[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

So, no corresponding Ashford announcement??? That's extremely disappointing. I was really hoping for one.

If nothing is forthcoming soon, I may start spilling the beans about what I know.........

This seemed like the perfect opportunity. Ashford sure seems awfully reluctant to talk about their supposedly signature project. The level of secrecy around this is bordering on the absurd.

[David_99]

Originally Posted by PEI highway guy

Perhaps Ashford wants a splashy nanouncement of their own, away from the politicians who tend to take the spotlight when funds are handed out..

There was no update on Downing St Phase 2 either. I wonder if this will only be shared once the Asford announcement is made? If they are adding infrastructure and raising Phase 1, you'd think they'd also need to prep for future Phase 2 while they're at it.

[tmacdougall]

Jim Dixon, Principal with Ashford Properties was interview by the Times & Transcript and stated the following;
- They are nearly ready to announce a major residential/business development in the parking lot behind the Assomption Building.
- No surface parking in 10 years or less.
- raising Assomption Blvd. & Downing and extending municipal services.
- All communication & electrical will be buried.

[pierremoncton]

Tangent: There's still no sidewalk on Assomption from Albert to Foundry. People walk on the grass or in the street (winter).

This is one of the dumbest things downtown given that there's tons of room for sidewalks and cycling lanes. Anyone know when the city plans to fix this? I was really hoping that today's announcement would go that far...

[Mud]

Originally Posted by tmacdougall

Jim Dixon, Principal with Ashford Properties was interview by the Times & Transcript and stated the following;
- They are nearly ready to announce a major residential/business development in the parking lot behind the Assomption Building.
- No surface parking in 10 years or less.
- raising Assomption Blvd. & Downing and extending municipal services.
- All communication & electrical will be buried.

Might be wishful thinking but on the image he's pointing at the blue line representing the Downing Street work seems to run slightly left of where Phase 1 actually is. It might be nothing but maybe it's an indication that the work will include Phase 2/a southbound lane.

[MonctonRad]

It will. See one of the quotes below from the recently released CBC article on the announcement:

Major overhaul of downtown Moncton poised to start this summer
City expects work on streets to last several years
Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Feb 22, 2023 3:24 PM AST | Last Updated: 1 hour ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/moncton-infrastructure-downtown-funding-1.6756202

Federal, provincial and city governments are planning to spend a combined $36.3 million to build a new street, raise some streets to reduce flood risks, replace underground infrastructure and move or bury power lines.

"The new street will create a grid for these properties. Electrical, communications, water, wastewater infrastructure will support the development of these same properties."

Ashford has not yet announced its plans for the area, though Dixon told reporters its first phase will include a mixed-use building near Downing Street. He said a formal announcement could take place this spring.

He said one of the first things to address will be parking since the new street and any new buildings would replace surface parking lots.

"There will be very little, no surface parking 10 years from now ... probably less than 10 years," he said of the area near the courthouse, saying instead there will be parking structures or buildings with underground parking.

CBC photo - Ashford affiliated companies own all the land coloured rd or yellow south of Main Street

The funding, combined with some previously announced last year, will result in several years of construction work in downtown south of Main Street, according to city staff.

Lutz Street, using funding announced last year, is expected to be rebuilt between Record and Main over the next year.

Work will start this summer on Assomption and the lower end of Westmorland, as well as the new east-west street, though it would only be completed in 2025-26 when the underground infrastructure is installed.

N.B. Power lines will be relocated along Assomption near the courthouse to allow development closer to the street than could take place if the lines remained.

Downing Street's lower portion will also be raised, and it will become a two-way street.

CBC photo showing where the new east/west street will be built

The new east-west street will initially run between Westmorland and Downing streets. The city's downtown plan calls for it to continue as far as Foundry Street, but that would require moving the Moncton Market.

"There are no concrete details at this time, but you know, stay tuned," Arnold said when asked about the issue.

1) - The reference to Downing becoming a "two way street" indicates that this latest funding announcement will include phase two work on Downing Street. I presume if Assumption Blvd is to be raised, that they will put in the roundabout at the same time.

2) - The mentioning of relocating or burying the NB Power lines on Assumption means to me that the substation next to the Three Sisters project will also likely be going. This is a good thing.

3) - the new street will eventually extend to Foundry Street. For the present time the City Market is in the way. Mayor Arnold is being coy, but lets be blunt, the City Market will be relocated to Downing Street. From what I have heard, the new market will be on three levels, be an architectural statement, and can pull double duty as a convention space. It will be a signature development on Downing Street and will be a focal point for the downtown east end.

Between the Ashford Lands and the Three Sisters project by Lafford, the vast majority of the downtown surface parking will disappear. These are transformational times for the city core. This project is every bit as transformational as the Coast Guard site in Uptown Saint John.

[Feneant]

It's unfortunate that the work will only be completed in 2025-2026, seems awfully long... but oh man will it change the look of our current drab, boring downtown. About the parking disappearing, they need to take a page from Halifax which has a couple of large parking structures just outside of the downtown (the one for the casino and the other next to it) and do something similar- plenty of parking but it's unobtrusive.

Is there any indication if the new market will be opened 7 days a week? That's probably what I'd like the most out of this, we haven't been to either the Moncton or Dieppe on in 10+ years because we find them way too busy during that small timeframe when they are opened.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Feneant

Is there any indication if the new market will be opened 7 days a week? That's probably what I'd like the most out of this, we haven't been to either the Moncton or Dieppe on in 10+ years because we find them way too busy during that small timeframe when they are opened.

I have not heard, but if the market is to be expanded and upgraded, it would be a shame not to have it open seven days per week.

As I mentioned above, I have heard the market will be multilevel. Perhaps the ground floor will have permanent vendors with the upper levels having Saturday only vendors. I don't know this for a fact. This is just a guess.

[David_99]

I know this image is just a basic layout, but I hope they keep the original angled Downing Street with pedestrian friendly area.

[MonctonRad]

I'm confident the end product will look a lot like this (taking into consideration that this is a city sponsored rendering, and that Ashford might have different ideas regarding the architectural style of his building).



That building in the Blue Cross Centre parking lot is purely conceptual and a work of fancy, but, if you ask me, it looks a lot like a relocated public library. I know there has been some speculation the library might relocate out of the Blue Cross Centre (Blue Cross could use the space). It would certainly make sense to have both the city market and city library off the same semi-pedestrianized street. It would really enhance the public realm here. Hmmmm..........

[MonctonRad]

They have moved the tower crane on the south side of Millennium Blvd to the second of the nine 6 storey apartment buildings they are building.

[MonctonRad]

John Wishart, CEO of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce was interviewed on CTV News this evening.

The topic was the rather slow rebound back to the office in Moncton after working at home during the pandemic. So far, only about 71% of workers in Moncton had returned to the office compared to well over 90% in most other Maritime cities. The discussion centred around how this is creating ongoing stress for downtown restaurants and service providers.

John acknowledged the problems but tried to be upbeat and optimistic about the future. He mentioned the major investments in the core by the various levels of government, and how this is sparking interest from local developers and major national players. He expected a large boost in downtown residential population as a result.

Wishart let this little nugget slip. He said that he had heard that there will be 2-3 new 20 storey towers in downtown Moncton within the next five years.

John Wishart is considerably better connected than I am. I would take this pronouncement with a great deal of seriousness. Given the fact that Moncton currently has only a single 20 storey tower, this sounds like the core is truly on the verge of a major transformation.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

John Wishart, CEO of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce was interviewed on CTV News this evening.

The topic was the rather slow rebound back to the office in Moncton after working at home during the pandemic. So far, only about 71% of workers in Moncton had returned to the office compared to well over 90% in most other Maritime cities. The discussion centred around how this is creating ongoing stress for downtown restaurants and service providers.

John acknowledged the problems but tried to be upbeat and optimistic about the future. He mentioned the major investments in the core by the various levels of government, and how this is sparking interest from local developers and major national players. He expected a large boost in downtown residential population as a result.

Wishart let this little nugget slip. He said that he had heard that there will be 2-3 new 20 storey towers in downtown Moncton within the next five years.

John Wishart is considerably better connected than I am. I would take this pronouncement with a great deal of seriousness. Given the fact that Moncton currently has only a single 20 storey tower, this sounds like the core is truly on the verge of a major transformation.

Local = Lafford?
National = Aquilini?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

Local = Lafford?
National = Aquilini?

Well, the rumour is that 1 Foundry, across the street from the Three Sisters will be 20 storeys, so this could certainly be one of them.

I found Wishart's comments regarding "national players" to be interesting. Could this include Aquillini? Perhaps.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Well, the rumour is that 1 Foundry, across the street from the Three Sisters will be 20 storeys, so this could certainly be one of them.

I found Wishart's comments regarding "national players" to be interesting. Could this include Aquillini? Perhaps.

I just listened to the interview. He said that there are a lot of investment dollars knocking on the door, and he mentioned that there are some big players! Aquilini would be a very big player. I also noticed he said there could be 2 or 3 twenty story towers downtown within 5 years.

It seems like Moncton being the fastest growing city in Canada is being noticed.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Could Crombie be considered a national player if they redevelop 1222 Main Street? I’ve seen renderings of what they’re capable of and it’s rather impressive. I wonder what other national players there could be if you include Aquillini and Crombie.

*Edit*
So I did a little research, one company that is national, and already has a local presence is Skyline Apartments. They currently own Chateau Mapleton and some apartments in the surrounding area as well as some apartments in downtown Dieppe. They also have built a 15 storey mix use building on seapoint road near burnside in Dartmouth. It is a high quality development. I wonder if they would consider downtown Moncton for a location of a new development.

[MonctonRad]

It's interesting you mention Crombie. Things are entirely too quiet around 1222 Main, and they no longer list the property on their leasing website (while still owning it).

This implies to me that Crombie may have taken the property off the market while considering redevelopment options. Crombie also has the vacant lot next door, between 1222 Main and the Avenir Centre.

This is prime redevelopment land. I would not have thought of a 20 storey building on this site, but, there are no tomato gardens within spitting distance, and, the location next to the Avenir centre is very attractive.

Hmmmm.........

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It's interesting you mention Crombie. Things are entirely too quiet around 1222 Main, and they no longer list the property on their leasing website (while still owning it).

This implies to me that they have taken the property off the market while considering redevelopment options. They also have the vacant lot next door, adjacent to the Avenir Centre.

This is prime redevelopment land. I would not have thought of a 20 storey building on this site, but, there are no tomato gardens within spitting distance, and, the location next to the Avenir centre is very attractive. Hmmmm.........

Perhaps they redevelop it in conjunction with the city owned site next to Avenir centre that I believe was formerly known as Site B (site A being where the Hyatt Place hotel ended up being built)

[adamuptownsj]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It's interesting you mention Crombie. Things are entirely too quiet around 1222 Main, and they no longer list the property on their leasing website (while still owning it).

This implies to me that Crombie may have taken the property off the market while considering redevelopment options. Crombie also has the vacant lot next door, between 1222 Main and the Avenir Centre.

This is prime redevelopment land. I would not have thought of a 20 storey building on this site, but, there are no tomato gardens within spitting distance, and, the location next to the Avenir centre is very attractive.

Hmmmm.........

Do they own it? PAOL has that lot as part of the Avenir property: https://paol-efel.snb.ca/paol.html?v=1.0.37&lang=en&pan=06604349

What I'd do here is, extend Canada Dr to Vaughan Harvey (the street already goes there, but over privately owned land which is part of the Sobeys, Crombie, and Shoppers properties) and build something behind 1234.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by adamuptownsj

Do they own it? PAOL has that lot as part of the Avenir property: https://paol-efel.snb.ca/paol.html?v=1.0.37&lang=en&pan=06604349

What I'd do here is, extend Canada Dr to Vaughan Harvey (the street already goes there, but over privately owned land which is part of the Sobeys, Crombie, and Shoppers properties) and build something behind 1234.

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

This is the picture I was referring to in my above post. It was development parcel A that I was referring t.
Outside of the Avenir Centre property, Crombie owns the rest of the land going all the way over to Vaughan Harvey.