Huge 3-year-old hole in the ground at prime corner tests patience in Saint John

It's been nearly three years since a building, still referred to as the former Woolworth's store, was torn down to make way for a new development at a prime uptown corner in Saint John.

Today, instead of a promised 12-storey, multi-use building — or even a start on one — the site at the head of King Street remains a giant, empty hole in the ground.

Saint Johners can't see it filled fast enough.

"I just wish something was done with it," said restaurant owner Billy Grant. "Either fill it in and put a lawn there, or do something soon."

Billy's Seafood Company is right next to the gaping construction site at the top of King Street, across from King's Square. He said being next to the empty lot for so long has hurt business.

"Going on three or four years, this is not acceptable," he said. "It's really affected my company a lot. Business is down from it. I mean, we have other factors as well.

"I know we went through COVID and all that, but I think the building came down with COVID. It's just been one perfect storm after the other for me." 

Grant said tourism season has been his restaurant's financial saving grace, but the development, or lack thereof, in the area has been a barrier for the restaurant to access the tourism market, with sidewalks being gone as well. 

"[They say] 'Billy, it's hard to get into your front door.' They want to meet me," Grant said.

Developer Percy Wilbur bought the lot at King and Charlotte streets in late 2020. In the past, he has attributed the project delays to large cost increases but would not be interviewed for this story. 

His project's plan is for commercial space on the lower floors and apartments above. When the building was demolished in June 2021, Wilbur said it would take 2½ years to build. The site has not seen any significant development, however.

There is an empty foundation from the old building surrounded by barriers and chain-link fences.

The City of Saint John's communication department also refused to provide someone to talk to about where things stand and said one would be presented at a city growth committee meeting next week.

City officials want to see a building 

Grant isn't the only one eager to see the project completed. The site is in Coun. Gerry Lowe's ward and he just wants to "wake up and see a beautiful building there."

"We take the flack. It's my ward and the mayor lives uptown and we get flack all the time," he said. 

Lowe said that last he heard, Wilbur was trying to get a commercial tenant as an anchor for the property, something that, according to Lowe, has been a struggle for the developer.

"We've been told that something's going to happen in the fall and he's trying to get a tenant."

"It's just a situation where [Wilbur] tore it down, and he had some verbal commitments as to who was going to go in the first couple floors and it never worked out, and it's been a problem ever since."

"I want to see a building there ASAP," said Mayor Donna Reardon after the city's most recent common council meeting.

Last year, Reardon said the vacant lot was holding up two separate revitalization projects in the area, including a bilateral project with funding that would be lost if not used by 2026.

But she said that project, which aims to revitalize Charlotte Street, is going to continue.

"We have to use the money by a certain date. So those [upgrades] are going to proceed, I believe, this year," she said.

The city's communications department confirmed that the Charlotte Street upgrades are to begin construction in July and are expected to be completed by November of this year.

It's sad, says Saint John resident

Jayme Gray-Watson has lived in the city for 17 years and finds the pit in an otherwise beautiful city sad.

"It's one of those things where people — that's all they're seeing right now when ... driving through King Square," she said.

"We have beautiful buildings up here. You pass the market and all of a sudden you're in a deep hole and they've had to cut out some of the sidewalks.

"So waking up on Charlotte Street is atrocious because they've had to cut back on the three lanes up there to make it walking accessible to the City Market." 

Gray-Watson says that if the owner can't do anything with it, he should consider selling it so someone else can.

"Something beautiful should be made," she said.

"I understand it's a residential area, but even if there's nothing that can be done, fill it in, let people sit there. It could be a park." 

Grant agrees.

"They should fill it in, make a park until some structure can go up."