Moncton City Council Approves Plans For Medical Hub
MONCTON – The City Council unanimously approved Amico Construction’s application to rezone 1109 Shediac Road for a new medical clinic, pharmacy, and possibly a restaurant and retail space at a public hearing Tuesday.
“We’re very positive. We’ve been working on this project in the background for the last year and we’re ready to go in May of [this year] and get it open for summer of 2019,” said Marcel LeBlanc of Amico Construction.
The proposed development would turn a two-unit dwelling area into a mixed-use commercial building. It will be located on the corner of Shediac Road and Weston Drive on the east end of Moncton, which has traditionally been a residential area.
The developer needed the property to be rezoned from “Neighbourhood” to “Mixed Use Centres and Corridors.”
The land is owned by Dr. Henri LeBlanc, a dentist who currently practices at the Centre Dentaire Elmwood Dental.
Prior to the vote, Edith and Warwick Meadus, representing residents in the area, expressed concerns about the project. They’re worried about the noise that may come from the proposed restaurant and patio, the long duration of construction and the maintenance of a proposed fence. The residents and developer later agreed they will sit together to resolve the concerns.
The approval for rezoning came with several conditions that included the developer covering the costs of a sidewalk if it’s deemed necessary in the future.
Amico Construction will now register the project with the province and apply for building permits to begin the first phase of construction.
“The construction drawings are 75 per cent done as we speak. And then we’re going to be applying for a permit late April, early May, and hopefully two-to-three weeks later, we can be on the ground with our foundation permit,” Marcel said.
Phase one will see the construction of a 5,600 square-foot building with 60 parking spots. Phase two would see an expansion of the building for a total size of 9,000 square feet and 112 parking spaces.
“There’s a big possibility that maybe we’ll do the whole phase one and phase two in one shot, but we’re still talking with tenants right now. So it’s hard to say. We don’t have a crystal ball,” he said.
Although a restaurant was mentioned in the proposal, a pharmacy could take up the entire first floor instead.
“The idea is whether it be a dental clinic, a chiropractor, a physiotherapist, this is mostly my goal. Now the reality is we’ll have to see what happens there. The restaurant portion was also just shown to show some versatility,” Dr. LeBlanc told the council.
Marcel wasn’t able to disclose a specific pharmacy brand as talks with potential tenants are ongoing.
“The whole second floor of the 5,600 square feet is gonna be a dental clinic and the pharmacy, we’re looking at the bottom floor. But we do realize that pharmacies, they’re mostly looking at 7,000 to 8,000 square feet, so this is where our phase two could come in,” Marcel said.
The development marks the expansion of Dr. LeBlanc’s practice. He’s hoping to have other dentists join him at the new location.
“I may keep a foot in Elmwood, or I may transfer the whole thing to this area, but the goal is to create a medical hub in that office space that we’ll have [on Shediac road]. In the new building, we’re looking at perhaps one or two dentists to join our practice.”