Picaroons, restaurant added to new Saint John development

Historica Developments has announced two new tenants for its Park Place Development in Saint John's uptown.

Italian by Night, an established fine dining restaurant, will join a pub as the latest businesses to sign onto the two-phase project that encompasses the former Canterbury Carpark and Bustins Furniture buildings.

Keith Brideau, the president of Historica Developments, said key retailers Real Food Connection and the Buckland Merrifield Gallery could open their doors within a month. Picaroons General Store will follow early in the new year.

It's going to feel like this, kind of, hidden gem in uptown Saint John.- Keith Brideau

On the upper floors of the Canterbury Street building, 14 higher-end apartments are nearly finished.

Brideau anticipates another 25 apartment units will be added above the former Bustins building.

Brideau also has plans to turn a loading lane that enters off Grannan Street between the two buildings into a public space with shops and cafes.

"We'll be throwing in some high-quality lighting, some planter boxes with some beautiful flowers draping off," said Brideau.

"There's going to be some storefronts there. It's going to feel like this, kind of, hidden gem in uptown Saint John."

'Astore come art project'

Sean Dunbar, the owner of Picaroons, said the combination general store and micro-brewery at the corner of Grannan and Canterbury streets is 80 per cent finished.

It will be a retail beer store and also a general store with "curated" non-beer items for sale.

"It may also be the place in uptown Saint John where you can go to buy a hammer or a really good measuring tape or ... yarn," said Dunbar.

"It's a little bit of a store come art project."

In truth, said Dunbar, they are going to let consumers dictate the direction.

"I have this, sort of, open source collaborative concept in mind," he said.

On the brewing side, Dunbar said he wants to make and retail specialty beers unique to Saint John.

He hopes the model can be used as the basis for other Picaroons General Stores across the province even in smaller towns.

In the meantime, Dunbar said he's been overwhelmed by the response to a recent ad for a manager for the store.

"Honestly, I've got resumes from across Canada. mostly from expatriate Saint Johners that want to come back," he said.