Recap of the Public Meeting Regarding 351 Water St. (Old Woolworths Building)
By Happy City, Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Happy City had a representative at the meeting
about the proposed redevelopment of the old Woolworths building on
Water St. There were about 50 people in attendance, 36 of whom were
residents.
The proposed development is for what is essentially a mixed-use structure that consists primarily of office, retail, and parking space. There is also space reserved for a restaurant.
Deputy Mayor Shannie Duff chaired the meeting, which is one of the final steps before the proposal goes to Council for a vote. It began with an overview of how the proposal has made its way through the various stages of the planning process.
Eastport Properties Limited, a Dartmouth-based property developer that has been doing work in St. John's since the 70s, met with City Staff some time ago to discuss what the requirements are for building a property in that area.
Traffic and Parking
Initially the developer wanted a six-storey building (on the higher-elevated, Water Street side), however the City saw this as a "last opportunity" to address its parking issues in a large structure. So the City proposed that a large number of public parking spaces be added.
Part of the reason the City sees this location as ideal for extra parking is that it is in a practical location for traffic flow. A traffic study was conducted by Terrain Group, who determined that the surrounding traffic areas are not currently at capacity and the addition of this building will not have a significant impact on traffic flow.
Layout and Amenities
Next, the architect from PHB Group presented the proposal and discussed the layout of the structure and the steps taken to address concerns such as the look of the building and the affect on pedestrian traffic.
Some points of interest included: retail space will exist on Water Street with street-level access to the shops; a restaurant will overlook the harbour; the facade will take into consideration the nearby heritage in its design; the exterior will be light, or "muted" in tone; and the parking ramps will be on the Harbour Drive side, across from the industrial container platform.
Sight Lines
Finally, Ken O'Brien from the City gave an overview of the major public site lines that will be affected by the new building. The presentation included several 3-dimensional renderings of the area from different elevations (i.e., from the street, from the South Side Hills, from the Rooms, etc.).
A few residents stepped up to the microphone to ask questions or express concerns. One concern was that this notably tall structure will be voted on by Council before the City has reviewed its municipal or downtown plans. The City is waiting on the development of the Regional Plan (NEAR) before it reviews its own. This review has been delayed for several years.
Overall it was a fairly amicable event, and while concerns remain, the involved parties were all represented and listened to one another. If you would like to have some input on the plan, you can contact the City Clerk at cityclerk@stjohns.ca, or you can comment here on this Facebook page.
The gang at City Hall should be concerned with reducing the traffic and congestion downtown instead of adding to it.The Terrain Group only give city Council "what they want to hear". Why not work with metrobus and integrate a Metro terminal into the proposed development complete with seating area and small kiosks in a relaxed atmosphere. in which people would be encouraged to leave their vehicles at home and take the Bus to the Downtown.
I agree with Jerome Bromley. A Metrobus transit terminal / station should be an important consideration in the development of this particular site.