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Hub International now at corner of King and Germain
77 Germain Street (a.k.a 40 King Street), Saint John
In December of 2017 Hub International were approached by a local business about selling their property on Duke Street Uptown. This created a great opportunity for them to upgrade their location and stay in the Uptown Saint John core. Hub International Atlantic is a division of Canada’s largest insurance broker, and specializes in Commercial Insurance, Group Benefits, and Personal Insurance. According to Neil Josselyn “Our Saint John location has 15+ employees, and we represent every major insurance company in Canada.” Josselyn further explained “Our team had outgrown our Duke Street location, however we wanted to stay Uptown, and toured a number of different options. We decided that the sub-let opportunity on the 5th floor at the corner of King and Germain was the perfect location for us to call our new home.” Locals will know this building as home to many of Saint John’s local economic development agencies including Enterprise Saint John and the Chamber of Commerce.
The top priority in a new space was to get all of their staff on one level, while working in an open concept office environment. This space on Germain Street offered this and more. The space has a modern kitchen, a recently redone office with up-to-date I.T. infrastructure. However it maintained exposed brick walls and the radiators from the building’s past. Josselyn went on to say “The location is incredible, offering views of both King Square and Saint John Harbour, all while being across the street from the City Market, and pedway system.”
Stephanie Turner was the listing agent and also acted as Hub International’s local Tenant Representative in negotiating the sub-lease.
Saint John’s First Boutique Hostel Experience…Coming June 2018
36 Water Street, Saint John, New Brunswick
BunkHaus Boutique Hostel
After learning of different boutique hostels popping up around the world, Ingrid Woodhouse was inspired to create her very own hostel business here in New Brunswick. And, although there was no doubt from the beginning that Uptown Saint John was the best location for BunkHaus, it took some time to find the perfect spot.
“I looked at a few places but it wasn’t until we walked into 36 Water Street that I knew the hostel had found a home,” says Ingrid. “It has a beautiful exposed brick wall that really showcases our city’s character, huge storefront windows that let in tons of natural light, it’s uptown on a ground floor, has high ceilings, and it even has my ideal footprint of 2500sq ft. It was a total homerun.”
Ingrid hopes that BunkHaus will help draw more travelers to the city and is excited to bring affordable yet chic accommodations to the Uptown core. The hostel will offer both private rooms and custom timber-frame bunks with stair access the top beds. As for the common area there will be a fresh new communal kitchen, long harvest table for sharing meals, and a lounge area for guests to relax and meet one another. The addition of a minibar as well as an outdoor patio with hammocks and heat lamps are also part of the plan but will come later. On-site laundry and free Wi-Fi will be vailable too.
With traditional Saint John architecture of 12ft high ceilings, exposed brick, and large windows, there will be no problem making this space a home using local art, plants, and comfortable Scandinavian-inspired furnishings. Guests will feel right at home here as they share meals, music, and memories together in the communal spaces designed to bring people together.
“We’re incredibly delighted to see the BunkHaus coming uptown and look forward to the grand opening. Without a doubt, this will be another great addition to the neighborhood. Not only will this be very high quality, it will also satisfy a need in the marketplace. We congratulate Ingrid on her vision and for seizing the opportunity,” says Keith Brideau of Historica Developments.
To follow renovations and keep up-to-date with news and future offers, follow @BunkHausHostel on Facebook and Instagram.
WEBSITE COMING SOON at www.bunkhaushostel.com.
Stephanie Turner worked with Ingrid to find the perfect space and represented BunkHaus in the negotiations in the Landlord, Historica Developments.
Bank of New Brunswick a.k.a Le Faubourg sold
125 Prince William Street, Saint John
First listed for sale in 2008 for $1,250,000, this building (easily identified by its massive pillars) has been sold. Over the years we’ve had a couple of accepted offers which failed to close for different reasons but we’ve finally gotten this one across the finish line!
The buyers, Ron Lovett & Courtney Sherlock from Halifax, see the building as a great long term investment. “We have really seen so much growth in uptown Saint John over the past 4 years. It’s really starting to come alive” commented Lovett.
“The building is so beautiful, it just needs a little TLC” says Lovett.
The building is occupied by the previous owner Arc’f de Saint-Jean Inc. and they will be remaining as a tenant on the top floor of the building for up to 2 years. The ground floor on Water Street is home to Loyalist City Brewery.
The main vacancies are the former AlleyGria restaurant space on the level below Prince William and the Prince William Street “bar” space which many Saint John residents still remember operated at one time as the nightclub “Pillars”.
Stephanie Turner represented the Seller and Jason Stephen of Royal LePage represented the Buyer with a shout out to Judith Makin at TUCK Studio for being such a great ambassador for the building and the community!
Loyalist City Brewery now brewing beer steeped in history.
60 Water Street, Saint John, NB (with before and after photos!)
“When we took the space over it was pretty rough. It took some hard work and elbow grease to get the space ready for brewing but we are thrilled with the end result.” says Mark McGraw, part owner and brewer.
The space had great bones with some exposed brick walls and one stone wall but what really attracted these young brewers to the space was the garage door. On nice days they’re going to throw open the overhead door and welcome everyone in. “We are well positioned to serve thirsty cruise ship passengers” said McGraw. Loyalist City Brewery will be one of the first businesses they will come across as they start touring the uptown and with the garage door open it should be very inviting for them to step in. “We’re already brewing a beer called “Parrtown Pale Ale” that has a Saint John story to it and I think tourists will enjoy hearing how the beer is connected to our heritage”.
Want to read more about this original Saint John beer? Visit their website loyalistcitybrewing.ca or follow them on FACEBOOK.
Want to try their beer now? It’s on tap at Cask & Kettle and Five & Dime. Their brew will also be featured at NB Liquor next week in the Growler program.
Stephanie represented both the Landlord and the Tenant in the lease transaction.
NOTE: 60 Water Street is the back side of 125 Prince William Street a.k.a. “Le Faubourg” or originally known as “The Bank of New Brunswick”. The building is currently listed FOR SALE. Buy it now as an investment with this very cool tenant in place!
Le Faubourg sees another big price reduction. Now $749,000
125 Prince William Street “Le Faubourg”, Saint John, NB
$899,000 NEW PRICE $749,000 SOLD
Ideal candidate for redevelopment! Uptown heritage with many infrastucture upgrades including sprinkers throughout, roof (Nov 2011), some repointing of brick, amost all new windows. New 400 amp 120 volt electrical entrance installed with updated wiring in 2007. Building has been converted to natural gas. Commonly, heritage buildings such as this one in the uptown core are utilized for commercial and business related enterprises. The main floor would typically be devoted to retail with the upper floors being utilized for offices and/or residential. View of Harbour on Water Street side of building.
Gross building area 17,467 square feet.
This block of Prince William Street, between Princess and Duke, has undergone (2014-2015) a complete restoration including street resurfacing, granite curbing, landscaping and decorative lighting. Close to shopping, hotels and cruise ship terminals.
For more information and interior photos click HERE
#GrowSJ Update. Top 3 salient points related to commercial real estate
Mayor Don Darling just shared a report by the city’s Commissioner of Growth and Community Development Services.
Here are the top 3 salient points relating to commercial real estate:
- Major project construction accounted for more than half of the 80 million dollars of construction projects in 2016. Notably phases one and two of the IOL home office project, the new Uptown Liquor store and retail expansion in East Point, McAllister Mall and in Millidgeville.
- Another portion of the $80 Million included re-investment in the City’s Heritage districts including major renovations to the Imperial Theatre and 20 other smaller heritage renovation projects. The City’s heritage districts were funded by the city’s heritage incentive program.
- There is 137,493 square meters (that’s almost 34 acres!) of vacant land in our prime central neighbourhood, at rates a fraction of the cost of Canada’s major cities, and ready to be developed. The land is a mix of commercial & residential. The map below shows some of the commercial opportunities.
Uptown In-Fill Map. Vacant Land Highlighted in Red
READ MAYOR DON DARLING’S ENTIRE UPDATE HERE (3 minute read)
Buckley Building has new owners
82 Germain Street, Saint John, New Brunswick
View from roof. Photo Credit: Bob McVicar
The Buckley Building has been sold. The new owners intend to convert the top floor to residential for their personal use and add a rooftop patio. The building is a three storey brick Italianate-Style commercial building on the east side of Germain Street. The view from the roof affords a unique urban view directly down the newly renovated Grannan Lane as well as a view of the harbour.
The Buckley Building is significant as one of a collection of commercial, Italianate and Second Empire buildings that were built between 1877 and 1881 after the great fire.
The building is also significant because it housed the office of G. Ernest Fairweather from 1888 until 1920. G. E. Fairweather was a prominent architect and he designed many significant buildings in Saint John. He was originally associated with John Magee, as Magee and Fairweather, and in their office the plans were prepared for a great many of the buildings erected after the great fire in 1877. Source: historicplaces.ca
The new owners have renamed the building “The Fairweather”. You can like their page, see design concepts and follow their progress on FACEBOOK
Stephanie represented the seller & Bob McVicar of Exit Realty (now Sutton Realty!) represented the buyers.
CBC runs story on Acre Architects’ concept for #222water
The owners of #222water recently engaged local firm Acre Architects to provide concept drawings for the property. An engineering report conducted on the building identified that, structurally, the building could accommodate two additional floors and Acre took a very innovative approach to incorporating this in to their proposed design.
In the CBC interview Stephen Knopp of Acre suggests some uses could include a distillery, an “exploratorium” or science centre and/or event space to name a few.
222 Water Street is listed FOR SALE. For more information click HERE
WATCH/LISTEN to CBC story HERE >>> http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/805730883739
Something’s brewing at 60 Water Street
60 Water Street, Saint John, New Brunswick
Something’s brewing at 60 Water Street but it’s probably not what you’re thinking!
More excitement and suspense for uptown… A brand new business leased space today on Water Street just steps from the corner of Princess & Water. Watch for an announcement and new signage in the not-too-distant future!
Saint John Commercial Real Estate 