It's interesting that this project has less retail than is there today. Bonnis almost certainly own more retail buildings Downtown (especially on Granville Street) and on West Broadway than any other owner/developer, so they understand retail demand better than most. The previous project before this was the conversion of the almost all retail Tom Lee Music to office, with retail reduced to the main floor. They've also completed the repair and canopy replacement on the Commodore Ballroom, and there are quite a few new tenants in there. They seem to be diversifying their portfolio by adding more office, as well as rental residential. I wonder if that tells us anything about their view of retail in the next few years? There are signs that on-line retail is starting to hit the bottom line of traditional bricks and mortar retailers, so maybe we won't see a significant increase in retail (except where there was none before, like the new Vancouver House retail area).
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