Saskatoon Construction III

[roryn1]

Originally Posted by The Bess

Looks like Dutchuk Holdings bought the old Nutrien office tower

local buyer and developer, Duchuck Holdings Ltd. saw a significant value-add opportunity by repositioning the asset and implementing an aggressive leasing strategy.

Duchuck paid the full list price for the 11-storey tower, (now known as the PCS tower). The deal closed on July 5, 2022.

Where’d they get their money? Interesting when they sure can’t lease their original renovation of River Quarry..

I hope they turn it into condos, but sounds like they’ll do a renovation and just let it sit empty like River Quarry? ha

[The S'toon Goon]

Originally Posted by roryn1

Where’d they get their money? Interesting when they sure can’t lease their original renovation of River Quarry..

I hope they turn it into condos, but sounds like they’ll do a renovation and just let it sit empty like River Quarry? ha

I mean on one hand it's possible they are throwing good money away as it doesn't seem like they have their previous work leased.

Or maybe they have agreements in place that can't be public for a variety of reasons and they can afford to start another project.

Or perhaps it is simply an opportunistic add based on speculation of the new arena.

I have no clue, but I wish the company well. I like the river quarry building and I appreciate that they are a local outfit with (I assume) good intentions for the downtown!

[phone]

Originally Posted by roryn1

Where’d they get their money? Interesting when they sure can’t lease their original renovation of River Quarry..

I hope they turn it into condos, but sounds like they’ll do a renovation and just let it sit empty like River Quarry? ha

New tenants have already moved into the former Nutrien space. I can't quite wrap my head around your ongoing suggestion to convert those towers into condos. There is still a solid base of commercial tenants, and (in my mind anyway) I doubt the end product would result in a convincing value proposition. Does anyone have an idea what the costs for conversion would compare to a new build of comparable scale? The units would have to be enormous to account for the large building footprints, and what about adding balconies?

I'd prefer to see one of our many surface lots redeveloped for new residential rather than converting Class A office space... or the StarPhoenix building for that matter...

[prairieguy]

I tend to agree with you, Phone. I do want to see increased density downtown, but build up on one of the many vacant lots (or maybe the old/empty Credit Union site???)

[roryn1]

That’s good to know that tenants have moved in. Anything will help the retail ghost town known as the scotia center. If the stadium goes next to the mall in its north end parking lot it better connect to that retail center in the scotia center (maybe not a skywalk, but underground maybe since there would most likely be an expansion of underground parking over there).

[phone]

Originally Posted by roryn1

That’s good to know that tenants have moved in. Anything will help the retail ghost town known as the scotia center. If the stadium goes next to the mall in its north end parking lot it better connect to that retail center in the scotia center (maybe not a skywalk, but underground maybe since there would most likely be an expansion of underground parking over there).

If a stadium goes ahead in the Midtown North lot, a link between Midtown and Scotia Centre would certainly be helpful in creating an integrated complex that could help Scotia Centre retain/expand its tenant base. Seems to me that an underground link would be much more practical than a skywalk in that location, if only because the second floor of Scotia Centre is office space rather than a public concourse. Though even that would probably involve a year of 1st Ave being closed while cut and cover work goes on.

[4LSaskatoon]

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=e432d...AyMDU2Nw&ntb=1

[Echoes]

Construction crews start work on downtown Saskatoon library

[mmx]

Originally Posted by roryn1

That’s good to know that tenants have moved in. Anything will help the retail ghost town known as the scotia center. If the stadium goes next to the mall in its north end parking lot it better connect to that retail center in the scotia center (maybe not a skywalk, but underground maybe since there would most likely be an expansion of underground parking over there).

If Edmonton is Deadmonton, then Saskatoon has got to be Betelgeuse of the Prairie. Downtown is quite frankly deader than a doornail. What happened to all that momentum created by River Landing? After the shutdown faded to black I thought Toon Town would come roaring back?

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by mmx

If Edmonton is Deadmonton, then Saskatoon has got to be Betelgeuse of the Prairie. Downtown is quite frankly deader than a doornail. What happened to all that momentum created by River Landing? After the shutdown faded to black I thought Toon Town would come roaring back?

River Landing is quite separate from the rest of Downtown. For example, it is an 11-minute walk from River Landing to Una on Broadway compared to a 13-minute walk from River Landing to the Capitol on 1st. The blocks between 19th and 20th are completely dead, so those almost act like a moat between River Landing and the rest of Downtown.

Also, a lot of the tenants at River Landing (e.g., EY and MLT Aikens) were already tenants elsewhere in Downtown. So all their relocation did was remove tenants from Saskatoon Square, and I don't believe Vendasta moving in has compensated for that loss.

River Landing may have created some momentum for other construction projects like Baydo on Broadway and Downtown and the building on Main, but I don't think it did a lot to animate the downtown streets.

Saskatoon's Downtown is far too large for the city's overall density and downtown population. It will take a lot more projects like Baydo on 25th and River Landing to fix that issue.

[trunk]

Backside of the new construction on 4th and 20th (facing the Broadway Bridge) from earlier this week:

[Saskabusher]

^^^thanks for the update! they should be in good shape for the winter

[Echoes]

Committee endorses lease for new farmers' market operator
Terms would see building open six days a week, with an outdoor market twice weekly from May to October.

Bryn Levy
Aug 15, 2022

A proposed lease between the City of Saskatoon and the potential new operator of the Farmers’ Market Building at River Landing is headed to city council.

Monday’s unanimous vote by members of council’s development committee was the last step before the agreement between the city and Ideas, Inc. goes to a full council vote later this month.

Depesh Parmar, executive director of Ideas, told the committee the company wants to create “Saskatoon’s next masterpiece” at the site.

“We are not embarking on this project to make bank,” Parmar said, noting his company’s status as a non-profit. Rather, he said the goal is to bring “vibrancy and animation” to the area around the city-owned building, located at the corner of Avenue A South and 19th Street West.

Parmar said the new Gather Local Market will feature as many as 30 farmer’s market vendors on two dedicated market days between May and October in the square outside building.

[....]

https://thestarphoenix.com/news/loca...arket-operator

[Echoes]

Renderings of the Gather Local Market: https://pub-saskatoon.escribemeeting...umentId=169811

[phone]

Love the concept and am excited to visit in person, but couldn't they come up with a better name than "Gather"? Sounds like something you'd see on decals tacked onto the kitchen wall of a budget-tier suburban showhome 15 years ago. They might as well have called it "Live, Laugh, Love"... I wonder whether it is some kind of reference to the Gathercole building? Wouldn't make it any better, but might explain it. If they are so stuck on the idea, maybe they could have used the Cree word for "gather", which I see is "mawasakon" or "mawasakona" (not sure whether the animate or inanimate form would be appropriate, or if this is even really the correct work to use). Now that I think of it, Mawasakona Market doesn't sound too bad.

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by Echoes

Renderings of the Gather Local Market: https://pub-saskatoon.escribemeeting...umentId=169811

Yuck. Those renderings are so stale and boring.

[phone]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

Yuck. Those renderings are so stale and boring.

I tend to agree, but the tenant base looks good. Would like to have seen either more wood, or a better tribute to the industrial character of the building. All black everything and cues ripped out of some knock-off IKEA catalogue look staid already, and will age incredibly poorly.

The concept is good, and there appears to be good buy-in, but Ideas Inc. really needs to reconsider the execution on its end.

[Saskabusher]

I'm so excited to hear the farmer's market will be back, and licenced! great news. the statement from the 'ceo' is positive, too. But to think that someone got away with that shit job pile of renders and it got through even one meeting, let alone released to the public, is depressing. any free software can do a better job. This is, unfortunately, a bad sign for how the operation may be run by folks in charge of the funds....

[prairieguy]

Whew....I am glad I am not the only one with a high level of disappointment of the renderings. It does not create any sense of excitement or anticipation of what is to come...rather it raises red flags.
This needs to be a landmark destination location and service provider....maybe the concept is on the right track, but I hope these early renderings were pulled from a 1990's website page and not what they really have planned!
Good luck to them....hoping for success.

[Temperance]

I agree that those are some terrible renderings. Dark, ugly, and bland.

Looks like they are moving towards a The Forks type of deal. Not a bad model to emulate, but I hope there is some indoor space preserved for small vendors, homemade food, and artisans (especially in winter). Come to think of it - how about a Christmas market (like in northern Europe) and special summer night markets with food trucks (like in Tahiti and parts of India)?