[Moncton] Dieppe Developments

[habs33]

TD to create 1,015 jobs with new business centres

TD Bank will create up to 1,015 jobs over seven years at a new corporate office in the former Sears building next to CF Champlain mall, Premier Brian Gallant announced Thursday.

[BlackYear]

Originally Posted by habs33

TD to create 1,015 jobs with new business centres

DAM!!! Isn't this mega huge news that will transform the whole Dieppe area into mass chaos of overwhelming traffic in a already super congested zone?

So what is this thing going to look like? 6-7-8 story tower? They will need to go up for this amount of employees in one building within that tiny footprint.

Good news for Place Horizon apartments across Paul st.

[L'homard]

They didn't say (yet) whether all the jobs are going in Champlain Place.
I note they use the plural: "business centreS".

[MonctonRad]

Well, this is a bigger announcement than I was expecting:

- Business service centre (TD Insurance) - 575 jobs
- Finance operations centre - 440 jobs

This is huge. Great jobs for the city and the province. Moncton's reputation as a banking and insurance hub will be greatly enhanced by this announcement.

My only beef is that this TD Bank initiative belongs in a downtown office tower, not in a vacated department store in the city's main regional mall........

[BlackYear]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

My only beef is that this TD Bank initiative belongs in a downtown office tower, not in a vacated department store in the city's main regional mall........

I agree, but I read the above quote as, the small abandon building next the Sears/Mall, and not the actual former Sears space.

[Good2go]

Originally Posted by Budyser

I agree, but I read the above quote as, the small abandon building next the Sears/Mall, and not the actual former Sears space.

The Sears Auto building is being torn down right now.

[pierremoncton]

From Acadie Nouvelle: https://www.acadienouvelle.com/actua...lois-a-dieppe/

[habs33]

My understanding that it was all going inside the former Sears. Friend of mine in the telco business said they're completely gutting sears for this.

[Monctoncore]

Originally Posted by habs33

My understanding that it was all going inside the former Sears. Friend of mine in the telco business said they're completely gutting sears for this.

That corporate office sign would have looked much better on a taller building.

[Taeolas]

It's beginning to feel to me that the Moncton area city councillors need to develop more of a backbone. They seem eager to accept any proposal without really considering all the implications.

MHS was more or less out of their hands; but Costco and now the Old Sears seem to be Buck-first decisions that don't really fully consider the longer term impacts.

TD investing millions into Champlain Place is good, and does indicate they'll be there for a medium term stay at least, and not just a placeholder until a tower is available. But it does feel like bad news for the mall. Even if TD decamped after, it will probably be hard/more expensive for the mall to transform it back to retail.


All in all, with these recent decisions/announcements, Moncton's retail future doesn't feel as bright as it used to be.

[MonctonRad]

I agree. There have been several "good news" announcements for the city recently which have left a bitter aftertaste in the mouth.

We could be doing better.........

[Taeolas]

It also certainly doesn't help that the Sears space is so high profile. It's the main part of the mall you see from its namesake street. With that now being a TD centre, it won't look like a mall.

If they were taking over space in the back of the mall, maybe it wouldn't be quite as bad. Flip Linen Chest/Sports Chek and the rest of the stores at that end over to the Sears end and stick the call centre back there and it wouldn't be as bad. or flip Sobeys and Sears and you'd still be better off.

Oh well, what's done is done I guess.

Any bets on how long before Cadillac Fairview flips Champlain Place to another management company now? I'll take 6-9 months.

[PEI highway guy]

I wonder how long the lease is And what TD is paying per sq. ft. at CF, Rather than say at 1222 Main or the old Royal Bank spot in the industrial part. If Champlain cut a big deal, they have to doubt they can fill that spot with retail.

[MonctonRad]

This post by emad was on a different thread:

Originally Posted by emad

Per this CF Champlain news release, they are investing $25M. So I'm assuming it's nothing temporary

https://www.cadillacfairview.com/en_...n_Moncton.html

The embedded press release includes this quote:

As a national developer, owner and manager of mixed-use assets, this is not the first time CF is introducing an innovative office component to one of its shopping centres. CF is leading a trend to transform some retail locations into highly sought-after office uses with similar, successful transformations across our portfolio. CF’s most recent announcement to open BMO’s Urban Campus in CF Toronto Eaton Centre’s former Sears office space and CF Pacific Centre in Vancouver, where CF transformed a former Sears building into a unique office space for Sony Image Works, Microsoft and Miller Thomson, are two recent examples.

Originally Posted by Taeolas

Any bets on how long before Cadillac Fairview flips Champlain Place to another management company now? I'll take 6-9 months.

Given the above information, this would appear to be business as usual for CF. They are investing $25M. They have done similar things in other properties in their portfolio. I'm therefore satisfied that they are not planning on dumping Champlain Place from their portfolio anytime soon.

[Ifyoubuildit]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

This post by emad was on a different thread:



The embedded press release includes this quote:





Given the above information, this would appear to be business as usual for CF. They are investing $25M. They have done similar things in other properties in their portfolio. I'm therefore satisfied that they are not planning on dumping Champlain Place from their portfolio anytime soon.

All REITs are diversifying, downsizing and densifying their holdings with residential towers etc. They know the “Amazon effect” is real and they are protecting themselves what ever way they can. Having 1,000 call Centre employees at your mall day in and out, is a guaranteed 1,000 shoppers, eat at your food court, etc etc. I would not be surprised if CF does not add a residential tower in one of their parking lots.

[gehrhardt]

Maybe I'm an outlier here, but I think this is a good thing. Having (potentially) 1,000 new positions open up is great for this area. They're not all call centre jobs either. Of course it isn't downtown, so that's a drawback, but it's still jobs.

I think it's better than yet another clothing store that people will tire of in a few years or when trends change. The odds of seeing two people wearing the same shirt in this city are about the same as winning the lottery.

[MonctonRad]

It is a good thing. It's a wonderful thing in fact. We're talking about more than a thousand new high quality financial sector jobs in the city. The average pay for the 440 employees who will be working for the financial operations centre is apparently going to be about $65,000. This gives the financial operations centre alone an annual payroll of $28.6M. The annual salary for the workers at the TD Insurance customer contact centre will be less, but overall, I'm sure the annual payroll for the entire centre will be at least $50-55M. That's huge.......

I still think it would have been better if they could have populated 1222 Main with this centre (it could have occupied the entire building). How about building a campus in the Emmerson Businesss Park? It just seems like a missed opportunity to remove a major retail space from the areas principle shopping mall.

I however will not look a gift horse in the mouth. It is what it is. Champlain may diversify beyond this. There will be other opportunities for major redevelopment at the mall over time, especially with the Sobey's wing when they finally decide what to do with that store.........

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It is a good thing. It's a wonderful thing in fact. We're talking about more than a thousand new high quality financial sector jobs in the city. The average pay for the 440 employees who will be working for the financial operations centre is apparently going to be about $65,000. This gives the financial operations centre alone an annual payroll of $28.6M. The annual salary for the workers at the TD Insurance customer contact centre will be less, but overall, I'm sure the annual payroll for the entire centre will be at least $50-55M. That's huge.......

I still think it would have been better if they could have populated 1222 Main with this centre (it could have occupied the entire building). How about building a campus in the Emmerson Businesss Park? It just seems like a missed opportunity to remove a major retail space from the areas principle shopping mall.

I however will not look a gift horse in the mouth. It is what it is. Champlain may diversify beyond this. There will be other opportunities for major redevelopment at the mall over time, especially with the Sobey's wing when they finally decide what to do with that store.........

Sobeys seemingly still have plans for a new Sobeys Extra prety sure it's to replace bothSobeys at CF Champlain, and the Coop/IGA on Dieppe Blvd. From what I've understood about the situation anyway. There are still nymbys complaining about it.

Off topic but it seems a lot of potential comercial/retail/offices are planned in Dieppe but land owners/developers are waiting for tenants before building. It makes sense given the curent climate, and the spaces that are still available. Also looking at malls turning into office space for call centres give a negative view of the curent Shopping enviroment. IMHO

[BlackYear]

1000 TD staff walking the mall during lunch breaks, 1000 TD staff hitting the surrounding shops on Paul st & across the Champlain st, before, during and after work, this must be gold mine news for all the retailers.

I'm guessing TD signed a 20 year lease.

I wondering if they are going to fence off the Sears parking lot for employees? Two exit only onto Champlain street going west and one enter/exit from the main entrance.

Google Maps

[riverviewer]

How is this not downtown? The Sears space is on Dieppe's main street across from Dieppe's city hall and could spark more Dieppe downtown developments. Or does it have to be in Moncton's downtown to count as downtown?