Northern Ontario developments!

[TbayON]

Sounds like the former Ukrainian Catholic Church at the corner of Mountdale and Gore is going to become commercial property. A group is going before city council on April 22 to have council hear their planning application. Re-zoning of the property is required for commercial development.

A number of contracts will be voted on Monday evening at council. They include:
-Cameron Street Bridge Rehabilitation (~$1.3 million)
-Sidewalks, street lights and traffic signals (~$1.1 million). Sounds like work will be going on at Victoria and Simpson as an all-way stop will be utilized during construction there
-Reconstruction of Frederica St. and Waterloo St. (~$2.5 million)
-Stage 1 of the Golf Links/Junot corridor (~$6.9 million). This will see the four-laning and rebuild of Golf Links from the Harbour Expressway to Oliver. A part of this contract involves a 5 year lease with Hydro One along their corridor for an off-road active transportation corridor on the west side of Golf Links north from the Harbour up to about Riviera Dr.
-A new watermain is going to be installed across the McKellar River (~$490 000)
-Asphalt Rehabilitation around town (~$4.6 million)

[vid]

Victoria/Simpson is getting a total traffic light re-build. The apartment across the street from my got new siding this week, it's somewhat disorienting when I walk home from work.

The illegal signs aren't always bad:

[Chadillaccc]

Woooooooof

[vid]

Say what you want about the illegal signs, that store always has a good one.

Does anyone have a copy of the commercial Valley Fresh was using a few years ago? The animate one with the cannibal fruits? Also, the commercial for Johnathans Big Deals with the reggae granny. They barely aired those commercials on TBT but they were among the best local commercials I've ever seen.

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by TbayON

We only really hear from Dwils01 out of the Soo occasionally and I recall hearing a little bit from Timmins a while back, so having a Thunder Bay developments thread isn't a bad idea. Or I guess we can continue to dominate this one too and save the trouble of having to start a Thunder Bay only page since no one is really complaining about the excessive T-Bay content.
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The rumour mill is spinning again in Thunder Bay, and this time it is about Costco again. Supposedly the company has already picked out a parcel of land in Innova Park and it is just a matter of time before they begin construction. Costco's arrival in Thunder Bay has been the subject of many many rumours before but I have been told this time its the real deal. I do see it as being possible given some of the developments in the local retail scene as of lately.

Just wondering how you came across this information and if its just a rumour ? When i lived in southern ontario i was a Costco member and i believe people here will love it . Its way better than Sams club which i also visited many times. Of course their will be tons of people complaining it will kill local business . It seems a lot of people here just dont want the city to grow.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by Dakota

Just wondering how you came across this information and if its just a rumour ? When i lived in southern ontario i was a Costco member and i believe people here will love it . Its way better than Sams club which i also visited many times. Of course their will be tons of people complaining it will kill local business . It seems a lot of people here just dont want the city to grow.

It is just a rumour as of now because nothing has been publicly announced. I don't like to count my chickens before they hatch, so I don't consider anything a done deal until construction is underway. Where did I hear this from? Basically, its a small town here in Thunder Bay and people talk. Large companies spend considerable time looking into potential markets before deciding to set-up shop, and they need to talk to at least a few people locally before they do it. It was worth posting since Costco has been wanting to build here for some time too. People can't really complain anymore that it will kill local business, there is hardly a local grocery store or department store left to speak of. Renco and Family Foods are probably the only two locally owned/franchise stores left now. But I know where you are coming from, and yes there might be complaints. I think they will be pretty subdued though. You would think people would've complained about having 3 Wal-Marts more than 1 Costco, but I didn't personally hear too much complaint about Wal-Mart setting up 2 more stores.

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The re-opening of the Longlac sawmill has finally hit the news. It has been known for quite some time that the mill would be re-opening eventually. Sounds like production will resume this summer. Lumber prices will need to remain in the $300/thousand bd ft range for this operation to remain viable. The Longlac mill has a chipper on site for undersized material that can send chips to Terrace Bay, which helps make the mill that much more viable. Therefore, I suspect the mill will do okay since Birla (Terrace Bay) is going to need a lot of wood in the coming years.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunde...e-of-debt.html

The Mining Readiness Strategy was released by the city, FWFN, and other partners today. The goal of the document from my perspectives seems to be geared towards addressing gaps that need to be filled before the city really becomes a true mining hub. In my opinion, the biggest gap right now is getting the people at the provincial and federal levels to get their shit together and getting stuff moving. The city and its partners on this plan are putting in one hell of an effort (for a municipal gov't), and the province and feds are pretty much MIA. Its really disappointing to watch and I would be embarrassed if I was the province or the federal government right now. Maybe more is happening behind closed doors, but from a public perspective, the effort from the province and feds just isn't satisfactory right now.
http://www.tbnewswatch.com/news/2723...ing-shortfalls

[tjernobyl]

I don't have the figures in front of me, but one of the city's studies suggested that the two new Wal-Marts would cut business at the other grocery stores by something like 10%, and cause a net decrease in total employment. Growth is good, but it's not always a win/win proposition economically.

[Dakota]

Im also curious as to why the corner of Harbour Expressway and Fort William Rd ( right across street from Sears ) has not been developed ? Seems to me this is a prime spot for a business ( s ) to set up ?
Also the 4 corners at the main highway and Harbour Expressway should be developed .

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by Dakota

Also the 4 corners at the main highway and Harbour Expressway should be developed .

They can't be. The province is very particular about allowing development along major highways. No development or additional connections (for commercial, residential, industrial access) will every occur along the Thunder Bay Expressway or the Shabaqua Extension.

As for the lot across from Sears, I believe Intercity uses it currently as a dumping location for snow from their parking lot. I am also not sure why that lot has not been developed though. The empty space across the road out front of Kilred Winding Industries is being advertised for commercial development currently though.

[vid]

A lot of local businesses depend on places like Walmart to buy supplies that they need. Typically we try to support local businesses but if we can save a significant amount of money, we'll do it, just to remain competitive ourselves. For the most part, local businesses are surviving by providing a quality of service that exceeds big box stores, or by selling things that big box stores don't or can't sell.

Walmart's 150,000sqft sounds impressive, but they don't even have room to sell frozen yogourt. Bay Meats has several times as much variety in meats and cheeses as Superstore and what Superstore does have, costs more. If you need to process a deer or moose, your only choice is local. Use a water cooler today? 100% of the water cooler jugs sold here are filled by locally owned business—even the ones at Walmart and Superstore.

Things like lawyers, doctors, and consultants are often local businesses. Construction companies.

A large part of the reason local business suffers is that they can't match the advertising. There are a lot of local businesses that we don't know about, so even if we might need something they sell, even if they sell it for less or sell a better quality product for a fair price, we often think first of the big box store. "They sell everything, they must have it!"

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by TbayON

They can't be. The province is very particular about allowing development along major highways. No development or additional connections (for commercial, residential, industrial access) will every occur along the Thunder Bay Expressway or the Shabaqua Extension.

As for the lot across from Sears, I believe Intercity uses it currently as a dumping location for snow from their parking lot. I am also not sure why that lot has not been developed though. The empty space across the road out front of Kilred Winding Industries is being advertised for commercial development currently though.

I do believe you are correct , but it must be more of a rule up here . Take a drive in any direction in southern , central or eastern Ontario and i can access any business , etc right off the highway. Lived there my entire life .

On another note now, have you or anyone else here have any idea why the hotel to be built by the airport is still on hold ?

[TbayON]

The lands on the western side of the Thunder Bay Expressway are also very difficult to develop as a result of the soils and hydrology there. In fact, just a little further to the south along the T-Bay Expressway, the expansion of the Parkdale subdivision where that large sand pile is has been halted by the MNR. The area, known as Williams Bog, is a significant natural drainage course for the area. If you take a look at Google Earth, its pretty plain and obvious there is significant water movement there.

As far as I know, no one is really too sure what is happening with the airport hotel. When hotel developments are mentioned, it is still counted in the number of hotels being developed at the moment, so I am pretty sure it will come down the pipe line sooner or later. Last I heard (which we are probably talking about a year ago), the group developing the hotel was having some issues negotiating the land tenure the hotel will sit on. The airport authority only wanted to lease the developers the land, while the hotel developers wanted to own the land outright. You can't really blame the hotel developers, building a high end multi-million dollar hotel on leased land has its risks. There were also some geotechnical issues mentioned prior to that as well.

[TbayON]

Confederation College is looking to construct a student village on-campus in Thunder Bay. The college is going to issue a request for proposals and retain an architecture firm to do some design work to see what is possible. The college believes they are losing potential out-of-town students because a lack of rental units in the city. The project wouldn't be complete until 2015 at the earliest. This project is separate of the DFC residence to also be constructed on the Confederation campus.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunde...-proposal.html

[vid]

Toys R Us is opening next month. They're having a job fair for 75 positions, none of which are full time and all pay minimum wage.

Excellent contribution to the economy. At least we can buy cheap crap for our children to distract them from the fact that there is no future here.

I'm negative because I read this on a Dougall Media website.

[TbayON]

I will try to look at the bright side of things with ToysRUs. It will provide part-time jobs for students, and we have lots of them in this city. We also have quite a few other well established toy stores that I think can compete with this company. It is also difficult for employers to find good help out there today. These guys will get what they pay for, and its that simple.

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City council voted to go ahead with phase 1 of the Golf Links Rd. project. Work will begin after half load restrictions are lifted apparently. Several of the local utility companies are already out doing locates and getting their infrastructure squared away before the contractor arrives.
http://www.tbnewswatch.com/news/272754/Corridor-coming
This project is just part of the $18 million the city voted to spend on infrastructure last evening. I posted the other contracts that were up for a vote late last week and it sounds like they are all going ahead as well.

I noticed yesterday a long time staple of the Westfort business community is closing. Tom Thumb is selling their inventory off at reduced prices currently. I don't know the reason for their closure, but I suspect the owner is retiring if I had to guess.

In other bad news, the city is planning to demolish the Lyceum Theatre this summer. That really sucks.

[vid]

The Lyceum Theatre is basically at a point where its structure is so compromised, it can't be saved. They should consider saving some of its stone features, though.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by vid

The Lyceum Theatre is basically at a point where its structure is so compromised, it can't be saved. They should consider saving some of its stone features, though.

Pretty unfortunate. I suppose it is pretty far gone, otherwise Habib probably would've put in a bid for it. I wonder if the facade can be salvaged at all? Probably not though, especially in this town where we only know how to completely destroy. It would probably be too difficult to attempt to save the facade anyways. Hopefully something becomes of the empty hole that will be left behind, we already have enough empty holes in the core areas.

The former Army Surplus/Outdoor store kitty corner to the Prospector is being advertised for re-development I believe. More details will come about this in the future. Superior Lofts is also now being advertised on the local MLS listings, as is the Genivar office on Syndicate.

I also heard a rumour that Highway 527 is going to be extended north of Armstrong. This is mainly for mineral development. I have no idea when this would happen if it is true or where the road would go to. I also don't know how Wabakimi Provincial Park would play into this since the park is directly north of Armstrong and a lot of environmental groups want the park to remain untouched in addition to seeing it enlarged.

[tjernobyl]

Originally Posted by TbayON

I also heard a rumour that Highway 527 is going to be extended north of Armstrong. This is mainly for mineral development. I have no idea when this would happen if it is true or where the road would go to. I also don't know how Wabakimi Provincial Park would play into this since the park is directly north of Armstrong and a lot of environmental groups want the park to remain untouched in addition to seeing it enlarged.

There's a gap in the park east of the current northern terminus over which a bridge already crosses; I'd bet a new road would jog that side of the park towards the ROF. As the crow flies there's a 60km difference heading to McFaulds from there vs Nakina, but local geography could easily reduce or multiply that.

Originally Posted by TbayON

Pretty unfortunate. I suppose it is pretty far gone, otherwise Habib probably would've put in a bid for it. I wonder if the facade can be salvaged at all? Probably not though, especially in this town where we only know how to completely destroy. It would probably be too difficult to attempt to save the facade anyways. Hopefully something becomes of the empty hole that will be left behind, we already have enough empty holes in the core areas.

I'm betting on parking lot. Which is a shame, as in my opinion it's the best surviving streetwall anywhere in the city.

The former McNulty's / Athletic Club on Red River has sold. This is the second time recently, as the previous purchaser apparently balked at the repairs that needed to be done.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by tjernobyl

The former McNulty's / Athletic Club on Red River has sold. This is the second time recently, as the previous purchaser apparently balked at the repairs that needed to be done.

Any idea who bought it or for what purpose? Also, where abouts is that? I am having a mental block on where Athletic Club used to be on Red River.

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A $500 000 grant has been given to the NWO Innovation Centre from the province through the NOHFC for an advanced manufacturing lab. The lab will be used by inventors to construct their innovations for initial testing and marketing prior to full commercialization. Fednor provided $300 000 for the lab, I believe last month. The lab will create 5 jobs and the location is yet to be announced. The NWO Innovation Centre is awaiting the arrival of all equipment prior to making their own announcement.
http://www.tbnewswatch.com/news/2736...ding-announced

The merger of Superior Credit Union of Thunder Bay and Copperfin Credit Union of Kenora in a done deal. Members voted to allow the merger yesterday. The Superior CU branches will adopt the Copperfin name. This is probably good news for Thunder Bay as I understand Superior was not in very good shape, and this merger should allow the branches to continue operating.

[vid]

I think he means Club Nautilus.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=221+red...VUASIlFBO2g28Q