Construction goes boom
Published Saturday June 6th, 2009
JEFF DUCHARME
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
Development East to west and all places in between, Saint John has become a city with an appetite to build
SAINT JOHN - The scene that rolls out below the hill where the familiar SAINT JOHN sign is perched near Fort Howe is one that has not been a familiar one in recent times. On the horizon, work on the last of the three massive LNG tanks at the Canaport site continues; on Long Wharf a lone backhoe digs a hole as part of site preparations for the Irving Oil Ltd. headquarters; and a tower crane hovers over Market Square.
KâtÈ LeBlanc/Telegraph-Journal
Brad Stewart, a supervisor with Bird Construction, which is building a strip mall and a new Staples near the old Saint John Transit headquarters on Fairville Boulevard.
Noel Chenier/Telegraph-Journal
Pat Darrah, executive director of the Saint John Construction Association, in front of the Chateau Saint John, the latest in a string of new hotels to be built in the city.
Recent projects - both commercial and industrial - that have been completed, under construction or at the proposal stages in the city are approaching the $2-billion mark, an impressive figure during recessionary times. And that isn't taking into consideration the biggest blueprint on the board - Eider Rock, the $8-billion refinery project being studied by Irving Oil.
Cast your eyes east, west or toward the uptown and something is being built. But it's on the west side where construction is booming. Long a poor cousin to the wave of big-box stores on the east side, Fairville Boulevard's Golden Mile is currently enjoying a friendly invasion of construction workers, trucks and heavy equipment.
Brad Stewart, a supervisor with Bird Construction and resident of Morna Heights, said while work for his company is steady in the city, it's the west side that's the hot spot.
"This is the first time I've been working so close to home," Stewart said.
Two buildings are planned near the Saint John Transit site and will house at least 10 stores including Staples, a dollar store, hairstylist, restaurant and Rent-a-Center. Proving how popular the location is, only two spots remain vacant. When the bus operation moves into its new $22-million headquarters on the east side at McDonald Street later this month, the old building will be torn down and become the parking lot.
Meanwhile, Sobeys has built a new store. NB Liquor is still considering a larger store for the west side and will make the final decision before the end of June. A new Canadian Tire, which will include a Mark's Work Wearhouse, is also expected to be built on the west side.
Bruce Creber of Counsel Corporation, which owns the Lancaster Mall, was one of the first to have faith in the west side. The $13-million in renovations to the mall has led much of the development boom there.
"Saint John has such a gem of a location that long-term growth, long-term success is inevitable," Creber said.
The multimillion-dollar reconstruction of the Simms Corner area, Creber said, will also help move development on the west side ahead.
Uptown, the sound of jackhammers echo off the buildings as a worker tears up the sidewalk at the Hilton Hotel.
A driver with the upstart taxi company Sunrise, Carter is reluctant to give his last name as he waits for his next fare at the Hilton. But he isn't bashful about what he sees as he drives through the city.
"Never in all my years have I seen them doing this much construction," Carter said. "You know, something is happening in this city."
But it's the proposed Irving Oil headquarters on the waterfront that will change the face of the uptown, he said.
"I can't wait for the Irving complex to start," he said. "It's just going to change the whole look of the waterfront."
Nearby, Market Square expansion will add three floors to one section of the building, allowing 40,000 square feet of additional office space along Smythe and Union streets for Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Inc., a current tenant.
Beyond Irving Oil's world headquarters at Long Wharf, the south-central side of the port is also ramped up for other changes. The finishing touches are being done to the $11-million cruise ship terminal, just in time for the start of cruise ship season. The port also plans to extend the berth at Pugsley C terminal. The project would cost $42 million and is awaiting funding approval from the federal government.
And, over the next decade, the Hardman Group will develop the waterfront in the area currently occupied by the Coast Guard. The four-phase project will include office space and new retail, residential and educational facilities. The first phase will include a hotel, condominiums and an underground pedway connection to Market Square.
Michael Baldwin, general manager of Saint John Waterfront Development, said negotiations are continuing with the federal government over the final price and when the Coast Guard building will be vacated.
"We're the closest we've ever been," Baldwin said.
On the east side, developer Troy Northrup's 700,000-square-foot East Point shopping project, complete with its signature stone icon and search lights that scan the night sky and add a touch of Hollywood to the city, is about 45 per cent complete. The latest major tenant, Costco, will open its doors next spring. The East Point development, which began in 2006 with Home Depot, will eventually be worth more than $100 million.
"We have more buildings which will be built and announced this year," Northrup said.
But what may be coming, he wouldn't say.
"Certainly Saint John is a shining light for opportunity," Northrup said. "We're in the midst, and on the cusp, of a lot of great things."
When East Point will be completed, he said, isn't up to him.
"The market will decide that," Northrup said.
Pat Darrah, executive director of the Saint John Construction Association, said the city runs on a 30-year cycle. The last cycle included projects such as a major modernization of the oil refinery, the frigate program at the shipyard, construction of the Saint John Regional Hospital and the nuclear generating station at Point Lepreau.
Darrah has seen it all and he likes what's happening in his town today.
"Every time I drive around town, somebody is digging a hole," he quipped.
If the projects are spaced properly, Darrah said construction could continue at the current pace for up to 20 years. Along with the current projects, he said, approximately $250 million a year is spent on maintaining industrial facilities in the city.
On the spit of land that runs alongside the Atlantic Superstore on Rothesay Avenue, the boulders that will become the footing for the One Mile Interchange are slowly moving forward and closer to where it will connect with Highway 1. It's expected to open in the fall of 2012.
Ken Forrest, commissioner of planning for the city, is preparing to update the city's municipal plan, which hasn't had a complete makeover since 1973. He said the city will soon have to look toward other areas as the east, west and uptown run out of suitable commercial land.
"Probably at some point, we have to start thinking north," Forrest said. "There's a much higher level of activity generally in the city the last few years based on some of the optimism that's out there. It's the new normal, I guess."
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