Quote:
Originally Posted by WBC
I think that we are far, far away from any kind of retail squeeze. In fact one could claim the opposite. There is a ton of retail space outside of Metrotown mall that is either sitting empty or is underutilized or hosts revolving door of business that don't seem to last 6 months to a year. There is also a ton of street level space that is filled with local non profit outfits (which should really occupy office space).
When I moved to Metrotown 20 years ago you had London Drugs on one end and Shoppers on the other. London Drugs was busy with 3-4 registers regularly open. Nowadays, with two more Shoppers, one Rexall, and one Pharmsave open the same London Drugs has 1 maybe two registers open any given day and is largely empty (despite all the population growth). How all these places make any money is beyond me, but that is somebody else's problem I guess. The one thing that seems to have business no matter how many you open is Starbucks. A lot of local mom and pap coffee shops don't even come close to what Starbucks generates.
At the end of the day not every street and not every building needs retail. Some of that street facing space can be nicely used for townhouses (a form that is increasingly rare in Metrotown). For that matter, not ever building needs to be the same thing - a glass tower with a podium.
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OK my bad, I should be more specific. Larger scale retail or higher quality units in mixed developments seem to be attracting the businesses these days and are well sought after. The ones you mention are mostly the shacks on Kingsway, some pretty far away from the high density residential nodes and major transportaion corridors.
I do agree that not all residences need retail, but I think that all residential towers in the vicinity of downtown Metrotown, especially those within a few blocks from skytrain stations ought to have retail. It only makes sense.
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