The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[NB_ExistsToo]

Originally Posted by ricker

Believe me if you lived inland during the hot spell you would welcome the fog!
I have always said we have the best weather in the province, cool on the coast and only a 5 minute drive inland if you want the heat.

I get disappointed in the winter though. When it floats consistently between 0-5 degrees and all the snow is just puddles and slush!

[Wolkenkratzerliebhab]

A crappy still taken from a Flip-video of the new four-story Irving Tower car park. As you can see the walls are beginning to go up rather fast.

2018-08-17 at 9.25 PM by I'm Me, Who are You?, on Flickr

[UptownJeff]

Coming tomorrow. An announcement for a flight from Saint John to Boston!

[RaginRonic]

Originally Posted by Wolkenkratzerliebhab

A crappy still taken from a Flip-video of the new four-story Irving Tower car park. As you can see the walls are beginning to go up rather fast.

2018-08-17 at 9.25 PM by I'm Me, Who are You?, on Flickr

You have to credit that company for at least one thing....they tend to that kind of business quickly. And I guess it's all good, because everything about those projects is in house....the construction equipment, materials, et al. =P

[Whaler]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I was going to say something about provoking a flame war, but then I saw that you had a key non in your post (ie - non existent).

There was a time back in the 70s and early 80s when smog and odour were a problem in Saint John, but since Irving cleaned up its act, this is no longer really an issue. Now it just depends whether or not you like fog or not. Fog is OK - its kinda nature's air conditioning.........

Misconceptions persist however especially amongst people who really have no first hand knowledge of the attributes of a community.

Just a note about the fog point. St. John's is much foggier and then Halifax comes on second. Saint John of course is third.

[kwajo]

Leinster Street is looking pretty different these days.



Not a fan of the faux brick at all, it looks pretty bad right now, but maybe it will improve as the project moves forward.

[Ire Narissis]

And here I was, naively thinking they were going to use actual bricks.

[JHikka]

As bad as the faux brick is i'm always going to say that a parking garage is better than surface parking any day of the week.

[MonctonianSentinel01]

Originally Posted by JHikka

As bad as the faux brick is i'm always going to say that a parking garage is better than surface parking any day of the week.

Well said bud.

[MonctonRad]

Downtown parking is one area where SJ is literally light years ahead of Moncton.........

[Sabien]

They did a nice job on the parking structure for JDI office tower. The wide brick promenade with seating/eating areas is a really nice touch - could have been just a simple sidewalk but they took it up several notches.

I don't know the capacity of this one but it looks quite large, spanning most of the width of the block - occupying what used to be Elliot Row between Carmarthen and Wentworth.

It really must have freed up a lot of street level parking in the surrounding blocks. I know a few people that work in that building and they used to have to walk several blocks from where they used to park. Winter wasn't fun I'm sure.

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by Sabien

They did a nice job on the parking structure for JDI office tower. The wide brick promenade with seating/eating areas is a really nice touch - could have been just a simple sidewalk but they took it up several notches.

I don't know the capacity of this one but it looks quite large, spanning most of the width of the block - occupying what used to be Elliot Row between Carmarthen and Wentworth.

It really must have freed up a lot of street level parking in the surrounding blocks. I know a few people that work in that building and they used to have to walk several blocks from where they used to park. Winter wasn't fun I'm sure.

The JDI parking garage has a capacity of 537 vehicles.

[Ire Narissis]

I'd love it if all this new capacity brought down the pricing of monthly spots in garages.

My pipe dream would be to have a spot in Market Square so I could come back to a nice warm car in the winter, but... pipe dreams.

[RR Drummer]

Copied from Saint John retail thread...

Originally Posted by cdnguys

I think it’s just an unfounded rumour. The company that is looking to build a 400 room hotel / casino / entertainment venue is looking at either the former location of popsicle factory or waterfront. Who knows that could be a rumour too but my source seems pretty reliable and was correct on past projects.

Hmm never say never but the former Popsicle site across from Harbour Station is not a large enough plot to build a 400 room hotel / casino / entertainment venue on unless they make it 20+ stories high ������ ������. IMO waterfront is the ideal opportunity for such a development. Time will tell.

Comments/questions/queries/concerns? ������

[RR Drummer]

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/home...ggNb9#image=20

Interesting read. I agree (although I am admittedly biased) that Saint John is definitely a City on the rise.

[JHikka]

Uptown's been booming for a few years now compared to the decade or more before it. It's the most lively and active i've ever seen it.

[ColSJ]

Hmm never say never but the former Popsicle site across from Harbour Station is not a large enough plot to build a 400 room hotel / casino / entertainment venue on unless they make it 20+ stories high ������ ������. IMO waterfront is the ideal opportunity for such a development. Time will tell.

I agree the waterfront would be much more ideal and while this plan may seem ambitious here's why I think its credible. In 2003 a development proposal for the Coast Guard site was first brought forward by the Hardman Group. The development of hotel, condominiums, retail space and offices was reported at the time to be around $75 million. In November 2011 The Hardman Group scrapped plans.

The over five year wait for the land transfer from the department to the city to go through was cited by group as a major factor for the change of heart. "After year three-and-a-half, year four, you start to lose confidence in the schedule and your partners start to lose confidence in you and the fact that the project can proceed because the date is always moving," he said.
During that wait, the economic climate also changed, and hotel financing became less available, said Whitcomb.

Despite all of this the Saint John Development Corporation never lost confidence in the waterfront.
Now lets fast forward to 2018. Many of the required assessments of the property, such as environmental assessments, building assessments, structural assessments, and the seawall assessment are complete. The economic climate of uptown is buzzing in particular, part of this site is about to become home to one of the biggest investments in uptown's history. (NB Museum) Uptown is leading the city in population growth which is unheard of. Further more the site is now owned by the city which as stated was a lengthy obstacle in the past. If this development rumor is credible I think it would be a testament to the idea that the Museum would spark development uptown like what the library did to Halifax.

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by RR Drummer

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/home...ggNb9#image=20

Interesting read. I agree (although I am admittedly biased) that Saint John is definitely a City on the rise.

The Saint John Real Estate board released July stats - 257 homes sold in the city - an all time high for July and 5th best month in the history of board. I do get the sense more people are moving here ~ starting to see a lot of unfamiliar faces

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by RR Drummer

Copied from Saint John retail thread...



Hmm never say never but the former Popsicle site across from Harbour Station is not a large enough plot to build a 400 room hotel / casino / entertainment venue on unless they make it 20+ stories high ������ ������. IMO waterfront is the ideal opportunity for such a development. Time will tell.

Comments/questions/queries/concerns? ������

There was a hotel company looking at the Popsicle factory site some time in the last 12-18 months, I know that for certain. No idea if it related to this current rumour of a casino - it might not even be the same hotel - but the location would be ideal for accommodations right next to Uptown, across the street from Harbour Station and a highway interchange.

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by kwajo

There was a hotel company looking at the Popsicle factory site some time in the last 12-18 months, I know that for certain. No idea if it related to this current rumour of a casino - it might not even be the same hotel - but the location would be ideal for accommodations right next to Uptown, across the street from Harbour Station and a highway interchange.

From what I understand it’s going to be a “build it and they will come” concept - what will drive customers to hotel are concerts / entertainment and access to harbour station is part of the plan. I don’t want to name developer for a couple reasons ~ what I will say is they are local and may not have been amenable in the past to get into this kind of business