The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[adamuptownsj]

Originally Posted by darkharbour

I think right now the issue is who will pay for the change. I suspect that NB Southern/JDI is not going to want to deal with the cost themselves, and will leverage the traffic issues at Simms Corner to force the province and city to bear a large portion of the cost under the guise of not holding up economic development, etc.. Either way, it can't happen until the Harbour Bridge is finished, otherwise travel through the city would grind to a halt if both Main St. W. and the bridge were under construction at the same time.

Of course- and there's no point in making any Simms improvements until the rail crossing issue is fixed, too. But the time to plan and fund is now. I wonder if NB Southern could make a case for federal money? I presume they could.

I don't think a roundabout is a good fit here, FWIW. A bog standard four-way intersection would be just fine. It would allow the top of Fairville to be opened to southbound, and a lot of the traffic that clogs Main would naturally reroute to travel Fairville-Bridge in the morning and Bridge-Fairville in the evening. A roundabout would be kind of pointless.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by sailor734

Where is the land owned by dormant Landmark project in relation to this parcel? Across Sydney St to the east?

Yes, I believe it is 300 Sydney, which would be that parcel.

Originally Posted by darkharbour

I think right now the issue is who will pay for the change. I suspect that NB Southern/JDI is not going to want to deal with the cost themselves, and will leverage the traffic issues at Simms Corner to force the province and city to bear a large portion of the cost under the guise of not holding up economic development, etc.. Either way, it can't happen until the Harbour Bridge is finished, otherwise travel through the city would grind to a halt if both Main St. W. and the bridge were under construction at the same time.

They really need to prioritize finishing the Harbour Bridge project, it seems to be holding up several other items.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by bingun

Yes, I believe it is 300 Sydney, which would be that parcel.



They really need to prioritize finishing the Harbour Bridge project, it seems to be holding up several other items.

Unfortunately the Harbour Bridge project is in the hands of the provincial DOT......AKA Slow Motion Bridge Repair 'R Us

At the rate they are going by the time they finally finish it will be time to start refurbishing the first section they did. Sections of the asphalt top coat have already failed on the first sections they did.

[bingun]

The city has posted their North End Neighbourhood Plan survey. The questions are fairly generic, but this is a good opportunity to provide input.

https://shapeyourcitysaintjohn.ca/north-end-neighbourhood-plan/surveys/north-end-plan-survey

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Considering that Saint John faces disproportional risk relating to tariff exposure, our city and regional leaders, especially those who influence federal and provincial politics, should be lobbying for a massive increase in infrastructure spending for Saint John to help the city and region weather the economic storm brought on by Trump's tariff and trade war... especially since the general consensus is that Canada, and New Brunswick especially, need to expand and increase their overseas trading relations to deal with an over-reliance on trade with the United States.

Imo, if candidates in either of Saint John's two federal ridings want to win their seat, they should sell voters on their solutions and commitment to diversifying and expanding our global trading relations.

[JakeNB]

Does anyone know whether the City put any conditions on the transfer of the Charlotte Street property to Lafford? Like development within a specified time frame?

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by JakeNB

Does anyone know whether the City put any conditions on the transfer of the Charlotte Street property to Lafford? Like development within a specified time frame?

There is no development proposal yet to put conditions on and I’ve never seen them do it just for land. Council just approved for the city to execute a sale of the property. Conditions would be when a project goes through PAC / council. Wondering if they publish purchase and sale agreements - cause would be in that if they did put a condition on land sale.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by JakeNB

Does anyone know whether the City put any conditions on the transfer of the Charlotte Street property to Lafford? Like development within a specified time frame?

Referring back to the document below, they have to provide details on their plans, but I am curious if the city has any mechanism to hold them to that or if they can change their mind as soon as the sale goes through.

https://saintjohn.ca/sites/default/files/documents/EOI4.bid%20324%20Charlotte%20Street.pdf

[homebody]

Is this Lafford the same guy as up the road in Moncton doing wonderful things?

[DyAm00394]

Originally Posted by homebody

Is this Lafford the same guy as up the road in Moncton doing wonderful things?

Yes, they are one of the major developers in Moncton. Their big projects being Three Sisters and Gateway Towers.

[DyAm00394]

Some interesting proposals in the upcoming Planning Advisory Committee meeting on February 19th 2025. https://pub-saintjohn.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=20756

• A proposal for a two-phase rural residential neighbourhood. Located at 0 Bayside Drive. Phase 1 involves 12 dwelling units in total, four of them being single-family homes and four duplexes along a private road. (Site plan included in the PDF document in the link above).
  
  
• A proposal for a new SPCA Animal Shelter at 801 Loch Lomond Road. (Site plan included in the PDF document in the link above).
  
  
• Also in the agenda is a proposal to subdivide 211 Waterloo Street into two parcels for a phased development. The applicant is seeking approval to create two lots along an existing private street, Agar Place. This is for Hospital Hill Development Ltd. (No specific details or site plans other than "for phased development of the site").

[bingun]

Also in the agenda is a proposal to subdivide 211 Waterloo Street into two parcels for a phased development. The applicant is seeking approval to create two lots along an existing private street, Agar Place. This is for Hospital Hill Development Ltd. [B][I](No specific details or site plans other than "for phased development of the site").

This is a positive sign that this development is moving forward.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

MP Wayne Long announced some pretty significant federal funding to support homeless shelters in Saint John. Will be interesting to see how that funding is used.

Will we finally hear something about green zone locations? Or has the city given up on that approach? 🚦


A link from the city:

https://saintjohn.ca/en/news-and-notices...fGZ0iS4gy3Lsw_aem_aCWcPpDn07F9hQoiV2QaZQ

[bingun]

In next week's council meeting, there is an item on scheduling public hearing dates. One of the items included is the below.

Does anyone know more about this? This is the old church on Germain/Queen that is used by a lot of community groups right now.

[adamuptownsj]

Originally Posted by bingun

In next week's council meeting, there is an item on scheduling public hearing dates. One of the items included is the below.

Does anyone know more about this? This is the old church on Germain/Queen that is used by a lot of community groups right now.

It was in front of the heritage board for really substantial window replacement... AFAIK the three-storey older half of the church is getting redeveloped, and there's few/no changes planned to the 60s church facility to the south of it at this time.

Worth mentioning the new owner got the light in the odd little steeple working for the first time in decades. Looks cool at night.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by adamuptownsj

It was in front of the heritage board for really substantial window replacement... AFAIK the three-storey older half of the church is getting redeveloped, and there's few/no changes planned to the 60s church facility to the south of it at this time.

Worth mentioning the new owner got the light in the odd little steeple working for the first time in decades. Looks cool at night.

Thanks for the information. Do we have any idea what kind of commercial use they have in mind for the building? Office space perhaps?

[DyAm00394]

An interesting Committee of The Whole item from last night's city council meeting:

"The City has been approached by Saint John Non-Profit Housing Inc. (“SJNPH”) who wishes to explore the possibility of adding residential housing above the existing Peel Plaza parking garage. Inspired by the Wellington apartment complex, this mixed-income development aims to provide affordable housing for families across diverse backgrounds. SJNPH requested that the City enter into a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to indicate its support of the concept which will allow SJNPH to obtain funding for pre-construction studies.

The purpose of this report is to seek authority for the City to enter into an MOU with SJNPH for this purpose".

https://pub-saintjohn.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=20952

[bingun]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

An interesting Committee of The Whole item from last night's city council meeting:



https://pub-saintjohn.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=20952

While it is a cool idea, how realistic is it to retrofit an existing parking structure with residential above? They mention the Wellington, but that was purpose-built with parking and residential.

[bridgeoftea]

Originally Posted by bingun

While it is a cool idea, how realistic is it to retrofit an existing parking structure with residential above? They mention the Wellington, but that was purpose-built with parking and residential.

I like the thought process there. I do think there is probably other options for infilling that could be done first, but I wouldn't be sad about seeing an extra 4-6 levels on the parking plaza for residential.

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by bingun

While it is a cool idea, how realistic is it to retrofit an existing parking structure with residential above? They mention the Wellington, but that was purpose-built with parking and residential.

It was built with the future capability of housing on top.