Developer Crowns Downtown Moncton Development With Rooftop Patio
MONCTON – From Palette Urban Rooftop, guests can see the sweep of Moncton’s skyline, the flow of the Petitcodiac, the Avenir Centre, and the airport. The new bar is touted by its owner as the epitome of Moncton’s dramatic growth.
Bill Hennessey, the owner of Palette Urban Rooftop Bar, told Huddle he was inspired to open a bar on the ninth floor of his existing development that includes the Canvas Hotel by his extensive travel to cities like Montreal and Toronto, and his appreciation of their rooftop bars.
“When I’m invited out for a beverage, we often end up on a rooftop bar. I’ve seen a number of these and they’re beautiful areas, and I thought, ‘well, Moncton doesn’t have an offering like this,’” he said.
Hennessey, encouraged by Moncton’s dramatic urban growth, with record building permits, a suite of new developments, and upgrades that will change the downtown core on the horizon, decided to add “the icing on the cake” to his tower at 55 Queen Street.
“People are very excited about how our cities are starting to grow up,” he said.
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Palette, which opened March 3, is at the top of a building that includes a 97-room boutique hotel building, and plans began to open the rooftop bar started about a year ago.
It shares the same 55 Queen footprint as the 55-unit condominium development Five Five Queen, the ANBL Boutique Wine Shop, and the 6,000-square-foot Gahan House Hub City restaurant.
Palette is split between an indoor component and an outside patio on the ninth floor. The indoor space has capacity for 60 people while the patio space outside can accommodate 120. Hennessey said an official opening for the outdoor space is slated for May.
“It takes a lot of logistics to get everything from the ground to the main floor,” Hennessey said. He added that he had to arrange to have a boom truck use a crane to lift the first piece of furniture visible in the bar – a live-edge wooden table – to the ninth floor, a process that shut down traffic.
The bar is not Hennessey’s only investment in the city. He is also Colliers International New Brunswick’s go-to guy for signing up tenants at Moncton’s Granite Center, and the man behind the nearby the recently approved Eastgate Subdivision.
Palette, a play on words and nod to the name of the hotel it shares a berth with, also references the artistry present there.
“It’s an art-themed hotel, and Palette becomes an extension,” Hennessey said, noting that the walls of the bar itself are hand-painted by Riverview-based visual artist Ji Hyang Ryu.
Meanwhile, bar serves food from local chef Johnathan Morrison and drinks mixed by Justin Kinas, a local mixologist.
“It’s unique – the only one, for sure, in the city. We designed the food menu and we spent a lot of time working on the food and drinks to find the best configuration,” Hennessey said.
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Hennessey said the bar will be complementing the other businesses at 55 Queen, providing a place to have a drink for hotel guests and people living in the condo units, as well as selling some of the wines available at the ANBL boutique.
“And yet, it’ll be available to anybody in Southeast New Brunswick who wants to come up with a friend for a drink,” Hennessey said.
“It’s fantastic that we can say, ‘Jeez, there’s a rooftop bar at Five Five, you should check it out.’ That piece to it is a coming of age for us, and a fantastic addition to the city, for sure.”
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].