Northern Ontario developments!

[TbayON]

Some pictures taken around town of a few projects on the go:

Natural Habitat Pond under development at Prince Arthur's Landing:


Vue Condos at Prince Arthur's Landing, first condo from the Pearl St. parking lot:


Vue Condos from the lake side at Prince Arthur's Landing:


Vue Condos (second unit) with the foundation for the Delta Hotel at the bottom of the picture:


Vue Condos from Water St.:


Vue Condos from Hillcrest Park:


Back side of Superior Lofts, across Water St. from Vue Condos. This building has completely sold now.:


Holiday Inn Express in the Intercity Area. Exterior finishes are being applied. Opening this fall:


New strip mall across the Harbour Expressway from the Holiday Inn. I really like the new retro A&W look, but the rest of the building is rather bland and boring to me:


CEISS building off Victoria Ave., structure is pretty well all up now:

[vid]

That A&W design is what they've been using for about 6 or 7 years now. We're one of the last markets to get it.

[newhere]

Heard from someone who should know, the condo project at the Thunder Bay Country Club is back on. Apparently the Southern Ontario company that had initiated the multi million dollar lawsuit has partnered with a local company (Finnway) to take over the project. We shall see

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by newhere

Heard from someone who should know, the condo project at the Thunder Bay Country Club is back on. Apparently the Southern Ontario company that had initiated the multi million dollar lawsuit has partnered with a local company (Finnway) to take over the project. We shall see

Good to hear if true! Finnway doesn't have a whole lot of work at the moment either, so it would benefit them.

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According to TBNewswatch, the P.A. Pros building is being seriously considered for another use. TBNewswatch is saying Wacky Wings is looking at moving into the building (I guess they are serious about that... hard to tell on the little post they made about it). Anyhow, there is a committee of adjustment sign posted at the facility to alter zoning.

[Conker]

The Lakehead U fire lab is a 25'x40' building 25' tall and is located along Oliver road west of the engineering garage at the end of the parking lot next to the river.

Basically a steel box with a garage door and an afterburner outside the structure.

[TbayON]

FWFN's new residential subdivision is finally getting closer to fruition. They have issued a tender for servicing for 21 lots to be located on reserve land. FWFN has also recently started construction on major improvements to their pow-wow grounds. I believe construction of some kind of structure is to occur with this project.

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by TbayON

FWFN's new residential subdivision is finally getting closer to fruition. They have issued a tender for servicing for 21 lots to be located on reserve land. FWFN has also recently started construction on major improvements to their pow-wow grounds. I believe construction of some kind of structure is to occur with this project.

I noticed ontop of Mt McKay that they hauled in lots of hard pack gravel , graded it all , circular in shape and ran conduit to the middle for hydro , so this must be their new grounds i think.

Not sure , but it look like some construction started at Canadian Tire , they were suppose to expand .

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by Dakota

Not sure , but it look like some construction started at Canadian Tire , they were suppose to expand .

Yes this one is finally going. Years in the making. They have been renting trailers for storage pretty well since the store opened. Addition off the west side of the building where the garden centre was. Can't remember exact square footage, but it is a decent sized chunk being added on.

Construction is also in full swing on the Arthur St. W. Metro. Basically a facelift there, no space being added or much of anything new other than a cosmetic facelift.

Repairs/upgrades to the city-owned Heath Park Pool will commence soon.

[vid]

Both Metros are on Arthur Street West, but I'm assuming you mean the location at the intersection of James.

[russman]

No, it is the Arthur St. Marketplace location.

[F. Lionel]

Got into TBay last night for a short visit and noticed the new bus stops in a few places. I like the new design and the large name plate on each one is quite striking. Is there a list of locations where these are going to eventually be?
Also - there is a lot of road construction going on.

[vid]

Originally Posted by F. Lionel

Got into TBay last night for a short visit and noticed the new bus stops in a few places. I like the new design and the large name plate on each one is quite striking. Is there a list of locations where these are going to eventually be?

They're primarily along the Memorial route for now. More will be built in the future, but this is about it for a little while.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunde...ders-1.2426460

Most of them have lights on the inside, but I haven't seen them turned on at any point yet.

Originally Posted by F. Lionel

Also - there is a lot of road construction going on.

That's the new reality here. But it seems to be quantity over quality, as many road projects seem to require extensive repairs the following year. Golf Links and Cumberland are the latest problems.

[tjernobyl]

Originally Posted by vid

That's the new reality here. But it seems to be quantity over quality, as many road projects seem to require extensive repairs the following year. Golf Links and Cumberland are the latest problems.

Just offhand on the Golf Links route, there was a significant undercalculation of the amount of aggregate required, the sewer accesses were significantly above the road surface, and the asphalt embankment protection on the active transportation route failed on the first significant rain. A few mistakes are to be expected, but when they form a pattern, the City really should look deeper into the causes.

CBC is reporting that the Hillcrest Centre (of Change) has been sold to Sharan Sohi, who will begin conversion into residential units.

GRK Fasteners is leaving Thunder Bay. Considering that the former owner openly mused about moving to the US, and the company was sold to a US interest, it should surprise noone that they announced a move the moment they were no longer contractually obligated to remain here.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by vid

That's the new reality here. But it seems to be quantity over quality, as many road projects seem to require extensive repairs the following year. Golf Links and Cumberland are the latest problems.

When you consider we have more than one contractor that performs shoddy work and bids contracts lower than the competition, this shouldn't be a surprise. The bigger issue is the city itself. I think we must have the worst group of municipal engineers in the country. They are incompetent, and this is where errors originate. You can't really blame it totally on the contractor or consulting firm, they want to take as much profit away as possible. The city engineers need to know what they are doing and set higher standards for work being performed and designs.

Originally Posted by tjernobyl

CBC is reporting that the Hillcrest Centre (of Change) has been sold to Sharan Sohi, who will begin conversion into residential units.

It has been up for sale for a while, and many tenants have already left. The 'Centre of Change' concept was a great idea, just had the wrong people behind it. It would be nice to see something like the Centre of Change re-created in downtown P.A. for small businesses that are going to be affected by this. Better location for business and commercial anyways. Definitely it going to have an impact on small commercial office space in the city, you will see a shortage likely appear now. This should lead to quite a bit of construction work.

Originally Posted by tjernobyl

GRK Fasteners is leaving Thunder Bay. Considering that the former owner openly mused about moving to the US, and the company was sold to a US interest, it should surprise noone that they announced a move the moment they were no longer contractually obligated to remain here.

New parent company is probably betting on the American market and housing recovery. Still, with the falling Canadian dollar, it makes sense to manufacture in Canada. I guess they just want to be closer to the action in the U.S. I can foresee the Canadian market being abandoned already. A lot of GRK work was already done outside T-Bay anyways, so it is not like the company was solely operating in T-Bay.

On the upside, we will now have a fairly large, modern and attractive (by manufacturing plant standards) building available for another use. I can't see the place sitting vacant too long. Watch for a mining or resource related business to move in (would be my guess anyways), or possibly a large contractor.

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Speaking of vacant larger buildings, the former Wasaya Prop Plant building in Rosslyn has sold. It wasn't up for sale very long. Hopefully something good will become of this.

CBC has also reported that CC Poulin Equipment has sold to Maxim (out of Winnipeg). Should lead to job gains in the future. Their facility in Winnipeg is also fairly attractive and modern, so perhaps some construction work will come out of this acquisition. The current Oliver Rd location is a little tired looking.

[TbayON]

Bruno's is apparently the successful buyer of Municipal Golf Course. Their plans are for a 14 unit executive resort, which will include a small 3 or 4 hole golf course. Perhaps this small course is a way around the supposed agreement that exists that the land must be kept as a golf course or for recreational uses when it was given to the city. Development is not scheduled to begin until next year sometime. I haven't heard anymore about possible issues concerning how the sale was conducted.

Next car dealership on the list for new exterior branding and upgrades is Dominion Motors. Plans are out right now... should see construction in September I would think. Spadoni's in Terrace Bay will also be getting done. The automotive companies (especially the big three if you can still call them that) are forcing their dealerships to upgrade to the newest look.

Kenora Forest Products has reached a deal with Unifor, achieving another step forwards in resuming production. The only major remaining hurdle is a wood supply from the MNR. Should that happen, millions will be spent upgrading the facility, and an early 2015 start is scheduled. The owners were hoping to be re-started quite some time ago, but I guess all the pieces didn't fall into place.

[vid]

The Lyceum has been sold to a Southern Ontario developer for $20,000. They have agreed to specific goals relating to rehabilitating the structure. No word yet on who, exactly, is behind the project.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by vid

The Lyceum has been sold to a Southern Ontario developer for $20,000. They have agreed to specific goals relating to rehabilitating the structure. No word yet on who, exactly, is behind the project.

Like you said, no word exactly. Local media did mention the purchaser is from southern Ontario, and has undertaken a similar project in the city. This leads me to believe it is either Basic Drywall (who undertook the reno's at Park and Cumberland on the former outdoors store that is now a rainbow of different stucco colours) or the developer who undertook Superior Lofts. I have heard from several different sources that the developer of Superior Lofts was/is in the market for another property in downtown P.A. Time will tell, but it is all around good news. There are enough empty lots in the downtown P.A. area, it is nice to hear another will not be added.

While on downtown P.A., was down at Rib Fest, and another new bar/restaurant to be opened soon was being advertised. Can't remember the name, but it is in addition to Tomlin Restaurant that just opened or is opening imminently on Red River.

[TbayON]

Also forgot to mention a new tenant is moving into the food court at Intercity Mall. Feta & Olives will be opening up in the next month or so. It will be located where Ms. Vinelli's used to be, and I am told they apparently sell quite a good product.

[vid]

The other new restaurant on the waterfront might be Taphouse, taking over the old Chinese place's spot in the train station.

[Conker]

Where Jacks used to be will be the Red Lion Smokehouse. Smoked food and craft beers.