High Demand Means This Moncton Subdivision Will Wrap Up Years Earlier Than Expected
MONCTON–A Dieppe-based general contractor says he’s going to complete and sell out a large north-end residential development in Moncton in half the time he was expecting to.
Paul Arsenault, owner and CEO of Arseno General Contractors, said when he began developing land for Mountainway Estates in 2020 he figured it would take 15-20 years to sell and develop the entire hundred acres of north-end land. Now, with about 30 acres left, he expects work to wrap up somewhere between the five- and seven-year mark.
“Basically everything has been kind of selling out every year. All the lots are pre-sold before we even start them,” said Arsenault. “Demand is huge and it’s hard to keep up. By the end of next year, I don’t think we’ll have any lots left to build on.”
This is the third year and fifth phase of the project, which is going up on land between Ryan Street and Twin Oaks Drive.
“I’ll probably be doing the last three phases next year, building the streets, and it might take another couple of years after that for the residential part to be built out,” he said.
Mountainway Estates is a mixed-use community with a blend of lots that will allow for the construction of a variety of housing, from detached houses and duplexes to townhouse complexes and apartment buildings.
The development is near the 20-acre lot Arsenault sold to the province to build Maplehurst Middle School.
While demand was stronger for medium- and high-density housing when Arsenault began, he said it’s shifted heavily to detached single-family homes.
When all is said and done, Arsenault hopes to see between 450 and 500 houses, suites, and apartments built at Mountainway Estates.
“We registered the first lots in 2020 and started construction when the pandemic started. There were a lot of unknowns but it slowly took off in 2020,” he said.
Since then, demand has not slowed and Arsenault gets new calls weekly from people looking for lots.
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“It started to peak in fall, 2020 and since then really hasn’t stopped. It’s hard to keep any type of inventory; as soon as you start building something there’s huge demand from customers wanting to purchase,” he said. “I can’t speak for others working in the subdivision but I know a lot of these guys are in the same boat: everything sells fairly quickly.”
Arsenault stressed his commitment to developing the land at a steady, manageable pace.
At this point, the only thing that is slowing things down is the cost of doing business, driven primarily by the escalating costs of supplies and subcontractors, with much of the work of building housing, “from the foundation to the kitchen cabinets,” subcontracted to other companies.
“Costs have increased substantially over the last couple of years, so we had to hit the brakes a bit and slowly progress,” said Arsenault.
“This year is probably a little bit tougher than 2021 or 2020. The supply chain has put a huge amount of pressure on the cost of goods. With interest rates creeping up, you wonder ‘when is this going to end?’ So we slowed down a bit.”
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While difficulty finding employers has slowed things down for many others developing housing in Greater Moncton, Arsenault said he keeps staff lean.
“It’s a steady pace. We don’t try to do any more [hiring] than we’ve done in previous years. I’ve been doing this for 20 years and the guys I have, I’ve had them for a while,” said Arsenault.
“If I wanted to build more or build faster it would be an issue because of the amount of manpower for trades is in high demand.”
Arsenault said it’s always been satisfying to build, noting he has “a passion for it and enjoy taking a raw piece of land, and eventually, when all is said and done, having a homeowner moving into a house.”
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].