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Originally Posted by socialisthorde
Further to that, does anyone have an opinion on why there are so many condo towers being proposed in Regina when we only have one and even that is questionable? Maybe all those crappy concrete rental towers built in the 70's have absorbed the demand?
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I'll weigh in on this one. Here are a few possible explanations that come to mind for me:
- Over the past few years there's been a fairly steady stream of smaller renovation projects in the downtown that have brought new residential units on to the market. These projects have given previously vacant or under-used downtown heritage buildings a new lease on life - and that's just fantastic. These projects include: Fairbanks-Morse Warehouse, T. Eaton Lofts, 2nd Ave Lofts, The King George, and The Rumley. I don't know numbers, but I would speculate that these projects combined have added a "tower's worth" of condos to the city centre, if that makes any sense?
- Let's not forget recent new construction: the 15 floor Riverfront went up in 2006-ish (?), and the 7 floor Luxe on Broadway is surely close to completion. Though not new construction, the 20-ish floor Milroy Apartments have been recently converted to condos - now dubbed The View on 5th.
- And yes, the crop of residential towers from the 70s and 80s provide a pretty large base of units in the downtown already, the likes of which isn't found in downtown Regina. Downtown living isn't really anything new in Saskatoon, though it has become more popular in recent years - and geared more and more towards the young and wealthy.
- Regina's recent Downtown Plan had a "walk to work" theme that stressed downtown living and helped put that idea in vogue there. If you were at Jennifer Keesmat's presentation (of Toronto's Office for Urbanism) at the Broadway back in April, you would have heard that the Capital Pointe proposal there was very much inspired and guided by the downtown plan that brought such ideas forward.
- I think that potential developers are waiting to see what happens with River Landing Village, as it will add a slew of new units to the downtown. The Lake Placid project is very much a lynch pin for River Landing as a whole. I was at a presentation on River Landing a couple months ago and what was said there is that there is great interest in River Landing from the private sector, but most are holding off until Lake Placid gets underway. Meanwhile, the City is sitting on the other land it owns at River Landing until then as well.
- The 25th Street extension and City Yards consolidation will free up previously unavailable vacant land on downtown's doorstep to private development. Surely another "wait and see" there for developers. And don't forget the South Caswell redevelopment once the bus barns are out.
- The
City Centre Plan is currently being prepared, and it's looking like a pretty big undertaking that could have a serious effect on future downtown development, and could inspire a similar type of excitement and inspiration that Regina's Downtown Plan has achieved.
Those last 3 points bring this to mind:
That the City has seemingly never invested so much money and energy into downtown revitalization. In the last 5 years think of the civic initiatives that have been undertaken, are currently underway, or have been earmarked for the near future: River Landing (and ALL it entails), the 3rd Avenue Project, 25th Street extension/City Yards-Warehouse District redevelopment, South Caswell redevelopment, an expanded central library, revamped Bus Mall, and the City Centre Plan (and all the public projects it will eventually entail).
In a way, maybe we're victims of our own aggressive approach to downtown improvement? With all these things coming down the pipe, maybe developers are indeed sitting still with a "wait and see" attitude? Let the City complete their projects and initiatives first, lay the groundwork for private development, and in a few years time interested developers can move in and really capitalize on the public investment made in the downtown. Does that make any sense? That with the City undertaking so much right now, developers may not want to jump the gun until all has fallen in to place.
Well, that's my take on it. Not that I think there's a huge swath of developers waiting for the right time to sink their teeth into downtown - but surely all these civic initiatives will generate significant interest and investment in future years. I remain as optimistic as ever, the years ahead for downtown Saskatoon look very bright!
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My main concern is that it is displacing a local establishment. Not really a Starbucks fan either. BTW in my opinion the best coffee in town is Museo, second is Cafe Sola. If a Tim Hortons were to displace one of them, I might go postal. I know, this isn't development related, but there doesn't seem to be much happening on that front. 
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