[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[mmmatt]

Couple tidbits:

- The former Bungays Bike Shop on Mountain has been sold and will become Kellys Vacuum

- The Colonial Inn on Highfield st is now undergoing a renovation (finally). Its under new ownership and will be re-branded as Colonial Hotel and Suites. This along with the newly restored Dominion Public Building will clean up the bottom end of Highfield a fair amount

- The cruddy old 4 floor building on Botsford (across the street from the Canada Bread bakery) has come into new hands and is being renovated...a sign has gone up on it for Passage which was booted from Highfield Square.

- Somehow (boggling even my stats geared mind) Killiam Properties has managed to increase their apartment occupancy in the Moncton area from 94.8 in September last year to 96.8 this September...this makes no sense to me considering the apparent over-supply we have been creating in the area over the last 2 years...either Killiam has some secret, or demand is jumping quite high! This upward movement in occupancy will undoubtedly be a good measure for them to move forward with plans for a shiny new 7 floor building on St George

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by mmmatt

Couple tidbits:

- The former Bungays Bike Shop on Mountain has been sold and will become Kellys Vacuum

- The Colonial Inn on Highfield st is now undergoing a renovation (finally). Its under new ownership and will be re-branded as Colonial Hotel and Suites. This along with the newly restored Dominion Public Building will clean up the bottom end of Highfield a fair amount

- The cruddy old 4 floor building on Botsford (across the street from the Canada Bread bakery) has come into new hands and is being renovated...a sign has gone up on it for Passage which was booted from Highfield Square.

Thanks mmmatt, always good to see older properties getting repurposed and/or renovated.

Originally Posted by mmmatt

- Somehow (boggling even my stats geared mind) Killiam Properties has managed to increase their apartment occupancy in the Moncton area from 94.8 in September last year to 96.8 this September...this makes no sense to me considering the apparent over-supply we have been creating in the area over the last 2 years...either Killiam has some secret, or demand is jumping quite high! This upward movement in occupancy will undoubtedly be a good measure for them to move forward with plans for a shiny new 7 floor building on St George

Indeed, an occupancy rate of 96.8% bodes very well for this proposed new Killam apartment building on St. George. Hopefully they will break ground next year.

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Indeed, an occupancy rate of 96.8% bodes very well for this proposed new Killam apartment building on St. George.

It appears that they have 4 properties U/C now around the Atlantic region...all 4 will be finishing up in Q1 2013...I have a strong feeling that as long as things keep looking up for them going into next year, we will see shovels in the ground (on St George) next spring!

[MonctonRad]

Here are some renders I came across on the internet regarding a potential refurbishment of Oak Park off on Main Street in downtown. Looks very promising!









collabplan.ca/CollabPlan/recreation_spaces/Pages/oak_lane_park.html#0

It should be noted that I have absolutely no idea what the status of this project is, or if it has progressed anywhere beyond just the conceptual stage....

[brod3211]

If you look closely at the pictures, it looks to say Starbucks with the logo on the first building on the left.. Well it says steerbucks, but looking like a promising project.

[JasonL-Moncton]

That would make Oak Park look amazing...hope it comes to fruition...

[Nashe]

I particularly like the anti-seagull/pigeon-dropping shield.

[CdnEh]

Originally Posted by mmmatt

- The Colonial Inn on Highfield st is now undergoing a renovation (finally). Its under new ownership and will be re-branded as Colonial Hotel and Suites.

Any idea if this is owned by the same folks that own the Colonial Inn in Saint John, on City Rd?

That place is in desperate place of a renovation... Or a demolition. It's actually the lowest rated hotel in the entire city.

If so, glad they're finally paying their Moncton location a little attention - I'm sure it needed it badly.

[MonctonRad]

From todays's T&T
http://22864.vws.magma.ca/index.php?&article_id=10164

City takes next step
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Times & Transcript
By: Brent Mazerolle

Moncton council endorses request for potential partners for major downtown development

Do you have the desire and the means to partner with the City of Moncton on the largest capital works project it has ever considered?

If so, the city wants to hear from you.

Moncton city council voted unanimously (Ward 1 Councillor Shawn Crossman was absent) last night to endorse a staff-written request for qualifications seeking fir ms or consortiums interested in building the long-discussed downtown events centre on the old Highfield Square property.

Issuing a request for qualifications is a step en route to issuing a request for proposals, but even this preliminary step requires the city to provide potential private partners with some outline of what it is seeking from a multi-purpose centre that would include a large arena and any number of other facilities. Two of the ideas that came up last night were the possibility of moving the public library to such a centre and bringing something like the existing Lions Senior Citizens Centre.

The only place council quibbled with details was in the RFQ talking about 'a minimum of 7,500 seats' in the arena. City manager Jacques Dube said the minimum came from staff 's research into other similar facilities in Canada, though he suggested seat numbers would be something to discuss further with whatever private partners the city might find. Ultimately, a private company that might be a partner not just in construction but also in operations will likely have strong opinions about the ideal size to make a profit.

He also suggested it would be key to have a design that would allow for expansion later as the city grew, and with a new design allowing for lucrative corporate boxes the lower number of seats might be all the city needs for now. The Moncton Wildcats are the planned anchor tenant and they generally draw under 5,000 fans, though it's believed attendance would grow in a new facility that doesn't have the aging Moncton Coliseum's challenges to spectator comfort.

Dube also said the London Knights routinely fill the John Labatt Centre in London, Ont., but noted the team is in a 500,000 population market. Ward 3 Councillor Brian Hicks took a similar tack, suggesting that if the city 'overspecs' the facility, it may not get the federal government on board and the project might die.

However, Mayor George Le-Blanc suggested the wording of the request for qualifications should speak of a 'range' rather than a 'minimum.' 'I go back to the expert report we had that said 9,000 was the ideal number,' the mayor said. 'I think we have to keep in mind we're not just building for today, but for the next 40-50 years.' Ward 2 Councillor Charles Leger introduced a motion, with Councillor-at-large Pierre Boudreau seconding, that amended the wording to a range of '7,500 to 9,000 seats.' It passed, with Hicks and Ward 4 Councillor Paul Pellerin dissenting. Nevertheless, both joined their council colleagues in unanimously supporting the overall request for proposals, even though it had been amended.

personal note - It appears that city staffers may be trying to steer city council into accepting a 7,500 seat facility. To the mayor and council's credit, they are leaving open the possibility of keeping the capacity of the arena at 9,000 in the RFQ. Still, the warning signs are out that the new events centre may end up not being very much larger than the existing coliseum (6600 seats). This would be a mistake. As Mayor LeBlanc says, we are building this facility for the next 50 years. The city is going to continue to grow. We can't afford to think small as far as the events centre is concerned, especially if you want to be able to attract major concerts and sporting events. A 9,000 seat arena would be a bare minimum!

[JHikka]

Anything under 10,000 for the new arena is a letdown. You're correct in saying that the arena is being built for 50 years and it would look silly to have such a large city in the future with an arena of only 7,500. Wildcats attendance could easily surpass an average of 6,000 if they played in a downtown arena that wasn't millions of years old and inadequate, and this average would be pulled upwards the higher the capacity within certain limits. I'd certainly make a few trips up a year to attend events or Wildcats games, although i'm probably alone on the hockey front.

[mmmatt]

Another tidbit:

- The former RCMP community police storefront on Main (next to Oak Lane) will become Issac Lawson Stylish Clothiers.

Originally Posted by CdnEh

Any idea if this is owned by the same folks that own the Colonial Inn in Saint John, on City Rd?

That place is in desperate place of a renovation... Or a demolition. It's actually the lowest rated hotel in the entire city.

If so, glad they're finally paying their Moncton location a little attention - I'm sure it needed it badly.

The Colonial Inns in Moncton and SJ may have been built by the same person long ago perhaps, however it appears they have been separate for a while, and another company has now purchased the Moncton location only.

[JasonL-Moncton]

The new stadium HAS to be able to 'seat' 10,000, particularly for a concert...concert promoters have passed this city over for many, many years because of this fact. Having spoken to several personally, that is the bare minimum they look at when planning a tour for a lot of acts. Larger capacity keeps ticket prices lower, making the likelihood of a sell out or close to it more of a reality.

The new stadium will have high, even ceiling's which the Coliseum does not which is already an improvement. It will have, likely, state of the art heating and cooling systems which is a massive improvement over the coliseum. It will have better concessions, retail, and conference space than the Coliseum. It will be close to Transit, Trains, hotels, and downtown, yet another improvement.

Don't handcuff all these improvements Moncton by setting the seating capacity way too low. If you do, then all those other improvements become moot as there is no room for growth.

At first I was dead set against 9000 permanent and a 1000 floor...but at least that get's us to 10K...would rather 10,000 permanent seats.

[Taeolas]

It depends on the design, but for a concert, usually you lose some of your permanant seating anyway for the stage, so if it was 9k permanant, it would probably need to seat 1500 to 2k on the floor to get 10k total. It would depend on the orientation and possible stage settings and so forth.

But yeah, 10k should be the target to aim for in this day and age; especially for how Moncton's positioning itself as being an Entertainment Center for the Maritimes.

[JasonL-Moncton]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

It depends on the design, but for a concert, usually you lose some of your permanant seating anyway for the stage, so if it was 9k permanant, it would probably need to seat 1500 to 2k on the floor to get 10k total. It would depend on the orientation and possible stage settings and so forth.

But yeah, 10k should be the target to aim for in this day and age; especially for how Moncton's positioning itself as being an Entertainment Center for the Maritimes.

Touche...I just don't want to see them scrimp in the 'now' and hurt us 'later'.

[mctnguy]

I wonder if the new arena could be designed so that it could be expanded in the future? Keep costs low now, and expand later? Maybe I am off base on this.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by mctnguy

I wonder if the new arena could be designed so that it could be expanded in the future? Keep costs low now, and expand later? Maybe I am off base on this.

Do you mean the facility itself as a convention centre or the arena itself IE seating? I can't think of an arena off the top of my head that is expandable. Generally when you build it it's fixed seating capacity and that's it.

[gehrhardt]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

Do you mean the facility itself as a convention centre or the arena itself IE seating? I can't think of an arena off the top of my head that is expandable. Generally when you build it it's fixed seating capacity and that's it.

Harbour Station has supports at the west end of the building in the upper bowl that would appear to be for more seats in the future. I haven't been inside there in a few years, so I don't know if they have ever used them or not.

[Taeolas]

Almost anything is doable. But it all comes down to money.

A 6000 seat centre is cheaper than a 10000 seat center. But the difference between just a 6k seat centre vs a 6k seat center that can 'easily' be upgraded to a 10k seat centre sometime in the future is an unknown (though could be figured out)

[CdnEh]

Originally Posted by gehrhardt

Harbour Station has supports at the west end of the building in the upper bowl that would appear to be for more seats in the future. I haven't been inside there in a few years, so I don't know if they have ever used them or not.

I'm assuming you're talking about where the luxury sky boxes were added for the 2006 season?

If so, yes, they've used them.

[MonctonRad]

from today's T&T
http://22864.vws.magma.ca/index.php?&article_id=10172

Is council planning a mini Metro Centre?
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Times & Transcript
By: Brent Mazerolle

Moncton city council debates capacity of proposed facility

Sir Elton John sang to 8,700 people when he performed at the Moncton Coliseum in 2008.

The fire marshal decided that was 2,000 people too many for the nearly 40-year-old facility, so today the maximum capacity for the Coliseum - when seating on the floor is also used - stands at 6,700.

'This is a major limitation for growth of the entertainment, sporting and concert mar ket in Moncton,' reads the City of Moncton's request for qualifications, which has just been issued seeking 'an equity investment development partner' for a new downtown, multi-purpose events centre.

In a surprise move, however, City of Moncton staff recommended to city council this week that their request for qualifications set the bar low by demanding 'a fixed seat count of a minimum 7,500 seats, which would include club seats, luxury suites, and party suites.' The document also calls for the 'capacity to add approximately 1,500 extra (non-fixed) seats located on the playing surface of the arena for non-sporting events.' That might seem at first glance to maintain the 9,000 seats called for in a report by expert consultants IBI Group. However, IBI Group's report, repeated in the Downtown Centre Task Force's report to city council in March 2010, called for 9,000 fixed seats plus 800 club seats and 15 luxury suites and two party seats.

The idea of an 'ever-shrinking' events centre seemed to underwhelm many members of Moncton city council this week, who by an 8-2 vote amended the wording of the RFQ to ask for plans that would encompass a range of 7,500 to 9,000 seats.

That's still well short of the numbers two of Canada's largest and most active concert promoters have said their industry is looking for, though.

André Hudon, president of Donald K. Productions, told the Times & Transcript in 2010 one of the most important aspects of a multi-use facility is flexibility. He said a 10,000-seat building that can have some sections curtained off to make smaller shows more comfortable gives promoters more flexibility in booking acts.

Jacques Aubé, president of the Montreal-based Gillett Entertainment Group, now called Evenko, told the Times & Transcript in 2009, 'right now there are certain shows that we aren't able to bring to Moncton because the ceiling is too low, the clock is in the way and it doesn't have enough seats,' he said, adding a 'facility that could seat 12,000 to 15,000 would be a good investment for Moncton.' City manager Jacques Dubé told council Monday the seat number and other details is something responses to the RFQ will help the city gauge in terms of what's realistic. The city is looking for feedback on what the multi-purpose centre could contain and what could go on the other land on the 11-acre site. It's suggesting residential, retail, commercial and cultural spaces, but is also open to anything a private partner might suggest.

Picking up the discussion of seat numbers on Tuesday, as Moncton city council deliberated its fiveyear capital works budget, Ward 3 Councillor Brian Hicks said 'last night, council said maybe we should go higher. I'm talking about maybe we should go lower.' Yesterday, as council further wrestled with potential costs of the centre, Mayor George LeBlanc said, 'it's not something we're building for the next five or 10 years. It's something we're building for the next 40 or 50 years. We have to be forward-looking.' Said the mayor, 'the size of the facility might be ultimately dictated by the cost, but let's put it out there and see what offers we get. We'll be in a much better position then.' The RFQ is to get private investors interested without requiring them to spend the time and money preparing a response to a request for proposals. Once the city receives responses to the RFQ, they will then short list those qualified parties and invite them to prepare RFPs.