Official Fredericton, NB projects thread

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by KnoxfordGuy

Very exciting news. I assume that since they said the are expanding east that means towards the Green?

What else could it possibly mean?

[KnoxfordGuy]

yeah...ok. lmao

[Taeolas]

Well if they expand far enouhg East, they'll be expanding into the river.

[Freddypop]

Originally Posted by Blue Blazer

The Target Logo is up, the one on the side facing Boston Pizza and Future Shop its a start eh.. I would have took a picture but I was driving

Up on the front now too

[Taeolas]

Just some pics of the work taken from August 31st while I was on the bus:

Front:


Side:


Also some work going on in behind the Brookside Mall, taken August 18th:

[Blue Blazer]

I drive by that everyday on the way to work and back.. Looks like condos.. But there is a lot of power lines running up threw the middle I wonder how they will fix that ?

[Taeolas]

Originally Posted by Blue Blazer

I drive by that everyday on the way to work and back.. Looks like condos.. But there is a lot of power lines running up threw the middle I wonder how they will fix that ?

Definitly Condos. No idea about the power lines.

With all the condos and housing up there, it's still surprising we can't get a department store in there. Feels like that area is a lot denser than 2NC's area is.

Here's a pic from today:

[cl812]

Noticed today that some work has started on the property next to the Lakeview Inn and Suites/Prospect Park on Prospect St. IIRC this was the spot for a strip mall with a Starbucks, talked about a while back.

[OliverD]

I see that the city is developing a Main Street Urban Design Plan: http://www.fredericton.ca/en/communi...DesignPlan.asp

Speaking of Main Street, I noticed that one of the old houses just east of Tim Horton's was torn down recently. Is anything being constructed there?

[Taeolas]

Thanks for the link. I went and filled in the survey and I'll try to get to the consultation session next week.

The house was torn down a month or two ago I think. No idea what, if anything will go there.

For the most part, Main Street does seem to be developing well, though a plan would be good.

The main things I'd do would be to encourage places to upgrade their looks. The Foodland mall and Giant Tiger malls look horrible, and are in desperate need of face lifts IMO, to make them more approachable. Just because the stores inside may be 'cheap' doesn't mean their buildings need to look like that.

The other big thing would be to find a use for the Canadian Tire building/lot. With Shoppers across the street from it, and being at the foot of the bridge practically, it should be an anchor point of Main Street, retail-speaking.

I'd love to encourage more transit options. Maybe a purely North side bus route that starts in Brookside, goes along Mainstreet, up past St Mary's to 2NC and continues on from there to somewhere. On the one hand, it would overlap a lot with the 11 and 13 (and other routes). On the other hand, the ringroad already separates the North side badly, we could use something like that route to link up both sides a bit. As I've said before, for transit users, it's easier to just get on the bus and go to Regent Walmart, than it is to get to 2NC Walmart.

Finally, it would be nice to get another department store of some sort on the Royal Road end of Nashwaak. With Zellers gone, it's something I'm noticing i'm really missing. Then again, a better connection to 2NC would help a lot there.

While I'm at it, I'm also wishing I had a pony. I figure I might as well have 1 realistic wish out of all this.

[OliverD]

In my opinion, Main Street is a pretty unappealing place. It was useful when I lived on the northside mainly for the Superstore and TD ATM but aside from that I didn't do much if any shopping there.

Part of the problem is that while you may capture northside residents, there is very little reason for southsiders to come across the river unless it is to go to a specialty store (for example, I recently crossed the river to go to Eaglewood).

I think Main Street would benefit from transforming into more of a "true" main street that is more pedestrian friendly and doesn't have large parking lots between the street and the buildings. And the opportunity is there to do that with the former Canadian Tire property and the empty land west of the Shoppers plaza.

[Bishop2047]

A little further down the main and onto union street, the house next to the new condos has been demolished and land is being prepared. Those few condos and town houses make the north side look much more urban from the south side. I would love to see more water front properties modernized and better utilized.

Now for Main street. That old Canadian tire is so depressing and wasteful, surely the owner can be reasoned with. I do agree the more bus routes that are purely north side or more north side oriented wold be nice. There is a lot of great development and change to Main east of the Westmorland bridge, and want to see the same on the west side. Also while we are taking wishes I want to have some IBM stock circa 1972.

[Taeolas]

Thinking more on it, I think the Ring Road is one of the big problems on the North Side (while also being one of its big benefits). It divides North side into North Side East and North Side West, and the two halves can't really interact well. There's only 2 connections between them (Union/Main Street and Maple Street), plus the two walking trails, so, in my experience, you tend to stay on one side or the other, and go to the Southside for what you can't get in your area. Finishing the 2NC exchange, would probably help a bit there; but we do need a North Side oriented transit route too to help make it easier for people on one side to get to the other if you aren't in a car.

Apperance wise, the street IMO isn't too bad. It could use less parking at times, but the parking lots aren't all that bad. (unlike 2NC, Colbert Centre, Regent Mall, etc...). Less pavement might be nice, but all things considered it isn't that bad; just need protections to keep them from growing more. Canadian Tire is the biggest issue; and the other two minimalls I mentioned are two others that could use some updating/modernizing.

Ideas for Canadian Tires? Hard to say. In a dreamworld, I could see an 8-10 story (maybe 6-8) office tower, with retail space on the first floor for restaurants and shops. The upperfloors would have a decent view of the river and the rugby grounds, so it's unlikely anything will go behind it to block it. There has been a fair amount of residential buildings in that area lately, but I think I'd sooner leave that spot pure business/retail.

Another option, finish the Cityview Avenue loop so it connects back to Main at the Shoppers Drug Mart / Cox's traffic lights. Build another minimall (ugh but what else?) pushed closer to Main street, and use the back lot + the lot behind it for sports of some sort, to tie in with the Rugby Grounds. Maybe another field lot of some sort.

A third option I'm not sure how best to use, but maybe tie into the fact that it's backing on to the FredRock concert site. Maybe put another Hotel there (not that we don't have enough in the city already; but the North side is a bit sparse in that respect). Or maybe something else to work off of the location better.

[OliverD]

I realize you said "dreamworld" but I want to point out that if we can't get Frederick Square II built downtown then I think a similarly sized office building on the northside is not feasible in the immediate future.

The biggest issue with the former Canadian Tire property is that there isn't a retailer that would be interested in that size of property in that part of the city. The land on the other hand could be quite valuable, but the property is likely priced with the expectation that the existing building would be used, not demolished. As such, I'm guessing that at this point it isn't feasible to purchase the property simply for the land.

I guess the one possible exception would be if Target wanted to have a northside store but I would expect that to go in the 2NC area.

A hotel in that area doesn't make a whole lot of sense as there isn't anything nearby that would entice people to stay there. If the northside does get a hotel, it would be in the 2NC area where you have the St. Mary's Entertainment Centre and the Willie O'Ree Centre. (I believe St. Mary's has stated they are interested in developing a hotel at some point.)

Unfortunately, from a retail standpoint, I think that the northside is relegated to having duplicate stores of what's available on the southside. Any large retailer looking at the Fredericton market will want to be in the Bishop Drive/Prospect Street/Corbett Centre area because it isn't only about attracting Fredericton shoppers but also those from surrounding smaller communities like Oromocto, Nackawic, and Woodstock. There isn't a quick and easy way to get to the northside for those coming from out of town so it isn't an attractive option.

Ergo, the northside needs to focus on growing its population which will support more northside retail options (but not "destination" retail outlets) and possibly the development of more office space.

[Blue Blazer]

I agree with one of the comments Main Street fredericton is horrible.. Dont get me wrong I love the northside and live here and will never move. i would never set up a shop on Main Street.. I wish they would clean up that Canadian Tire building and put something half decent in there. that could be a start, also a face lift of the old kfc..

[cl812]

Looks like Starbucks is opening a location downtown

https://wfa.kronostm.com/index.jsp?L...s&src=JB-12106

[KnoxfordGuy]

Yep. It's going in the old Quizno's location too. Just like some of us thought.

[Bishop2047]

So I guess that whole "No Starbuck within X distance of a Second Cup" rumour is out the window.

[Freddypop]

Originally Posted by Bishop2047

So I guess that whole "No Starbuck within X distance of a Second Cup" rumour is out the window.

That rumour never made any sense IMHO

[Blue Blazer]

Originally Posted by Freddypop

That rumour never made any sense IMHO

yeah the hole they dug for starbucks is a swimming pool, IMHO, I could go for a swim its warm out there