[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Indeed. I was aware of this. This is why I used the Emmerson Business Park as an example. Blue Cross could completely decamp from downtown and call it's move simply a "consolidation" of space. This could be spun many ways.

In any event, the parking issue for Slate at the Blue Cross Centre is a huge problem. If the city doesn't want to lose nearly 1000 high paying jobs from the core, they had better start paying attention to this rather than constantly pandering to the cycling zealots.......

The one thing that makes me comfortable that a move by Blue Cross out of the core likely won't happen is that the President and CEO of Blue Cross is Bernard Lord. He is a loyal son of Moncton and a former politician. As such, I'm sure he wouldn't want to do anything that would hollow out downtown Moncton.

I don't think Blue Cross will be moving any time soon. They just completed a new lease agreement.

https://news.slateofficereit.com/press-r...ant-leasing-update-moncton-new-brunswick

Still, it will be interesting to see what Slate's next move will be. Will they come back to the city with a new proposal in order to get the rezoning the were looking for at 20 Record Street? Or will they go ahead on their own with a plan B?

[L'homard]

This would be the same Bernard Lord whose company got screwed over by the city which transfered its zillion-dollar employee health plans to an out of province company that had one person working in NB? One might be forgiven for thinking Bernard Lord's concerns for the city wanting any Blue Cross expansion to be in the city core would not be at the top of his priority list.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by L'homard

This would be the same Bernard Lord whose company got screwed over by the city which transfered its zillion-dollar employee health plans to an out of province company that had one person working in NB? One might be forgiven for thinking Bernard Lord's concerns for the city wanting any Blue Cross expansion to be in the city core would not be at the top of his priority list.

Ouch, I had forgotten that.

One would hope that Bernard's love of the city would outweigh any bitterness he might have towards city council over that little debacle...........

[L'homard]

It will be interesting as well when the provincial portion of the library lease comes up in a year or two as well, just as Slate needs more space to accommodate Blue Cross's growth and to meet BC's apparent wish keep their employees on one site. What are the odds Slate will be willing to renew that lease knowing that Blue Cross is willing to take over that space and can very, very likely pay top dollar, unlike the province?
Remember, part of the library is the city's and part is the province's, the same province that got screwed over by the city which scuttled the province's hopes that both parts of the library would move into the old MHS, which would generate revenue to help pay for an arts centre in the historic theatre and the gym section of MHS. (And how's that arts centre coming along eh?)
If I recall correctly I believe that chicken will come home to roost in 2020 or 2021 but I stand to be corrected.

[MonctonRad]

The plot thickens and the conspiracy widens.........

[Lobster chucker]

Originally Posted by gehrhardt

Just as an aside, Blue Cross already has a fair amount of office space on Millennium Blvd.

That’s actually CGI\ IT space. Not HQ space. That space used to be across the street from the current HQ but switched when the outgrew it

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by Lobster chucker

That’s actually CGI\ IT space. Not HQ space. That space used to be across the street from the current HQ but switched when the outgrew it

I do remember Blue Cross being across Main Street in an older building.

[jonny golden]

I wonder if Galco Atlantic Investments (Stephen Gallant) will ever develop the Robinson Street land (parking lot) that they received in exchange for the Castle Manor lawn? Seems to me from what I remember, a condition of the deal was that Galco had to develop the land within a certain time limit or the city would buy it back.

[lirette]

House of Nazareth has bought the old Nautilus building on Albert St and will be turning it into another homeless shelter.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by lirette

House of Nazareth has bought the old Nautilus building on Albert St and will be turning it into another homeless shelter.

I'm happy to see this, but it kinda solidifies the reputation of this area as being "the wrong side of the tracks" (quite literally).

Regardless, it's important to get the homeless off the streets, both for aesthetic and humanitarian reasons. This is a solid building and should make for a good shelter. Hopefully the building will be well supervised and will have social workers available to help these people reestablish themselves with proper accommodations and assistance in securing stable employment.

[PEI highway guy]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I'm happy to see this, but it kinda solidifies the reputation of this area as being "the wrong side of the tracks" (quite literally).

Regardless, it's important to get the homeless off the streets, both for aesthetic and humanitarian reasons. This is a solid building and should make for a good shelter. Hopefully the building will be well supervised and will have social workers available to help these people reestablish themselves with proper accommodations and assistance in securing stable employment.

Am I correct in saying this new shelter will be reasonably close to the new proposed Codiac RCMP Headquarters.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by PEI highway guy

Am I correct in saying this new shelter will be reasonably close to the new proposed Codiac RCMP Headquarters.

Yes, just down the street. Across from Tim's and the Chris Rock tavern. Looks like a pretty solid building although the graffiti that someone has spray painted on the building doesn't look too good.

[MonctonRad]

CBC article about the new homeless shelter:

House of Nazareth to open 120-bed shelter in downtown Moncton
Shelter expected to be fully operating by the fall
Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: May 24, 2019 5:00 AM AT | Last Updated: an hour ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nazareth-homeless-shelter-purchase-moncton-1.5146377

A Moncton charity is spending about $1 million to open a new, 120-bed homeless shelter by the fall in the city's downtown with support services on site that it hopes will help reduce homelessness.

Maison Nazareth Inc., which operates one of two existing shelters in Moncton, purchased 75 Albert St. last month for $775,000. It received $480,000 in joint federal and provincial funding.

The two-storey building that once housed a gym is adjacent to the office where Horizon Health Network's addiction and mental health mobile crisis team is based.

Dorothy Shephard, the minister of social development, said the most recent winter showed the scale of the homelessness challenge in the province.

"I think this is one gigantic step for the city of Moncton," Shephard said.

She said the department will spend $66,500 to help cover the shelter's operating costs, provide addictions and mental health support services on site, and rent supplements. She said the goal is to help get people into housing.

Lisa Ryan of the Greater Moncton Homelessness Steering Committee said having services readily available is key to helping people move from an emergency shelter to stable housing.

"As long as we're all working together as a community, I think this is going to be an amazing, amazing win for our community," Ryan said.

I think this is a great initiative. 120 beds is enough to make a serious dent in the homelessness problem. Support services are right next door, and it sounds like the province is serious about using this facility to help transition people into stable housing.

[MonctonRad]

A couple of pictures I took today around the city hall area. I was really trying to show how FiveFive Queen fits into the urban fabric of the core (you can see it peeking between city hall and the BMO building in the first photo), but I decided these photos belonged in the downtown thread rather than the FiveFive Queen thread.

[BlackYear]

Well that didn't last long. Sold my DJI Phantom 4 two week ago, bought a DJI Spark yesterday. Took a few photos between rain showers today.

[BlackYear]

Highfield street Hilton may need its own thread soon?

[MonctonRad]

Great photo Budyser!!

Do you think the Hilton Garden In n will generate enough chatter to justify its own thread?

I'm neutral on the issue. Let me know what you think.........

[BlackYear]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Do you think the Hilton Garden In n will generate enough chatter to justify its own thread?

I'm neutral on the issue. Let me know what you think.........

LOL. I don't think so. I was also kinda neutral.

[BlackYear]

The blue/grey government building under reno in front of the Avenir Centre looks complete.

[BlackYear]

Now that the city has completed a major step forward with the Avenir Centre, I think it's time for them to step up and end this debacle with downtown parking.

The Alma parking garage (yellow block) hold ~200 cars within its 3 levels.

I pasted the exact same foot print (yellow square) behind the Courts building. They could increase the square footage a little and make it 5 levels. This could hold ~400 cars.

City could easily make arrangements with downtown employees (Blue Cross) for monthly parking passes during 9-5.