The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[Fischbob]

I almost overlooked this scoop in the Council agenda this week, some interesting info on the development slated for the parking structure at Canterbury and Grannan is buried in a report on the updated Heritage Bylaw:



The RFP for the this site was issued at least a couple years ago now, so I'm relieved to finally hear something about development here. Should have no problem attracting occupants as it's in one of the hottest parts of the Uptown.

The fact that this proposal already has branding associated with it ("The Telegraph") suggests to me that it's in a fairly advanced stage of planning at this point. According to the above, they're seeking an "additional few metres" of height in order to make it to 6 storeys.

Hopefully we get some more information (and some visuals!) in next week's HDB agenda.

[Ire Narissis]

Originally Posted by KnoxfordGuy

I was asking if it was empty. Not saying it was empty.

The way the question was phrased was as though you were asking for confirmation, hence the confusion - "So the building is empty?" vs. "Is the building empty?"

I'm still confused, though, because I'm not sure why that's even a question. Do you mean is the JDI building now empty in light of the new Irving Oil HQ completion? The answer to that would be no, as the two hemispheres of Planet Irving are very much separate from one another. This is why I asked if you were referring to the Golden Ball, since that building is in fact Irving Oil.

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by Ire Narissis

The way the question was phrased was as though you were asking for confirmation, hence the confusion - "So the building is empty?" vs. "Is the building empty?"

I'm still confused, though, because I'm not sure why that's even a question. Do you mean is the JDI building now empty in light of the new Irving Oil HQ completion? The answer to that would be no, as the two hemispheres of Planet Irving are very much separate from one another. This is why I asked if you were referring to the Golden Ball, since that building is in fact Irving Oil.

My friend that works at Irving says there are no current plans for it and that the Corp is soliciting suggestions from employees what should be done with the building. I think they’d make nice apartments or condos and historica would be a good fit. Maybe they can lease to JDI for overflow. I’m also curious about their former marketing centre on crown/union. Should be very desirable due to the over 100 parking spots. On side note, love all the trees planted at new IOL parkade

[ColSJ]

NEW PLAN UNVEILED FOR RETAIL AND RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT ON SAINT JOHN’S CANTERBURY STREET

Local developers, Stephen Brittain and Lee Seale, today announced plans to build a six-story wood frame mixed commercial and residential development in Uptown Saint John at the corner of Canterbury Street and Grannan Lane.

The Canterbury Street-level is zoned commercial, while the additional upper floors are residential.

https://developsaintjohn.com/recent_news...UJWCBGF7y7MopwQf2pSFfNFKUjjMnyuqUpiIldnA

Work to begin Spring 2020



I absolutely love the facade of the building, it complements the surrounding architecture while maintaining a modern feel. This corner is the literally the hottest spot in uptown Saint John so I imagine filling the apartments and getting a commercial tenant will not take long. I'm not familiar with what makes a development necessary for a tower crane but given the fact, this will be a tight space that has the height I imagine we will see some sort of large crane on this site. 2020 is shaping up to be a good construction year for uptown. You have this development, The Wellington, 150 Union, Historica recently bought the building that houses The Great Canadian and the rapid pace of historic buildings being transformed into high-quality liveable space. Aswell we could see work done on the sea wall on the coast guard site. The momentum Uptown is picking up!

[Fischbob]

Guess we didn't have to wait for the HDB agenda after all!

I like the building, love the density. Treatment of the corner at street level is a bit lacking, but that's mainly a limitation of using the existing parking structure as a base.

Build it!

[JHikka]

Great looking render. Difficult to believe it's a wood-framed build based on the form. Interesting to see how the materials turn out versus this render.

Other than that: wonderful project.

[NB_ExistsToo]

It certainly looks like it should be a steel/concrete building, especially if they need a small tower crane.

The rendering certainly looks like a wish list, lets see how it turns out in 2020

[cdnguys]

There is a misconception that wood beamed buildings are wood on the outside too. Not the case - they use the same curtains / cladding / materials as steel and concrete buildings. Architects on these projects tend to take advantage of the wood beams and incorporate them in the interior design of the units. Another interesting fact is wood beams are safer in a fire - fire will char them but underneath still solid structure whereas rods in concrete will heat up and explode the concrete. If you go into Rogue coffee and five and dime you’ll see all the charred beams from a major fire years ago.

At 6 stories and the elevation it’s at - it will have the same height as the Masonic Temple on Germain St. So if you look at a pic of uptown from harbour, it will actually appear quite tall and fill in a huge gap in Trinity Royal created when the original was torn down. Same with The Wellington, at its elevation compared to mercantile centre it will appear very high on the skyline.

[Ire Narissis]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Another interesting fact is wood beams are safer in a fire - fire will char them but underneath still solid structure whereas rods in concrete will heat up and explode the concrete. If you go into Rogue coffee and five and dime you’ll see all the charred beams from a major fire years ago.

Solid timber is like this; it'll be a different story if they're using some kind of laminated wood framing with flammable adhesives in it.

On an unrelated note, was driving along Somerset St. and saw that the parking lot of the vacant convenience store diagonally across from Somerset Square has been completely re-surfaced, complete with new curbing. Anyone hear of anything in the works for that building?

[NB_ExistsToo]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Another interesting fact is wood beams are safer in a fire - fire will char them but underneath still solid structure whereas rods in concrete will heat up and explode the concrete. If you go into Rogue coffee and five and dime you’ll see all the charred beams from a major fire years ago.

What?.... concrete structures are far superior to steel and timber for fire resistance. This "explosion" your speak of isn't due to rebar, it's whenever the concrete is damaged or has holes of some sort and has water vapor trapped, which then becomes superheated, and expands, causing the concrete to fracture.

The massive thick beams inside the old structures essentially don't exist anymore, those Five & Dime beams used to be double in size prior to the fires. This is starting replicated and more popular with Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) which is shows good signs of fire resistance.

So no, there's no myth about concrete being a safer option for fire resistance, especially since I expect them to use the typical stick build design, which essentially makes it a matchbook compared to concrete and steel.

[britsy]

Sadly the existing parkade cannot support the structural loads of a concrete or steal build. Wood frame structures are far lighter than the other options. So this is the only option.

[Fischbob]

A couple additional elevations, courtesy of tomorrow's HDB agenda:





The HDB application is an interesting one - since this proposal comes in over the maximum height permitted for this site in the Heritage Bylaw and there is currently no ability to vary from the prescribed standards for infill development, staff are recommending a site-specific amendment to the Bylaw to allow this development to go forward, similar to what was done for IOL's new headquarters. This particular application deals only with height and setbacks for the development - once these fundamentals get the green light, a future application will deal with the nitty-gritty of architectural style and materials.

Based on a radio interview with the developer this morning (can be found partway down this CBC article), we should expect this initial design to change somewhat, "probably more toward the heritage type look than it currently is" (~2:00 into the interview).

And for interest's sake, here's the building that used to be on the site, also taken from the HDB agenda:

[kwajo]

I hope it does change, the rendering that was released looks a little sub-par for the area, although it is hard to tell because the material choices will make a huge difference.

[Fischbob]

Noticed that the remaining phase of Bentley Crossing is up for sale for a cool 749k. There are a few images of the concept for the rest of the development included with the listing:









This one seems to have stalled in recent years, which is a shame, as this is an extremely well-located development just steps from Harbour Passage. It looks like the existing developer intends to cash out early - hopefully someone snaps it up and institutes a more aggressive timeline for completion.

Speaking of developers cashing out, looks like a similar thing going on at 573 Woodward Avenue, the Millidgeville proposal that recently had a successful rezoning application to support medium density residential. It's up for sale for just under 600k:

[Fischbob]

DevelopSJ has put out an RFP for redevelopment of the the City Works Depot on Boars Head Road in Millidgeville: https://developsaintjohn.com/recent_news/development-opportunity-at-boars-head-road/


Source

The suggested concept appears to be for a variety of multi-unit residential buildings. We'll see if any developers step up.

[Franco401]

The upper side of Bentley Crossing provides a great opportunity for even higher density than before because the lots can be narrower since buyers will want the harbour view only taller buildings can afford.

[Monctoncore]

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[Monctoncore]

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[Monctoncore]

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[RaginRonic]

Monctoncore, you'll have to try again on your pics....they're not displaying. =P