Northern Ontario developments!

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by TbayON

FWFN's new residential subdivision is finally getting closer to fruition. They have issued a tender for servicing for 21 lots to be located on reserve land. FWFN has also recently started construction on major improvements to their pow-wow grounds. I believe construction of some kind of structure is to occur with this project.

I noticed ontop of Mt McKay that they hauled in lots of hard pack gravel , graded it all , circular in shape and ran conduit to the middle for hydro , so this must be their new grounds i think.

Not sure , but it look like some construction started at Canadian Tire , they were suppose to expand .

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by Dakota

Not sure , but it look like some construction started at Canadian Tire , they were suppose to expand .

Yes this one is finally going. Years in the making. They have been renting trailers for storage pretty well since the store opened. Addition off the west side of the building where the garden centre was. Can't remember exact square footage, but it is a decent sized chunk being added on.

Construction is also in full swing on the Arthur St. W. Metro. Basically a facelift there, no space being added or much of anything new other than a cosmetic facelift.

Repairs/upgrades to the city-owned Heath Park Pool will commence soon.

[vid]

Both Metros are on Arthur Street West, but I'm assuming you mean the location at the intersection of James.

[russman]

No, it is the Arthur St. Marketplace location.

[F. Lionel]

Got into TBay last night for a short visit and noticed the new bus stops in a few places. I like the new design and the large name plate on each one is quite striking. Is there a list of locations where these are going to eventually be?
Also - there is a lot of road construction going on.

[vid]

Originally Posted by F. Lionel

Got into TBay last night for a short visit and noticed the new bus stops in a few places. I like the new design and the large name plate on each one is quite striking. Is there a list of locations where these are going to eventually be?

They're primarily along the Memorial route for now. More will be built in the future, but this is about it for a little while.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunde...ders-1.2426460

Most of them have lights on the inside, but I haven't seen them turned on at any point yet.

Originally Posted by F. Lionel

Also - there is a lot of road construction going on.

That's the new reality here. But it seems to be quantity over quality, as many road projects seem to require extensive repairs the following year. Golf Links and Cumberland are the latest problems.

[tjernobyl]

Originally Posted by vid

That's the new reality here. But it seems to be quantity over quality, as many road projects seem to require extensive repairs the following year. Golf Links and Cumberland are the latest problems.

Just offhand on the Golf Links route, there was a significant undercalculation of the amount of aggregate required, the sewer accesses were significantly above the road surface, and the asphalt embankment protection on the active transportation route failed on the first significant rain. A few mistakes are to be expected, but when they form a pattern, the City really should look deeper into the causes.

CBC is reporting that the Hillcrest Centre (of Change) has been sold to Sharan Sohi, who will begin conversion into residential units.

GRK Fasteners is leaving Thunder Bay. Considering that the former owner openly mused about moving to the US, and the company was sold to a US interest, it should surprise noone that they announced a move the moment they were no longer contractually obligated to remain here.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by vid

That's the new reality here. But it seems to be quantity over quality, as many road projects seem to require extensive repairs the following year. Golf Links and Cumberland are the latest problems.

When you consider we have more than one contractor that performs shoddy work and bids contracts lower than the competition, this shouldn't be a surprise. The bigger issue is the city itself. I think we must have the worst group of municipal engineers in the country. They are incompetent, and this is where errors originate. You can't really blame it totally on the contractor or consulting firm, they want to take as much profit away as possible. The city engineers need to know what they are doing and set higher standards for work being performed and designs.

Originally Posted by tjernobyl

CBC is reporting that the Hillcrest Centre (of Change) has been sold to Sharan Sohi, who will begin conversion into residential units.

It has been up for sale for a while, and many tenants have already left. The 'Centre of Change' concept was a great idea, just had the wrong people behind it. It would be nice to see something like the Centre of Change re-created in downtown P.A. for small businesses that are going to be affected by this. Better location for business and commercial anyways. Definitely it going to have an impact on small commercial office space in the city, you will see a shortage likely appear now. This should lead to quite a bit of construction work.

Originally Posted by tjernobyl

GRK Fasteners is leaving Thunder Bay. Considering that the former owner openly mused about moving to the US, and the company was sold to a US interest, it should surprise noone that they announced a move the moment they were no longer contractually obligated to remain here.

New parent company is probably betting on the American market and housing recovery. Still, with the falling Canadian dollar, it makes sense to manufacture in Canada. I guess they just want to be closer to the action in the U.S. I can foresee the Canadian market being abandoned already. A lot of GRK work was already done outside T-Bay anyways, so it is not like the company was solely operating in T-Bay.

On the upside, we will now have a fairly large, modern and attractive (by manufacturing plant standards) building available for another use. I can't see the place sitting vacant too long. Watch for a mining or resource related business to move in (would be my guess anyways), or possibly a large contractor.

======

Speaking of vacant larger buildings, the former Wasaya Prop Plant building in Rosslyn has sold. It wasn't up for sale very long. Hopefully something good will become of this.

CBC has also reported that CC Poulin Equipment has sold to Maxim (out of Winnipeg). Should lead to job gains in the future. Their facility in Winnipeg is also fairly attractive and modern, so perhaps some construction work will come out of this acquisition. The current Oliver Rd location is a little tired looking.

[TbayON]

Bruno's is apparently the successful buyer of Municipal Golf Course. Their plans are for a 14 unit executive resort, which will include a small 3 or 4 hole golf course. Perhaps this small course is a way around the supposed agreement that exists that the land must be kept as a golf course or for recreational uses when it was given to the city. Development is not scheduled to begin until next year sometime. I haven't heard anymore about possible issues concerning how the sale was conducted.

Next car dealership on the list for new exterior branding and upgrades is Dominion Motors. Plans are out right now... should see construction in September I would think. Spadoni's in Terrace Bay will also be getting done. The automotive companies (especially the big three if you can still call them that) are forcing their dealerships to upgrade to the newest look.

Kenora Forest Products has reached a deal with Unifor, achieving another step forwards in resuming production. The only major remaining hurdle is a wood supply from the MNR. Should that happen, millions will be spent upgrading the facility, and an early 2015 start is scheduled. The owners were hoping to be re-started quite some time ago, but I guess all the pieces didn't fall into place.

[TbayON]

The former Blockbusters location on Red River Rd. is becoming another fitness facility. A franchised location of Anytime Fitness will be opening soon there, ads are already out in local media.

The former Auto Home Paints and short-lived First On-Site Restoration location on Roland is also become a fitness centre. Not sure what it will be called yet, but it is becoming some sort of hockey crossfit facility.

I suppose we need a Tim Hortons and now a fitness facility on every corner of the city.

After some delay, the Subway should be going in finally at the Harbour and Carrick. Also still hearing of a restaurant to come soon too, but it may happen at the Holiday Inn before in front of Superstore now according to the latest information out there. Still Outback Steakhouse being the most mentioned brand name regardless of whether it is the north or south side of the Harbour being discussed.

The city has met with provincial ministers and officials, and the city came out positive regarding housing and homelessness issues. Municipal Affairs and Housing has stated they have something coming soon that municipalities will be excited about as far as housing for vulnerable populations is concerned. Hopefully very soon, we definitely need it here.

Con. College is hoping to have at least two new residence buildings up and open for students for the next school year (Fall 2015). They have partnered with a private sector company to get the units financed, built and operated. Seems to be the norm now for publicly funded institutions to use private partners since gov't takes way too long to get anything done. Other example of recent that comes to mind is the Pro Building 2 at the hospital being done public-private.

[vid]

The Lyceum has been sold to a Southern Ontario developer for $20,000. They have agreed to specific goals relating to rehabilitating the structure. No word yet on who, exactly, is behind the project.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by vid

The Lyceum has been sold to a Southern Ontario developer for $20,000. They have agreed to specific goals relating to rehabilitating the structure. No word yet on who, exactly, is behind the project.

Like you said, no word exactly. Local media did mention the purchaser is from southern Ontario, and has undertaken a similar project in the city. This leads me to believe it is either Basic Drywall (who undertook the reno's at Park and Cumberland on the former outdoors store that is now a rainbow of different stucco colours) or the developer who undertook Superior Lofts. I have heard from several different sources that the developer of Superior Lofts was/is in the market for another property in downtown P.A. Time will tell, but it is all around good news. There are enough empty lots in the downtown P.A. area, it is nice to hear another will not be added.

While on downtown P.A., was down at Rib Fest, and another new bar/restaurant to be opened soon was being advertised. Can't remember the name, but it is in addition to Tomlin Restaurant that just opened or is opening imminently on Red River.

[TbayON]

Also forgot to mention a new tenant is moving into the food court at Intercity Mall. Feta & Olives will be opening up in the next month or so. It will be located where Ms. Vinelli's used to be, and I am told they apparently sell quite a good product.

[vid]

The other new restaurant on the waterfront might be Taphouse, taking over the old Chinese place's spot in the train station.

[Conker]

Where Jacks used to be will be the Red Lion Smokehouse. Smoked food and craft beers.

[tjernobyl]

Originally Posted by TbayON

It has been up for sale for a while, and many tenants have already left. The 'Centre of Change' concept was a great idea, just had the wrong people behind it. It would be nice to see something like the Centre of Change re-created in downtown P.A. for small businesses that are going to be affected by this. Better location for business and commercial anyways. Definitely it going to have an impact on small commercial office space in the city, you will see a shortage likely appear now. This should lead to quite a bit of construction work.

Occupancy was reported to be at about 50%. Tenants had complained about issues like erratic gas and heat, which would suggest long-running cashflow issues. The building may have been just too large for the demand. Perhaps it would have been feasible as a combined residential-commercial space.

Originally Posted by TbayON

New parent company is probably betting on the American market and housing recovery. Still, with the falling Canadian dollar, it makes sense to manufacture in Canada. I guess they just want to be closer to the action in the U.S. I can foresee the Canadian market being abandoned already. A lot of GRK work was already done outside T-Bay anyways, so it is not like the company was solely operating in T-Bay.

To my understanding, it was more of a headquarters, research, and order fulfilment centre than an actual manufacturing facility; most production was done overseas and most sales were done to the US. I don't believe their products were even available locally except through Home Depot. One thing working against them was the tariff system; it was the main reason they were threatening to leave before, if I recall.

Originally Posted by TbayON

Con. College is hoping to have at least two new residence buildings up and open for students for the next school year (Fall 2015). They have partnered with a private sector company to get the units financed, built and operated. Seems to be the norm now for publicly funded institutions to use private partners since gov't takes way too long to get anything done. Other example of recent that comes to mind is the Pro Building 2 at the hospital being done public-private.

They've asked for tax exemptions from the City to make this happen.

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/news/3543...eful-expansion

Originally Posted by vid

The Lyceum has been sold to a Southern Ontario developer for $20,000. They have agreed to specific goals relating to rehabilitating the structure. No word yet on who, exactly, is behind the project.

Looking at pictures of the place, I don't expect them to restore any more than the outer shell; the inside looks to have been completely redone on the cheap at some point in the past.

http://www.ontarioabandonedplaces.co...asp?entry=9335

Originally Posted by TbayON

While on downtown P.A., was down at Rib Fest, and another new bar/restaurant to be opened soon was being advertised. Can't remember the name, but it is in addition to Tomlin Restaurant that just opened or is opening imminently on Red River.

Tomlin is opening tomorrow. Red Lion Smokehouse has started advertising but still have a few more permit hassles to resolve before they can open. Both Hands Pizza recently opened up on Algoma.

Originally Posted by vid

The other new restaurant on the waterfront might be Taphouse, taking over the old Chinese place's spot in the train station.

I was under the impression that Breakwater Taphouse was going in upstairs where the Yacht Club had been previously. They plan to open the first week of September.

[vid]

I haven't actually been by, but I assumed the Yacht Club was still there, and that they would make use of existing hookups in the old restaurant.

The only heritage value in the Lyceum for years has been the facade. The other old theatres (Yorgo's on Red River and Madgical's on Victoria) are even more destroyed.

[TbayON]

It was Red Lion Smokehouse. Thanks, I knew Red was in the name, but couldn't remember the rest. Glad to hear about Breakwater Taphouse too, hadn't heard about that one yet myself.

As for GRK, you could technically walk into the place and buy screws locally. They would absolutely rape you on the price as compared to what you would pay at one of their distributors. The other option was to purchase through their Winnipeg distributor, and pick up in T-Bay. I had thought the tariff issue was resolved, or the Walthers themselves would've reluctantly moved the facility long ago. Doesn't really matter anymore I guess.

And I believe I read the city went ahead and granted Con College's request as far as taxation is concerned on the new residence units. If the college actually thinks they will be done in a year's time, we should see ground breaking very shortly. If their private sector partner brings in an out-of-town contractor, I would be amazed if the two buildings were anywhere near complete by next fall. Out-of-town general contractors always seem to come in with an overwhelming amount of incompetence.

[vid]

Out-of-town general contractors come in with minimum wage foreign workers.

[TbayON]

If they are legal workers... could be like the outfit that worked on Target and had your stucco crew apprehended by Customs and Immigrations because they were illegal aliens.

Lowest bid isn't always the best price, especially in construction.