Real Estate in Saint John, NB?

Question

Hello,

I am looking to make contact with real estate investors, brokers, or property managers of multifamily properties in Saint John, NB.

My objective is to better understand the different areas of Uptown Saint John and the characteristics/challenges of running a property in the City.   On the surface, there appears to opportunity in Saint John - a larger inventory at better prices - when compared to here in Fredericton ... even when you consider in vacancy rates, rent levels, etc.

My first reaction to such a discrepancy is: "There must be something about Saint John, or specifically, Uptown Saint John, I do not know/understand that is responsible for the discrepancy in inventory and prices between there and Fredericton (and Moncton)."

Dale Plant · Answer

Hello Roy N.

You responded to a question I had about whether to pay down my current mortgage or buy. So thanks for that again.

I found this forum for Canadians and did a small yahoo.

In my original response to you there I stated that Uptown was a two-face community, which it is. You will find properties side-by-side that are quite different from each other. Even if you see two identical looking properties they may be substantially different due to how they were maintained. There are pockets within the community where you will find good and bad neighbourhoods side by side on same street. Their is a lot of diversity here from executive to what I would classify as slumlord properties.

Keep in mind that most properties in the actual Uptown are mixed commercial and residential. There seems to be a definite cycle where residents will migrate in and out of the area. The properties tend to go more residential the more you reach into the South-end, with commercial properties intermixed. I mean they tend to be one or the other.

The South-end is perceived as less safe than the Uptown.

The big guys are Hazen Investments hazeninvestments.com and Kincade Property Management kincademanagement.com

You should contact Uptown Saint John. They are a neighborhood revitalization organization that promotes all things Uptown. Not unlike many Main Street revitalization organization in many cities in North America. I worked there as summer student in 1995. It is great place to start and to get feel for the lay of the land and to make contacts. http://www.uptownsj.com/main.html

Also keep in mind that there is an additional charge on property taxes in the designated Uptown zone to fund this organization.

I am curious why you are looking at the Uptown zone over other areas in the city. Unless it is for the historical nature of the area?

So what is different about Saint John and Fredericton? ( I lived in Fredericton in previous life) Both are historical cities, but I would say that Saint John is more pronounced that way especially uptown. F'ton has historical buildings but they are washed out more by modern surrounding buildings, while SJ tends to have more older buildings surrounded by other older buildings. Hope that made sense.

Of course you have the University Town versus the Industrial aspect of the cities as a whole to keep in mind.

Inventory is definitely affected by the buildup of the malls on east side and business moving from the core. There is a second floor movement to help get businesses and residences to occupy the empty upper floors.

I would suggest that you contact Uptown Saint John as they will be able to pass on more contacts. FYI Enterprise Saint John Shares the same building on King Street and the two organization work closely together.

Hope this helps and I would love to hear updates on your progress. From reading some of your other posts and responses to other people ( I am going through this forum bit by bit) and as a complete newbie I feel I could learn a lot from you (already have).

Good luck sir!

Roy N. · Answer

@Dale Plant

Thank-you for the response.

I am fairly familiar with Uptown Saint John and have spent a lot of time there over the past 25 years (I have long-term customers in the Uptown).

While looking at properties, we do have our little "box" within which we shall remain - it never wanders past Wentworth unless we are at, or north of, King Street and never south of Queens Square.

In the past 3-4 months the inventory on multiunit (6+) properties has dropped as "investors" from away have started buying again in anticipation of growth at the refinery arising from the new proposed pipeline.    After the last refinery-inspired rush to acquire property in the City subsided, there were reasonable deals in the Uptown area.  Until now, we have been able to find suitable opportunities in Fredericton and the economic prospects in Saint John did not warrant the extra effort of learning a new City and remotely managing holdings there {there are places in the U.S.A. that would offer better opportunity}.

Over the years, Fredericton, being a government and university town, has had a more stable rental market than Saint John and enjoyed the lowest vacancy rates in the provence {<3% for many years}.  Over the past three years we have seen >400 new units built or announced in Fredericton which has resulted in a >60% increase in vacancy and downward pressure on rents - especially in older properties which have not been kept current.

While we are still building our holdings here, we have begun looking for opportunities both within the Maritimes and elsewhere.