Regina Construction II

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by spictacular mcluvin

I would counter, what is Regina's obsession with towers. Personally I would rather have a bunch of midrises that have active retails fronts and make the downtown more walkable and vibrant vs our towers which have absolutely no retail on the ground floor. Even the new downtown tower looks nice from far but up close they typically chose to go with no real retail. IMO if you added retail to the street level of existing buildings and hi-rises, it would do a lot more for downtown then adding another tower or two with a boring podiums. The only new buildings I wanna see built that helps downtown grow are mixed-use residential.

Was there really any point to resurrecting a comment from well over a week ago that had already been dealt with? It's a divisive post that really didn't need to be brought back into discussion.

In any case Saskatoon and Regina are probably about equal in fundamentals now, but Saskatoon has had more momentum for decades, and so that is carrying it forward faster than Regina at present (I'm from Saskatoon, and it always just felt faster-moving and just had more buzz than Regina, although it's less noticeable now).

Regina has the chance to have the entertainment district develop out of the rail yard land. Downtown can still have some businesses and can have some residential growth, but I have a feeling their going to try and make the Dewdney strip and the Casino the anchors to a neat little area... if it's done properly, it could reallt be transformational, but it is still a very big if.

[thefourthtower]

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[spictacular mcluvin]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Was there really any point to resurrecting a comment from well over a week ago that had already been dealt with? It's a divisive post that really didn't need to be brought back into discussion.

In any case Saskatoon and Regina are probably about equal in fundamentals now, but Saskatoon has had more momentum for decades, and so that is carrying it forward faster than Regina at present (I'm from Saskatoon, and it always just felt faster-moving and just had more buzz than Regina, although it's less noticeable now).

Regina has the chance to have the entertainment district develop out of the rail yard land. Downtown can still have some businesses and can have some residential growth, but I have a feeling their going to try and make the Dewdney strip and the Casino the anchors to a neat little area... if it's done properly, it could reallt be transformational, but it is still a very big if.

Sorry but I had not been on this site in several weeks and decided to respond to that post because I would prefer active retail like Saskatoon has vs towers with no retail like Regina mainly has.

Also on a seperate note. Does anyone else think that 1 or 2 more restaurants that open late and have patios would do wonders for the Scarth Street Mall?

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by spictacular mcluvin

Also on a seperate note. Does anyone else think that 1 or 2 more restaurants that open late and have patios would do wonders for the Scarth Street Mall?

I understand the lack of direct vehicle access and street parking make this unattractive. The City knows this and is considering partially opening it up in the evenings like the Stephen Ave Mall in Calgary

[Devon]

Of course they would. ^

I just spent the weekend in Regina for the first time in 6 months and it was nice to see so much development happening at the moment. It is unfortunate the city isn't seeing more small moves, as in local business on 13th or 11th, that kind of thing. I did eat at the Artful Dodger and was really happy about that space. Also, this thread has gotten weird lately.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by thefourthtower

Looking at the drawings it looks like the penthouse will be quite tall , all in all the tower may be as tall as the other twin

It should be just slightly shorter:


prairie dog blog

[thefourthtower]

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[Nathan]

Originally Posted by Stormer

I understand the lack of direct vehicle access and street parking make this unattractive. The City knows this and is considering partially opening it up in the evenings like the Stephen Ave Mall in Calgary

Depends on the restaurant/café. If you had something really nice/interesting, it would be completely fine, but the only way it works is on the east side. The west side has that interior walkway that cuts any restaurant off from the patio space. An Atlantis and flip there would have been just as much of a hit, but at the same time, it's nice having that place with good street presence. It's sort of the first of its kind in Regina, so getting a little exposure for that type of downtown option. O'Hanlon's would also be fine in a pedestrian only area.

And a Fuddruckers would also do business like gangbusters in there, if enough contiguous space was available. Had I the money and if it were allowed (don't know if Fuddruckers has basically cut off new Canadian franchises), a Fuddruckers franchise is definitely something I'd consider persuing. Almos everyone I know makes a stop there when they are in Stoon.


Also, if they tried to open it up for traffic, you'd probably have a huge sh*tfest with people just telling the city to "f*ck off and quit screwing up downtown". That's basically what I heard when the city decided to open the square to traffic. People weren't all that impressed with the placement, and then were even less impressed to pay for it, and then allow traffic on it... sort of...

[thefourthtower]

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[Rodo Regina Lover]

This new tower going up on Hamilton St. does nothing to add to the life of downtown. Just as the 1800 hundred block was getting a nice selections of shops, basically the whole west side is now gone. I know the owner of V.I.P. and she spent a fortune re-modelling her building and it is now to be demolished! Everyone mentions getting retail on the main floor of these new towers--at what cost? What do you think Harvard is charging for rent, to let's say to have V.I.P. stay on Hamilton St. on the main floor of the new FCC tower? You cannot remain in business in downtown Regina and pay what Harvard is charging for space in their new towers-- how is this a positive for our downtown? I talked to someone from Harvard about their space in the new Mosaic Tower and he mentioned they were trying to get a restaurant on the main floor, I work in the restaurant business and I told him a restaurant could not afford their rents and still make a profit and he said they were talking to some chains and I said I guess they might be the only ones able to afford the space.But I see the space is still empty, and if they think they can charge the same rents as let's say, Vancouver, I say good luck to them and we'll see how long it takes to fill that spot.

[Le-TanK-]

is the second FCC tower actually happening?

[Regina Boi]

Originally Posted by Rodo Regina Lover

This new tower going up on Hamilton St. does nothing to add to the life of downtown. Just as the 1800 hundred block was getting a nice selections of shops, basically the whole west side is now gone. I know the owner of V.I.P. and she spent a fortune re-modelling her building and it is now to be demolished! Everyone mentions getting retail on the main floor of these new towers--at what cost? What do you think Harvard is charging for rent, to let's say to have V.I.P. stay on Hamilton St. on the main floor of the new FCC tower? You cannot remain in business in downtown Regina and pay what Harvard is charging for space in their new towers-- how is this a positive for our downtown? I talked to someone from Harvard about their space in the new Mosaic Tower and he mentioned they were trying to get a restaurant on the main floor, I work in the restaurant business and I told him a restaurant could not afford their rents and still make a profit and he said they were talking to some chains and I said I guess they might be the only ones able to afford the space.But I see the space is still empty, and if they think they can charge the same rents as let's say, Vancouver, I say good luck to them and we'll see how long it takes to fill that spot.

Any idea if Bic is planning on opening VIP in a new location, or will she just close out?

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by Le-TanK-

is the second FCC tower actually happening?

Basically a sure thing. FCC needs the space (they are currently taking up room in the Conexus) so either Harvard Developments follows through or FCC turns to someone else.

[Rodo Regina Lover]

I'm not sure what Bic's plan of action is, I'll have to drop in and have a chat with her. I'm pretty sure she'll want to keep V.I.P. going, but I can't think of a location downtown, that doesn't cost $10,000 a month, that would be as great as her current one!

[thefourthtower]

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[Tyler19944]

whats up with the new public library?? Dos anyone think it will get the go ahead?

It would look amazing in between the Hill triplets and the new capital point (wishful thinking)

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by Tyler19944

whats up with the new public library?? Dos anyone think it will get the go ahead?

It would look amazing in between the Hill triplets and the new capital point (wishful thinking)

I think they're back to the drawing board trying to figure something new out; the Masons threw a kink into the plans. Interesting side note, from looking at old pics of Regina, I think the Masons were on 11th and Cornwall before the current location.

[thefourthtower]

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[one_brick_at_a_time]

If we could get a Cineplex or Galaxy theatre downtown, a large book store connected to the Cornwall or in the vacinity, and an H&M built on the top of the Cornwall Centre, without a doubt the draw would increase for shoppers to come downtown more than they already do. Spurring more retail (entrepreneurs included opening their own shops close by) outside of the cornwall would also allow for longer store hours as well as other national and international chains as well to add to the downtown (obviously). I am happy Lulu Lemon took the store front spot outside the Cornwall. I don't get tho why they can't have longer hours tho. That is exactly what we need.

Hopefully an American Apparel will pop up soon.

I always thought Tramps Music and Books at 1826 Scarth Street would be a perfect spot for another national retailer to start of spur of new development on Scarth because of its layout. Isn't it 3 floors?


http://toys.canada121.com/toys/photos/l6355.jpg

turned into something like this...


H&M Yonge and Bloor Street Toronto http://tundrabooks.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/hm-at-bloor.jpg?w=600&h=803

Maybe H&M could take up 2 or 3 of the old scarth street buildings.

[Devon]

Originally Posted by one_brick_at_a_time

If we could get a Cineplex or Galaxy theatre downtown, a large book store connected to the Cornwall or in the vacinity, and an H&M built on the top of the Cornwall Centre, without a doubt the draw would increase for shoppers to come downtown more than they already do. Spurring more retail (entrepreneurs included opening their own shops close by) outside of the cornwall would also allow for longer store hours as well as other national and international chains as well to add to the downtown (obviously). I am happy Lulu Lemon took the store front spot outside the Cornwall. I don't get tho why they can't have longer hours tho. That is exactly what we need.

Hopefully an American Apparel will pop up soon.

I always thought Tramps Music and Books at 1826 Scarth Street would be a perfect spot for another national retailer to start of spur of new development on Scarth because of its layout. Isn't it 3 floors?

H&M said a few years ago that they would have a location in every major city in Canada (they have had stores in Moncton and Red Deer for many years), but we have yet to see any movement. Forever 21 thought about locating in Saskatoon and had ads for positions out over 2 years ago, and they clearly backed out. I know a few managers of American Apparel (including the Saskatoon location) and a store in Regina isn't very likely. They do just well enough in Saskatoon and at the moment they are more interested in attracting visitors from Regina more than opening there.