[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by David_99

Correct.

"Because of it's location, the building is ideally suited to medical offices, medical services and possibly a pharmacy." -Ross Carpenter of Heritage Management



-Times & Transcript

Lookin goooood, hopefully they get some good tenants for this and can renovate soon, with the new advanced research center set to start up across the street I have a feeling they will do fine.

Nice to see so much going on in the city even still...2016 boom year continues into the winter

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

Found a different rendering of the Arches of St George:



Source: http://www.broadway-place.com/pdf/321_stgeorge.pdf

Things are beginning to progress quickly:


source: https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/15304259_379325149071182_7142043768851994778_o.jpg

[MonctonRad]

Another progress photo of the Sobeys Plaza expansion on Vaughan Harvey:


source: https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/15304107_379312869072410_7695747617981066637_o.jpg

[MonctonRad]

There is a proposal to amend the conditional zoning agreement for this proposed development at 999 Mountain Road (near Arby's).

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City Council of the City of Moncton has been asked to amend the Conditional Zoning Agreement governing By-law Z-213.11.

The purpose of the proposed change is to amend the conditional zoning agreement for mix use development project located at 999 Mountain Road (includes properties on Terris Avenue), by extending the construction timeline.

A meeting to consider written objections to the proposed changes will be held on Monday December 19, 2016 at 5 pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 655 Main Street, Moncton, NB.

I remember posting about this proposed commercial/office development maybe about 18-24 months ago. The land has been cleared but there has been no other action demonstrated. The reason why the amendment to the conditional zoning agreement is being sought is to extend the construction deadline. As such, there is still an intention to proceed with this development, but the date of construction remains unknown...........

Speaking of the Arby's next door, chatter online suggests that the restaurant is scheduled for a major (and much needed) makeover this spring.

[riverviewer]

The Co-op is gone. The building has left the premises.

[MonctonRad]

Request for variance before Moncton PAC regarding Zio's Restaurante Baci Italia project at Mountain & Church.



They want to change the lot plan slightly to allow parking facing Mountain Road on the west end of the lot.

[Monctoncore]

For anyone who wants to check out the junction village video, go to Dawn Arnold's Facebook page, it's a lovely video of the downtown and gives some info on the project.

[NBNYer]

I found these renders of Tannery place on the Cushman Wakefield website. They appear to be targeting summer 2018 for opening. This is the next phase of the Junction Urban Village.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Monctoncore

For anyone who wants to check out the junction village video, go to Dawn Arnold's Facebook page, it's a lovely video of the downtown and gives some info on the project.

Excellent video with some of the best aerial photography of the downtown core I've ever seen.

Here's the direct VIMEO link:

Video Link

A couple of screen grabs from the video showing the layout (and current status) of the Junction Urban Village:





Here's the link to the pdf marketing package from Cushman Wakefield regarding the Tannery Place building at the Junction Urban Village:
http://cwatlantic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Tannery-Place-Marketing-Package-1.pdf

NBNYer already posted a couple of pictures showing the final design of Tannery Place. Here is an image showing the floor plan for the ground floor of Tannery Place:



As you can see, they are planning five CRUs on the ground floor. Just by doing a window count from the render, it would appear that there will also be 36 residential units in the building.

Here's the current site plan for the Junction Urban Village:

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Excellent video with some of the best aerial photography of the downtown core I've ever seen.

Here's the direct VIMEO link:

Video Link

A couple of screen grabs from the video showing the layout (and current status) of the Junction Urban Village:





Here's the link to the pdf marketing package from Cushman Wakefield regarding the Tannery Place building at the Junction Urban Village:
http://cwatlantic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Tannery-Place-Marketing-Package-1.pdf

NBNYer already posted a couple of pictures showing the final design of Tannery Place. Here is an image showing the floor plan for the ground floor of Tannery Place:



As you can see, they are planning five CRUs on the ground floor. Just by doing a window count from the render, it would appear that there will also be 36 residential units in the building.

Here's the current site plan for the Junction Urban Village:

I love all they have planned but I'm wondering since there previous plans had townhouses behind the commercial/residential/office buildings. They seem to be no more.

Even on there updated site it just shows Apartments, and Commercial/storefronts for lease. No more townhouses for sale it seems

[MonctonRad]

I don't remember the townhouses, but whatever, since this development has been promoted as an "urban village", I was expecting a larger residential component.

From what I can tell, the only building with a residential component will be Tannery Place, with a paltry 36 apartments. Sure there will be a hotel on site, but if I recall, it will only have about 100 rooms or so. Will this be enough to support the commercial component of the development?

The key to downtown urban growth is to have a large downtown resident population in order to support downtown neighbourhood businesses. Suburbanites will still preferentially go to regional malls and big box centres. Meanwhile, stores and restaurants in the downtown core requires a nearby residential population for dependable support. The Junction Urban Village unfortunately is falling a bit flat on that account.............

Now, Buildings "A" and "B" on the site plan above still could end up looking different than they do on their initial renders. Depending on market conditions they could end up being combined into a single building, or perhaps could end up being mixed residential/commercial buildings like Tannery Place. A smart developer learns to respond to market conditions.

We now know what three of the five buildings will be. The remaining two buildings are a mystery. No matter what, this remains a very exciting development for the west end of the downtown core. It will be very interesting to see what happens to the remaining part of the development right on the corner of Main & Vaughan Harvey (Buildings A & B). Personally, I would like to see an expanded residential component with increased height. This is a very prominent corner and deserves a signature treatment.

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I don't remember the townhouses, but whatever, since this development has been promoted as an "urban village", I was expecting a larger residential component.

From what I can tell, the only building with a residential component will be Tannery Place, with a paltry 36 apartments. Sure there will be a hotel on site, but if I recall, it will only have about 100 rooms or so. Will this be enough to support the commercial component of the development?

The key to downtown urban growth is to have a large downtown residential population to support the development of downtown businesses. Suburbanites will still go to regional malls and big box centre. The downtown core needs a downtown residential population for dependable support. The Junction Urban Village is falling a bit flat on that account.............

Now, Buildings "A" and "B" on the site plan above still could end up looking different than their initial renders. Depending on market conditions they could end up being combined into a single building, or could end up being mixed commercial residential/commercial buildings like Tannery Place. A smart developer learns to respond to market conditions.

We now know what three of the five buildings will be. The remaining two buildings are a mystery. No matter what, this remains a very exciting development for the west end of the downtown core. It will be very interesting to see what happens to the remaining part of the development right on the corner of Main & Vaughan Harvey (Buildings A & B). Personally, I would like to see an expanded residential component with increased height. This is a very prominent corner and deserves a signature treatment.

I'm pretty sure it was in there first render
They had 2 clusters of townhouses 1st was at the end of Stewart with another cluster behind the prince street housing.

Not sure if it was talked about but it looks like High street Needs, and Tire Craft on John Street are both closed.

We headed by on the way home, and when we got home I looked up the Tire Craft building to find it for sale.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The key to downtown urban growth is to have a large downtown residential population to support the development of downtown businesses. Suburbanites will still go to regional malls and big box centre. The downtown core needs a downtown residential population for dependable support. The Junction Urban Village is falling a bit flat on that

The Downtown of any large urban centre needs to be friendly for pedestrians and needs to be walkable. How many pedestrians are going to want to cross a six-lane Vaughan Harvey to reach JUV/Downtown? How many customers are going to want to relax outside stores next to six lanes of traffic like in these renders?

Like you said, the key to urban developmental growth is getting people living in the area. From what I can see JUV is 36 units + 100 hotel rooms separated from the rest of downtown by a large arterial route. A development is a development but i'm not expecting this to be a high impact game-changer for that end of Downtown at this stage. Perhaps things would be better for JUV if it wasn't facing a very suburban Sobeys location.

For me, JUV is only serving to widen the total area that Downtown hopes to encompass when there are still plenty of infill opportunities throughout the Downtown core. Those would have far more of an impact of creating a more high density Downtown than JUV will be doing.

[Scarface]

Well with all the Rooming houses that are being demolished we might see more apartment buildings/condo building in the downtown soon. Turns out there are converted houses "apartment buildings" that where demolished as well, and on the news they called them rooming houses.

[BlackYear]

Originally Posted by JHikka

The Downtown of any large urban centre needs to be friendly for pedestrians and needs to be walkable. How many pedestrians are going to want to cross a six-lane Vaughan Harvey to reach JUV/Downtown? How many customers are going to want to relax outside stores next to six lanes of traffic like in these renders?

Don't forget the roaring sounds of daily passing of freight trains. Forget about sleeping with your windows open during summer nights. The newly built 25 Dominion apartments on VH side do face the same problem and all the units there seemed to have sold out. There are some people who enjoy the downtown city noise.

Aside from that, I don't see a problem with pedestrians crossing Vaughn Harvey. Both the corner of VH & Main and the main entrance on VH will have signalling and crosswalks.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Budyser

Don't forget the roaring sounds of daily passing of freight trains. Forget about sleeping with your windows open during summer nights. The newly built 25 Dominion apartments on VH side do face the same problem and all the units there seemed to have sold out. There are some people who enjoy the downtown city noise.

Aside from that, I don't see a problem with pedestrians crossing Vaughn Harvey. Both the corner of VH & Main and the main entrance on VH will have signalling and crosswalks.

I'm referring mostly to non-residents as users of these buildings as opposed to residents. People are going to be willing to live and work next to busy roads and railways. When I first moved to Ottawa my bedroom basically fronted the Queensway, the busiest highway in Eastern Ontario. That never really bothered me at all.

What I was referring to was the general urban/density feeling of a Downtown stretching its borders to include six-lane avenues. Urban areas are better when they're compact, walkable, and more geared towards pedestrians rather than those in vehicles. It's mostly a subconscious thing where people will decide not to walk a certain area or a certain street because it's not pedestrian friendly. Sort of like the difference between walking Mountain Road and Main Street. One's better for pedestrians and naturally creates an atmosphere welcoming to pedestrians. Pedestrians are going to be more willing to spend their time moving on streets where cars are doing less than 30kph rather than areas where they're doing double that in double the number. JUV is sort of trying to straddle that line very carefully and it remains to be seen how it'll turn out.

Something like the buildings going up for JUV would have been better suited to the north side of Assomption Blvd, say on the corner of Westmorland. It's infill, eating up surface parking, and is easily accessible to the rest of downtown for pedestrians via Westmorland and Robinson whilst also still being accessible by car via Assomption. It densifies Downtown without expanding its borders.

[mylesmalley]

I lived on Acadie for four years. You don't even notice the street noise after a few days.
As for the trains, there are much closer buildings. You can probably high-five the conductor from your balcony if you live in that new-ish building at the corner of Robinson and Victoria.

[Taeolas]

As a visitor, even after that development is done, I probably wouldn't classify that as "Downtown Moncton"; primarily due to the highway, and mainly just due to the distance. Maybe in the future, Moncton will grow enough that that will fit into the downtown fabric; but as it is right now, that area does not feel like downtown.

I walked much of the downtown area playing Ingress over the summer, and I'd say it stopped feeling like I was downtown around Sobeys. The density dropped off and it felt more like a suburban area (probably due to the parking lot and how spread out Sobeys, Shoppers, the train station, etc.... are).

That's not to say this Urban Village expansion won't be a great addition; it certainly looks great and could lead to more density in the west end in general. But for developing Moncton downtown, I would hope they are focusing on Main from Vaughan Harvey to Wheeler (and especially from the Subway to King), and maybe start expanding south (filling in the parking lots) and north, so Moncton eventually gets a more noticeable downtown than just Main street.

By the way, I see the Google Car was in Moncton this fall. Streetview has some updated photos from October 2016, including some street views of the Events Centre under construction.

[MonctonRad]

I rather like the Junction Urban Village, therefore my previous comments should be taken as observations rather than criticisms.

In truth, it is more of a "suburban" village rather than an urban village. It is on a major cross town multilane divided boulevard, and sits next to a major intersection. It's neighbour across the way is a suburban style shopping plaza, and it sits on the fringes of the downtown core rather than in the middle of downtown. There is abundant surface parking on site, and great pains have been made to ensure ease of access to the development.

Again, these are observations and not criticisms. I like the overall design, and the development will make a fine western delimiter for the downtown core. I still hope for more of a residential component for the last two buildings, but if they end up being small office buildings, I'm cool with that too.

At least with only 36 residential units, this development won't saturate the market in the west end of the downtown area, and it shouldn't act as an impediment to the real prize, which is a major multi-storey apartment or condo development on the site of the old Bay parking lot.........

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I rather like the Junction Urban Village, therefore my previous comments should be taken as observations rather than criticisms.

In truth, it is more of a "suburban" village rather than an urban village. It is on a major cross town multilane divided boulevard, and sits next to a major intersection. It's neighbour across the way is a suburban style shopping plaza, and it sits on the fringes of the downtown core rather than in the middle of downtown. There is abundant surface parking on site, and great pains have been made to ensure ease of access to the development.

I was going to say, just because they put the word "urban" in the name doesn't make it an urban development. It's great to see more growth on that end of the city centre, but it doesn't add much to the urban fabric of your city, especially since it doesn't address the massive road intersection or the walkability of the neighbourhood at all.