Site of former Woolworth building remains empty two years later

In June of 2021, the former Woolworth’s store was torn down atop King Street in uptown Saint John, N.B., to make way for a new sky-rise consisting mostly of apartment buildings.

Two years later, the site remains a giant hole in the centre of the city with shovels yet to go in the ground.

“It’s still on hold as we are trying to wait for the instability in the market to settle somewhat,” says site developer Percy Wilbur. “At the same time, we are redesigning the second and third floor to accommodate more apartments rather than going with commercial office which we had originally set out to do.”

Wilbur blames labour shortages, inflation and supply chain issues for the lack of work done. At this time, there is no timeline for construction to begin.

“Unless you can tell me when the labour shortage and the supply chain and the inflation stops, I can commit to it a little bit further.”

The pit has been an eyesore for residents for the past few years, with Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon saying city hall gets a number of inquiries each week about the status of the hole. She understands the difficulties of building in today’s climate given the rising costs, but time has run its course.

“At this stage of the game, I guess we felt its time to let’s get rocking and rolling,” says Reardon. “Because we have a couple of other things we’d like to do as well.”

Reardon notes the city is looking to pedestrianize Market Street, running between the giant pit and Saint John City Market, as well as a bilateral agreement with the provincial government to redo Charlotte Street directly in front of the site.

Neither project can be started until something is done about the massive hole.

“We can’t start tearing up a street that has no support system,” Reardon says. “So we either need this hole filled in or we need a building built here so we can go forward with this.”

The fact the hole is in such a central point of the city makes the lack of work even more prevalent. King’s Square, City Hall, the City Market, the Irving Headquarters, and soon to be completed Market Slip down on the waterfront are all within walking distance.

Reardon says the city will work with the developer to aid in any way they can to get work going, but time on a decision is running out.

“At the end of the day, if its not going to fly, then let’s sell that lot or do whatever you have to do,” says the mayor. “We need something done with that space.”

Wilbur says he still has full intentions on going ahead with the project.

“I’ve got a lot of money sitting there making me nothing until I actually complete the project,” Wilbur says. “So nobody wants it done more than I do.”

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