[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[L'homard]

Once every few years someone makes a token comment at city council about the shabby appearance of the upper floors of the building, then that's the end of it.
If I kept the upper storeys of my house like that, I'd be threatened with action.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by L'homard

Once every few years someone makes a token comment at city council about the shabby appearance of the upper floors of the building, then that's the end of it.
If I kept the upper storeys of my house like that, I'd be threatened with action.

Apparently the building was previously under the control of a someone in Halifax. But it was purchased last year by a new company in Moncton called Fusion Commercial Properties. This is a new partnership between Adelin Properties and MACC Commercial Properties. Both of these companies have an excellent track record. Hopefully they will develop it this year. Such a beautiful old building in a prime location. It will be interesting to see what they decide to do with it. Residential, office space?

[jonny golden]

Fusion Commercial Properties site:

https://fusion-properties.ca/

[MonctonRad]

A new parking crisis for downtown!!!

I went to the city market today for the first time in a couple of months.

It turns out that today was the first day that usage of the Assumption parking lot was not free on Saturday for market goers.

It cost me $2.25 in parking fees to go into the market to pick up my $10.25 meat pie.

This had an immediate impact on the vendor, as I did not have much cash on me, and instead of picking up two pies (as I had intended), I purchased only one so that I would have enough to pay the parking attendant.

This is a BIG ISSUE for the city market.

- There was a delay in accessing the parking lot as people took their tickets from the machine.
- There was an even longer delay on leaving the lot as people queued to pay the attendant on the way out.
- You still had to run the gauntlet of beggars and panhandlers strategically positioned between the parking lot and the city market building.

All of the above are irritants to the market going public. The cost of parking ($2.25/hr) is also a big penalty for market goers. I mentioned to the attendant when I was leaving the lot that I would probably be going to the market a lot less frequently. She responded that she had "heard this a lot today." In addition, when people do go to the market, they will likely be spending a lot less time there. A 75 minute visit would cost $4.50. If you aren't watching your time carefully, and your visit is 125 minutes, it will cost you $6.75. Since a lot of people visit the market to grab something to eat and to socialize, this could be HUGE! How many people will now just hurry into the market, do their business and leave rather than patronize the food vendors. This could have a major impact on the viability of the market.......

I imagine there will many complaints to city hall about this in the next several weeks. Great timing too, given the upcoming civic elections. This could be an election issue..........

[jonny golden]

Driving by the corner of Vaughn Harvey & Main this morning I noticed some heavy machinery on the south west corner. It looks like they have done some site preparation on the land there. This is where they are planning to construct the office building as part of the Junction development. Are they planning to build it and the 2nd Tannery Place apartment building at the same time? That would be a lot of construction happening on the property this summer.

[BlackYear]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

- There was an even longer delay on leaving the lot as people queued to pay the attendant on the way out.

All of the above are irritants to the market going public. The cost of parking ($2.25/hr) is also a big penalty for market goers. A 75 minute visit would cost $4.50. If you aren't watching your time carefully, and your visit is 125 minutes, it will cost you $6.75.

So you do time your 1 hour carefully, leave lets say at the 50 minute mark, but it takes you 15 minutes to get to the pay gate because of the long line up to get out. Now you just jumped over your 1 hour $2.25 fee. I would be pissed.

Why not just charge a flat $2 fee with no time expiry on a Saturday? That would be a fair price for everyone. Attendant doesn't need to carry $100 in quarters to make change, and this would speed up the exit.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by BlackYear

So you do time your 1 hour carefully, leave lets say at the 50 minute mark, but it takes you 15 minutes to get to the pay gate because of the long line up to get out. Now you just jumped over your 1 hour $2.25 fee. I would be pissed.

I was thinking the same thing. What if you plan your escape for one hour fifty minutes, but because of the lineup at the gate, it becomes two hours five minutes. All of a sudden your $4.50 parking fee becomes $6.75!! That's getting pricey for some veggies, baked goods and a Saturday breakfast.

[PEI highway guy]

Originally Posted by BlackYear

So you do time your 1 hour carefully, leave lets say at the 50 minute mark, but it takes you 15 minutes to get to the pay gate because of the long line up to get out. Now you just jumped over your 1 hour $2.25 fee. I would be pissed.

Why not just charge a flat $2 fee with no time expiry on a Saturday? That would be a fair price for everyone. Attendant doesn't need to carry $100 in quarters to make change, and this would speed up the exit.

WHO owns the lot? City or Assumption?

[David_99]

Originally Posted by PEI highway guy

WHO owns the lot? City or Assumption?

Ashford just bought it, didn’t they? They’re probably trying to make some money back.

[MonctonRad]

I imagine that’s it - a change in ownership

[MonctonRad]

Tonight was apparently the last night for Piatto Pizzeria & Enotecta, but Mayor Dawn Arnold had this little obtuse tidbit about the event on her Facebook Page:

Last night at Piatto...very happy hear there is a lot of interest from new proprietors!

What precisely does this mean? Does this mean the Piatto is going to live on under new ownership, or is the space going to be taken over for a different type of restaurant?

Does anyone know???

[lirette]

A tip for going to the market. I don't want to share on FB for a bigger group to see but park in front of heritage court. It's barely 100 steps to the back entrance and the lot is not monitored on the weekends. (I work there). I have been parking there for years going to the market.

[BlackYear]

Update on the Victoria st project. Kinda difficult to take a photo angle from the Archibald st entrance without getting on private property.

[BlackYear]

I'm kinda liking this project on St George blvd. I would be curious to know the rental price and what it looks inside. Back view shows some really nice balconies.

[BlackYear]

This project on St George & Weldon gets on my nerves simply because of the windows. If I was a renter, I would want larger windows. If I could ask the owner a question, why would you go cheap with small windows? Drive me nuts. Small windows looks like a low rental and cheap rent.

Other than that, I like everything else.

[BlackYear]

Hilton Gardens starting to show its facade.

[MonctonRad]

But did the security guard chase after you when you snapped this picture?

Seriously, this is one of my favourite construction projects in the core. This will end up being a fine looking building, and will add immeasurably to the streetscape, especially since it is very nearly the same height as the Dominion Public Building and the old YMCA.

[Photo1]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

A new parking crisis for downtown!!!

I went to the city market today for the first time in a couple of months.

It turns out that today was the first day that usage of the Assumption parking lot was not free on Saturday for market goers.

It cost me $2.25 in parking fees to go into the market to pick up my $10.25 meat pie.

This had an immediate impact on the vendor, as I did not have much cash on me, and instead of picking up two pies (as I had intended), I purchased only one so that I would have enough to pay the parking attendant.

This is a BIG ISSUE for the city market.

- There was a delay in accessing the parking lot as people took their tickets from the machine.
- There was an even longer delay on leaving the lot as people queued to pay the attendant on the way out.
- You still had to run the gauntlet of beggars and panhandlers strategically positioned between the parking lot and the city market building.

All of the above are irritants to the market going public. The cost of parking ($2.25/hr) is also a big penalty for market goers. I mentioned to the attendant when I was leaving the lot that I would probably be going to the market a lot less frequently. She responded that she had "heard this a lot today." In addition, when people do go to the market, they will likely be spending a lot less time there. A 75 minute visit would cost $4.50. If you aren't watching your time carefully, and your visit is 125 minutes, it will cost you $6.75. Since a lot of people visit the market to grab something to eat and to socialize, this could be HUGE! How many people will now just hurry into the market, do their business and leave rather than patronize the food vendors. This could have a major impact on the viability of the market.......

I imagine there will many complaints to city hall about this in the next several weeks. Great timing too, given the upcoming civic elections. This could be an election issue..........

It took me longer to get "out" of the lot than I actually spent at the market. Ashford is not making any fans with this decision, during the week I get.

I also heard that after the market closed, the attendant put the gate up and left...I can't verify that though...if true, that's just shady on Ashford's part.

The assumption lot was probably 75% empty, and it was noticeable in the market...the vendors I spoke too were not happy.

I did see Mayor Arnold walking in the parking lot and on the phone looking very unhappy, someone told me that she said on Twitter that she had no idea this was occurring and was investigating.

[emad]

Originally Posted by Photo1

I also heard that after the market closed, the attendant put the gate up and left...I can't verify that though...if true, that's just shady on Ashford's part.

I went to Assumption Place on Saturday around 3pm and the gate was still down and the attendant still there.

[Photo1]

Originally Posted by emad

I went to Assumption Place on Saturday around 3pm and the gate was still down and the attendant still there.

Ahh ok...didn't think they'd go that far, that would have been crappy.