[Moncton] Northwest/Magnetic Hill Developments

[Hogie75]

Originally Posted by josh_cat_eyes

They will especially be closer once twin oaks drive is complete through to the roundabout.

This would be a great spot for a Fit4Less gym location.

[micks5477]

Originally Posted by Hogie75

This would be a great spot for a Fit4Less gym location.

The Fit4less website no longer lists Moncton with getting a second location.

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by micks5477

The Fit4less website no longer lists Moncton with getting a second location.

That sucks but since Fit4Less is just a cheaper version of Goodlife Fitness doesn't greater Moncton 3, or 4 locations? Of course I'm not counting Fit4Less or the fact that 1 location on Vaughan Harvey may soon be 2 locations Across from each other.

[FarmerTom]

With the new one on Vaughan Harvey is already included in the total because it is just a replacement of the one located in the old doolys across from Westmorland street

[MonctonRad]

Zoo News:

The Magnetic Hill Zoo continues to expand their African exhibit.

New anmals this year will include dromedary camels and African serval cats.

Bruce Duggan on CBC radio this morning said that they have additional acquisitions planned in upcoming years, and specifically mentioned meerkats.

I love meerkats.

[MonctonRad]

Structural steel is now going up for the new NBLC on Mountain Road.

This building looks very large........

[Mattyyy]

Reported in the T & T.

Holiday Inn Express has announced their plans to build a 6 floor 120 room hotel on the corner of Mapleton & Queensway Drive. Pending approval by the city, construction would start this summer. I don't know how other people feel, but I get somewhat disappointed when I see this type of development around the TransCanada. I think any hotel development in this area is only going to take away what should and could be downtown especially at this point with the Events Center being constructed.

[MonctonRad]

Image posted by pierremoncton in the main Moncton thread:



In other words it will almost be a clone of the Hampton Inn across the street.

habs33 reported:

council has approved — with some conditions — the developer’s request for land rezoning at the north east corner of Mapleton Road and Queensway Drive to allow for a commercial development that would include a Holiday Inn Express, a convenience store and gas bar, a fast food drive thru restaurant and room for two brand name restaurants

So, this will be a significant plaza type development. The Mapleton/TCH interchange is going to become increasingly busy over the next few years, especially with the new Moncton Chrysler dealership to be built next year and with Mapleton crossing gradually filling out. I think it's time for the city to start planning on widening Mapleton for a short distance north of the TCH, and to put in traffic lights at the TCH off ramps. This should become a civic priority........

As to Mattyyy's concerns, I am not tremendously upset by the location of this hotel. The marketplace has room for both new suburban hotel properties (to serve the highway tourism market), and downtown properties to serve the more upscale business and city tourism market. There is not much overlap between the two, and the construction of this hotel shouldn't impact on the decision to build (or not) the rumoured Hilton Garden Inn at the Junction Urban Village. There is room for both. Also, as mmmatt pointed out in the statistics thread, there were 100,000 more room-nights sold in Moncton last year than 10 years ago. This upwards trajectory is continuing.........

[MonctonRad]

And more Northwest Moncton development news:

The excavation has started on that lot next to Kim Long on Mountain Road where a new strip mall is supposed to be built.

[micks5477]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Image posted by pierremoncton in the main Moncton thread:



In other words it will almost be a clone of the Hampton Inn across the street.

habs33 reported:



So, this will be a significant plaza type development. The Mapleton/TCH interchange is going to become increasingly busy over the next few years, especially with the new Moncton Chrysler dealership to be built next year and with Mapleton crossing gradually filling out. I think it's time for the city to start planning on widening Mapleton for a short distance north of the TCH, and to put in traffic lights at the TCH off ramps. This should become a civic priority........

As to Mattyyy's concerns, I am not tremendously upset by the location of this hotel. The marketplace has room for both new suburban hotel properties (to serve the highway tourism market), and downtown properties to serve the more upscale business and city tourism market. There is not much overlap between the two, and the construction of this hotel shouldn't impact on the decision to build (or not) the rumoured Hilton Garden Inn at the Junction Urban Village. There is room for both. Also, as mmmatt pointed out in the statistics thread, there were 100,000 more room-nights sold in Moncton last year than 10 years ago. This upwards trajectory is continuing.........

Downtown is so congested already and I am sure they want the highway traffic to stop and stay here. Also, with such a large development, it makes me wonder if Holiday Inn and/or developers have some inside information that Costco may be moving out to that area.

[MonctonRad]

I watched the video of the Moncton city council meeting and snapped a few screen grabs from the video feed showing some site plans and renders of the Holiday Inn project.

I apologize for the poor image quality, but it did come from a video feed.

This site plan shows the location of this project on the NE corner of Mapleton & Queensway. You can see the existing Hampton Inn in the lower left corner of the photo, next to the TCH on ramp.



Of note is the fact that they plan to realign Queensway with Northwood so that it forms a four way intersection with Mapleton.

This is the proposed site plan:



The Holiday Inn Express & Suites is to the lower right of the image. The proposed gas bar/convenience store & drive through restaurant is to the lower left, facing Mapleton Road. The building at the back of the property will contain the two sit down restaurants.

This last image shows renders of all three buildings:



The building containing the two sit down restaurants is interesting. Unfortunately the resolution of the image is too low to allow me to guess which franchises they might be, but they seem to have distinct architectural styles. Does anyone have a guess??

The developer is Nach Daniel (the man behind the 585 Mapleton medical/dental building), so he is a serious player. He is "extremely motivated" to begin construction of the hotel this year, perhaps with a late spring 2017 opening. The other two building will follow, perhaps later in 2017 and 2018.

The city is well aware of the traffic challenges at the TCH/Mapleton interchange and is starting negotiations with the province as to how and when to upgrade the off ramps and perhaps signalize the intersections.

[lirette]

The one on the right looks like it could be Jack Astors ??

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by lirette

The one on the right looks like it could be Jack Astors ??

I was actually wondering that too.......

[stephan.richard]

That's good news for the city and when does the construction begin? And hope it's a sign of things to come?

[mctnguy]

Originally Posted by lirette

The one on the right looks like it could be Jack Astors ??

Here's an image that seems to match the screen grab from above:



And another:

[mctnguy]

Even the building on the left matches a Jack Astor's profile:

[Ammn_guy]

Wonder if the gas station will have a tim hortons..haha. I think they are going for a record number on one street. Crazy part is, I drive by all three on mapleton every morning and they are all busy.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Ammn_guy

Wonder if the gas station will have a tim hortons..haha. I think they are going for a record number on one street. Crazy part is, I drive by all three on mapleton every morning and they are all busy.

If that ends up being the 4th Timmies on a 2 km stretch of Mapleton Road I'll shoot myself!

[Monctoncore]

Nope it will be a McDonald's, look at the colour the tall red middle, the yellow to the right of it. It screams McDonald's lol

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Mattyyy

Holiday Inn Express has announced their plans to build a 6 floor 120 room hotel on the corner of Mapleton & Queensway Drive. Pending approval by the city, construction would start this summer. I don't know how other people feel, but I get somewhat disappointed when I see this type of development around the TransCanada. I think any hotel development in this area is only going to take away what should and could be downtown especially at this point with the Events Center being constructed.

I don't entirely mind Highway-oriented Hotel developments being slightly north of the TCH. It begins to get worrisome when you get into the realm of residential, commercial, and urban-esque developments that could easily be south of the TCH which would develop density and infill. The more that Moncton south of the TCH fills in the more and more it'll feel like a denser, more urban area. Eventually that priority would become, one would hope, renovating less-dense suburban areas into more like urban nodes within the greater Moncton area south of the TCH.

There are suburban areas south of the TCH, of course, but the focus really should begin to be on urbanizing areas (Downtown, Dieppe) and making them denser and thicker whilst creating the infrastructure to allow them to become denser and thicker and to maintain a larger number of people.