Lansdowne Park Redevelopment Phase 1 | Completed

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

I never heard of Tommy Gun's so I looked it up. Here is what they say about themselves.

Tommy Gun’s Original Barbershop offers everything guys want in a barbershop – convenient 5 star service in a casual atmosphere a guy can feel at home in.

Here we blended the old-school services like hot towel shaves and facial detailing with a few bells and whistles just for fun. We don’t take appointments. Just walk in. Enter your name in our self check-in kiosk and you’re in the queue for your requested service. You can leave the shop while you wait, and our convenient texting service will notify you when your stylist is ready.

There’s never enough time for the fun stuff in life, like sports! We agree, so we put big screens in the waiting area, along with I-pads and arcade style games. You’re welcome! There’s even televisions in the mirror. That’s right. Watch your game in the middle of a haircut. We didn’t stop there. Those professional products we use on your hair and skin, that make you feel like a new man? We have some of the best prices in the country.

There’s more. We want to make you feel like a million bucks at every visit. So we give you a free cold beverage and scalp massage fit for a king.

Their web site shows several brands of upscale men's grooming products that they retail. Most I never heard of, so they may be unavailable elsewhere in Ottawa.

[TheGoods]

Originally Posted by LeadingEdgeBoomer

I never heard of Tommy Gun's so I looked it up. Here is what they say about themselves.




Their web site shows a line of upscale men's grooming products that they retail.

There is one at Bayshore.

[J.OT13]

Went to the new Lansdowne for the first on Thursday. Love that parking garage! The way finding, the names of the stores on the exits, the lights showing empty/taken/handicap sports. The City sure knows how to make a garage easy to navigate (the one in the Market is also impressive; even tells us the number of spots available on each floor).

Buildings are very nice and seem to be of high quality. The exterior renovations of the Horticulture building are amazing. I wanted to tear it down a few years ago, but seeing it now, I'm glad they saved it.

As for the retail component, I'm glad to see the Cinema, Whole Foods and a few others however, all in all it's a pretty bland mix. Winners? Jack Astor's? A high school? If this is the best Trinity can do, I'm a little worried about Le Breton Flats if the Sens win.

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by HolmwoodBank

New Lansdowne Tenants added to on-site directories include:

The Element High School - Montessori Private School (Next to Jack Astor's)
Structube Furniture Store (Under Winner's)
Lansdowne Dental (Above Rexall)
Tommy Gunn's Barber Shop (Under Whole Foods)

Yup. The retail part of Lansdowne is definitely not a destination. Seriously disappointed. Can't believe they're having a Montessori school as a tenant. I guess they'll use the park for recess and the restaurants for their cafeteria.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by HolmwoodBank

New Lansdowne Tenants added to on-site directories include:

The Element High School - Montessori Private School (Next to Jack Astor's)
Structube Furniture Store (Under Winner's)
Lansdowne Dental (Above Rexall)
Tommy Gunn's Barber Shop (Under Whole Foods)

Wow they've gone from "destination" to big box mall, to stores you would find in any random strip mall. What's next, a Money Mart, coin laundry, and the offices of a personal injury lawyer?

[EdFromOttawa]

I can't explain how much it pains me to agree with those ******** Nimbys like what's his face's dad or whatever, but man oh man this retail stuff is disappointing.

I keep looking for a good reason to go to Lansdowne, but with what they're offering, I literally have less than zero interest (minus the sports of course).

It's a bad sign when even the people who WANT TO GO to your shopping experience can't find a good enough reason to.

[1overcosc]

I don't see a problem with the retail mix at all. Not every single place in this city can be a "destination" with "exciting" things. We need places to get our hair cut, teeth cleaned, etc.

This development is located in the midst of what is already a relatively complete neighbourhood. There's only so many niches to fill. By adding essentials like groceries, a dental office, etc. they're completing the area by adding services that as of yet are not provided.

Lebreton will be a little different as there's nothing there, it's literally being built from the ground up. At the same time, the Lebreton development, if Trinity gets it, will almost certainly have a grocery store and a pharmacy and other "unexciting" stuff cause the local population of the area will need it. I'm not moving into some "vibrant" and "exciting" community if I can't get toilet paper or a bag of milk anywhere nearby.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

I don't see a problem with the retail mix at all. Not every single place in this city can be a "destination" with "exciting" things. We need places to get our hair cut, teeth cleaned, etc.

This development is located in the midst of what is already a relatively complete neighbourhood. There's only so many niches to fill. By adding essentials like groceries, a dental office, etc. they're completing the area by adding services that as of yet are not provided.

Which is fine, except the city put a significant money into this (giving a lot of free land to the Greenbergs, paying for half the parking garage, relocating the horticultural building to make way for more retail, etc) and if all the city is getting for its investment is generic stores that can be found in strip malls all over town, plus a sporting goods store that relocated from centretown and yet another supermarket, then the taxpayers pretty much got screwed.

Also, the Glebe already had 2 supermarkets, several pharmacies, several pet stores, several gyms, etc, so this wasn't exactly a service-deprived area.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Which is fine, except the city put a significant money into this (giving a lot of free land to the Greenbergs, paying for half the parking garage, relocating the horticultural building to make way for more retail, etc) and if all the city is getting for its investment is generic stores that can be found in strip malls all over town, plus a sporting goods store that relocated from centretown and yet another supermarket, then the taxpayers pretty much got screwed.

Also, the Glebe already had 2 supermarkets, several pharmacies, several pet stores, several gyms, etc, so this wasn't exactly a service-deprived area.

Pedestrian traffic along Bank St in the Glebe has noticeably increased, imho.

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Which is fine, except the city put a significant money into this (giving a lot of free land to the Greenbergs, paying for half the parking garage, relocating the horticultural building to make way for more retail, etc) and if all the city is getting for its investment is generic stores that can be found in strip malls all over town, plus a sporting goods store that relocated from centretown and yet another supermarket, then the taxpayers pretty much got screwed.

Also, the Glebe already had 2 supermarkets, several pharmacies, several pet stores, several gyms, etc, so this wasn't exactly a service-deprived area.

How did the taxpayers get screwed if all the retail and other spaces get leased and all those businesses are paying property taxes to the city? Restoration Hardware would have paid the same taxes per square foot that Winners does, wouldn't it?

That said, I too would have preferred a Restoration Hardware.

[nredding]

How did the taxpayers get screwed if all the retail and other spaces get leased and all those businesses are paying property taxes to the city?

Actually, the property taxes from retail will be used to pay down the debt used to build Lansdowne. So they're not really paying proewrty taxes to support city services like everybody else.

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

I don't see a problem with the retail mix at all. Not every single place in this city can be a "destination" with "exciting" things. We need places to get our hair cut, teeth cleaned, etc.

This development is located in the midst of what is already a relatively complete neighbourhood. There's only so many niches to fill. By adding essentials like groceries, a dental office, etc. they're completing the area by adding services that as of yet are not provided.

Lebreton will be a little different as there's nothing there, it's literally being built from the ground up. At the same time, the Lebreton development, if Trinity gets it, will almost certainly have a grocery store and a pharmacy and other "unexciting" stuff cause the local population of the area will need it. I'm not moving into some "vibrant" and "exciting" community if I can't get toilet paper or a bag of milk anywhere nearby.

There's nothing wrong with having things like grocery stores and pharmacies in downtown-ish areas, but they communicated a different vision of what Lansdowne was supposed to be, especially in the earlier promo videos and renderings. This was supposed to be the kind of place where you'd want to bring your out of town guests. The vision for the retail component started with pavilions built around a central plaza. The earlier renderings showed what would be considered unique businesses like a brew pub. The central plaza was removed from the plans, then the pavilions, and then the unique businesses were replaced by The Source, Rexall, Petsmart and Winners. If it was communicated early on that this would be a place where locals could buy groceries, pet food, electronics and cold medication that would be different. From the beginning they said they were building a destination but they didn't deliver on that. Probably to get people in the Glebe on board.

[silvergate]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

There's nothing wrong with having things like grocery stores and pharmacies in downtown-ish areas, but they communicated a different vision of what Lansdowne was supposed to be, especially in the earlier promo videos and renderings. This was supposed to be the kind of place where you'd want to bring your out of town guests. The vision for the retail component started with pavilions built around a central plaza. The earlier renderings showed what would be considered unique businesses like a brew pub. The central plaza was removed from the plans, then the pavilions, and then the unique businesses were replaced by The Source, Rexall, Petsmart and Winners. If it was communicated early on that this would be a place where locals could buy groceries, pet food, electronics and cold medication that would be different. From the beginning they said they were building a destination but they didn't deliver on that. Probably to get people in the Glebe on board.

Probably because a business would need deep pockets to rent there. The problem with small independent stores is that they rarely have that kind of financial backing. Now, the development team could have offered some kind of incentives for small businesses to locate there, but why would they do that when bigger retailers are willing to pay full price?

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

How did the taxpayers get screwed if all the retail and other spaces get leased and all those businesses are paying property taxes to the city? Restoration Hardware would have paid the same taxes per square foot that Winners does, wouldn't it?

That said, I too would have preferred a Restoration Hardware.

Every retail operation in the city pays property taxes, most of them didn't get a massive subsidy from the city.

One could reasonably make the case that a destination type retail project (something like the distillery district in Toronto) could boost tourism or attract out of town visitors and therefore justifies a subsidy. Seems pretty unlikely in this case.

[YOWetal]

The city got a stadium. The retail mix was never a realistic ask, this is not the Soviet planning bureau retailers are free to locate wherever they want.

[Temperance]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

The city got a stadium. The retail mix was never a realistic ask, this is not the Soviet planning bureau retailers are free to locate wherever they want.

Considering the amount of public money involved it is perfectly reasonable for the city to ask for something special. Building this kind of shopping area in Lansdowne Park is really a missed opportunity. It could be anywhere. This is what happens when you rush these processes. I hope that we get something much better in Lebreton.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

The city got a stadium. The retail mix was never a realistic ask, this is not the Soviet planning bureau retailers are free to locate wherever they want.

The city paid for the stadium renovation anyway (which I guess is reasonable as it owns the stadium) but in addition to paying for the stadium it gave a bunch of extremely valuable land to Minto and Friends for basically nothing and paid for half the parking garage (which only benefits retailers as stadium users aren't allowed to park there). I'm not sure who paid to move the horticultural building to make room for more retail, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the city too.

[Mulder]

Originally Posted by acottawa

The city paid for the stadium renovation anyway (which I guess is reasonable as it owns the stadium) but in addition to paying for the stadium it gave a bunch of extremely valuable land to Minto and Friends for basically nothing and paid for half the parking garage (which only benefits retailers as stadium users aren't allowed to park there). I'm not sure who paid to move the horticultural building to make room for more retail, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the city too.

Stadium users are allowed to use parking, they "close" it for RedBlacks games because all the suite seat holders have parking passes.

[OTSkyline]

Although I am not 100% happy with the retail selection at Lansdowne, it is still the best "destination" for retail compared to anywhere else in the city... Think of Innes, Trainyards, South Keys, Merivale, Centrum & Tanger.. are any of these better destinations than Lansdowne? I mean, there is still a Whole Foods, Sporting Life, expected "VIP" cinema, Joey's, etc.. which are all stores unique to Lansdowne.

I'm also wondering; yes, Trinity & OSEG were probably going for a unique retail destination for Lansdowne but at the end of the day; what happens if those "unique shops" aren't willing to open there? Unless those stores apply or sign a contract, Trinity and such don't really have a say on what opens at lansdowne if noone is knocking on their door... If I was them and had a % of occupancy available and banks and pharmacies knocking on my door, I too would let them in.

Again, I'm not 100% happy with the retail mix so far but just trying to understand the situation.

[Radster]

I don't mind the retail mix either. Though it is surprising to see a school open here. But, I think once it warms up, and all the restaurant/food tenants are up and running, many with patios, add the cinema opening, farmers market, and the increased traffic form football and soccer fans, Lansdowne will be alive. Just hold on another 6 weeks or so, and then lets re-evaluate.