Northern Ontario developments!

[btimmis1]

The city of Thunder Bay has issued a "Request for Expressions of Interest" for potential partners and business partners for the proposed $106 Million Thunder Bay Event Centre. The new centre would be built on the site of the current Water Street bus terminal in downtown Port Arthur. A much needed and overdue project for the city. The Fort William Gardens has held up pretty well, but it's time to move forward.

Apparently the Winnipeg Jets are looking at moving their AHL team to Thunder Bay if a new arena is built. Personally, I'm not sure if there is enough support (by support I mean $$$) for that team in addition to the strong community support for the LU Thunderwolves, but maybe the improved travel situation for players to and from Winnipeg means they can accept reduced revenue?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/thunder-bay-calls-for-event-centre-partners-1.1309730
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundla...but-st-john-s-will-have-hockey-1.2505192

[TbayON]

Unless the feds and province outright refuse to provide funding, the event centre is pretty well a done deal. No secret there really, the city has already starting planning for the future of the FW Gardens after the new centre is up and running. The decision to move forward is complete as far the as the municipal level is concerned.

According to the media in St John's(who's team would be moving here of course) and local media too I believe, pretty well every game is sold out with approximately 6500 in attendance currently. I think proximity to Winnipeg must be a big deal. If you consider that by the time the event centre is built though that potentially 12 new mines, new forestry operations and likely new educational and medical developments will have taken place locally or be taking place (if you believe in the growth prospects and potential of T-Bay), it may not be a bad move.

[vid]

St. John's won't even necessarily lose on the deal, Danny Williams has said he would "buy" another team to fill Mile One.

[vid]

Originally Posted by YYCguys

With Westjet Encore expanding east with flights between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg and Thunder Bay and Toronto, will Thunder Bay still maintain the south sun flights that Westjet (mainline) has been offering in the winter seasons?

If they're making money (and they must be) they probably will, and that will require jets because of the distance. They do brand the vacations flights differently, though. They're part of WestJet Vacations as opposed to WestJet "proper".

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by btimmis1

The city of Thunder Bay has issued a "Request for Expressions of Interest" for potential partners and business partners for the proposed $106 Million Thunder Bay Event Centre. The new centre would be built on the site of the current Water Street bus terminal in downtown Port Arthur. A much needed and overdue project for the city. The Fort William Gardens has held up pretty well, but it's time to move forward.

Apparently the Winnipeg Jets are looking at moving their AHL team to Thunder Bay if a new arena is built. Personally, I'm not sure if there is enough support (by support I mean $$$) for that team in addition to the strong community support for the LU Thunderwolves, but maybe the improved travel situation for players to and from Winnipeg means they can accept reduced revenue?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/thunder-bay-calls-for-event-centre-partners-1.1309730
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundla...but-st-john-s-will-have-hockey-1.2505192

This is one of the reasons the Toronto Maple Leafs left St. Johns . It had nothing to do with attendance as they sold out all the time .
The problem was two fold . First the division they were in required alot of travelling as no teams are close by . Second , teams like to call up or send down players on an ongoing basis and from St.Johns it was costly and not the best situation . They sometimes need a player on that very game day and they couldnt make it to Toronto on time .
We wont sell out a game on a regular basis in Thunder Bay , but these factors will offset everything .
Theres truly big players involved in getting this project to work , so i think they have done their homework as there not in it to lose money.
The spin off for the city in terms of dollars will be huge .

[TbayON]

I agree with you Dakota. A Winnipeger I spoke with today also informed me the Jets have a deal with Westjet to move their personnel about the country at reduced rates. With increased frequency of flights imminent due to the arrival of Westjet Encore in Thunder Bay, it only makes the situation that much more attractive for the Jets. The same person also told me that Winnipeg media was reporting private money was going to be made available from parties within the consortium to get the event centre built. I don't know that I fully believe that just yet.

The players in this proposal are huge. We are talking about the wealthiest family in Canada being involved through the Thomsons. The city hit the nail on the head when they said they couldn't pass up this group's proposal as the best of 5 received based on the experience and expertise of those involved in the consortium. Having these players involved will surely exponentially increase the chances of the city receiving provincial and federal funding, in addition to finding a big-name sponsor who will put their name on this arena. This is definitely a home run for the city, and probably the best case scenario they could have ever hoped for.

I think we should still cancel the entire project because of parking though...

[TbayON]

I have heard that Habib is personally trying to get the FWCI project going soon. If he still holds his original intentions for the building, it would be converted to a seniors building with some amenities for the retired folk. There are a few issues though. He has lost the trust of many financiers and trades in the city by being very tardy with payments, or not paying bills at all. I don't think he has the cash for this project at this time. I personally believe the McKellar hospital project did not go as well as he hoped, and that he has not recouped enough cash out of that project to finance future ones. He has also sunk a large chunk of cash into his Victoria Ave. project, and has yet to see any returns on that as construction is ongoing.

The store known as 'Icing' in the Intercity Mall is moving within the mall. It will now be located by Bentley. A tender is out for construction and work will likely begin late winter.

[TbayON]

The city has put the Lyceum building on the market for sale. The city still has to conduct repairs to the roof of the building that it announced it would undertake this past fall to help save the structure. The city claims it has had a hard time finding a roofing contractor, and the beginning of work is behind schedule. The weather this winter doesn't help in any either. There is no definite interest in the building yet, but apparently there are rumblings.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-ba...under-bay-s-real-estate-market-1.2515635

Work on the former church building at the corner of Edward and Redwood is getting closer. Sub-trades and suppliers are currently submitting pricing for the project. The building is going to be converted into a dental office, and I believe there will also be additional space leased out in the future. It appears the exterior will remain mostly unchanged.

[vid]

It's really hard to find roofers right now for some reason. We're experiencing some sort of weird roofer shortage.

[TbayON]

Its hard, grueling work (and most people don't like doing that kind of work anymore), and the winter weather hasn't helped either. Thunder Bay is actually experiencing a lack of pretty well every sub-trade at the moment. Even the bigger name home builders in town are having trouble getting the electrical, mechanical, drywall, taping etc. trades into their houses that are under construction in a reasonable amount of time. Even smaller commercial jobs are running into trouble and are being put behind due to a lack of labour.

[TbayON]

The contents of the Global Sticks plant are going to be auctioned off on Feb. 11. This will end what was a pretty pathetic business story in Thunder Bay. I still wonder if it was a scam myself. Seven million of 'our' money went into it. I am not sure what is going to happen with the building itself. I don't think there would be any problem filling the building once all the contents are cleaned out. A local contractor, fabrication type business or really any business needing large warehouse space would probably love to get their hands on that place for the right price.

On a better note, MNP is expanding in Thunder Bay. They will be occupying a lot more space in the building they are currently in on Amber Dr. (can't remember if its the same one as Grant Thornton, or next door). Renovations have already started, and will take several months.

The city has issued a tender for the reconstruction and four-laning of Valley from about the Expressway up to Pioneer Dr. The stretch of road needs the help. Lights are going to be installed at Strand from what I gather.

Council is also currently discussing a waste strategy that would see a $9 million recycling facility built in the city. The goal would be to divert just over two thirds of garbage from going into the landfill. Not sure on location or timelines yet myself.

Work has begun on converting the former Lowery's store on Red River into a new Northern Credit Union location. I heard someone say there will be space for at least one other tenant in the building. I'm not sure about that, it isn't that big of a place.

Repairs to the floor of the Marriott are on-going, and there is some serious work happening inside now I think. This is after a months long engineering 'conference' of sorts in the building while all the 'experts' tried to figure out how to repair the place. I have heard varying tales of how bad the building is or isn't performing structurally.

It sounds like another north core building is receiving a facelift prior to occupancy by one or two businesses. This time its the former T-Bay travel building on Red River. It won't be long before every storefront in the area is open for business at this rate!

[vid]

Do you mean the one with the curved facade at the corner of Red River and Cumberland? That's the Tomlinson Block. It's been known for a while that the owner has plans for it. They also own the three storey Andrew's Block (used to house Painted Turtle), which is tucked into its southwest corner. I am pretty sure the entire top floor is leased now, or at least most of it. They've been slowly improving it over the past 6 or 7 years.

[TbayON]

That would be the one Vid. Sounds like they have their tenants for the main floor and basement area now. Some more improvements are underway first though before occupancy.

I have heard that Bruno's is looking at a couple more buildings this year in Thunder Bay. I have no details other than that on location, size or possible tenants. Its pretty safe to assume commercial though. Bruno's put up two buildings this past construction season of course, one next to the hospital for the Fort William Clinic and the second in Innova Park for Genivar.

Small tender out currently to outfit 4th floor at the new Health Services Centre on Oliver for the hospital IT dept. Indicates the progress there as far as what stage the building is at.

[TbayON]

A business has moved into the gym at the former FWCI building. This comes as Habib is definitely making a push at the moment to get the residential portion of the project going. The former playfield has also been subdivided and is being sold as building lots. There appears to be seven in total. See Century21.ca for details, and renderings of some houses that will fit the character of the neighbourhood.

A larger building on Field St. is undergoing quite a bit of work. I haven't seen it for myself yet, and I'm not sure which building it is, but I do know something is going on there through word of mouth.

[F. Lionel]

Now that the city has been awarded the 2017 baseball event what sort of infrastructure improvements do you see them making?
Winning the event last time led to the reconstruction of the central baseball diamond and the beautification of Port Arthur Stadium. Since these improvements aren't necessary this time round what do you think the city will spend money on?
I know they don't really have to do anything but these events usually lead to spending of some kind. What do you think MIGHT be coming?

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by F. Lionel

I know they don't really have to do anything but these events usually lead to spending of some kind. What do you think MIGHT be coming?

I think they will put more money into the P.A. stadium actually. The last round of dollars went towards beautification of the area surrounding the stadium. This time, more will be spent on the stadium itself. It makes sense to me, the city really has not dumped a lot of money into the place in several years now. Of course, the only thing my belief hinges on is the Border Cats. Their home game attendance hasn't been great the last few years, so if we lose the team, I think the city would be less likely to invest in the stadium.

[vid]

Giant Gymnastics has moved into the FWCI gym.

[Conker]

Originally Posted by vid

Do you mean the one with the curved facade at the corner of Red River and Cumberland? That's the Tomlinson Block. It's been known for a while that the owner has plans for it. They also own the three storey Andrew's Block (used to house Painted Turtle), which is tucked into its southwest corner. I am pretty sure the entire top floor is leased now, or at least most of it. They've been slowly improving it over the past 6 or 7 years.

There will be new space opening up for renovation or new tennants in this building very soon. Gillons Insurance (former Thunder Bay Insurance) is moving around the corner to the former RBC building on the corner of St. Paul and Red River. The Gillons sign went up today at the new location.

[Dwils01]

Two new places to eat opened in downtown, a poutine place on Queen Street and a Smoked BBQ place on Gore Street. Also there will be a police satellite station to open on Gore Street in mid-April.

[TbayON]

Work on the new Subway on Waterloo is to begin shortly. The shell of the building is already up as the restaurant will be part of the new development by Tim Hortons. There is a second Subway to come this year as well, but the exact location of that second restaurant is still a topic of debate.

We should also start to see some more movement as far as getting the interior outfit of the new A&W done at Carrick at the Harbour. The shell of that building is also up. Haven't heard of any other definite tenants for the other 3 units in that building yet. Subway is one name I have heard floated around though, to add to my first point.