January 31, 2011
Coast Guard site deal about to close
Business: After years of sporadic negotiations, city will take ownership of coveted property tonight
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Sandra Davis
Telegraph-Journal
SAINT JOHN - The city will assume ownership of the coveted six-acre Coast Guard site tonight, after years of on-again, off-again talks,
Photo: Peter Walsh/Telegraph-Journal
The Coast Guard site sits across from the Market Square boardwalk.
"It's really a big step," Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase said on Saturday.
"What will happen on Monday is that council will ratify a deal with the federal government and then we'll move very quickly to formalize a development agreement with private-sector interests.
"It's really an exciting story for the development of uptown Saint John."
The pact has been a long time in the making, a result of eight years of sporadic negotiation, along with three more years of talks with both the federal government and the Hardman Group, which will oversee construction.
It was way back in March of 2008 that then city manager Terry Totten announced that an agreement had been reached with the federal government to purchase the land.
Earlier this month, officials said the deal was "very close" to being signed, with only a couple of small legal issues to be settled.
The city has set aside $3 million for the purchase, but there is no doubt that will be recovered with development, Chase said.
Chase said the city will take the site over in two phases.
"That is reasonable considering the development that will take place over a few years," he said.
"We're setting up development, which is the bigger prize, providing jobs and opportunities for people to live, shop and work uptown."
Kent MacIntyre, general manager of Saint John Waterfront Development, said earlier this month that there is good interest in the Coast Guard property from private developers, to whom it will be sold off in parcels as a part of a multi-phased development.
The Hardman Group, which owns nearby Market Square, has expressed an interest in building a hotel, condominiums and an office tower on the Coast Guard site for the past six years.
"As we finalize things with The Hardman Group, we will have more to announce very shortly on what we will be doing on that site," MacIntyre said earlier this month.
Mayor Ivan Court has said he hopes there will be development on the site by spring.