[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by J81

Ill be the first! 200k for this piece of junk? What are we even doing?

I'll be the second. 200K or 2 million....if they can tie it in anyway to " native culture and reconciliation" cost is no object. (art tied to a "green initiative" would get the same pass)

Political issues aside.......Governments certainly should have a major role in funding public art installations but I'm not convinced a police station is a prime location.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by sailor734

I'll be the second. 200K or 2 million....if they can tie it in anyway to " native culture and reconciliation" cost is no object. (art tied to a "green initiative" would get the same pass)

Political issues aside.......Governments certainly should have a major role in funding public art installations but I'm not convinced a police station is a prime location.

I guess you haven't seen the bird's nest sculpture on the peak of the fire station on Botsford Street downtown.

Don't get me wrong. I think public art is important, but, one wonders if art has t be included as a matter of course in every single municipal building that is constructed.

[jnaygull]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I guess you haven't seen the bird's nest sculpture on the peak of the fire station on Botsford Street downtown.

Don't get me wrong. I think public art is important, but, one wonders if art has t be included as a matter of course in every single municipal building that is constructed.

Unfortunately, the buildings themselves are no longer the "art" as they once were. That being said, I would rather see a non-profit organization provide art to public properties that represent various causes and cultural representations.

Do other cities do this same practice of including art as part of the cost of building?

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I guess you haven't seen the bird's nest sculpture on the peak of the fire station on Botsford Street downtown.

Don't get me wrong. I think public art is important, but, one wonders if art has t be included as a matter of course in every single municipal building that is constructed.

I agree. it makes sense for places where people frequent like parks, public plazas, city halls, libraries etc. Not really sure about fire halls or police stations.

[pierremoncton]

There may finally be something coming up at the empty lot at 25 Dominion. I noticed that a gravel path was put down across the field, presumably to move heavy equipment. There was also a LinkedIn post last year stating that there was something in the works.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

There may finally be something coming up at the empty lot at 25 Dominion. I noticed that a gravel path was put down across the field, presumably to move heavy equipment. There was also a LinkedIn post last year stating that there was something in the works.

This is another ICON property. We'll have to keep an eye on things.....

[BlackYear]

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

There may finally be something coming up at the empty lot at 25 Dominion. I noticed that a gravel path was put down across the field, presumably to move heavy equipment. There was also a LinkedIn post last year stating that there was something in the works.

I remember when 25 Dominion was in development, there was supposed to be a 2nd sister building on this lot but it never happened.

[Monctoncore]

I find Icon is very secretive, as are most developers. They don’t even have a website, they have LinkedIn and an Infinity website that says new site launching in 2023.. which never came. I like transparency, but sadly won’t get it haha

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by BlackYear

I remember when 25 Dominion was in development, there was supposed to be a 2nd sister building on this lot but it never happened.

I recall that also. The existing building and the vacant space beside it appears to be one large parcel of land. So did ICON purchase the apartment building?

[new kid in town]

Forgot which thread we discuss the Millennium Blvd apartments, but boy what an assembly line! I keep forgetting it's a huge project. Ironically, on the 6th floor downtown where I live, the Three Sisters and the tomato building cranes are all blocked by other buildings. I can actually see the crane for the Millennium apartments better despite being farther away.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by jonny golden

I recall that also. The existing building and the vacant space beside it appears to be one large parcel of land. So did ICON purchase the apartment building?

Yes, ICON owns the whole block. The original plan was for the second building to be a clone of 25 Dominion, but, that was back in the time that Valmond owned it. ICON may have something else in mind for the second building now.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by new kid in town

Forgot which thread we discuss the Millennium Blvd apartments, but boy what an assembly line! I keep forgetting it's a huge project. Ironically, on the 6th floor downtown where I live, the Three Sisters and the tomato building cranes are all blocked by other buildings. I can actually see the crane for the Millennium apartments better despite being farther away.

It's actually called Franklyn Yards (after the former CNR yard occupying this site). All totaled, this is the largest residential project in the city, eventually encompassing 11 buildings. Yes, it is absolutely an assembly line, progressing rapidly and with insane efficiency.

The only reason why the Franklyn Yards doesn't have it's own thread is because the development consists entirely of cloned generic six storey apartment buildings. There's not much to talk about really. It's not in the central core, and will not contribute a lot to the architectural character of the city.

This is a quality development, don't get me wrong, and, will contribute greatly to overall density, it is just deadly boring and generic.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Yes, ICON owns the whole block. The original plan was for the second building to be a clone of 25 Dominion, but, that was back in the time that Valmond owned it. ICON may have something else in mind for the second building now.

OK, makes sense. He had the big plans for a hotel on the Harper St. property a few years ago.

I think the odds of any development happening at 25 Dominion St. are better with ICON than with Valmond, especially with how quickly they've moved on their Riverview project.

[adamuptownsj]

I wonder if anyone's got plans for PANs 06777118 (across Grand Trunk from Franklin Yards) now that the Croasdale/Grand Trunk area is mostly built out with townhouses. Same with 05253666 and the smaller lots east of it, across Millennium. Somebody bought up the larger vacant lots at 250 and 270 Killam nearby in the last couple years, too.

Congestion will get worse and worse around this area, I assume.

[new kid in town]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It's actually called Franklyn Yards (after the former CNR yard occupying this site). All totaled, this is the largest residential project in the city, eventually encompassing 11 buildings. Yes, it is absolutely an assembly line, progressing rapidly and with insane efficiency.

The only reason why the Franklyn Yards doesn't have it's own thread is because the development consists entirely of cloned generic six storey apartment buildings. There's not much to talk about really. It's not in the central core, and will not contribute a lot to the architectural character of the city.

This is a quality development, don't get me wrong, and, will contribute greatly to overall density, it is just deadly boring and generic.

Oh thanks. I was using "Millennium" as the keyword when searching for it, and couldn't find it.

I agree that the architecture doesn't stand out as much. It's just that last time I last drove down that boulevard, only 1 was complete and the second being started. Last Saturday, I think I counted the foundations of the fourth building underway. So the speed surprised me, on top of forgetting the scale of it since it's rarely discussed.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It's actually called Franklyn Yards (after the former CNR yard occupying this site). All totaled, this is the largest residential project in the city, eventually encompassing 11 buildings. Yes, it is absolutely an assembly line, progressing rapidly and with insane efficiency.

The only reason why the Franklyn Yards doesn't have it's own thread is because the development consists entirely of cloned generic six storey apartment buildings. There's not much to talk about really. It's not in the central core, and will not contribute a lot to the architectural character of the city.

This is a quality development, don't get me wrong, and, will contribute greatly to overall density, it is just deadly boring and generic.

It would have been so much better if they built the buildings alongside the road and had commercial in the buildings. Would have created a street wall. Also woukd have been nice if each building was different, at least slightly different. Put the parking in the back. Another thing this would have done is given the buildings a setback from the edge of Centennial Park. When you walk on the trails there now, the buildings are too close to the park. All of this should not have been allowed to happen. The planning department and city council should be ashamed of allowing such an important location to be built with so much parking.

[Ifyoubuildit]

Originally Posted by josh_cat_eyes

It would have been so much better if they built the buildings alongside the road and had commercial in the buildings. Would have created a street wall. Also woukd have been nice if each building was different, at least slightly different. Put the parking in the back. Another thing this would have done is given the buildings a setback from the edge of Centennial Park. When you walk on the trails there now, the buildings are too close to the park. All of this should not have been allowed to happen. The planning department and city council should be ashamed of allowing such an important location to be built with so much parking.

The parking may be the way it is, because the first building is located at the tip of the triangular shaped land. Hopefully the remaining buildings are built along the edge of the boulevard with parking in back. The coordinated efficiency is impressive, like real life Lego assembly!

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by Ifyoubuildit

The parking may be the way it is, because the first building is located at the tip of the triangular shaped land. Hopefully the remaining buildings are built along the edge of the boulevard with parking in back. The coordinated efficiency is impressive, like real life Lego assembly!

The only building with the parking in the back in the one on the corner of Grand Trunk street. There was LOTS of space to reorientate the buildings so they could create a street wall with the parking in the back. There actually was probably even room for there to have been another road along the back of the property to create more buildings. There is ZERO justification for this much surface parking. The city NEEDS to eliminate this outrageous parking minimums for projects like this.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

There may finally be something coming up at the empty lot at 25 Dominion. I noticed that a gravel path was put down across the field, presumably to move heavy equipment. There was also a LinkedIn post last year stating that there was something in the works.

I had a look around yesterday, and, I am not convinced there has been any real change to this lot from before. I take your point about the gravel path, but, I think this was pre-existing.

There is a large ICON sign affixed to the fence, but this was there before.

I imagine ICON has plans for this lot, but, I honestly think they will start on the Infinity tower before they do anything here.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I had a look around yesterday, and, I am not convinced there has been any real change to this lot from before. I take your point about the gravel path, but, I think this was pre-existing.

There is a large ICON sign affixed to the fence, but this was there before.

I imagine ICON has plans for this lot, but, I honestly think they will start on the Infinity tower before they do anything here.

I would agree. The Infinity tower and the Riverview buildings are massive projects, and you'd think that these would be their priority.

Hopefully they can do both projects at the same time. It'd be nice to see Infinity get started sooner rather than later. ICON is going to be very busy for the next few years.