[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[MonctonRad]

Current status of the Ashford Living building at the corner of Highfield and Campbell Streets:


From Ashford Properties Facebook page.

The building will be six floors, so almost halfway there in terms of height. They appear to be using precast concrete panelling for the exterior. very interesting.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by LewisVillis

Drove by yesterday and thought the same - that's a shiny new crane, red and white. Intimidatingly close to the road, too.

At full build out, this development will have 11 buildings, nine of which will be six storey apartment buildings. At an average of one building per year, I imagine this project will take a decade to complete. This would give a crane rental company a lot of security in entering into a purchase or long term lease agreement for a nice shiny new crane.



They've already cleared enough land next door for building #2. In addition, they've logged the land next to Grand Trunk as well. I presume this is where the Franklyn Yards development will build next.

[Riberview]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

At full build out, this development will have 11 buildings, nine of which will be six storey apartment buildings. At an average of one building per year, I imagine this project will take a decade to complete. This would give a crane rental company a lot of security in entering into a purchase or long term lease agreement for a nice shiny new crane.



They've already cleared enough land next door for building #2. In addition, they've logged the land next to Grand Trunk as well. I presume this is where the Franklyn Yards development will build next.

Look at all that surface parking

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by Riberview

Look at all that surface parking

Indeed. This is easily the worst development in the area right now. Disappointing that the city green lit this.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by Riberview

Look at all that surface parking

First thing I thought also. Underground parking would create a much nicer development. Probably didn't want to spend the money.

[josh_cat_eyes]

We can only hope that they get a couple of the buildings built and then run into problems and have to scale back the development thus reducing the surface parking area.

[MonctonRad]

If you look carefully at the site plan for that apartment complex on the Franklin Yards (using a magnifying glass), you can see that each of those nine largish apartment buildings in fact does have underground parking. It's just that there is also a lavish excess of surface parking as well, apparently more than this complex should be able to justify.

This complex is not really in walking distance of anywhere of significance. It is ideally located next to Centennial Park and to the CN Sportplex, and access to Wheeler Blvd is pretty straightforward, but in terms of access to employment opportunities, shopping or services, residents will need good access to public transit, or will have to drive to where they want to go. Maybe the developers are anticipating a lot of the residents will form two car households, and they are planning accordingly.

I am no fan of this development. Constructing nine buildings which are for all intents and purposes clones of one another will contribute to an impression that one is living in "the projects", or any form of badly planned public housing development. This is of course not the case, but visual impressions matter, and in this case, the impression is a poor one.

The developer really needs to mix this up. Use different styles on the different buildings. Make some of the buildings eight or ten storeys rather than six (this might also help justify the surfeit of surface parking). Reorient a couple of the buildings so that they face Millennium, thus hiding the surface parking in behind.

These fixes would create visual interest, and would give the impression of increased density within the site, removing the distraction of the hectares of surface parking.

It is not too late for the developers to right this ship. As I mentioned above, it will probably take 10-12 years for this development to be fully built. Minor architectural changes to the buildings, changes in orientation to others, and increasing the height of a couple of the buildings could still be done.

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The developer really needs to mix this up. Use different styles on the different buildings. Make some of the buildings eight or ten storeys rather than six (this might also help justify the surfeit of surface parking). Reorient a couple of the buildings so that they face Millennium, thus hiding the surface parking in behind.

These fixes would create visual interest, and would give the impression of increased density within the site, removing the distraction of the hectares of surface parking.

It is not too late for the developers to right this ship. As I mentioned above, it will probably take 10-12 years for this development to be fully built. Minor architectural changes to the buildings, changes in orientation to others, and increasing the height of a couple of the buildings could still be done.

Well yes, but this would require… effort

I agree with your take but I think this development is a lost cause. It’s almost as if the developers are actually well aware of what makes for a sustainable development that’s well integrated into the urban fabric and then purposefully did the exact opposite of that when drawing the site plan.

I hope it doesn’t get fully built.

[MonctonRad]

There may be movement afoot for the vacant lot on the SW corner of Queen & Steadman.

If you recall, there used to be a three storey yellow (I think) tenement on that corner, which was under renovation for a time, until they discovered the property could not be salvaged and it was subsequently torn down.

The proponents have since come up with this design for the lot:



The building will contain 19 residential units, is completely planned, and a contractor has been secured, but the owner does not want to proceed with construction himself. He is looking for a buyer for the property. As such, it is not guaranteed this project will proceed, but it looks like decent infill, and I hope this will happen.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by MonctonPerson

Not to say there isn't something happening, but there's no change in ownership in the property records for either parcel yet.

The sale of this property (Flatiron Building) is now up on the SNB site. It was sold on May 6th for $102,000.

[adamuptownsj]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The sale of this property (Flatiron Building) is now up on the SNB site. It was sold on May 6th for $102,000.

Cheap!

[jonny golden]

So if the new owner wanted to spend the money to refurbish this building with apartments on the 2nd floor and business on the main floor, would that work?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

So if the new owner wanted to spend the money to refurbish this building with apartments on the 2nd floor and business on the main floor, would that work?

No. This building is well within the exclusion zone around the neighbouring CNR tracks. Residential is not allowed. From what I've heard, he would like to do ground floor retail (of some form), with small offices above.

[Sandbagger]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I am no fan of this development. Constructing nine buildings which are for all intents and purposes clones of one another will contribute to an impression that one is living in "the projects", or any form of badly planned public housing development. This is of course not the case, but visual impressions matter, and in this case, the impression is a poor one.

It's funny you say this because my first thought was "it's the new Gauvin Road."

[Monctoncore]

Please delete

[MonctonRad]

So, city council has decided not to display a recently acquired Bofors deck gun from the HMCS Moncton at the entrance to Centennial Park.

Thoughts???

It appears at least some councillors objected because of concerns over the "glorification or war" and also fears of traumatizing recent immigrants to the city.

While I reject these arguments, I am not against the council decision. Already at the park entrance, we have a steam locomotive celebrating the city's railway heritage, as well as an Avro CF-100 jet, an army tank and the anchor from the HMCS Magnificent (an RCN aircraft carrier, back when the Canadian navy actually had aircraft carriers). The latter three monuments honour the three branches of our military forces. All four of these monuments are going to be refurbished.

Since we already have the anchor to honour the Royal Canadian Navy, I see no need to add in the Bofors gun to the mix. I think the overall decision therefore is a good one.

Having said this however, I do not want to see the deck gun senescing in a wooden box for the next 50 years, and I would like to see it mounted and displayed somewhere. My personal choice would be to mount it along the Riverfront Trail somewhere, pointed downstream as a symbol of our resolve to defend ourselves in this tumultuous world.

[MonctonRad]

Here's the CBC article regarding the refurbishments for the park entrance:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...park-1.6464167

Here are a couple of renders from the article:


The work at the park entrance includes an orchard behind the plane monument, new signs, lighting, changes to the fencing around the train locomotive and a new outdoor rink.


An NHL-sized outdoor rink is planned at the entrance to Centennial Park

The biggest change for the area will be the addition of an NHL sized outdoor ice surface. The phase with the rink is estimated to cost $1.1 million, though the estimate also includes signs, lighting, a park shelter, walkways and other landscaping. There's no timeline yet for when work would take place.

[riverviewer]

The new towers have a name; The Three Sisters along the river.

https://threesistersmoncton.ca/?fbcl...zEiNMxDH_rgnXY

People ask me, “Why Three Sisters?” The answer is very close to the origins of Canada’s culture, and very close to my heart.

As a young man I became a collector of Inuit and Indigenous art, and I was struck by how often the image of Three Sisters appeared in a painting or a carving, the figures intertwined in mutual support.

As my appreciation of such works grew, I learned how much we owe to all those who taught our ancestors the agricultural wisdom of Three Sisters - corn, beans, and squash - three vegetables, planted together, supporting each other in growth, and feeding the communities that nurtured them.

Time passed, and my wife Heidi and I were blessed with children - first one daughter, then twin girls, and then a fourth daughter. And as they grew, it struck me that each would always have Three Sisters to count on for love, for companionship, and for mutual support

And so, as the vision of this building project took shape - three stately towers overlooking the Petitcodiac River, designed to shelter hundreds of households on the shores of downtown Moncton - with it there grew the image of the Three Sisters, symbolic of growth and mutual support and community... a tribute to the inspiration of the earliest artists and farmers of this land, bearing the names of some of the dearest people in my life: our eldest, Quinn;, our twins, Gwenythe and Elle; and our youngest, Caroline.

John Lafford, President

Lafford Properties

[MonctonRad]

The Harvest restaurant in the Higgins Block at the corner of Main and Botsford still hasn't opened. The windows continue to be plastered with their banner, and the website still says "coming soon", but there has been no activity seen in the building yet to indicate any impending construction, and things have been like this now for at least six months.

I wonder what gives???

[JonHiseler]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The Harvest restaurant in the Higgins Block at the corner of Main and Botsford still hasn't opened. The windows continue to be plastered with their banner, and the website still says "coming soon", but there has been no activity seen in the building yet to indicate any impending construction, and things have been like this now for at least six months.

I wonder what gives???

Same deal with the one in Wolfville, but I've no idea where that one is supposed to be located. I wonder if it's pandemic related, or if they tried to grow too fast, or both.