The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by UptownJeff

Personally, I have absolutely no confidence that this will be built. The "closing" of the land deal happens the day after the upcoming provincial election. My prediction - if Gallant wins, there will all of a sudden be no money to move forward. Another carrot to try and suck in the Saint John voters. They should add 2 floors to Market Square and keep the museum there. Where is the 100 million dollars coming from? The Feds are certainly not going to kick in 50m and the Provincial MasterCard is maxed out!

A hundred million? They only announced a $50,000,000 provincial commitment thus far.

I agree with MonctonRad though, this project is going to be milked throughout the year, expect a slow release of information under tight control and lots of photo ops.

[JHikka]

91 King has opened pre-leasing for its ground floor retail space. Ideas being posited by the leasors include big box retail, grocery store, pharmacy, and a cheeky mention about the failed IMAX bid decades ago. It seems likely that renovations will be starting soon on the property...can't wait to see that awful brown cladding come down to reveal the brick underneath. Also, this property does not have to adhere to heritage property guidelines as it is not in the heritage zoning area.

22 King is also doing pre-leasing on its retail area.

[NB_ExistsToo]

Originally Posted by JHikka

91 King has opened pre-leasing for its ground floor retail space. Ideas being posited by the leasors include big box retail, grocery store, pharmacy, and a cheeky mention about the failed IMAX bid decades ago. It seems likely that renovations will be starting soon on the property...can't wait to see that awful brown cladding come down to reveal the brick underneath. Also, this property does not have to adhere to heritage property guidelines as it is not in the heritage zoning area.

22 King is also doing pre-leasing on its retail area.

It'll be interesting to see what their next steps are, I don't see how they would be able to add additional 9 floors without significant structural upgrading to the base structure. ($$$)

[Fischbob]

The City has unveiled a new homepage as part of its web site redesign project. Still very much a work in progress as the Services and News section still links to the old site. It looks quite slick though (and should be more mobile-friendly), and the background image cycles through some great shots of the city including this recent aerial view of the Peninsula:



And this view of the Uptown:

[JHikka]

Those look like a new set of aerial photos. The City had an archive of them on their maps section of the site. Will have to check and see if they have a new batch for 2017 uploaded.

[Fischbob]

I know the City's GIS department hasn't collected oblique imagery since 2013 (source: I work there). Our air photo budget tends to go to orthophotography (looking straight down) on a 2-year cycle to have up-to-date imagery for internal use. It's likely that another City entity, such as Discover Saint John, sent up a drone at various times in the year to take the above pictures.

P.S: We recently launched a revamped Open Data portal that will eventually fully replace the Maps and Air Photos section of the website. The Air Photos section has several historical air photo series available for download, although most of the obliques haven't been posted yet. While you're there, also check out the Statistics section where we have a series of thematic 2016 Census maps of the CMA that I had a hand in producing.

[CdnEh]

Originally Posted by UptownJeff

Personally, I have absolutely no confidence that this will be built. The "closing" of the land deal happens the day after the upcoming provincial election. My prediction - if Gallant wins, there will all of a sudden be no money to move forward. Another carrot to try and suck in the Saint John voters. They should add 2 floors to Market Square and keep the museum there. Where is the 100 million dollars coming from? The Feds are certainly not going to kick in 50m and the Provincial MasterCard is maxed out!

Why would the provincial government add 2 floors to Market Square? The don't even own the building.

[saintjohnirish☘]

I know Gallant might try to spin it this way, but the new museum isn't some sort of gift to Saint John. This is really a regular investment the provincial government has a duty to make. It is a provincial institution that needs to be funded properly for the benefit of all NB.

[NB_ExistsToo]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Those look like a new set of aerial photos. The City had an archive of them on their maps section of the site. Will have to check and see if they have a new batch for 2017 uploaded.

They're definitely new, the new Irving HQ is still being built in the background. As of right now, the building is having its pre-cast panels put up

[Ire Narissis]

The concrete paneling is just about done, as far as I can tell from looking at the building; they're well underway on the windows and the outer stone facade at this point.

Re. the aerial imagery - really puts into perspective the scale of the One Mile House interchange; that overpass looks monolithic against the landscape and in comparison to the other viaducts. Will be interesting to see the same shot later on with the Ashburn Lake interchange completed, assuming that even gets built.

[UptownJeff]

Originally Posted by CdnEh

Why would the provincial government add 2 floors to Market Square? The don't even own the building.

It’s owned by the city of Saint John. They could sell/lease it to the province and add floors for the museum. The museum would stay on the waterfront and wouldn’t mean vacating All that space only to move to a prime piece of real estate that should be privately developed. Again, the chance of this being built is slim to none in my opinion. Gallant will promise anything to get votes. The feds have said they will not match and the only saviour would be a private donor.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by UptownJeff

The feds have said they will not match and the only saviour would be a private donor.

Any sourcing on this? I'd be shocked if a federal government refused to fund a museum. Everything i've seen has indicated that the province has yet to formally ask for funding.

[UptownJeff]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Any sourcing on this? I'd be shocked if a federal government refused to fund a museum. Everything i've seen has indicated that the province has yet to formally ask for funding.

Wayne Long has stated that the feds won’t match funding. Likely a few million.

[Franco401]

On the topic of adding floors to Market Square, this was the original plan for the complex back in the 80s.

[michael_d40]

Originally Posted by UptownJeff

It’s owned by the city of Saint John. They could sell/lease it to the province and add floors for the museum. The museum would stay on the waterfront and wouldn’t mean vacating All that space only to move to a prime piece of real estate that should be privately developed. Again, the chance of this being built is slim to none in my opinion. Gallant will promise anything to get votes. The feds have said they will not match and the only saviour would be a private donor.

Market Square is not wholly owned by the city of Saint John. Hence why taxes on that property are 1 million dollars per annum paid by The Hardman Group. I believe there is some cost sharing based on the Saint John Trade and Convention Centre but thats about it.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by UptownJeff

Wayne Long has stated that the feds won’t match funding. Likely a few million.

Source? If you have anything confirming a few million i'd like to see it.

I've found this Huddle article from February:

Originally Posted by Huddle

“We’re very confident there will be federal funding,” said Gallant. “At this point, it’s a question of how much. So we’re going to continue to work with our counterparts in Ottawa. [Saint John-Rothesay MP] Wayne Long is a strong advocate to make sure we get an investment from the federal government.”

Long, who has an office overlooking the proposed site, called the chosen site “transformational” as a piece of cultural infrastructure in Uptown Saint John.

“My expectation is that Ottawa will come to the table,” said Long, who said discussions are ongoing. “The question of how much remains to be seen.”

Long says the federal government will settle on an amount as more details of a plan are put in place, and he says choosing a location is an important step along the way toward securing that funding.

Emphasis mine.

[UptownJeff]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Source? If you have anything confirming a few million i'd like to see it.

I've found this Huddle article from February:



Emphasis mine.

just what Long said personally to a colleague of mine.....we'll see!

[ColSJ]

http://www.country94.ca/news/1347198724/...ace-jelly-bean-buildings-making-progress

Update on the planned development of the old Jelly Bean House location

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by ColSJ

http://www.country94.ca/news/1347198724/...ace-jelly-bean-buildings-making-progress

Update on the planned development of the old Jelly Bean House location

I love the fact that they are already at the aproval of there plan stage but One has to wonder.

1st off It's a $7 Million but they are getting more then that if they get the amounts they have stated.

2nd "There are elements that will be incorporated into the building from when the Jelly Bean buildings were on that site," says Keenan, "so there is a recognition that there were buildings before there that had some historical significance." What ellements are they talking about? are they going to colour the building different colours to match the Jelly bean houses?

In any case I don't think people will realise the significants. But am glad a mixed income building will be built in it's place.

[Fischbob]

Crowded agenda for tomorrow's PAC meeting. A few highlights:

- Adaptive reuse of the former Cornerstone Baptist Church at Leinster and Carmarthen with plans to convert the church into a wedding/banquet venue along with an ancillary office and dwelling unit.
- New digital marquee for the Imperial Theatre.
- Adaptive reuse of the former Salvation Army men's shelter at Canterbury and St. James to renovate the building for 25 one- and two-bedroom market rental apartments. Conceptual sketch below:



- Rezoning of a portion of the Petro-Canada redevelopment at Bayside and Mount Pleasant East is back on the agenda.
- Rezoning of the parcels at 453 Boars Head and 573 Woodward to allow a residential development consisting of 21 semi-detached houses, one 12-unit building and two 24-unit buildings. Site plan below:



- Finally, rezoning of the soon-to-be-former T4G office on Lancaster Avenue to allow for a cannabis processing facility. Several letters of opposition were received for this one.