[Halifax] The Marlstone (1871 Albemarle) | 19 FL | U/C

[someone123]

I've heard that Scotia Square used to have a Sobeys in it. I think it had a theatre as well?

Downtown Halifax is actually already pretty well-served by grocery stores. There's Pete's, the Sobeys on Queen, and the Superstore on Barrington. I don't know of any other North American cities of similar size that have that many so close to downtown. A lot of American cities have nothing to speak of. Of course, the suburban-style stores are a little unsatisfying. I think they might make it less likely for an urban format store to pop up though.

I've read different estimates for how much business a full store needs. Maybe 5,000-10,000 people? That is about how much the downtown population has been growing every 10-15 years since it bottomed out in the 1980's.

Regardless of what happens on the urban format grocery store front there's going to be a much greater density of residents in what up until recently was just an office district downtown. As a result I think it'll work a lot better as far as supporting diverse retail with longer hours and being more lively.