Fredericton's 'sexiest' building still in engineering and design phase
There's still much to be done before construction begins on Fredericton's so-called "sexiest" new building, according to developer Jeff Yerxa.
The president and CEO of Ross Ventures said the building is still in the engineering and design phase and plans haven't been sent to the city's planning and advisory committee for approval.
"We want to make sure that we do it right ... and that we build something that everybody can be really happy with the end result," Yerxa said.
The new building was announced at the end of September when council approved the sale of the parking garage at Brunswick and Carleton streets to Ross Ventures for $1.85 million — $1 million less than its assessed value.
At the time, councillors said the structure needed work and maintenance and the sale was a good deal for the city.
The renderings of the new building show a five-story, glass building for commercial and retail space on the site next to the parking garage.
Councillors said the sale of the parking garage shouldn't affect parking in the city. Coun. John MacDermid said according to the agreement, the public will still be able to park in the garage if there is free space not being used by tenants of the new building.
Ross Ventures Ltd., owns the land and the building that sits on it now. Yerxa said that building will be torn down to make way for the new construction. Currently, the Da Vinci College is a tenant. CBC reached out to the college, but no one was available to comment.
Market stable
Mark Leblanc with Partners Global, a corporate real estate company that works in real estate leasing, said the market for commercial real estate in Fredericton is stable, but Leblanc said the company has seen a "creeping up of vacancy in ... the past five or six years."
Leblanc said there is 10 to 12 per cent vacancy rate in the downtown.
"There's also some uncertainty with the centennial building, what impact that will have on the market place and that has been the white elephant in the room. It's a big reason why there's been a fair amount of hesitancy on behalf of developers to be able to build new and fill it up."
However, Yerxa said there is already interest in renting the space.
When the renderings of the building were published, several people on social media questioned what the building might mean for birds in the city.
Executive director of Nature NB, Vanessa Roy-McDougall, said her group is concerned about the potential threat the glass building could pose to the bird population.
The group worries birds will fly into the windows because of the reflections of the trees.
Yerxa has said the company doesn't anticipate bird deaths will be a problem, but will take steps to mitigate this if it does become an issue.
Waiting to see plans
The city's manager of heritage and urban design, Juan Estepa, said plans for the building haven't come to the city for approval and he couldn't comment on the project specifically.
But he said all new builds in the downtown will have to comply with the city's new Built Form Design guidelines.
"New builds have to respect their neighbours and they have to be designed within a context because, if we were to have a bunch of buildings designed as if they had no neighbours we wouldn't have a pleasing rhythm to the streets," he said.
Next to the proposed site for the new building is 120 Carleton Street. It's a small house-like structure that was built in 1887 and used to be the Fredericton Electric Company.
According to the purchase and sale agreement between the city and Ross Ventures, construction must begin by 2019. Yerxa said it will begin long before that.
