Extensive renovations have begun to the mall level of the Shoppes of City Hall pedway.
It is part of a larger project by Fundy Harbour Group (FHG), which bought the Saint John City Hall building in 2018 for $3 million.
The once cold, drafty transition past the building’s third-floor elevator stop will see totally new modern finishes and improved access ready to define the entrance to the pedway level.
“We’re putting a new entrance off Chipman Hill with a canopy, and we’re actually putting in an accessible wheelchair ramp,” Chris Elias, vice-president of operations with Fundy Harbour Group, said in a previous interview with Huddle.
Sliding doors will also be added to the City Hall pedway route on both its Market Square and Brunswick House sides to prevent heat loss.
Upgrades also involve renovating the business suites on the pedway level, which Elias said in February already had two leases signed for a pair of medical clinics with three more spaces left to rent.
The work is expected to take four to six months and will be done in two phases, according to a news release from the City of Saint John.
Elias said the building has already undergone some major changes since FHG purchased it more than three years ago.
The first major project involved relocating the City of Saint John offices down to the first four floors of the 16-storey building.
Elias said the middle floors of the building have also undergone many vital changes to the structure’s backbone, with extensive upgrades to revamp all building systems.
Renovations on the upper floors of the building will take place as the demand in the commercial market grows.
“We’re confident with the amount of demand we’re seeing right now that that’s going to be continued on an accelerated timeline,” he said.
With files from Huddle reporter Tyler McLean.
