[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[brod3211]

Just realized from looking at old photos on vintage Monctons site and noticed the one thing, shops, stores places to buy things other than food and there are people everywhere! I think we need to bring back stores to downtown, I think that would bring people back, people don't want to live downtown, because of course the suburbs, but the big thing is, there is nowhere for people to shop and play there is only places to relax.

Downtown moncton inc. must promote downtown to attract businesses again so that people have a places to go other than to drink or eat.

[pierremoncton]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

They had been talking about apartments or condos with ground floor retail/commercial.

I don't know how firm the plans are.

Walked by today and saw 'for sale' signs on the property. So not very firm.

[brod3211]

They have started working on the second apartment on Reade street, right behind the other one, visible from wheeler.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by brod3211

They have started working on the second apartment on Reade street, right behind the other one, visible from wheeler.

Sorry brod, but that's a temporary offsite parking lot for displaced hospital workers during the construction phase of the new oncology clinic at The Moncton Hospital.

Construction will take 18-24 months. Apparently the owner of the property is planning on building a new apartment building after this though.

[brod3211]

Damn haha, thought I beat everyone to something, so what's the new oncology going to look like, is it going to be a multi floored building or just a one floor building?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by brod3211

Damn haha, thought I beat everyone to something, so what's the new oncology going to look like, is it going to be a multi floored building or just a one floor building?

I haven't seen any architectural renders, but it's only a $6-7M project, so it will be modest and likely 1-2 floors.

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by brod3211

Just realized from looking at old photos on vintage Monctons site and noticed the one thing, shops, stores places to buy things other than food and there are people everywhere! I think we need to bring back stores to downtown, I think that would bring people back, people don't want to live downtown, because of course the suburbs, but the big thing is, there is nowhere for people to shop and play there is only places to relax.

Downtown moncton inc. must promote downtown to attract businesses again so that people have a places to go other than to drink or eat.

Downtown has filled in quite a bit of vacant space in the last couple months even...drive/walk down Main and you will see Colpitts which moved from Champlain, a new clothing store where the RCMP was, a new "Wrapster" place next to Moncton Ale House, a new clothing store where Candy Chamelion was...

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

Walked by today and saw 'for sale' signs on the property. So not very firm.

Yes but beneath the signs you will see another stating "SOLD" my feeling is that its just the realtor bragging. Because they put up the for sale signs with SOLD attached on the same day...

[MonctonRad]

Osaka Hibachi has just been named one of the top 50 new restaurants in Canada for 2012 by Urbanspoon. It is the only NB restaurant on the list...

[mylesmalley]

Good for them! The food there is excellent.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

Good for them! The food there is excellent.

The "show" is excellent too. One of the chefs at an adjacent table managed to light himself on fire (accidentally) after a mishap with the sake squeeze-bottle (popped, backsplashing him) but he played on after they put the flames out.

[JHikka]

Looks like i'll have to go there the next time i'm in town!

[Monctoncore]

I'm new to the site, but when Christmas is over, I plan on going around moncton and doing photos of all the construction, I was thinking of starting a separate thread just for construction photos, I have a feeling 2013 is going to be a big year!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Monctoncore

I'm new to the site, but when Christmas is over, I plan on going around moncton and doing photos of all the construction, I was thinking of starting a separate thread just for construction photos, I have a feeling 2013 is going to be a big year!

Welcome to the forums!

There already is a Moncton Construction photo thread. mmmatt made it. It's fallen off the front page. If you can't find it, I'll bump it for you.

Looking forward to your photos

[Monctoncore]

[Monctoncore]

How do you post pictures on here ?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Monctoncore

How do you post pictures on here ?

You can't upload photos directly to SSP. You have to open an account with a photo hosting site (Flickr, Photobucket etc) instead, and then link to the photo hosted on that hosting service. The photo hosting sites are generally free for basic services.

Every photo hosted on the photo hosting site will be assigned a unique IP address. You can find this pretty easily. Link to the IP address of the photo and make sure that the address is enclosed by [img] and [/img] and it will then display properly here on SSP.

For example, this photo I have hosted on Photobucket:



The IP address for the photo is http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z411...%20City%20Hall%20Plaza/DC107026-orig.jpg

The picture won't display unless you put [img] before the address and [/img] after the address.

I hope this helps.

[MonctonRad]

From CBC

New Proposals Sought for Moncton High School

The New Brunswick government is again seeking proposals from developers who want to purchase and find a new use for the 77-year-old Moncton High School.

The provincial government issued a request for proposals in April for developers to come up with a new plan for the building. But Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Claude Williams said on Thursday only one developer sent in a proposal to the provincial government.

Williams told the legislature the bid from Toronto-based OMH Holdings Inc. did not meet the provincial government’s criteria, so they are re-opening the proposal process.

The infrastructure minister did not say what was wrong with the one bid or even what the proposal was for the school. A departmental spokesperson said those plans are confidential.

Coun. Paulette Thériault, a member of the city's heritage committee, said she believes this is a temporary delay and she is confident the provincial government will find a new use for the building.

“I still continue to believe in it, I still believe that we can do this,” she said.

Liberal MLA Chris Collins, who represents the riding where the school is located, said he is worried the second request for proposals is a delaying tactic that may result in the school being demolished instead of renovated.

“The future of that beautiful building in my riding is at stake at this point,” he said.

The provincial government now expects to have a decision on the building’s future in 2013. It will be late 2014 before any developer will be able to take over the building, according to Williams.

The Gothic-style stone building, including the 1,200-seat theatre, must be preserved, according to the department.

The Department of Education announced in 2010 that a new school would be built after a series of safety problems forced students out of the school two years ago.

The provincial government has invested $2 million in repairs to make Moncton High safe as the new school is being constructed.

The new school is being built on the outskirts of the city near the Royal Oaks golf course, which has caused a significant controversy in the city.

Predictable setback

Nicolas Lambert is part of a group trying to save the school since it's the only high school in the downtown. He said he thinks there is no interest from the private sector because it's impossible to convert an old school into a profitable business venture.

“It's not a money-making opportunity and they're trying to turn this into a money making opportunity and it's not working,” he said.

He said he thinks it is impossible for the private sector to repurpose the building without a huge amount of tax dollars.

Lambert said the provincial government should have predicted this latest setback.

“I think they'll find another excuse to put this off but I think they have to stop and realize that what's best for the city is best for the taxpayers and putting students to the periphery of the city to a remote location is not good for anyone,” he said.

Personal note:

Why am I not surprised.

MHS is an architecturally distinctive building and this is why it must be preserved, but this is also what will make it a hard sell for any developer to repurpose. The need to preserve the architectural integrity of the building, as well as the requirement to maintain the auditorium will be major stumbling blocks to any developer.

Don't get me wrong. I agree that the auditorium should be saved, and the facade of the building should largely be preserved. I imagine that aside from the auditorium, the future of the building will be in upper floor condo conversions and some form of ground floor community space (art galleries, meeting spaces etc). I doubt that there is much of a commercial future for the building. This is reality. Let's all hope for the best for this fine building and for the eventual return of a downtown high school someplace else in the core......

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Personal note:

Why am I not surprised.

You cannot be surprised, considering the government expectations are kept secret -- and the one proposal has been kept secret.

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

MHS is an architecturally distinctive building and this is why it must be preserved, but this is also what will make it a hard sell for any developer to repurpose. The need to preserve the architectural integrity of the building, as well as the requirement to maintain the auditorium will be major stumbling blocks to any developer.

MHS's architecture isn't what's making this a challenge for private developers; the lack of demand in the downtown is. If there was demand, more of the core's surface parking lots would be purchased by developers eager to construct their residential proposals, and the downtown would be seeing more than a few suburban style apartment buildings.

Many other cities easily repurpose old buildings without breaking the bank. For the sake of physical heritage, the old facades may be reused, and most of the internals can be rebuilt (which is often cheaper than total restoration). Redevelopments usually build additional storeys to make the enterprise a profitable one; and in MHS' redevelopment case, any additional floors should be mostly glass, as this would act to contrast and 'show off' MHS's old character.

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Don't get me wrong. I agree that the auditorium should be saved, and the facade of the building should largely be preserved. I imagine that aside from the auditorium, the future of the building will be in upper floor condo conversions and some form of ground floor community space (art galleries, meeting spaces etc). I doubt that there is much of a commercial future for the building. This is reality. Let's all hope for the best for this fine building and for the eventual return of a downtown high school someplace else in the core......[/COLOR][/I]

Schools are not cheap. I believe the downtown is saying a last goodbye to the residential-attracting asset that is a high school.

By allowing the school relocation, Moncton has already shown that it doesn't actually care about this old school. I don't think beggars can be choosers. Moncton should accept the proposal -- because this private developer is honestly doing the city a favour for committing funds to such a poor downtown market.

[MonctonRad]

Article in the T&T today about how the downtown retailers on Main St are having the best Christmas season in recent years.

Part of this is due to the good weather, but more people are being attracted downtown by an increasing variety of stores (as mmmatt pointed out), and also by the availability of on street parking. This is good to see. If retailers downtown are becoming increasingly successful, this might encourage more specialty retailers to join the mix. It would be nice if we could have our own version of Spring Garden Road right here in Moncton.

I must admit that the on street parking downtown hasn't been as bad as I had feared, but since I don't work downtown, I have no idea how this has impacted rush hour. Does anyone else have any opinions?