep snow and ice on a section of Redmond’s Road in St. John’s.

The road, one of the few in the city that’s still dirt, has been cleared and smoothed.

The Jeep comes to a halt and a journalist and photographer step out into the crisp, January air which smells of freshly cut pine.

Their surroundings are worth the iffy ride. Stretching out as far as the eye can see to the left and right is the future resting place of the Team Gushue Highway extension.

The terrain is relatively flat, except for a small dip towards Blackmarsh Road off in the distance to the right. A small herd of cattle huddle together in an enclosure on one side of the road as seagulls circle overhead.

Probably the most sticking feature of the vista is the shrub and brush that has been cleared away in a straight line stretching for kilometres on either side.

The line of cleared land is where work crews have started levelling the area — the next step in the completion of the highway extension.

Work that is finally moving.
The provincial government ann-ounced Tuesday Pennecon Heavy Civil has been awarded the $13-million contract to prepare the highway bed for paving. Crews have been at the site since last week.

Work is well underway.
Tuesday, crews used measuring instruments in the clearing, while excavators, massive trucks and other heavy equipment could be heard towards Blackmarsh Road.

After decades of waiting, the completion of the highway is finally within sight, said Transportation Minister Tom Hedderson.

“When we go into any project the hardest part is getting it out of the gates. This one is not only out of the gates, but of course we’ve got a section of the highway already completed and open. So this piece brings us closer to the completion of a good series of bypasses and overpasses and so on,” said Hedderson.

The road is designed to alleviate congestion on all major roads into the area.
According to a provincial news release, Pennecon has been contracted to prepare a strip of 5.3 km, out of a total of 7.1 km, of the remaining section of highway. The extension will snake from the Kenmount Road overpass to Robert E. Howlett Memorial Drive and Pitts Memorial Drive. However, Pennecon will, so far, only be prepping from Kenmount Road to Brookfield Road.

The final section of highway will have a separate tender, as will the overpasses where it intersects with major roads.

The extension is scheduled for completion sometime in 2014.

But that projection is based on everything working perfectly, said Hedderson.
If there’s a problem in the process, something that is not unusual for work like this, that timeframe is flexible, he said.

“There’s always challenges when you do these types of projects. In many cases you’re going to be going through some private land so there may be some delays as we take care of that type of business,” said the minister.

“Coupled with that, is that it’s both a federal and provincial investment. So where you have two levels of government sometimes there are challenges and delays. Not purposefully, but sometimes it’s just getting the paperwork done.”
Residents of the area should also prepare themselves for a long construction process. Construction will require intermittent blasting to clear some of the route, though the province is assuring homeowners they will be warned well in advance.

Traffic slowdowns can also be expected on Topsail and Blackmarsh roads. No closures are expected at this time, but a detour will be put into use for a section of Old Pennywell Road.

The cost of the project is being shared between the province and the federal government. However, ownership of the highway will fall to the City of St. John’s once it’s completed. That has been a controversial issue for several years.

St. John’s city council has always argued the highway is a regional project that will benefit everyone. So in its view, the City of Mount Pearl should help pay for the upkeep of the road. Work that is expected to cost a little less than $1 million a year.

But Mount Pearl council has contended the highway is rightfully the responsibility of the province. The council has said that neither city should have to be responsible for the upkeep, but since St. John’s already agreed to take over the road it will have to shoulder the burden alone.

When contacted by The Telegram the mayors of both cities praised the project and expressed relief it is finally moving. But that is where their agreement ended.

“It’s another example of why we need more regional co-operation for road systems and other things,” said St. John’s Mayor Dennis O’Keefe.

“If the city of Mount Pearl had wanted to take ownership of it, then we would have shared in the cost of maintenance and snow clearing. But somebody had to take ownership of it; otherwise it wasn’t going to be built. So we took ownership in order to get it built,” said O’Keefe.

But Mount Pearl Mayor Randy Simms reiterated his city’s stance on this point. Saying the province and the federal government should never have stipulated that a municipality must take ownership of the highway, as it’s not a responsibility either city can easily manage.

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2012-01-25/article-2873380/Breaking-ground/1

So St. John's is taking ownership of the highway. This leads to ask the question: if this is the case, is the city able to toll the road? I know Doc wanted to do this a few years ago, but being told he was not able to as it was a federal road. If a municipal ownership is assumed, does this mean this can change?

[jeddy1989]

2011 a record-breaker for St. John's airport
Airport received 400,000 more people than the one million it was designed to handle annually

More people travelled through the St. John's International Airport last year than any previous year.

A record-breaking 1,400,000 passengers passed through the St. John's airport in 2011, about 100,000 more than the number of people who went through the airport in 2010.

Airport manager and CEO Keith Collins said the facility, which was designed to handle about one million people annually, has seen continued growth at a time when air travel in other parts of Atlantic Canada is down by as much as one third.

“It's a fabulous problem to have because it just speaks so well of the strength of the economy and how it's grown,” he said.

Collins said all types of travel – business travel, tourism and local interest in travelling abroad – are up.

He said the increase has been fuelled by the competitive fares some airlines are offering.

more good news, they'll probably get started on the airport expansion soon

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by jeddy1989

2011 a record-breaker for St. John's airport

Airport received 400,000 more people than the one million it was designed to handle annually

more good news, they'll probably get started on the airport expansion soon

The new airport expansion will be able to handle 2.1 million passengers per year, essentially doubling in size. It'll be well needed space, but still won't compare to Halifax Stanfield, which I'm assuming can probably handle about 4 million annually.

[Architype]

Here are renders for the Duckworth East condo hotel proposal, as shown on Here & Now. Judging from these, the designs look professional and well thought out, and hopefully they will be found to be appropriate for the area.

Source, http://www.cbc.ca/hereandnownl/

[PoscStudent]

Wow, quite a bit different then what we usually see.

[crackiedog]

Residents say no to proposed downtown hotel


Published on January 26, 2012
Dave Bartlett
Topics : New Gower , Hamilton Avenue , Job Street
A proposed 12-storey, 150-room hotel for the corner of New Gower, Springdale and Pleasant streets met with a mountain of opposition Wednesday night at St. John’s City Hall.

About 50 people turned out to a public meeting, lining up to voice their opposition on a number of grounds — from traffic to the proposed height to a loss of privacy and property values.

But Jack Lanpher summed up what most people had to say and received a resounding ovation. “What do we as a neighbourhood get out of this? We get nothing,” he said as the meeting passed the hour mark.

Lanpher said the neighbourhood is being boxed in by all the development that’s going on in the area.

He also suggested the city should stick to its own rules on height restrictions for buildings, even if developers threaten to cancel projects.

In this case, the developers are asking the city to go above a 10-storey limit for the area. Lanpher suggested, “Let them walk.”

Others brought up the amount of development in the neighbourhood, including proposed projects and those under construction.


Mike Guilfoyle’s main issue was traffic, especially on nearby Hamilton Avenue.

“It seems like we’re adding to it all the time,” he said, not only of the hotel but the nearby Fortis office tower under construction, and an office building proposed for Job Street and Hamilton.

The noise from the construction on the Fortis building was brought up a numbers of times at the meeting.

Many in the room said they didn’t believe the results of a traffic study presented at the meeting which suggested the hotel would not add any significant amount of traffic.

Most agreed a traffic problem already exists in the area without adding any more cars.

Guilfoyle also proposed the land be kept for a park or other green space.

“Why doesn’t the city acquire the property... and build such an area that can be used by seniors and young people, people walking their dogs ... rather than put another building in the middle of a residential community,” he said.

Renee Finlayson lives adjacent to the site.

“I’d like to know where else in this city is there a 115-foot building situated 21 feet from the property line and 35 feet from a house?” she asked. “To me, that seems awfully close and I don’t think that’s acceptable.”

Finlayson said the privacy of the homes in the area would be lost, as would the sunlight — blocked out by the proposed building.

Gerry Beaudry’s house would by cloaked by the hotel’s shadow.

“One of the things I enjoy about my house is getting that morning sun,” he said.

One woman suggested she would sell her home and move if the project is approved. Others wondered if the value of their property would fall as the hotel went up.

Several people noted they would put additional comments and concerns in writing before the project comes before city council for approval.

But before that happens, the city’s heritage committee will also have to have its say, as the building falls within a heritage district.


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