Downtown Update

[king10]

Originally Posted by CaptainKirk

He's on the wonderbus #2



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGmDpW307GM

Lol thats amazing. Never saw that until now.

[HillStreetBlues]

Westdale Metro to change format to Food Basics

I wasn’t sure where to put this (is there a “grocery store” thread somewhere?), but didn’t want to create a thread in Business & Economy since there’s not a lot to discuss.

I’ve been told that the Westdale Metro will close shortly (~July 1), and change format to reopen as a Food Basics September 1. I think this is probably generally good news for the neighbourhood, and it certainly makes sense given the number of students nearby. I had previously heard a rumour that Metro was simply closing up shop, which would have been very bad news indeed. I had been told in the past that the store was not doing very well, and in December they stopped opening 24 hours, so it’s good news that it will be revitalized in a discount brand.

[movingtohamilton]

Originally Posted by HillStreetBlues

Westdale Metro to change format to Food Basics

I wasn’t sure where to put this (is there a “grocery store” thread somewhere?), but didn’t want to create a thread in Business & Economy since there’s not a lot to discuss...

Oh yes there is a lot to discuss! If it's switched to Food Basics, the store will no longer sell the famous St. Viateur Bakery Montreal bagels. That loss is tragic for my household. They are the only real bagels in Hamilton. All others are just bread in bagel shapes!

[king10]

Originally Posted by movingtohamilton

Oh yes there is a lot to discuss! If it's switched to Food Basics, the store will no longer sell the famous St. Viateur Bakery Montreal bagels. That loss is tragic for my household. They are the only real bagels in Hamilton. All others are just bread in bagel shapes!

What about Metro at University plaza?

[HillStreetBlues]

Or Centre Mall? That's probably not much further than Westdale from you.

[markbarbera]

On the topic of the Centrre on Barton, I noticed the last time I was there ther was a "coming soon" sign for PetSmart. I don't know if this will be in a new build, or if Triovest plans on dividing up the former Target location for several smaller tenants.

[interr0bangr]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

On the topic of the Centrre on Barton, I noticed the last time I was there ther was a "coming soon" sign for PetSmart. I don't know if this will be in a new build, or if Triovest plans on dividing up the former Target location for several smaller tenants.

Yeah, they've started building out a couple new buildings in the Brick/Target parking lots. Yay for Petsmart, my pooch will be happy.

[matt602]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

On the topic of the Centrre on Barton, I noticed the last time I was there ther was a "coming soon" sign for PetSmart. I don't know if this will be in a new build, or if Triovest plans on dividing up the former Target location for several smaller tenants.

It's a new build. The Target is still sitting very empty.

[mishap]

Originally Posted by HillStreetBlues

Or Centre Mall? That's probably not much further than Westdale from you.

That one will likely be switching as well.

[movingtohamilton]

Originally Posted by king10

What about Metro at University plaza?

Centre Mall is the best option travel-wise, unless it also converts to Food Basics. If that happens I'll go to various places in TO when I'm there.

[matt602]

I doubt that it will. There's another Food Basics up the road 10 minutes each way.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by matt602

I doubt that it will. There's another Food Basics up the road 10 minutes each way.

No Frills?

[davidcappi]

The food basics at Barton and Mary is my jam, yo. Best deals in the city on groceries.

[davidcappi]

http://www.mlive.com/business/detroit/index.ssf/2013/08/take_a_walk_around_z-shaped_pa.html

Interesting parking garage project in Detroit. Would be awesome to have something like this here.

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by davidcappi

http://www.mlive.com/business/detroit/index.ssf/2013/08/take_a_walk_around_z-shaped_pa.html

Interesting parking garage project in Detroit. Would be awesome to have something like this here.

Here's the aerial on the "Z". Note the site's proximity to People Mover stations.

Dunno if I would put "lack of 1,300 parking spots" high on list of Downtown Hamilton's deficiencies (the City of Hamilton's Downtown Parking Study Update projected "an increase in overall parking demands of 357 and 714 spaces during the overall peak period is expected for the 5-year (2017) and 10-year (2022) periods, respectively"). There are around 1,100 parking spots under Jackson Square, for example, and around 800 in the York Parkade.

[davidcappi]

I'm not necessarily talking about the number of spaces, but the fact that a parking garage was built to fill in a block of a city creatively, is aesthetically pleasing, and has retail units. Not to mention that construction of something like this would sure make many surface lots a lot more easy to develop.

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by davidcappi

I'm not necessarily talking about the number of spaces, but the fact that a parking garage was built to fill in a block of a city creatively, is aesthetically pleasing, and has retail units. Not to mention that construction of something like this would sure make many surface lots a lot more easy to develop.

Don't get me wrong — I'd much rather have a block filled with a four-storey parking garage atop street-level retail than four solid blocks of surface parking.

It's a decent fit for a commercial/business district, I would guess (I imagine that it's hard to sell any view that faces a four-storey garage, potentially making residential development problematic), and probably easier to develop when you have a motivated and urban-minded billionaire proposing "a more abstract Return on Investment" in a market with incredibly forgiving property values.

As interesting as the Rock Ventures parking garage is, it would be even more awesome to have someone like Dan Gilbert here.

[HillStreetBlues]

Originally Posted by Beedok

No Frills?

Food Basics is owned by Metro, so that's the reason for that switch.

Pretty poor commentary on the central city if movingtohamilton will find it simpler to buy his bagels when he's in Toronto. Maybe you should bug Denninger's to see if they can carry them. Go in different disguises and ask why they don't.

[interr0bangr]

Originally Posted by interr0bangr

I'm going to check it out on opening night so I'll report back with my findings.

So my wife and 2 friends went to Arcade on Saturday. We showed up at 8:45 to check out the place/games (they were supposed to open at 6, have a mortal kombat tournament 8-10), but there was essentially no one there and we were told to come back in 20 because they were still installing an arcade cabinet. There was also no Mortal Kombat machine, haha.

So we had a drink at the Tavern on George and came back 45 mins later at 930. Still no one there. We played a few games (pinball machines are 25 cents but the others are free play) and then left since there was no seating and we didn't want to stand around in an empty club.

Their instagram makes it seem like it got busy later which is good.


I don't think we'll be going back as I'm not into clubbing anymore and there was only a few games but it could have been worse. They told me they were going to add some seating in the future which would make it more appealing. As it is now it's just a dancefloor with a bar and some arcade machines crammed into the back.

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