Northern Ontario developments!

[Chadillaccc]

Holy 🞵🞵🞵🞵 I am soooo excited for Thunder Bay! This is seriously such an awesome thing to happen! I was there this weekend and the waterfront redevelopment is already amazing but these towers will add so much more life, urbanity and modernity to the area!!! Bravo! It's also going to benefit downtown Port Arthur immensely! Hopefully even spur some office growth perhaps due to the increased population? Who knows!

[vid]

Yeah, standing at the waterfront and looking back at downtown was the first time in this city that I really felt like this was a city and not just a large town.

[TbayON]

The steel structure for the new hangar at the airport is just about up. Several cranes have been busy putting the structural roof members on the last few days.

An Illinois-based company is interested in purchasing the former Marathon Pulp property. The Green Investment Group Inc. is supposedly the leading candidate to make a deal for the property. The company buys brownfield sites, gives them a makeover and then attracts a number of companies who will benefit from synergies formed between them to operate out of the single site (sounds like industrial clustering to me). The Green Investment Group has successfully completed projects of the like in the past. People in the know are being kept pretty tight lipped right now, so we will have to wait for further details on this.

More pictures (caught some bugs splats on the windshield in some of the pictures, so some aren't the greatest):

Tuscany Estates (LTL Contracting's new subdivision) at the end of Gemstone Dr. Roads are being put in right now as well as services:


New Toys R Us location in the Thunder Centre. Exterior sheathing is now going up. Its actually quite a long building:



Terra Vista condos at Beverly and Balmoral:


New Lowery's store in the Intercity area. Its actually going to be quite a nice looking place when its done I think, now that I can see work on the finished exterior coming along:



New crane recently assembled at Keefer by the Thunder Bay Port Authority:

[TbayON]

A 3 storey building on Bay St. and a 3 storey building on Cumberland (both in the downtown north core area) are going to be undergoing renovations soon. I don't know which buildings they are or for what purpose they are zoned for. It is a good sign that the waterfront development and associated things in the area may be starting to have a spin off effect on surrounding properties.

I noticed Bruno's Contracting is leveling fill and grading the empty lot that was cleared a while back north of the Days Inn North location on Golf Links Rd. Some stakes have also been pounded into the ground as well. I suspect we will see some construction happening in the not to distant future this fall on that piece of property.

Sounds like there is quite a bit more commercial work coming up in the near future. I spoke to someone in the know, and there is a decent amount in the planning/pricing stage right now.

[vid]

The only three storey buildings on Bay Street are the Hoito and Lutheran Community Care Centre. Calico's, that 50s era office building and the apartment on the corner of Macher are 2.5 storeys, so it could be one of those?

I have heard that Kilroy's is going to become condos but that is 2 storeys. I didn't even know Kilroy's closed.

[tjernobyl]

Originally Posted by vid

The only three storey buildings on Bay Street are the Hoito and Lutheran Community Care Centre. Calico's, that 50s era office building and the apartment on the corner of Macher are 2.5 storeys, so it could be one of those?

I have heard that Kilroy's is going to become condos but that is 2 storeys. I didn't even know Kilroy's closed.

The Finlandia has been going continuous renovations for years; I don't think there's any news there. Unless it's a new phase, perhaps.

Kilroys closed around June, though it had been looking pretty closed for a while. I think the upper floor is already apartments, but we could expect the rest to get pretty much gutted. There was some commercial space in the basement (beauty parlour and second bar), don't know if that will be retained.

[ccnews]

on the way to work this morning I noticed they are starting to remove the asphalt from the lot next to the Tim Horton's on Waterloo

http://goo.gl/maps/X4Yxs

does anybody have any information?

[vid]

The lot was barricaded a while ago. No idea what is going on there, but whatever it is has been in planning for quite some time now.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by ccnews

on the way to work this morning I noticed they are starting to remove the asphalt from the lot next to the Tim Horton's on Waterloo

http://goo.gl/maps/X4Yxs

does anybody have any information?

No idea, but even if they only scrape the asphalt away and let it be open space, it will be better than what it was.

Originally Posted by tjernobyl

Kilroys closed around June, though it had been looking pretty closed for a while. I think the upper floor is already apartments, but we could expect the rest to get pretty much gutted. There was some commercial space in the basement (beauty parlour and second bar), don't know if that will be retained.

I assume they are keeping the existing building and just renovating as opposed to tearing it down and starting over?


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The latest in the Municipal Golf Course saga, if I can call it that, has the Staal brothers looking to purchase the place and continue to operate it as a golf course so long as they can turn a profit. This is only a rumour I caught hold of. Other rumours involving the Staals purchasing stuff have floated around before, most notably that they were the buyers of the old Uncle Franks (which turned out to be completely false of course). I am taking it with a large grain of salt, but they do golf so I will keep a somewhat open mind about this one.

The TD Bank branch at the Harbour and Memorial has moved from their old building into their new one. Watch for the old place to come down in the near future.

There is a new two storey building going up on Gorham St (on the southwest side of the corner of the Harbour and Memorial), next to RML Construction. The exterior is also finally being put on that other building on Gorham that has had its strapping and building paper exposed for it seems the last few years. It was very obvious from the Harbour Expressway and wasn't the most attractive thing, but is now looking much better.

It doesn't sound like the Elks will be moving anytime soon. They only received of an offer in the $700 000 range, well below their price of $1.8 million, which is less that they were willing to accept. I personally can't see them getting a penny more for that location at this time, courthouse across the street or not. The city would offer them a fair market bid. Thus, they have pulled out of the bidding for the P.A. Prosvita. Five other bids were received for the P.A. Pros, including one proposal for a doctor's office and another which would see the bingo hall at the CLE move their hall.

The CMHC is expecting greater than 200 new home construction starts this year in Thunder Bay, which will only be the second time that mark has been reached in the last 15 years I believe.

[TbayON]

A new daycare building will be going up in front of The Hangar along Oliver Rd at Lakehead University either this fall or next spring. It will probably more closely resemble a prison with all the hazards located right there for small children, but I guess the daycare wants the visibility being on Oliver Rd brings to them.

Quite a few truck loads of fill have been brought in to the lot next to Tim's on Waterloo, to follow up ccnews noticing they were taking away the asphalt. The land has sold finally (a sold sign posted by a realtor is there on a light post) and the land seems to be getting leveled off to prepare for some kind of construction.

The footings for the new building between Days Inn North and the hospital entrance on Golf Links Rd have been poured. A Tom Jones trailer has also been parked on the site.

I understand the new hangar going up at the Thunder Bay Airport is for Wasaya Airlines for some of their larger aircraft.

There was a notice from the city posted in the CJ the other day related to the environmental assessment for the four-laning of Valley St. between John Street Rd. and Pioneer Dr. I'm not sure what they timeline is for the completion of this project, but traffic volumes are getting close to warrant such an expansion. Further home construction to the northwest of this corridor will make road improvements necessary here, in addition to the deteriorated state the road surface is in now. I hate to speculate on such things, but this will likely be an improvement that city can make that will decrease the need for the Northwest Arterial road to be constructed. I can't say I really blame them though, the Northwest Arterial will be very costly, and its unlikely the city would receive funding from higher levels of government at this time due to provincial and federal budget constraints and budget cuts.

[ccnews]

Two building are to be erected...a strip mall...and a fastener store.

this was posted on Facebook - Opportunity Thunder Bay
not sure if I believe it

the property next to Tim Horton's on Waterloo

[blacktrojan3921]

Originally Posted by vid

Keewatin would probably be the most appropriate. It comes from the Anishnawbe language family (which is based here) while Ontario comes from Huron (based in Southern Ontario), was used as a name for part of this region when it was part of the NWT and also refers to our location north of the Great Lakes, as it is the Anishnabe word for North.

If the north splits into two, the northwest will probably keep the name Keewatin and the North East will revert to its colonial era name, "New/Nouvelle Ontario". Francophones still refer to the region as "Nouvelle Ontario".

Truth be told, I'm more inclined with Northwest being called Gichigami which means "Big Water" in Ojibwe and is named for Lake Superior, while the Northeast should be called Manitoulin in reference to Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. Which of course Manitoulin means Spirit Island in Ojibwe.

[TbayON]

The new building that just broke ground next to Day Inn on Golf Links is another Bruno's Contracting rental and will be marketed as clinical space (surprise surprise... not really). As far as I understand, this is the new location of the Fort William Clinic. I am not sure if a name change will be in order for the clinic now that they are moving towards Port Arthur. The move in date is late next fall I believe.

A 5 or 6 storey building is soon to be built in Thunder Bay. Tom Jones Construction was recently given the green light to construct a second professional building at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. I am not sure when ground breaking is scheduled. This is a separate building from the cyclotron project, which will hopefully be breaking ground in the near future as well.

[vid]

Went for a bike ride around town today and here is what I saw:

CN Rail has finally removed the weeds and repaired the ballast under its rail line running through downtown Port Arthur. They've also repaired the asphalt around their tracks at the Camelot Street entrance. I think this is the first time CN has maintained the portion of rail line in my lifetime.

Whalen Building renovations are working on the north corner of the building, where lightning exploded the lantern in spring.

The pit in front of the CN station at Prince Arthur's Landing has been filled in and there was a bunch of cars on top of it.

The clinic behind Janzens on Bay has a spiffy new paintjob on the side.

Photos later.

[TbayON]

Accur-Assay is putting up a new building at their Intercity location

The McDonalds on Cumberland is supposedly getting torn down, and being rebuilt facing the lake. The original McD's on that site was supposed to be built facing the lake, but at that time I guess the waterfront wasn't so pleasant to look at. I also heard the McD's on Red River will also be torn down, and rebuilt. All the McDonalds in town came under new ownership a while back, and it seems the new owner is investing quite heavily in the places as the Arthur St location is being renovated at the moment as well.

[russman]

The McDonalds on Red River Rd is only 7 years old so I doubt that will be torn down.

[vid]

The Memorial and Central McDonalds just finished its renovations. The Arthur Street McDonalds is probably going to be replaced and he just put the wrong street.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by russman

The McDonalds on Red River Rd is only 7 years old so I doubt that will be torn down.

Its possible its only a reno and the person who told me this news is mistaken but McDonalds does make a 🞵🞵🞵🞵 load of cash so they can more than afford it. I'm thinking if it is only a reno, the owner wants to get the place updated to the most current design corporate McDonalds has developed for its outlets.

Originally Posted by vid

The Memorial and Central McDonalds just finished its renovations. The Arthur Street McDonalds is probably going to be replaced and he just put the wrong street.

The Arthur St one is not going to be replaced, the contractor is already well into renovations. They moved immediately over to Arthur St after the renovations on Memorial Ave location were completed.

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Sounds like the waterfront restaurant has finally been announced. Details will come out a little later I guess. Bight Restaurant and Bar or something like that is the name.

[TbayON]

Double Post

[Dwils01]

This area is know zoned for residential commercial and institutional uses which could include a bio-energy technology campus with pilot plants relating to renewable energy research.

Article here: http://www.city.sault-ste-marie.on.ca/co...ootoday/09%2026RiversedgeDevelopment.pdf