Moncton Bets on Growth from the Inside Out With Downtown Centre
MONCTON– City Manager Jacques Dubé says that the City of Moncton has conducted extensive research into the impact a new Downtown Centre will have on the city, and he’s expecting big things.
“Right now, conservatively, we are looking at $50 Million of new development in the downtown over the next three years as a spin-off from the building of the centre.
“In the next ten years, it would be in excess of a quarter-billion dollars.”
From drawing 100,000 more visitors to Moncton, to encouraging the refurbishment of residential properties and helping to attract world-class entertainment that could tour throughout the region, the 9000-seat multi-use venue will be far more than the sum of its parts if the City’s projections pan out.
“We engaged a consultant who looked at traffic patterns – who looked at what would happen if you brought something like 100,000 more visitors to the downtown. That will fuel the retail sector, and the hotel sector.”
The City Manager says they also looked closely at how the centre could bolster the city’s flagging tax base in the downtown core.
“A lot of people will develop their properties in response – many properties will be upgraded because there will be more demand for residential properties in the downtown.
“Downtown is like a neighbourhood but it needs to be supported by permanent residents. Right now the downtown commercial tax base represents ten times the tax revenue of what the city gets from people who live in areas outside the downtown.”
Moncton City Council voted to approve the project in early August and has awarded the 20-year contract for constructing the centre to Bird Capital – a consortium of Canadian construction industry heavyweight Bird Construction (TSE: BDT), Stantec Architecture, BDA Landscape Architects, and SMG Canada. SMG run Kingston Ontario’s Rogers K-Rock Centre, and will take over operation of the Moncton Centre once it opens.
With the centre approved by council and building set to begin in the spring, City staffers and Bird Capital will collaborate on a presentation for the public in early fall, where considerations such as the design of the centre, planned traffic flow, amenities and parking will all be explored.
Financial and legal must close by September 30, following which a design development timeline will be set.
The multi-use facility will host both sport and entertainment events, and will become the new home to the Quebec Major Junior League’s Moncton Wildcats, as well as the Moncton Miracles Basketball team.
Dubé says that the new facility will attract big-name concerts and world-class sports events that the region has been losing out on because of the limitations of the ageing Moncton Coliseum.
The city’s feasibility study for the Downtown Centre discovered that it will also allow the region to bring in larger, travelling theatre and children’s entertainment productions as well.
“We discovered that there are a lot of theatre productions that will go into places where you can curtain off an area and perform to 3,500 – 4000 people. They need that to break even. And if they can come here and do that then they might go to Saint John too, or Fredericton,” said Dubé.
Funding for the project, which is projected to cost $104.2 Million, will come from a range of sources. The province’s Municipal Capital Borrowing Board in August approved a request from the city to borrow up to $95.4 Million in funding towards the project.
While the federal government has committed $19.2 Million towards the project, Moncton’s General Manager of Community Safety Services Don MacLellan told council that he’s confident the government will pledge a further $4.7 Million following the election, regardless of who forms the government.
Up to $3.5 Million more in funding is expected to come from the sale of land adjacent to the centre’s Highfield Square site. When asked where that process stands, Dubé explained that the City intends to bring an RFP to Council for approval in the near future.
“We’ll be seeking responses to our request for proposals that are in keeping with the master plan for both sites (Highfield Square and the adjacent property) that council has already approved.”
A capital fundraising campaign will seek to raise another $5 Million.
The City Manager says Moncton’s business community has been very supportive from the start.
“Downtown Moncton Centre-ville Inc. was a proponent of the centre from the very beginning and they’ve committed to supporting the centre to the tune of $250,000 a year for 15 years. We’ll use that against the operating costs.”
Dubé says the hoteliers have pledged $700,000 a year, provided the provincial government puts the proposed 3% hotel levy in place.
Naming rights to the centre will also be sold and are expected to bring another significant stream of revenue in to the centre annually.
The issue of parking has caused concern among some residents: the centre won’t have a dedicated parking lot, with the city pointing instead to the 3000 public and private parking spaces located within a 10-minute walk of the site, and the close proximity to Codiac Transpo’s transit centre. The centre will offer some parking spaces for patrons with mobility issues.
It is estimated that the project will create up to 713 full-time positions during construction, and 49 full-time permanent roles once work is complete.
With the centre expected to open in September of 2018, Dubé says anticipation is building in the entertainment industry.
“I’ve had calls from Eventgo saying ‘congratulations’ and ‘we’re gonna be knocking on your door a lot more often.’ These people are just waiting for us to build this centre.”
[mks_highlight color=”#ffdf0f”]See how Moncton’s Downtown Centre compares to similar facilities in the Maritimes.[/mks_highlight]