It could cost as much as $15 million to make the former Canadian Coast Guard site usable for development.
Steve Carson, the CEO of Develop Saint John, made the revelation following a meeting of the city’s growth committee on Tuesday.
Carson told reporters the cost would include raising the site by over a metre to protect from rising sea levels and repairing the seawall.
“When you’re starting to invest tens of millions of dollars in a site, which new developers would do in terms of building out the site, you have to have a 20, 30, 40, 50-year comfort zone in terms of the risk,” Carson said.
A recent report by Turner Drake found the site would be worth an estimated $3.5 million with remediation and seawall repairs.
Vote to tear down former building
Council will vote Monday whether to spend as much as $1 million to tear down the former Coast Guard administration building.
But Coun. John MacKenzie said they should hold off on any demolition to see if any developers find potential in the building.
Carson said there is no doubt some developers would be interested but renovating the building would not create the tax base needed to justify the buildout of the entire site.
He said there have been a lot of false starts at the site over the years, mainly due to the condition of the seawall.
“Certain areas of [the seawall] are in better shape than others,” he said. “But if we’re looking at the next 40, 50 years, the whole thing needs to be replaced.”
Story by Brad Perry
Twitter: @BradMPerry
Email: perry.brad@radioabl.ca
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