Three Sisters Developer Preps Former Co-op Auto Center For Downtown HQ
MONCTON – While a new apartment complex is on the horizon for property near John Lafford’s Three Sisters Along the River, the former home of the Workers Co-op Auto Centre he bought in 2022 is being refitted as a headquarters and staging area for the pivotal downtown apartment development he’s already working on.
“That site has been put to use. We’re doing some work in that building right now. We’re doing some refurbishing of forms and prefabrication,” said Lafford, referring to 1 Foundry Street, a property that was once home of the Northumberland Cooperative Diary Distribution Centre.
Lafford told Huddle the location is perfect for a head office because it has access to all the necessary forms and equipment with a central location.
Lafford, the owner of Lafford Properties and J.N. Lafford Realty Inc., bought the property in the fall of 2022.
The one-acre lot sits a stone’s throw from the Petitcodiac River. In September, Lafford said there were no immediate plans for it but he is planning to eventually bring another residential development to the land – one similar in scale to the Three Sisters.
“For the next couple of years, we’re going to use that as a kind of overflow and workspace for the Three Sisters,” Lafford said.
Progress is going as planned on the Three Sisters, he noted. He added that the roof on the first tower is now complete.
“That was one of our goals by Christmas, so that’s been accomplished,” Lafford said. He noted that he plans to have tenants moving into Tower 1 by September 2023.
The Three Sisters is 450-apartment development at 20 Record Street that will feature three towers. Units in each tower will vary from 700 to 3,000 square feet and rent will range from $1,250 to $2,000 per month.
Lafford bought the property where two of the three planned towers are under construction from Slate Office REIT in 2020. In 2019, the same land was considered for a potential parking lot for the nearby Blue Cross Centre. That bid was ultimately kyboshed by Moncton’s city council with a majority vote against it.
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Lafford said contractors are about to finish work on the fourth floor and begin building the fifth in Tower Two – progress that has been steady since September 2022 when construction on it began.
Lafford, who has between 60 and 80 people on-site on any given day, said that part of the reason things are progressing so well is that it’s become a little easier to hire over the last year.
“We’ve seen a little pressure easing off but we’ve had a pretty good labour force right from the beginning,” he said.
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Along with labour issues being minimal, Lafford said there has been significant interest from potential renters on both towers.
While things are still in early stages on the second tower, Lafford said he hopes to start signing people up early this year.
“It’s still a little early but we’re going to go ahead and try,” he said.
Leasing for Tower One’s 150 units began last summer, a little shy of the one-year anniversary from when he broke ground for Tower One in July 2021.
Lafford launched work on the Three Sisters shortly after wrapping up the construction of Birch Meadows, a $30-million apartment complex in Lewisville.
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].