Northern Ontario developments!

[Florist]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

My Aunts flower shop at 567 Memorial Ave. in Port Arthur is closing tomorrow. She's owned and operated it for 17 years. That's too bad The place is called 'From the Heart Florist'

A bit of good news, "From The Heart Florist", at 567 Memorial Ave., will continue to operate. The shop has been sold to a new owner and is expected to be open again soon

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by Florist

A bit of good news, "From The Heart Florist", at 567 Memorial Ave., will continue to operate. The shop has been sold to a new owner and is expected to be open again soon

Do you happen to be that new owner? Just curious, your username leads me to believe that you might be.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by ADLS

On another note, I was scrolling through the mls listings. All of the condos at the Thunder Bay country club are no longer listed on mls. Hard to believe they're all sold too. Has anyone heard anything? How's progress been there lately?

I was at the home show last weekend, and took a quick look at the plans. Only a few of the units that I looked at on a couple pages were sold. Maybe this set of plans was outdated, but you wouldn't think so if you were looking to sell units at a public event.

Anyways, as for progress, things are full steam ahead now. Work is just finishing up on the foundation, and construction of the below-grade walls should begin shortly. All the steel components are sitting in Toronto waiting to go and the concrete forms are ready. The building is being developed in 2 phases from what I understand. About 30 condo units and all the space associated with the golf course (club house, shop, lobby etc.) will go up this year. The balance of the condos will be finished next year.

[btimmis1]

I was at Intercity Mall today and noticed two things;
Firstly, the renovation of the old Zellers into the new Target is proceeding somewhat slower than I would have expected, I have no idea about the interior but the exterior still has a long way to go and there wasn't anyone working on it this afternoon. This surprises me given that many (most?) locations in southern Ontario are already open.
Secondly, inside the mall I noticed three empty retail units, at least two of which were a fairly good size. I haven't walked all the way through the mall for awhile, but I don't recall there being this many empty previously, and with no signs indicating something was coming soon.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by btimmis1

I was at Intercity Mall today and noticed two things;
Firstly, the renovation of the old Zellers into the new Target is proceeding somewhat slower than I would have expected, I have no idea about the interior but the exterior still has a long way to go and there wasn't anyone working on it this afternoon. This surprises me given that many (most?) locations in southern Ontario are already open.
Secondly, inside the mall I noticed three empty retail units, at least two of which were a fairly good size. I haven't walked all the way through the mall for awhile, but I don't recall there being this many empty previously, and with no signs indicating something was coming soon.

Target here is a little slower to open since it is in the second or third round of stores the company is opening is Canada. Not all Target's stores in Canada are opening at the same time. I am pretty sure that one in Winnipeg has also been open sometime. They targeted (pun unintended) larger markets for their initial openings. The store isn't supposed to be ready until summertime, and the contractors have done quite a bit of work in a pretty short time period.

Maurices is moving into the mall. I am not sure where, but they will occupy one of the larger available units. The rent in the mall is quite outrageously expensive compared to other retail spaces, which tends to mean a high turnover rate for stores. The access to customers makes it worth the investment though.

[vid]

Maurices is going into the former Urban Behaviour location, across the hall from Moxies.

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by btimmis1

I was at Intercity Mall today and noticed two things;
Firstly, the renovation of the old Zellers into the new Target is proceeding somewhat slower than I would have expected, I have no idea about the interior but the exterior still has a long way to go and there wasn't anyone working on it this afternoon. This surprises me given that many (most?) locations in southern Ontario are already open.
Secondly, inside the mall I noticed three empty retail units, at least two of which were a fairly good size. I haven't walked all the way through the mall for awhile, but I don't recall there being this many empty previously, and with no signs indicating something was coming soon.

The inside of Target is progressing almost on schedule . It was an entire gut job . Workers are already putting up the shelfs. The exterior ( brick ) will be getting a make over as well . The June opening is still on !

[TbayON]

I noticed this evening that the land between the Valhalla Inn (on the east side of the building) and the Hwy 61 is being cleared. I am not sure for what at this time. My gut feeling tells me parking spots though since parking always seems to be in short supply there whenever any event is held. Wishful thinking would have them putting an addition on. Never know with all the hotel activity locally at the moment.

The former Thunder Bay Interim Long Term Care Centre on James St. at Mini Queens is for sale. Asking price is just under $600 000. Supposedly the building is in less than spectacular shape inside. I have a feeling it is going to be for sale for quite a while at that price. I really don't know who owns it since a commercial realtor is taking care of the sale.

[vid]

The wide metal silos at the end of Manitoba 3 are being demolished.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/majhnstn/8651370018/

The property was one of several a couple years ago that owed large amounts of money to the city. Not sure why the silos are being demolished though.

[TbayON]

Has the city seized the property then? If so, I can see the city not wanting the liability associated with having the old silos. Scrap metal is also worth something today, so there is probably some value in those old silos.

[vid]

I would assume the city has the property, but I don't know for sure.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by vid

I would assume the city has the property, but I don't know for sure.

Is it possible that the property belongs to the Thunder Bay Port Authority? This recent article in Northern Ontario Business leads to me believe it may be.
http://www.northernontariobusiness.c...under-Bay.aspx

[vid]

They own the UGG terminal (the smaller blue elevator), I figured they would use that for containers. They might own Manitoba 3 as well, though.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by vid

They own the UGG terminal (the smaller blue elevator), I figured they would use that for containers. They might own Manitoba 3 as well, though.

In the article, it seemed like the Port Authority wanted to attract large-scale private industrial development to that area. This is in contrast to earlier reports put together by the Port Authority that called for themselves to construct a loading dock for commodity type materials (from what I could tell from the fairly simple drawings included).

The container subject is one thing I cannot figure out. I'm not sure why more container traffic isn't going through Thunder Bay. I know part of the issue is we are on the wrong side of China (and the rest of Asia), but you would think we could attract more container traffic than we do. I think Montreal does quite a bit of business with containers, and they are on the east side of the country. I think there is a lot of hope that the Centre Port project in Winnipeg will have a positive impact on Thunder Bay. Bringing containers into Thunder Bay would help reduce truck traffic on the sub-par Northern Ontario stretch of the Trans-Canada east of T-Bay, which would be a good thing in many ways.

=====

Article about the Art Gallery moving to the waterfront:
http://www.tbnewswatch.com/artsandli...ooking-to-move

I only worry that we may be starting a trend of moving all attractions and civic "quality of life" properties to the waterfront. I don't think draining the rest of the city of these types of properties is necessarily the best option. Each neighbourhood needs its own centre piece in my opinion.

[vid]

The problem is that all of a sudden, on the water is *the place* to be, and that's the only place (other than the languishing Kam Park) that you can go to be on the water.

Zoning by-law news:

The church at the corner of Gore and Mountdale will become 3 apartment units, its hall will become a retail building. Parking across the street.

102 North Windemere, a 1920s bungalow, will become a 4-plex

Nearby, 58 North High, which was recently demolished, will become a 6-plex built in an architectural style that attempts to mimic nearby houses.

[TbayON]

I seem to remember mention of a 'pet store' being included in the zoning application for the church at Gore and Mountdale as the occupant of the retail space. I swear there are as many dogs as there are people in this town now, so it wouldn't surprise me one bit.

====

A tender is out currently for a prime consultant to oversee interior renovations to the Whalen Building in downtown P.A. The eventual construction phase will involve some lobby improvements, and complete rebuilds of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and part of the 7th floor. Construction is supposed to occur between November 2013 and May 2014. A budget of $3.2 million is projected for the job.

The renovations will make the building more suitable for a variety of tenants to occupy the same floor. The existing floor plan is pretty open according to the drawings.
http://cfapps.thunderbay.ca/TenderDo...20document.pdf
http://cfapps.thunderbay.ca/TenderDo...1%20to%204.pdf

Also, the businessman developing the Holiday Inn at the corner of Carrick and the Harbour is supposed to be in town this week. He already owns 4 or 5 other Holiday Inn's elsewhere. He is going to be acting as the general on this project as far as I understand, which he also did on his other hotels. Construction isn't going to be starting immediately in the very near future. I would think towards the middle to the end of May.

[TbayON]

The waterline is being installed for the new Northstar Mercedes building at Lakehead Motors, which is going in from the Harbour Expressway at 16th Ave north towards Field St. I was kind of hopeful at first when I saw equipment working that Jones might actually finally be putting up the office building they have had advertised on that billboard for eons, but then I realized the waterline for the new car dealership was going in there.

On a related subject, iCar Canada will be occupying the current Northstar location at the end of Walsh St. once the new Mercedes dealership is complete.

Work at the new Mariachi hotel at Carrick is behind schedule. There have been problems with the on-site crane since day 1. The Quebec-based company that owns the crane did not ensure their operator had proper credentials for operating in Ontario before sending the unit here, and there have been some mechanical issues. This has slowed the job down significantly.

Toys R Us is nearing completion, and I am hearing rumblings that the building next door may begin before too long. I don't think a tenant has been nailed down just yet.

The new TbayTel Engineering building on Tungsten is coming along nicely. It is a decently nice looking building for a single story rectangular office building. I'm personally a fan of exposed wood beams, so I suppose there is some bias.

[vid]

" the new Mariachi hotel "



My phone autocorrects "ya" to "ayatolla", it's hilarious.

[TbayON]

Yes it will be all song and dance at the Mariachi until the fricken place falls over...or sinks into the ground. I can't believe how its being built. Pretty scary actually, I don't think I ever want to enter that building.

====

Horizon Wind's REA for the Big Thunder Wind Park was approved by the province. The public now has 60 days to comment on the project, at which point the MOE will make a decision whether or not the project can proceed.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunde...-approval.html

I think the FWFN is the wildcard here. They have historically been opposed to this project and pledged to stop it. I'm not sure how having a new chief will affect anything, or if the same stance remains on the project.

I hope this project does not go ahead. The Green Energy Act is so flawed and so wrong, its pretty disgusting what the government did to the people of Ontario (if you read some of the details in the act). Horizon will also say anything to garner support for the project (whether it be a training school, a turbine manufacturing plant, brainwashing kids etc.), and I don't really trust them. The deal isn't a great one for the city either. As far as I understand, Thunder Bay Hydro will be required by the Green Energy Act to hook up to the wind farm at their own cost. This project will also give the muttonheads at the OPA one more reason to shut down the power plant on the waterfront (yea, you know the one that actually produces affordable and reliable power).

[vid]

I don't mind wind power, but I think the company is definitely suspicious. They want this project to go ahead too much for me to trust them, they're obsessed with it.

The coal plant doesn't produce much power at all, it has a less than 5% up time. The only reason its emissions are down by so much is because it is never on. It's basically just a backup generator for when winter cold snaps drive our energy use through the roof.

That said, it is important to have a dependable base load. If we need that extra energy and wind generation isn't providing it, where would we turn to? It isn't like we can draw energy from the south; that single, small connection in White River is virtually maxed out at all times. All of Northern Ontario's geothermal plants are currently shut down right now because they're not needed.

http://www.sygration.com/gendata/today.html
http://www.powerauthority.on.ca/curr...city-contracts

Power plants in the Thunder Bay area: (what they're producing as of 7pm April 24th/total capacity

Coal: (0/306)

Thunder Bay-G2 (0/153)
Thunder Bay-G3 (0/153)

Hydro-electric:

Nipigon River: (193/297)

Alexander Station (48/68)
Cameron Falls Station (52/87)
Pine Portage Station (93/142)

Kaministiquia River: (40/73)

Kakabeka Falls (8/25)
Silver Falls (32/48)

Others: (111/201)

Bowater Thunder Bay (44/62)
Greenwich Windfarm (40/99)
Nipigon Gas Powerplant (27/40)

Total power capacity in the Thunder Bay area: 344/877

Without the coal plant, that would be 344/603.

There is no data for the solar projects or the city's methane plant at the landfill.