[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by josh_cat_eyes

Could Crombie be considered a national player if they redevelop 1222 Main Street? I’ve seen renderings of what they’re capable of and it’s rather impressive. I wonder what other national players there could be if you include Aquillini and Crombie.

*Edit*
So I did a little research, one company that is national, and already has a local presence is Skyline Apartments. They currently own Chateau Mapleton and some apartments in the surrounding area as well as some apartments in downtown Dieppe. They also have built a 15 storey mix use building on seapoint road near burnside in Dartmouth. It is a high quality development. I wonder if they would consider downtown Moncton for a location of a new development.

Crombie is absolutely a national player. They're no longer looking at leasing 1222 Main Street, as the market office space has dried up. They've had ample time to consider options for this property, and it's more than obvious that residential is the way to go.

If you look at the map of this area, there's a lot of land that could be developed here. Such as the area between 1222 and the Avenir center, as well as the property of the decrepit telegraph building. Then there's all that surface parking behind the old telegraph building and the 1234 Main St. building.

There's so much untapped potential here.

[Mr_Me]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

John Wishart, CEO of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce was interviewed on CTV News this evening.

The topic was the rather slow rebound back to the office in Moncton after working at home during the pandemic. So far, only about 71% of workers in Moncton had returned to the office compared to well over 90% in most other Maritime cities. The discussion centred around how this is creating ongoing stress for downtown restaurants and service providers.

John acknowledged the problems but tried to be upbeat and optimistic about the future. He mentioned the major investments in the core by the various levels of government, and how this is sparking interest from local developers and major national players. He expected a large boost in downtown residential population as a result.

Wishart let this little nugget slip. He said that he had heard that there will be 2-3 new 20 storey towers in downtown Moncton within the next five years.

John Wishart is considerably better connected than I am. I would take this pronouncement with a great deal of seriousness. Given the fact that Moncton currently has only a single 20 storey tower, this sounds like the core is truly on the verge of a major transformation.

There is a local engineering company working on the first 20 storey building right now. I was told last week that the general contractor for the project has already been chosen. Not sure how true the chosen GC is but that was the word on the street

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

Crombie is absolutely a national player. They're no longer looking at leasing 1222 Main Street, as the market office space has dried up. They've had ample time to consider options for this property, and it's more than obvious that residential is the way to go.

If you look at the map of this area, there's a lot of land that could be developed here. Such as the area between 1222 and the Avenir center, as well as the property of the decrepit telegraph building. Then there's all that surface parking behind the old telegraph building and the 1234 Main St. building.

There's so much untapped potential here.

There is a ton of potentials you could extend Cameron and Weldon streets through to Canada street, and perhaps even have a street connection between those extensions. On the south east corner of Weldon and Main you could build a residential tower with a 3-6 storey podium extending along main and wrapping around the corner down Weldon. A podium could be added to 1222 Main Street with a parking structure built behind 1234 Main Street. This would give enough space to put a connection street between the Cameron and Weldon extensions, with mid-rise mix use buildings on both sides. On the the north east corner of Weldon and Canada you could also find room for a mid-rise building.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Mr_Me

There is a local engineering company working on the first 20 storey building right now. I was told last week that the general contractor for the project has already been chosen. Not sure how true the chosen GC is but that was the word on the street

Oooooh - Getting juicier and juicier all the time!

Welcome to the forums BTW.

[Mattyyy]

Originally Posted by Mr_Me

There is a local engineering company working on the first 20 storey building right now. I was told last week that the general contractor for the project has already been chosen. Not sure how true the chosen GC is but that was the word on the street

I like it! If a general contractor is already chosen does this mean there is a possibility of a ground breaking in 2023 or am I dreaming???

[jonny golden]

It's too bad there weren't web cams at these major construction projects. It'd be nice to check in on-line to see their progress.

[jonny golden]

Not having any idea about these things, would it be possible to add more floors to 1222 Main Street?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

Not having any idea about these things, would it be possible to add more floors to 1222 Main Street?

I doubt it. It would require a detailed assessment by structural engineers, but I imagine the load bearing steel members were only made strong enough to support an eight storey building. If you added another ten storeys on top, I imagine the building would collapse.

there are two choices for 1222 Main:

1) - Gut the building down to it's structural steel members and concrete floors (like they did with 1234 Main), and completely renovate (and repurpose) the entire structure, either as an apartment building or a hotel.
2) - Tear the building down completely and start over with a tabula rasa. This would be the more expensive option, but would give Crombie complete freedom in terms of the architectural style and height of the replacement building.

[Riberview]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I doubt it. It would require a detailed assessment by structural engineers, but I imagine the load bearing steel members were only made strong enough to support an eight storey building. If you added another ten storeys on top, I imagine the building would collapse.

I was in Toronto last summer. In my milling about, I noticed there were some signs posted on various 6 to 10 floor buildings. They were notices indicating a variance request for height change. Usually to add dozens of stories to the existing building, using that existing building as the podium. I recall seeing one such adventure actually in progress. My understanding was they were adding footings inside the lower floors and adding reinforcement to existing structure, to accommodate the new weight of the new floors above.

engineering indeed. expensive venture no doubt.

all this to say that if Crombie wanted to, they could. Would not be cheap.

[jonny golden]

Although more height on 1222 Main Street would be a real development bombshell, I can't see it happening. The return on investment probably wouldn't work out financially. What I think will happen is that they take the building right down to the steel, and start over from there.

What would be great to see would be Crombie acquiring the adjacent land next to the Avenir center. Then they could build a large podium all along Main Street and do a second residential tower on top of it. And the 2nd tower could even be slightly taller than 1222.

Looking at the residential/mixed use developments that Crombie has been involved in, they are more than capable of doing something very special here.

I don't think we'll see one of the 20 floor buildings John Wishart was talking about at this location, but he did talk about investment dollars knocking at the door, and "big players". I just hope Crombie finally takes advantage of the huge potential and redevelops this downtown Moncton blemish.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

Although more height on 1222 Main Street would be a real development bombshell, I can't see it happening. The return on investment probably wouldn't work out financially. What I think will happen is that they take the building right down to the steel, and start over from there.

What would be great to see would be Crombie acquiring the adjacent land next to the Avenir center. Then they could build a large podium all along Main Street and do a second residential tower on top of it. And the 2nd tower could even be slightly taller than 1222.

Looking at the residential/mixed use developments that Crombie has been involved in, they are more than capable of doing something very special here.

I don't think we'll see one of the 20 floor buildings John Wishart was talking about at this location, but he did talk about investment dollars knocking at the door, and "big players". I just hope Crombie finally takes advantage of the huge potential and redevelops this downtown Moncton blemish.

If they were to extend Weldon (as I hope they do) they could tare some of the building down, setting it back from the road more, and create a podium out to the road wrapping around that corner. The other option would be to tare the building down and completely start over as MonctonRad suggested. Either way I think we will see something happen at this site in the next couple years.

[MonctonRad]

I came up with this street plan about five years ago.



It included extending Weldon to Canada Street, creating a common podium for 1234 Main and 1222 Main, and a large parking garage at the NW corner of an extended Weldon and Canada Street. A small commercial building would be built on Parcel A, containing a sports bar (Cage aux Sports perhaps) and other smaller CRUs.

Of course, many configurations exist, but, unless Weldon is extended, there is definitely an opportunity being lost.

[MonctonGoldenTri]

Long time reader of this thread, my best friend pointed me here about a decade ago and I've been following ever since. Super excited about the pending DT projects!

*1255 main street (ashford) is in dyer needs of reno's, HVAC, layout, carpets, general structure needs a lot and I mean a lot of work. Also the building next door 1199 has always suffered from poor insulation, a common complaints from those tenants.

With the current conditions of these buildings it wouldn't surprise me if this became the location of a future project(fingers crossed). They could fit a mega project here especially if they ever bought out the small building behind(23 high street, young drivers school).

[MonctonRad]

Welcome to the forums.

[MonctonRad]

I have it on reasonably good authority that the tomato people have won their fight and that the project at 1333 Main (NW corner of Main & Vaughan Harvey) will now be six storeys instead of ten.



And, to compound things, in order to keep the project financially viable, it will now be wood framed rather than concrete and steel.



This defeat is of monumental proportions. I wonder what other compromises have been made to the architectural style of this building. I hope the tomato people are pleased with themselves.



All this fuss over a tomato garden and a little bit of extra traffic. What a horrible outcome...............

[MonctonRad]

But, on a happier note, phase three of the Junction Urban Village right across the street will be a 10 storey tower, so the victory of the tomato people is only a partial one.

Finally, I have been advised that the first of the 20 storey towers planned for Moncton may in fact be at the Harper Building site (next to Staples on Main Street East), now owned by Icon Developments. This will be a purely residential tower, and construction may commence this year.

[MonctonGoldenTri]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I have it on reasonably good authority that the tomato people have won their fight and that the project at 1333 Main (NW corner of Main & Vaughan Harvey) will now be six storeys instead of ten.



And, to compound things, in order to keep the project financially viable, it will now be wood framed rather than concrete and steel.



This defeat is of monumental proportions. I wonder what other compromises have been made to the architectural style of this building. I hope the tomato people are pleased with themselves.



All this fuss over a tomato garden and a little bit of extra traffic. What a horrible outcome...............

It blows my mind that such a small minority could have such influence.

Also 6 vs 10 stories, traffic will increase regardless of the buildings size.

[PEI highway guy]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I have it on reasonably good authority that the tomato people have won their fight and that the project at 1333 Main (NW corner of Main & Vaughan Harvey) will now be six storeys instead of ten.



And, to compound things, in order to keep the project financially viable, it will now be wood framed rather than concrete and steel.



This defeat is of monumental proportions. I wonder what other compromises have been made to the architectural style of this building. I hope the tomato people are pleased with themselves.



All this fuss over a tomato garden and a little bit of extra traffic. What a horrible outcome...............

My issue is. if this i s true, has a precedent been set? If you live in Moncton and you do not like what is being built/proposed, just start a petition and you will get what you want. |Now if this building was on Enterprise or West street, I could understand the uproar, very disappointing.

[MonctonGoldenTri]

Are they planning on opening Atlantic to Vaughan Harvey?
If yes 6 or 10 won't make a difference.

[Riberview]

Exceptionally disappointing that the nimbys may win here.

Also very disappointing that it is potentially now 6 floors of wood frame.

Just brutal.

Build it to ten floors. Geez.