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Originally Posted by bingun
The first three of these ideas aren't too crazy, and I think they would be nice as long-term projects to work towards, especially as part of the North End plan.
What does he mean by tram service? The tourist ones that drive around uptown, or are we talking about an actual permanent tram service?
I knew you couldn't resist another opportunity to bring up turning Brunswick Tower into residential. I'll find a way to set you up for another west/uptown tunnel post when I get the chance.
Based on the latest deficit numbers released today, I'd rather the provincial government not pour money into subsidizing a conversion for owners who have completely mismanaged the property and bankrupted themselves into financial restructuring. Not to mention, I don't know if you've ever been in there, but it would be a nightmare to convert to make it competitive with the latest batch of new build developments uptown.
Realistically, they need to adjust their rental rates to be competitive, aggressively find new tenants, and hope that Saint John experiences long-term sustained growth to an extent where new office space is desired and the city's vacancy rates can drop to more healthy levels.
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The first three ideas aren't crazy, but Barry Ogden's mayoral ambitions certainly are. I've looked at the man's facebook the past few days and he's posted random things about Ottoman Empire, coexisting with animals on our city roads, and like new age health posts. He also just spams the same posts and same stories over and over again. Or will include like 90+ photos in a single post.
not exactly the type of posts I want to see on a daily basis from someone who could be our next mayor. 
Barry Ogden as mayor would be an utter disaster, but I'd love to see him remain on council where his efforts are best suited and actually serve the city well. I hope someone can sit him down and make him realize that, but I have a feeling he won't listen, and this pursuit of the mayoral race will be just be one more Marco Polo or Marigolds project for him, where he's completely got the blinders on.
Again, I really hope Barry remains on council, as I really think he has a useful voice on council at times, and brings up things the other councillors don't, I just don't think he'd be the right fit to be Mayor compared to Reardon or Darling before her. I'm not a huge fan of Mayor Reardon, but I'd certainly vote for her again if Barry Ogden was the main other option.
Many have mocked me here for my "nautical fantasies" regarding bringing back cross river and cross harbour ferries to Saint John between the West Side and Uptown, but at least my nautical fantasies would be floating and operational.
We still haven't seen the final plans for the Marco Polo project which he claims has cost $3.5+ million at this point, and still need more money for. It's still entirely unclear if kids will be allowed to play on this thing, or if people will even be allowed to "board" this ship at all, which if not, would kind of defeat the whole purposes of the project, imo.
I won't be surprised if we find out there's only going to be one little boy that's allowed to play on the Marco Polo once it's finished, a 66 year old boomer named Barry Ogden:
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As for Brunswick Square, I'd like to see some sort of study. We've wasted money on studies for Partridge Island, amalgamation, and many other things the province, feds, or city never ended up doing. Redevelopment of Brunswick Square Tower as a mixed use development could be a a very lucrative economic opportunity. It's not about rewarding the crappy REIT's that have let the building stagnate and decline for decades, it's about funding a solution that re-envisions the property as something completely different.
The government should at least fund a study to look at different redevelopment options for New Brunswick's most prominent Class A building. A redeveloped Brunswick Square could add much needed housing to Uptown Saint John, along with more desirable, in demand services, like VIP cinemas, restaurants, or one of the 30 promised "
community care clinics".
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Any study worth its weight will also look at the possibilities of expanding the building upwards with 10-15+ new storeys, since the building was designed to support up to 36 storeys. I'd assume developing those 10-15 storeys as residential from the start would make things a lot less complicated.
Even a 5-10+ floor increase in height could help redefine the building as something new and different, but really, there's no need to expand upwards in order to redefine the building and make it something better... it's just a nice, unique opportunity that doesn't exist with most buildings.
I can't think of another building in New Brunswick deserving of government study for redevelopment than Brunswick Square Tower. I think we should at least explore the options and the costs first, before we write it off as uneconomical, unfeasible, etc. 19 storey buildings ripe for re-development are pretty rare in this part of Canada. We don't need a Calgary style program, just a case by case approach to the few 10+ storey office buildings we have in this province.
If government assistance can help transform the building from being a near stranded asset as an office tower, to a functioning, or even flourishing, mixed use development, it would be money well spent for Saint John.
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