[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[David_99]

Here's a non-rainbow coloured version. Also, if it looks like crap, it's because there's literally no night-time photos of the subway.
This is a google maps day-time image that I converted to night with trees and Events Centre added in Photoshop as best I could.

[MonctonRad]

I didn't say your version looked like crap, I said the rendering that was in the T&T looked like crap. Your version is much, much better.

I get what JHikka says about the lighting being a distraction, and he might be right, but I still think it's a good idea. At the very least, the multicolour scheme could be used in the pedestrian walkways if not the vehicle lanes.

[Scarface]

on all News that I seen about this bridge it's suposed to be a new paint job, and LED Lights.


If this is the case I agree with people that $573,000 budget is way to much, and it seems like an attempt to spend the money so they can claim it's not there for another project.

[BlackYear]

News coming out the V Hotel & Suites and Station 42. Station 42 (formerly Olyo restaurant) (www.station42.ca) is looking for a new location come November. Apparently the V Hotel & Suites will be torn down come November and be replaced by a major hotel chain, possibly Best Western or Hilton.

Looks like the Scotia MacLeod building next door may also be included in the demo.

[Ammn_guy]

Weird, Seems like a lot of demolition expense when theres many empty lots to choose from to build a hotel. The scotia mcleod building just had a major renovation like 5-10 yrs ago

Originally Posted by Budyser

News coming out the V Hotel & Suites and Station 42. Station 42 (formerly Olyo restaurant) (www.station42.ca) is looking for a new location come November. Apparently the V Hotel & Suites will be torn down come November and be replaced by a major hotel chain, possibly Best Western or Hilton.

Looks like the Scotia MacLeod building next door may also be included in the demo.

[riverviewer]

Originally Posted by Budyser

Apparently the V Hotel & Suites will be torn down come November and be replaced by a major hotel chain, possibly Best Western or Hilton. Looks like the Scotia MacLeod building next door may also be included in the demo.

Nice location for the parking structure to be included.

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by Budyser

News coming out the V Hotel & Suites and Station 42. Station 42 (formerly Olyo restaurant) (www.station42.ca) is looking for a new location come November. Apparently the V Hotel & Suites will be torn down come November and be replaced by a major hotel chain, possibly Best Western or Hilton.

Looks like the Scotia MacLeod building next door may also be included in the demo.

Originally Posted by Ammn_guy

Weird, Seems like a lot of demolition expense when theres many empty lots to choose from to build a hotel. The scotia mcleod building just had a major renovation like 5-10 yrs ago

Originally Posted by riverviewer

Nice location for the parking structure to be included.

If this is trully the case I think the location is indeed the factor in the demolition, and reconstruction of that lot aprox 280M or less then 5 minutes walk to the new Event Centre. There had been talks about the landscape changing south of Main street there would be several locations suited for the new V Hotel, and Station 42 Pub & Eatery.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Budyser

News coming out the V Hotel & Suites and Station 42. Station 42 (formerly Olyo restaurant) (www.station42.ca) is looking for a new location come November. Apparently the V Hotel & Suites will be torn down come November and be replaced by a major hotel chain, possibly Best Western or Hilton.

Looks like the Scotia MacLeod building next door may also be included in the demo.

Interesting gossip Budyser. You're a trusted member of the forum, so I don't doubt you, but how reliable is your source?

Best Western doesn't usually do big downtown hotels. If this is a Hilton branded hotel, this might spell bad news for the proposed Home 2 Suites in the Junction Urban Village, and/or Valmond's proposed Harper Building Hotel (possible DoubleTree) - both also Hilton brands. Maybe Hilton has decided to move their DoubleTree branded hotel much closer to the events centre and have given Valmond the heave-ho. This would make a lot of sense. If they did this, this wouldn't necessarily mean the end of the Home 2 Suites in the Junction Urban Village, but it would likely delay that particular project by 3-5 years (at least).

There could be truth to this rumour. The Home 2 Suites has been inexplicably delayed by at least a year (if not longer) and there has been no additional word on Valmond's project in nearly a year (pretty par for the course). Perhaps these projects have been canned for something larger and closer to the events centre.

I agree with Ammn_guy, it would be a shame to tear down two perfectly good buildings for this possible hotel when there are so many other potential building sites on vacant lots elsewhere in the core, but the location of a hotel project here would be pretty much ideal..........

[Mattyyy]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Interesting gossip Budyser. You're a trusted member of the forum, so I don't doubt you, but how reliable is your source?

Best Western doesn't usually do big downtown hotels. If this is a Hilton branded hotel, this might spell bad news for the proposed Home 2 Suites in the Junction Urban Village, and/or Valmond's proposed Harper Building Hotel (possible DoubleTree) - both also Hilton brands. Maybe Hilton has decided to move their DoubleTree branded hotel much closer to the events centre and have given Valmond the heave-ho. This would make a lot of sense. If they did this, this wouldn't necessarily mean the end of the Home 2 Suites in the Junction Urban Village, but it would likely delay that particular project by 3-5 years (at least).

There could be truth to this rumour. The Home 2 Suites has been inexplicably delayed by at least a year (if not longer) and there has been no additional word on Valmond's project in nearly a year (pretty par for the course). Perhaps these projects have been canned for something larger and closer to the events centre.

I agree with Ammn_guy, it would be a shame to tear down two perfectly good buildings for this possible hotel when there are so many other potential building sites on vacant lots elsewhere in the core, but the location of a hotel project here would be pretty much ideal..........

You may be spot on with this as this isn't the first time I have heard this rumor. I was told about a month back that whoever had purchased the V Hotel had done so with the intention of building a new hotel. I shrugged off the rumor at first as whoever mentioned it had mentioned a 15-20 story hotel was going to be built. It sounded a bit far fetched but perhaps not so.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Mattyyy

You may be spot on with this as this isn't the first time I have heard this rumor. I was told about a month back that whoever had purchased the V Hotel had done so with the intention of building a new hotel. I shrugged off the rumor at first as whoever mentioned it had mentioned a 15-20 story hotel was going to be built. It sounded a bit far fetched but perhaps not so.

If you've heard about a "15-20 storey hotel" on that site, it certainly could jive with a relocation of the rumoured DoubleTree from East Main Street, since the early render of that building had shown a 12 storey structure.

[MonctonRad]

And since we are speculating on this particular section of Highfield Street near the new events centre, how about this parcel of land along the north side of Gordon Street, immediately across the street from the properties we are currently speculating on:



All of these buildings were unceremoniously torn down last fall, and I recall at the time that some people on the forum here were speculating this had to do with the city's war on rooming houses downtown.

I just checked on the provinces property assessment website about these properties and they were all purchased at virtually the same time:

- 61 Gordon Street on 10/11/2017 for $478,000
- 51 Gordon Street on 10/11/2017 for $478,000
- 74/76 Highfield Street on 09/11/2017 for $478,000

This certainly smacks of somebody assembling a parcel of land for a larger development of some kind. If a major hotel might be constructed across the street, this property could suddenly become very valuable in it's own right and a potential target for future development.

Hmmmmm...........

[Taeolas]

Not being a Moncton Native, and just eyeballing the maps from Google, a new tall building behind the Crown Plaza (basically) would not be amiss. Certainly the city's priority should be in shrinking that blight of surface parking south of Main street, but at the same time the block or two north of Main Street shouldn't be overlooked for future development and densification. Ultimately Main Street should probably have 2-3 blocks of medium to high density development on either side of it (focusing on the south side, but growing the north side when opportunities come up)

And that blight is the right term for the parking. Google Map's sat views are fairly recent, and beyond the Main Street Facade it looks like an ants nest of parked cars between Main and the river. The sooner the city can get developers to develop those lots, the better.

[pierremoncton]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I just checked on the provinces property assessment website about these properties and they were all purchased at virtually the same time:

- 61 Gordon Street on 10/11/2017 for $478,000
- 51 Gordon Street on 10/11/2017 for $478,000
- 74/76 Highfield Street on 09/11/2017 for $478,000

This certainly smacks of somebody assembling a parcel of land for a larger development of some kind. If a major hotel might be constructed across the street, this property could suddenly become very valuable in it's own right and a potential target for future development.

Ashford: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=8023002#post8023002

[JHikka]

Sure seems like the Events Centre is already spurring development despite having not opened yet. In an ideal world the V Suites and Scotia Wealth buildings are replaced by a development with a large footprint. If the lots to the north on Gordon are being replaced by a singular commercial/residential build then even better. The more dense North of Main gets the less viable surface parking South of Main becomes.

[BlackYear]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Interesting gossip Budyser. You're a trusted member of the forum, so I don't doubt you, but how reliable is your source?

Got the news from another Skyscraper member who doesn't visit the site much anymore. They visited Station 42 for a bite to eat on the weekend and they got the word from staff member. And being the sleuth that she is, she kept asking questions and they kept answering.

Parking garage within the new hotel came up as well.

Station 42 may be looking at the 1111 Main st location.

[MonctonRad]

Thanks for the info Budyser, that helps.

I must admit, over all the years that I have been involved with this forum, my biggest and most exclusive scoops have come from chatting up restaurant servers and store clerks. So, to hear that this info comes from a server at Station 42 immediately means to me that there is a lot of truth in what may be happening just north of West Main Street starting this fall.

- a major hotel project on the current V Hotel (and probably Scotia Mcleod Building) site - possibly Hilton branded, possibly attached parking garage.
- Possible commercial/residential project across on the north side of Gordon Street west of Highfield.
- Station 42 restaurant maybe relocating to 1111 Main Street.

Add that onto already confirmed projects:

- Hyatt Place Hotel & signature restaurant
- Tannery Place South apartment building in the Junction Urban Village.

It's going to be an extra busy few years in the west end of the downtown of the city (with more to come in the future, especially as the Junction Urban Village fleshes out).

[MonctonRad]

The new fountain in Victoria Park is now functional.

[MonctonRad]

Big changes in store for Parc du Sommet in front of the Centre Culturel Aberdeen

from the mayor's FB page:

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about some possible changes at Aberdeen Park. So, this is the scoop: this park has become an issue for those that live and work around it — neighbours, businesses, children. There has been increased reporting of illegal activities and decreased use by the public, as well as an increase in vandalism and an increase in concern from the Aberdeen Cultural Centre. Specifically, drug paraphernalia, actual drugs and weapons have been found (there is a daycare on site). Staff spear-headed a discussion (Parks, By-Law enforcement and RCMP) to deal with the issues. While it is true, many of the issues are social in nature, as a city we also have a duty to provide safe park spaces for residents. As a result a report was carried out by a cross-departmental team trained in CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design) to identify issues and solutions. The recommendations were mainly aimed at increasing visibility (removing the berms) and lighting in and through the park, along with pruning trees and encouraging citizen use. A community meeting was held in the Park in May. A tender for the work is planned to come to Council soon, and if approved, the work would probably only begin in the late Fall.

In addition to lighting and removing the berms, here is the information on the trees (that are primarily on the berms that need to be removed):
- 16 twenty-year old trees (including 7 evergreen trees) to be removed, and shrubs to be replanted elsewhere.
- 17 new shade trees will be planted in the park.
- As for the older trees, the 37 trees on the perimeter of the park all remain and 24 newer trees in the park remain...to be clear, no mature trees will be affected by this, but trees that were planted in the late 90s.

Here is an "after" photo (following renovations)



Personal note - Judging from the number of comments on the mayor's FB page already, this is going to be a very controversial project, very much akin to the dust-up in Fredericton over the rehabilitation of Officers Square downtown.

Nobody likes the idea of cutting down trees unnecessarily. The rational here is to improve visibility within the park itself by removing obstructions (berms, conifers, shrubs), thus giving addicts fewer places to hide when they shoot up. The conifers removed will be replaced by shade trees, which, in the longer term, likely would be more desirable than the original conifers. The park will unfortunately look a lot more empty in the short term, but this may be a price we have to pay for having so many vagrants and addicts in the downtown of the city.

Moncton has a real problem with panhandlers, vagrants and addicts. This detracts from the quality of life for regular citizens who want to go downtown for a stroll or to go to a restaurant. I quite literally am accosted by panhandlers at least 80% of the time that I walk along Main Street. It is a nuisance and puts our city in a poor light. Anti-panhandling rules should be strictly enforced and walking patrols of the downtown area by Codiac RCMP should be increased. This of course doesn't solve the problem, and at the same time, more public assistance should be given to homeless people and greater emphasis should be given to providing social housing in the city.

It's time we admit there is a problem in the core and it's time we come up with a strategy to solve it, especially now that the core is on the brink of increasing development and gentrification.

[felip_ars]

It will only get worse once the Centre opens. Then you'll see plenty of them roaming around the Plaza during events, or near parking lots waiting for people to come out their cars. (i doubt the lot owners will provide securities during events)

Im still baffled that they haven't done anything about it.

I remember going Downtown with my girlfriend at the time (who's born and raised in North Montreal) like 7 years ago, and she couldn't believed how pushy they were compared to those in her neighborhood.

There was an article this morning about Moncton working on setting up supervised injection sites. While I dont encourage drug use, at least they'll be able to do it in a safe environment, and away from public spaces.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/moncton-saint-john-safe-injection-site-drugs-1.4733536

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

It will only get worse once the Centre opens. Then you'll see plenty of them roaming around the Plaza during events, or near parking lots waiting for people to come out their cars. (i doubt the lot owners will provide securities during events)

Im still baffled that they haven't done anything about it.

I remember going Downtown with my girlfriend at the time (who's born and raised in North Montreal) like 7 years ago, and she couldn't believed how pushy they were compared to those in her neighborhood.

There was an article this morning about Moncton working on setting up supervised injection sites. While I dont encourage drug use, at least they'll be able to do it in a safe environment, and away from public spaces.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/moncton-saint-john-safe-injection-site-drugs-1.4733536

this would be good news for both Moncton and Saint John. Both have seen an influxes in illegal IV Drug use starting in the early 2000's.

I wonder what happen to the plans to practically copy some Ontario city, and have a residential living facility for the homeless.