Moncton council approves development that could be city's tallest-occupied building

Moncton council on Monday unanimously voted in favour of a downtown building that could have up to 30 floors.

Icon Developments Inc. is proposing a mixed-use building with about 288 residential units on vacant land at Main and Harper streets.

If built as proposed, it would be the city's tallest-occupied building.

Councillors voted to change a conditional agreement in place since 2017 with the property's previous owners that only allowed a hotel of up to 14 floors.

The amended agreement would allow a mixed-use building of six to 30 floors.

City staff told council Icon still needs to complete various steps that could affect its scale, including detailed designs and financing.

"It was a great first step tonight, but it sounds like there's still a lot of work to do," Mayor Dawn Arnold said after the vote.

Jamie Shea, Icon's president, and Phil Ripley, the company's project manager, both declined to comment after the vote.

It's unclear how quickly the company could start construction.

Bill Budd, the city's director of planning and development, said he's hopeful it gets built as proposed.

"I'd really like to see the developer try to do this," Budd told reporters. "This building, it's a really nice, well-designed building. It will be a great gateway into this city."

The property, close to the municipal border with Dieppe, would loom over the eastern edge of downtown.

The Bell Aliant tower would still be the tallest structure in the city. The next tallest building, Assumption Place, is 20 floors in the middle of downtown.

The vote followed a public hearing Monday where several people who live on Harper Lane spoke against the plans, expressing concerns about the increase in traffic on the small street and the scale of the building.

"This development, I'm not too sure fits into the neighbourhood," Brian MacIver told council.

"It definitely doesn't match what I believe should be in the neighborhood."

The plans call for no surface parking spots on the site, but 258 parking stalls within the building.

The council vote includes several conditions for the proposal, including using measures to reduce the risk of flooding on the building's lower parking level and remediating any potential contaminated soil on the site.

The mayor said the building would help address an urgent need for more housing in the community.

There was no discussion Monday of how much it could cost to rent units in the building. A staff report to council says the company plans to "incorporate affordable housing units, although final numbers are yet to be determined."