Major Downtown-Moncton Apartment Development Now Leasing
MONCTON–A large apartment development that has the potential to change Moncton’s downtown skyline now has a name: The Three Sisters Along the River.
While only one sister is under construction right now, John Lafford said the name was inspired by the beauty in nature at sites like the Three Sisters rocks in Parrsboro, which is the recurring motif in art of three sisters, and the fact that each of his four daughters has three sisters.
“I’m an art collector and that’s part of where the inspiration came to me. Ultimately, the buildings are synergistic with each other. It’s a bunch of different things but through my connection to art and my daughters, [I] came up with that name,” he said.
Coinciding with the branding of the development, Lafford has started leasing apartments in the first tower, at 20 Record Street.
“We just started taking deposits and have had a lot of interest and phone calls but haven’t put too much pen to paper yet,” Lafford said.
Lafford, who owns Sackville-based Lafford Properties, said he’ll have a better idea of how popular the apartments are over the next couple of months after his company, Lafford Realty, starts a promotional campaign for the buildings.
RELATED: Construction Ahead Of Schedule On Downtown Moncton Apartment Complex
Lafford plans to wait to see how quickly the first of three 15-storey towers rents out before starting work on the second.
“We’re doing them one at a time, so we don’t put ourselves in a position of weakness by putting a whole bunch of units on the market and not being sure whether they’ll absorb into the market or not,” he said in October. At a time, the apartment vacancy rate in Moncton was 1.5 percent, according to CMHC figures.
If all three towers are built, Lafford could be bringing as many as 450 new apartments to Moncton at a time when vacancy rates remain low.
The 150 units in the first apartment tower, which will vary in size from 700 to 3,000 square feet, will rent from around $1,250 to $2,000 a month.
“It’ll be something new, and new downtown, so it’ll be something nice. We’re going to try and hit all the price points,” Lafford noted.
Lafford, who received city council’s approval to build on the property in late May 2021, said construction is a little ahead of schedule – a similar scenario to when he spoke to Huddle last October, as crews were finishing the foundation of the first tower.
RELATED: Three Towers In Downtown Moncton Approved
Each tower will feature a variety of unit sizes, from smaller bachelor apartments to full-sized penthouse suites. Lafford said crews are just finishing up work on the 11th floor, with plans to build four more floors and the roof this summer.
“It’s taking shape,” he said, adding that work wasn’t significantly slowed this past winter’s ugly weather.
“I’d be lying if I said snow didn’t slow us down, but it didn’t deter or discourage us. We’re well-organized from the management down and we got through that hump. January was a bad month and February gave us hope and we had a great March.”
Lafford originally bought the property from Slate Office REIT in 2020 and broke ground for the first of the Three Sisters in July 2021, after wrapping up work on the $30-million Birch Meadows apartment in the Lewisville neighbourhood.
Before Lafford purchased the property, the City of Moncton voted seven to four against a plan to turn it into a 365-space parking lot for the nearby Blue Cross Centre, in 2019.
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].