116 Beech | 81m | 25s | Katasa | Project1 Studios | Proposed

[phil235]

You'd think with the wild success of Food Basics on Lyon, Grocery stores would realize how lucrative dense urban markets are and start spamming the downtown area food deserts.

My sense is that rents in these new builds are still really high compared to market, which makes it tough for low-margin businesses like grocer store. I'm pretty sure that if the developer was willing to drop the rent by 10 or 15%, they would have no issue attracting grocery tenants. (Of course, that would mean that the residential tenants would need to pay comparatively more.) As people have pointed out, a grocery store here is virtually guaranteed to be busy.

It's a bit disappointing that developers don't see these types of tenants as an amenity for residents and line them up earlier. It seems to me that they could distinguish themselves from their competitors with a good mix of grocery, restaurants etc.

 

[J.OT13]

My sense is that rents in these new builds are still really high compared to market, which makes it tough for low-margin businesses like grocer store. I'm pretty sure that if the developer was willing to drop the rent by 10 or 15%, they would have no issue attracting grocery tenants. (Of course, that would mean that the residential tenants would need to pay comparatively more.) As people have pointed out, a grocery store here is virtually guaranteed to be busy.

It's a bit disappointing that developers don't see these types of tenants as an amenity for residents and line them up earlier. It seems to me that they could distinguish themselves from their competitors with a good mix of grocery, restaurants etc.

I agree. Scarifying a bit of rent from a grocer guarantees a long term tenant an attractive feature for potential tenants and the neighbourhood.

Lots of shade has been thrown to Claridge over the years, but they deserve high praise for giving us a few much needed grocery stores in Centretown, and bringing back Metro on Rideau.

 

[J.OT13]