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David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
Methinks Mr Cushnie and I should talk N'esy Pas? David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/developer-interested-condemned-property-1.5687172
Developer interested in condemned SJ property
'Inside ... it's really quite a decent building.'
CBC News · Posted: Aug 14, 2020 5:13 PM AT
The former City Road Bakery and BJ's Lounge building on Saint John's City Road. A municipal inspector's report declares the building is vacant, dilapidated and unsound (Connell Smith, CBC)
While it may not be much to look at, a developer says a derelict property that has been approved for demolition has good bones and he wants it.
The former BJ's Lounge on City Road has been unoccupied for years and was approved for demolition earlier this month by the city.
The city has tried numerous times to contact the property owner without success and the property has been neglected.
But Sussex developer John Cushnie said beneath all the dirt is a diamond in the rough. "I mean it looks bad on the outside, the siding's sort of all coming off and all that, but inside you know structurally it's really quite a decent building," said Cushnie.
"It's bricks, you know big windows, iron beams and all that. Like really quite nice."
The property is registered to a numbered company, 684788 NB INC, while Service New Brunswick says it's owned by someone named Mostafa Iqbal.
Property taxes have not been paid on the property in years and in 2019 the owners were ordered to pay $64,000 in outstanding taxes.
A city inspector's photo of an office inside 111-115 City Road. Neighbours say the building was closed up in November, 2017. (City of Saint John)
CBC News has repeatedly reached out to the listed owner, but have not received a response.
Without the siding, Cushnie said the building would look similar to the Picaroons Roundhouse in Fredericton, one of that city's nightlife attractions.
Cushnie said it wouldn't take a huge amount of work to get the building back in shape, adding that the bricks underneath the siding are in great shape.
Cushnie said his company would like to use the building itself, but he also knows of several other businesses that would thrive in that location.
Information Morning - Saint John
Developer trying to save abandoned City Road building
An
abandoned building on Saint John's City Road has clearly seen better
days. It is slated for demolition, but a local developer says it's worth
saving. Host Julia Wright speaks with developer John Cushnie. 8:53 "I see it as being a pretty lively sort of commercial hub," said Cushnie.
"Once we strip everything off it, it would be a fantastic building."
Cushnie said the cost to renovate would be between $80-180,000, depending on the type of development.
He said his company has submitted a formal proposal to the city asking for a six month deferral of the demolition to give him time to buy the property.
CBC News has reached out to the city's Growth and Community Development Services for comment but haven't received a reply.
With files from Information Morning Saint John
14 Comments
Douglas James
Well, they ignored an offer of a $5 million investment into the Jelly Bean buildings and thanks to Shirley McAlary, they were torn down despite their historic interest. With this Common Council, who knows.
David Amos
Reply to @Douglas James: Methinks Mr Cushnie and I should talk N'esy Pas?
Sam Brown
Hello New Brunswick
....."He said his company has submitted a formal proposal to the city asking for a six month deferral of the demolition to give him time to buy the property."..........
If Cushnie can find Iqbal to buy the property from, why can't the City find Iqbal ?
Good Day.....
David Amos
Reply to @Sam Brown: Good point
Ray Bungay
I say tear it down on schedule. This 'unknown' developer has had months to make a claim but has been hiding until now. Here in Saint John we have seen this movie too many times.
David Amos
Reply to @Ray Bungay: I disagree
Ray Bungay
Reply to @David Amos: We will agree to disagree the world would be a sader place if all agreed 100% 0f the time. Cheers
Matt Steele
Sometimes you can't judge a book from its cover . The building may very well be salvageable , and be put back into productive use . If the city decides to tear the building down , the taxpayers will have to pay for the demolition , and then it will just be another vacant lot that will be producing very little in the way of property tax .
David Amos
Reply to @Matt Steele: Oh So True
Bob Smith
I'm not being cynical but I can see the developer wanting a six month deferral to see if he can talk the city into writing off the outstanding taxes so he can buy the property cheap. Once that is done, he'll announce plans, look for gov't money and so on...
SarahRose Werner
Reply to @Bob Smith:
If the city demolishes the building, they don't get paid the outstanding
taxes plus they pay for the cost of demolition. If they give this guy
his deferral, they don't have to pay for demolition plus they get some
money for the property.
David Amos
Reply to @Bob Smith: Methinks you are not his uncle N'esy Pas?
Donald Gallant
Nothing specific from this developer.
Next please.
Next please.
David Amos
Reply to @Donald Gallant: Google him
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/abbey-parlee-brook-nb-sussex-1.4208224
Owners of 'magical' Sussex-area home disenchanted with ATV noise, partiers
Owners of unusual cottage nicknamed the Abbey say harassment has become unbearable
· CBC News · Posted: Jul 18, 2017 7:30 AM AT
John Cushnie and Kara Au say their idyllic home in Waterford, near Poley Mountain in the Sussex area, is being disrespected by the hundreds of visitors who frequent the trails in Parlee Brook. (Julia Wright / CBC)
The pocket-sized home in Waterford, N.B., known as the Abbey has an elvish ambience.
The cottage — with its rounded, stone walls, steeply pitched roof, pink-and-blue paint and arched wooden doorway — invites comparison to the imaginary realms of J.R.R. Tolkien.
We've had days where 50 to 100 people have been coming down the road, all very clearly drunk.
- John Cushnie , owner of the AbbeyIt's a landmark for hundreds of hikers, ATVers, ice climbers and geocachers that make their way year-round to the trails in Parlee Brook, outside Sussex.
"There's was something enchanting and magical about it," said Kara Au, who lives there with her partner, John Cushnie.
But contrary to the Middle Earth vibes, life at the Abbey is no fairytale.
Covered with ivy and bushes in the summer, the fantastical architecture of the Abbey becomes more visible in the winter, when the trails are frequented by ATVs and snowmobiles. (submitted by Melissa Smith)
The couple say loud ATVs, partying and trespassing have become so unbearable that they're spent $1,200 of their own money on noise-dampening measures, and involved the RCMP, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, and members of local government — all, so far, with no success.
"We've had days where 50 to 100 people have been coming down the road, all very clearly drunk,"
said Cushnie, adding people have urinated on their lawn, screamed obscenities at night, trespassed through their gate to snap pictures through the windows, and even physically threatened him and his partner.
'Fantastical architecture'
The Abbey was built in the 1980s by the Cushnie family, back-to-the-landers who were looking to start a new life in the "rural utopia" near Sussex, said Cushnie.The Cushnies constructed a network of fanciful structures along Parlee Brook Road, where the family farmed coldwater fish for more than two decades.
"It's fantastical architecture, out of my father's head," said Cushnie.
The unique look of the home, and the popularity of nearby trails leading to natural attractions like the Friar's Nose, ice-climbing sites and geocaches has led to confrontations.
"The problem really escalated this spring," said Au, describing a group of "incredibly aggressive"
ATV riders, who surrounded her and mocked her requests to stop parking in front of her house, popping wheelies and returning late at night to yell insults at the house.
RCMP can't do much
ATVS regularly drive in large groups on Parlee Brook Road, according to homeowners John Cushnie and Kara Au. (submitted by John Cushnie)
ATV riders aren't the only people who don't take kindly to being asked to move along, Au said.
"Some are drunk, some are pissed off, some are swerving around," she said. "I'm afraid for my safety."
The couple said the RCMP have been sympathetic, but there's only so much they can do.
"We don't have cellphone reception out here," Au said. "So if anything happens at night or we have a situation, I have to drive to the end of the road."
By that time, she said, "the people have harassing us have just driven off."
Short-lived relief
In mid-April, Au and Cushnie proposed building a berm — a high, long earthen wall following the natural curve of the road. They arranged for a meeting with the Department of Transportation, which "said OK, and that was it," Au said.In May, the couple spent $1,200 to build the wall, which "stopped the problems immediately," she said.
But just a few weeks later, Au said, DTI contacted them again, saying there had been a "miscommunication" and they had to take it down at their own expense.
"They started completely denying that they gave us permission," she said.
Long history of conflict
John Cushnie and Kara Au planted a thick screen of bushes and vegetable to shield their house from view, but it isn't enough. They want permission from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to keep an earth wall they built around the property. (Julia Wright / CBC)
In a statement emailed to CBC News, Jeff Hull of the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Department said "representatives have been in touch with the property owners and will be seeking a meeting this week, in order to discuss the issue and seek a resolution."
Jeff Branscombe, head of the Sussex ATV Club, was familiar with the couple's complaints and said the club has asked riders to stay off the road.
But old habits die hard, he said, adding the conflict between trail users and the Cushnie family goes back more than a decade.
"Mr. John Cushnie will be very confrontational with ATVers."
Branscombe said he has never seen trail riders cause a disturbance, and the club doesn't care if the couple build a berm.
'Just trying to live in peace'
Au and Cushnie said they want everyone to enjoy the trails around Parlee Brook, provided they do so respectfully."What's not safe is having cars driving around this corner doing 70 kilometres an hour, spraying gravel on my cars and in front of my house," said Au. "What's not safe is having people showing up late at night yelling obscenities, and people on ATVs aggressively harassing me.
"I don't understand what I'm supposed to do at this point."
"I'm from here, was home-schooled here, and I literally have spent my life here," said Cushnie. "I love living here in the country. One of the perks of living in New Brunswick is that we have so much rural space."
"We want everybody to come, hike, have a wonderful time," said Au. "But they also have to understand that there are limits, in terms of giving homeowners privacy and respecting our wishes."
"We're just regular people trying to live out here in peace."
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