Posted Oct 4, 2011, 10:44 AM
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Loads of interest in Perks site
Quinpool Road location draws more calls than property management firm needs
By CHRIS LAMBIE Business Editor
Tue, Oct 4 - 6:17 AM
There was so much interest in taking over a key piece of Quinpool Road real estate, the property management firm has taken down the sign.
Perks Coffee Ltd. moved out of the key location at the intersection of Vernon Street at the end of August when the small local chain quietly shut down.
"There were staggering amounts of interest in the space," Adrian Cowling of ASL Management said Monday.
The windows are still papered over, but Cowling recently took the For Lease sign down due to the number of inquiries it was generating.
"I don’t want any more calls," he said. "I couldn’t get anything else done. . . . It was constant — from tire-kickers to people who were actually interested."
The location’s high visibility, proximity to the Willow Tree intersection and having its own parking spots are among its assets, he said.
"It’s one of the best locations on Quinpool, if not the best," Cowling said of the building owned by the Kioussis family, which once ran a shoe repair shop out of the location.
The 1,000-square foot space isn’t leased yet. Cowling’s asking for $35 a square foot net and he thinks he’ll get it.
"We don’t have a deal yet, but we’re working on that now. I expect in the next couple of weeks we’ll be finalizing something."
Merchants on the street have heard Starbucks Coffee Co. could be moving in. But Cowling wouldn’t comment on the possibility. Officials from the coffee chain couldn’t be reached for comment.
"I can’t say anything until I’ve got it signed, sealed and delivered," Cowling said.
At nearby Cyclesmith, they like the idea of a Starbucks setting up across the street.
"That’s the same rumour we heard, but as far as I know, it’s just a rumour," said Michael Harvie, who works at the bike shop.
There’s a certain symbiosis with high-end coffee and bicycles, he said, noting the Italian and French connections.
Harvie, who admits to being "kind of a coffee snob," said having a Starbucks nearby should improve the bike business.
"It definitely would."
He pointed out that lot of cyclists frequent Dartmouth’s Two if by Sea Cafe, the Founders Square outfit that opened in 2009.
"Then you saw a shop (named The Bike Pedaler) open up close to it shortly thereafter," he said.
Quinpool business owners will meet Thursday to promote the idea of bringing more diversity to the strip now lined with eateries.
"I’d like to get some retailers in on the street," said Karla Nicholson, general manager of the Quinpool Road Mainstreet District Association.
"It’s hard because when you have a business set up for a restaurant, the automatic assumption is that another restaurant will move in."
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