Second Phase Of Apartment Project Coming To Moncton
MONCTON – A local developer is poised to start the second phase of a plan to bring 48 new apartments to a neighbourhood in northeastern Moncton.
Marc Cormier, co-owner and president of Cormier Custom Homes Inc., said the apartment going up at 21 Newcombe Drive is the second and final phase of a plan to bring two 24-unit, three-storey apartment buildings to the city.
Cormier said the last time he went before Moncton’s Planning and Advisory Committee (PAC), it only approved the first phase – an identical building at 25 Newcombe that was completed in 2021.
Cormier applied to begin the second phase of his project at the PAC’s October 26 meeting. He requested clearance to build a multiple-unit dwelling in an R3 zone and permission to build more than one main building on a lot.
Each apartment building costs about $4 million.
Cormier Custom Homes, the builder and landlord of the new apartments, has been building homes and townhouses in Moncton since late 2006. Cormier says the company’s specialty is single and two-family dwellings and that the apartments are more of a “side project.”
“We build homes – that’s our bread and butter,” he said.
Cormier Custom Homes is working on 10 active, single- and two-unit buildings around the city. Cormier said the company has brought more than 3,000 apartments to the neighbourhood in the Harrisville – Grove Hamlet area of the city’s northeast.
“What we love most about this site is that obviously, it’s a newer part of town, plus École Champlain is at the lot next door,” said Cormier, who lives in the area himself.
“It’s a very family-oriented neighbourhood, so it’s just a good fit for us to build this.”
Cormier plans to build the new apartments identically to the others built at 25 Newcombe – a combination of one- and two-bedroom units ranging in size from around 720 to 800 square feet.
While uncertain how much rent will be due to escalating construction costs, Cormier said the apartments will fetch “mid-range” rent from tenants.
While many new units being built in the area have much larger footprints, Cormier said the Newcombe Drive apartments are smaller.
“There are some two-bedrooms that are 1,400 square feet, and that’s not this product. We’re building 820-square-foot apartments, or more basic, affordable-type units,” he said.
“We honestly find we’re seeing too many higher-end concrete buildings. We felt there was a need to hit in the lower end of the rental market.”
That being said, Cormier noted that supply chain problems and the spiking price of materials forced him to bump rent up in the 25 Newcombe building.
Originally, he hoped to rent two-bedroom units for around $1,150 per month in phase one but had to bump that up to $1,250 a month.
“With inflation and the costs of construction, we might have to justify going even higher, but we are aiming for younger families and entry-to-mid-level renters.”
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].