Irving Oil reveals details on new home office in Saint John

Storage tanks are seen at the Irving Oil refinery in Saint John, N.B. on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013. (Andrew Vaughan/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Irving Oil has revealed details of its new 11 storey home-office building that will put all of its employees under one roof.

The design received a standing ovation as it was unveiled Wednesday in Saint John.

"It's a nice location, next to King Square and all our employees will enjoy working here," said Arthur Irving, chairman of Irving Oil.

Irving Oil currently employs around 1,000 people that work in five different locations around the city.

"Some of them are in the Golden Ball building or in the Aliant building, but we also have people in east Saint John on Bayside Drive at the refinery, at our lubricants plant and down in 201 Crown,” said Ian Whitcomb, president of Irving Oil. “Bringing over 1,000 people together, we expect we'll have more than $8 million of economic spinoffs."

That spinoff will likely be felt at the city market, which sits only a couple blocks away from Irving's new location.

"It's going to be great, even the construction phase,” said market vendor Dave Ferris. “The two-year construction phase will be tons of people around, from hard hats to architects, to everybody in between.”

Architects for the project say the Irving's made it a priority to have the building fit the look of the historic uptown.

"The building is laid out to be a new modern interior in the city of Saint John for a very advanced work space, but the exterior is to look like it's been there for a very long time and blend with its heritage surroundings," said architect chairman Dan McAlister.

The price of the project hasn't been determined yet, but it will be funded by the company.

"It's going to be a significant investment, but in terms of final dollar figures, it's unfortunately still too early to say at this point," said Andy Carson, director of public affairs at Irving Oil.

Irving Oil expects to break ground this spring. They're hoping to have construction completed within two years.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ashley Blackford.