Hopefully by summer we'll see a couple floors above ground level. This section of downtown will really be amazingly dense with the potential of the 780 Blanshard just up the hill being redeveloped to build an 18 storey hotel/condo on top of the existing art deco building.
700 block of Burdett Street, Victoria. March 13, 2023. by
JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr
CHEK is reporting that Lululemon will be moving into the ground floor of the Custom House building, which has been empty since it's completion. Probably the most prime retail space in the city. It had to be a high profile company or someone with deep pockets. Would have been a nice restaurant location with the potential for outdoor seating, but it's a tough industry nowadays with the rent being charged here. Although Starbucks has a nice location in the historic side of the building.
Not sure if this means they'll be leaving their Johnson street location. Like Lululemon locations across the country it was a prime shoplifting location because of the value of the merchandise which can be easily flipped online. I'm sure the new location will have room to build in better anti-theft deterrents. Perhaps a double door type of thing - but I think their policy now is to not stop anyone.
CHEK story
Finally I posted some new Victoria photos in the Canada thread, you see the full thing
here - just sharing a couple below from that thread:
Douglas Street - Victoria. Sunday, February 4, 2024. by
JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr
Belmont Building - Sunday February 4, 2024. by
JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr