Moncton’s $15-Million Tannery Place Just Broke Ground And There’s Already A Waiting List Of Tenants
MONCTON – Westmount Development, Du Parc Realty and Lounsbury will begin the construction of the first part of the Tannery Place, a mixed-use apartment complex that’s part of the Junction Urban Village at the western end of downtown Moncton.
Construction will begin with Tannery Place South, which has 46 luxury two- and three-bedroom apartments for rent and approximately 13,000 square feet of retail space, as well as underground parking and two pet-friendly floors. The second part of the 92-unit, six-storey towers, called Tannery Place North, will break ground in the spring. The rent for the units ranges between $1,500 and $2,500 a month.
“The idea is the complex will work together and the two buildings will be the same,” said Westmount Developments president Vaughn MacLellan.
The project has seen quick uptake from potential tenants. Tannery Place South is currently fully reserved and has a waiting list of tenants.
“We’ve had extremely good take up from residential tenants on this project since it initially launched. We had a delay last year but lucky for us a lot of the tenants have been really patient,” MacLellan said. “We also have a significant waiting list, which, if people changed, then we’ll be able to bring some people from the waiting list onto the reserved list and then we’re also able to migrate people on the waiting list on to Tannery Place North as we get going on his project.”
The opening for the Tannery Place had been planned for last year, but the project was delayed due to cost increases caused by U.S. tariffs on steel, leading developers to make some designs in changes, MacLellan said.
Located at the intersection between Vaughan Harvey Boulevard, Ivan Rand Drive and Main St., the Junction is now home to a Good Life gym. Later, the developers plan to add another mixed-use residential, office and commercial building and a hotel on the 11-acre land.
Plans for the Hilton Home Suites hotel is currently being re-assessed in light of new developments in the market, including the building of two new hotels near the Avenir Centre, MacLellan said. Westmount is also looking at a 15-acre land parcel next to the Junction that’s owned by CN.
The Junction boasts a prime location – a block away from Avenir Centre, across the street from Sobeys, NB Liquor and Shoppers Drug Mart, and a short walk away to the riverfront trails and parks.
The developers are also in talks with retailers to open cafes, restaurants and other lifestyle-related amenities in the commercial space of the apartment building.
“Our focus is on our urban lifestyle signature brand. The idea is that people don’t have to get in a car every day to drive to [places],” MacLellan said. “What we found is there’s been great take up on this from that demographic of people in the 55 and up age range where they want to sell their homes, they want to live somewhere where they can walk to all of the types of amenities, that’s where we’re seeing the takeup initially.”
Pat Walsh and her husband will be among the first to move October 1, 2020. They’ve sold their duplex in the downtown area to move to one of the rental units at Tannery Place. The couple had lived on the second floor of the duplex and had tenants below for 20 years.
“We’re getting to an age now where stairs are too much and we’re downtown, we’ve always lived downtown, so we want to remain downtown,” she said. “It’s the elevator and I have two little dogs and they have two pet-friendly floors. That was another big reason – to be downtown in a pet-friendly building. It’s difficult to get pet-friendly anywhere.”
Walsh also said she likes the location of the building.
“At our age, we can just go out of your building and walk to the grocery store, everything is so convenient…You don’t really need a car if you don’t want to have a car.”
Mayor Dawn Arnold says the development aligns with the city’s downtown plan and puts the city on track to achieving its growth goals.
The city aims to have a total of $108-million worth of new developments downtown by 2023, including $25-million on the surplus lands surrounding the Avenir Centre and $83 million in the rest of downtown. Arnold says it’s now at $75-million.
“There’s so much growth in our community right now, the momentum is incredible. But we can’t be lax about that,” she said. “Momentum like this doesn’t just happen. It has to keep going.”
Tannery Place is benefiting from an expanded financial incentive program aimed at private sector developments in the downtown area that are worth at least $10-million each. Over five years, Tannery Place South will see around $750,000 worth of rebates on its property taxes.
“That program is basically able to help the financial returns on the project over the initial stages to be able to get it over a threshold where we’re able to develop the project. So it’s very, very significant and helpful in terms of getting projects going,” MacLellan said.
Here are some digital renderings of the Tannery Place South’s interior:
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