Quote:
Originally Posted by Kris22
As a downtown resident I was most excited about having a full-sized grocer in that location, so if this falls through that would be my biggest disappointment.
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The grocery landscape is Canada heavily suggested the grocery store inside SkyCity was a pipe dream from the start. There are effectively two players in the large grocery store format, Loblaws and Sobey's. Loblaws has very limited experience in the urban grocery store format and is unlikely to take a gamble on this opportunity. Sobey's was thought to be having some success with the format in other cities however part of their Safeway acquisition say almost every urban format store included in the first round of store closing. That the proposed grocery store is planned for the second or third floor of the podium also suggests even the developer views this as a long shot. Grocery stores need access to a good loading dock and frequently receive heavy pallets of merchandise. Locating somewhere other than ground level likely means still having a ground level loading dock but now adds in the requirement for a heavy freight elevator and makes the whole process of stocking the store significantly more complicated. That is without even entertaining the discussion on what a third floor grocery store would mean for people that don't live in the building.
My thoughts are that the proposal still goes ahead, the grocery space gets built and remains empty. I also think that multiple floors will be enclosed with minimal roughing in but left undeveloped when the building is "completed" with build outs happening as demand warrants. I also would not be surprised to see some other use for a number of floors envisioned as condos, either smaller apartments, a hotel or perhaps even office space if they can secure a long term lease.