Is Your Business Right For 20 Canterbury Street?
SAINT JOHN– There’s a building being refurbished in uptown Saint John and its owner says they are on the hunt for the perfect tenant to fill it.
William Rector is the owner of 20-22 Canterbury Street, a property that has been boarded up for years but was unveiled this week with a new facade. He is also a dentist at the Canterbury Dental Clinic next door, a building he also owns and previously renovated.
Rector bought the building about four years ago from its previous owners, at the time, he wasn’t sure what his plans were.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do with it. I just wanted to be in charge so it was done properly whenever it was fixed up,” said Rector.
Four years ago, uptown Saint John hadn’t yet started to experience the revitalization it’s seen recently. The Picaroons General Store in the next building over was still a vacant car park. The Hopscotch Whisky across the street wasn’t there either and neither was nearby Five and Dime, Rogue Coffee or Port City Royal.
“After a couple of years, things started to change around here. Historica was doing a lot of work. Rogue [Coffee] is set up. Italian By Night, so I started feeling more comfortable that maybe it’s time to start moving on it.”
Though extensive renovations can’t be done until they secure a tenant, Rector said work was started on the front of the building six months ago. Even without any publicity, he says the building has been sought after for a while.
“Once [the facade work is] done we really can’t go forward until we know who is going to be there, [but] I’m comfortable now that it will be ok to do it,” he said. “Because on average every two or three months someone comes and wants to know if they can rent there.”
Rector says he will likely put high-end apartments on the second and third floors. However, he would rent the second floor to a business depending on what it is. The ground floor tenant will likely be a retail store or a restaurant.
“Now that I know there is interest, what’s going to be best for the neighbourhood?” said Rector. “I would really like to make sure that whatever goes in there will benefit the neighbourhood and not just benefit me as a long-term client.”
With lots of work still left to be done on the building, Rector expects the building to be occupied by this time next year.