Regina Construction III - Page 275

Stormer · #**5481** Posted **Jun 6, 2016, 3:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

It's almost definitely soil sampling. They were hauling bags of sand over to the hole on Friday to backfill it.

Interesting that they would be doing this now though. Is it because they're forced to every so often or is it as a part of a sale to a developer who needs to know what kind of remediation the site needs.

Probably the latter. When they have ongoing monitoring obligations, they leave capped wells on the site for periodic ground water monitoring/sampling. It would really be great to see something happen on that site. This section of the Green Mile has seen a real resurgence with all the new pubs and restaurants and Capitol Point appearing to be well underway.

Drofmab · #**5482** Posted **Jun 6, 2016, 3:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

It's almost definitely soil sampling. They were hauling bags of sand over to the hole on Friday to backfill it.

Interesting that they would be doing this now though. Is it because they're forced to every so often or is it as a part of a sale to a developer who needs to know what kind of remediation the site needs.

The building immediately to the north of the lot is being gutted/renovated. A couple tenants from 1118 Broad Street bought the building (The Mortgage Group; Realty One & Usonia, I believe) & are moving there. Maybe they bought that lot as parking?

Stormer · #**5483** Posted **Jun 6, 2016, 3:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drofmab

The building immediately to the north of the lot is being gutted/renovated. A couple tenants from 1118 Broad Street bought the building (The Mortgage Group; Realty One & Usonia, I believe) & are moving there. Maybe they bought that lot as parking?

They would need zoning approval for parking and I assume they would not get it.

Stormer · #**5484** Posted **Jun 6, 2016, 3:49 PM**

Apparently multi-family development is not dead in Regina. There are several new projects starting. As well, 2 huge projects in Westerra are on tap this week at the RPC. They total 413 units. One is 3 - four storey apartment buildings (213 units). The other is a four-wing, four storey seniors building shaped like an X.

http://www.regina.ca/residents/counc...lendar-agenda/

Stormer · #**5485** Posted **Jun 6, 2016, 4:27 PM**

There are also another 77 infill units on Michener Dr. in University Park up for approval. That one faces strong local opposition though.

jigglysquishy · #**5486** Posted **Jun 6, 2016, 4:43 PM**

Want the Michener one in the paper like a month ago?

Dan0myte · #**5487** Posted **Jun 6, 2016, 5:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drofmab

A couple tenants from 1118 Broad Street bought the building (The Mortgage Group; Realty One & Usonia, I believe)

I thought Usonia was bankrupt?

TMG and Realty One I can see though. It would get them a lot more exposure there than that dead strip of north broad.

If anyone has noticed, ANEX has also re-opened their location at 2139 Albert. That's where they started years ago and have come back due to the resurgence of the strip. Their north broad location will continue to be the rugs/furniture store while the downtown location will be more of the decorative and and funky side of things.

Dan0myte · #**5488** Posted **Jun 6, 2016, 5:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormer

There are also another 77 infill units on Michener Dr. in University Park up for approval. That one faces strong local opposition though.

Wow, they want to cram a four-storey apartment into that small green space between the apartments? No wonder there's opposition to that. That just seems like the property owner seeing green dollar signs without thinking about the consequences.

Drofmab · #**5489** Posted **Jun 6, 2016, 6:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormer

They would need zoning approval for parking and I assume they would not get it.

I figured as much... just spitballing

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

I thought Usonia was bankrupt?

TMG and Realty One I can see though. It would get them a lot more exposure there than that dead strip of north broad.

Usonia is definitely on life-support, not sure if anyone's formally pulled the plug yet, though...

Not a huge loss - plenty of other builders who can build similarly styled houses. From everyone I know who's in a Usonia house, the construction is poor (leaky roofs, fit & finish, etc). I know someone who was convinced (lord only knows how/why) not to put A/C in their house... combine this with plenty of windows, & no forced-air HVAC (making it near-impossible to retrofit in an aesthetically pleasing/cost-effective manner) - the house is a sauna all summer, and fairly cold most of the winter.

Not to mention their reputation in the building community... they've (apparently) always paid their subcontractors late, which means the good subs have been avoiding them (easy to do in a labour shortage), leaving the questionable subs to pick up most of the work.

Drofmab · #**5490** Posted **Jun 6, 2016, 6:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

Wow, they want to cram a four-storey apartment into that small green space between the apartments? No wonder there's opposition to that. That just seems like the property owner seeing green dollar signs without thinking about the consequences.

There's plenty of space for the building itself, the associated parking is the issue I'd see as the biggest potential problem... but they address that by adding 69 stalls on the ground level of the building, so it seems like more of a NIMBY issue to me.

(the loss of green space is a red herring, IMHO... the apts back onto a large park, I rarely see kids playing in the exiting "green space" - they go to the schoolyards, park playground, or soccer field)

BrutallyDishonest2 · #**5491** Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 1:51 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drofmab

There's plenty of space for the building itself, the associated parking is the issue I'd see as the biggest potential problem... but they address that by adding 69 stalls on the ground level of the building, so it seems like more of a NIMBY issue to me.

(the loss of green space is a red herring, IMHO... the apts back onto a large park, I rarely see kids playing in the exiting "green space" - they go to the schoolyards, park playground, or soccer field)

This. There's plenty of room for the building and plenty of room to absorb the parking issues.

BrutallyDishonest2 · #**5492** Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 1:53 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

Is it because they're forced to every so often or is it as a part of a sale to a developer who needs to know what kind of remediation the site needs.

Urban brownfield sites are almost always remediated before they are put up for sale. That is, they have their Ministry of Environment certificate prior to talking to developers.

BrutallyDishonest2 · #**5493** Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 1:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drofmab

The building immediately to the north of the lot is being gutted/renovated. A couple tenants from 1118 Broad Street bought the building (The Mortgage Group; Realty One & Usonia, I believe) & are moving there. Maybe they bought that lot as parking?

It is my understanding that Realty One already owns 1118 Broad St, so they'd be cannibalizing themselves.

someguy · #**5494** Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 5:32 AM**

Rob Pederson owns realty one, and the building that they are currently in, but he also owns alot of other real estate.

As far as the lot on 14th and Albert, if it is abutting the building that he has purchased, there would be no problem turning it into parking for that property. I believe that it is zoned MAC, which does not limit on site parking at all. Not too sure if off site caveated parking would be contemplated in that zone without looking it up.

Stormer · #**5495** Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 2:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrutallyDishonest2

Urban brownfield sites are almost always remediated before they are put up for sale. That is, they have their Ministry of Environment certificate prior to talking to developers.

Yes there is actually a new process that makes this much more certain for buyers and should increase the likelihood of brownfield development going forward.

Stormer · #**5496** Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 2:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by aberrant

For the last 10-15 years, I always thought 11th Ave east of Broad had the potential to be our equivalent of the rivitalized Saskatoon Riversdale, but it just never happened beyond Artful Dodger.

I noticed this morning a zoning notice posted in this building at Ottawa and 11th. I just caught a glimpse but it said "mixed use building". At one time this was a mixed use building. It in fact used to be two or three floors but a there was a fire in the 70's on the upper floors so they just demoed them and put a roof on the main floor! It even had a Royal Bank Branch at one time.

Given the fire, this building must be in terrible condition.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@50.45036...2!8i6656?hl=en

HomeInMyShoes · #**5497** Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 2:59 PM**

Yeah 11th has so much potential, but the Artful Dodger leaving is a really big blow to whatever momentum there might have been.

The movement of Payday Loans from the corner further South might help rent the space in the corner of Broad/11th, but there doesn't seem to be much pulse as of yet.

Dan0myte · #**5498** Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 3:41 PM**

OK, so I heard from Rob Pederson that he (and his business partners) did purchase 2250 Albert Street, but did so as a real estate investment and has no intention of moving R1 there.

After the renovations are complete, TMG will be leasing the upstairs portion and a dance group will be leasing the main floor.

The work on the empty lot next door has no relation to him or his building.

Drofmab · #**5499** Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 4:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

OK, so I heard from Rob Pederson that he (and his business partners) did purchase 2250 Albert Street, but did so as a real estate investment and has no intention of moving R1 there.

After the renovations are complete, TMG will be leasing the upstairs portion and a dance group will be leasing the main floor.

The work on the empty lot next door has no relation to him or his building.

I knew Realty One was involved somehow - but wasn't sure how, exactly. This makes sense.

Drofmab · #**5500** Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 4:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by someguy

Rob Pederson owns realty one, and the building that they are currently in, but he also owns alot of other real estate.

As far as the lot on 14th and Albert, if it is abutting the building that he has purchased, there would be no problem turning it into parking for that property. I believe that it is zoned MAC, which does not limit on site parking at all. Not too sure if off site caveated parking would be contemplated in that zone without looking it up.

I know that one of the guys involved specifically mentioned availability of parking as an advantage to the 14th/Albert site over the existing Broad St site. Without the borwnfield as parking, I'd say both have about the same parking (Broad might actually have more, as they have a small parking lot).