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Originally Posted by someone123
I think in most cities the Dennis Building and Acadian Recorder would be restored and the infill would be built on the empty footprint.
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The problem is of course that the floor heights of the Dennis are very low, and so you end up with compromised interior spaces. As it is there will likely be floor plates bisecting window openings. The Acadian Recorder is a very small building which makes no sense to shoehorn into this.
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Not sure if the Acadian Recorder and Dennis will have their own entrances. I am also not sure if Founders Square is all mall/lobby inside with the one entrance or if there are some empty storefronts with unused entrances on Hollis. If the Acadian Recorder had a small commercial space on the ground level with a functional entrance but the rest of the building were incorporated into the complex that wouldn't be bad.
I wonder how much of this "dead facade" effect is due to the developments and how much of it is due to the low pedestrian traffic and commercial demand of the Hollis/Granville area. I could see the demand picking up in a couple years as a lot more people move into this area. Many seemingly marginal or empty/dreary ground floor spaces may become reanimated with shops. Press Block is not tall but it has a significant amount of new space; same with Queen's Marque. And the number of new residential units around Sackville Street is considerable. I could see more people living along a few blocks of Sackville in 2025 than were in all of the old part of downtown in 2005.
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Founders originally retained many of the entrances to the old buildings along Hollis. Aside from a failed hair studio or whatever there was no demand for retail spaces along there and over time that gradually became office space backing onto the interior elevator lobby. With no parking along Hollis, retail would be very challenged anyway. Being unable to pick up/drop off goods is generally not a good thing for retail. Nor is being unable to let customers come and go easily.