EV606 | 22m | 6s | Alston Properties | ATLRG

The presence of this thing is so minimal it’s wild for a 6-storey…

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Who would be an ideal retail tenant for the river facing cru? What is needed in East Village? Looks like it is 3775 SF. Curious what others think.
 
heritageguy said:
Who would be an ideal retail tenant for the river facing cru? What is needed in East Village? Looks like it is 3775 SF. Curious what others think.
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The massive foot traffic around there really could use some more stuff to eat or drink around there. Some sort of reasonably accessible price-point (i.e. not another Charbar) cafe / bar / patio / brewery would do the trick. I am always surprised how small the Simmon's building patio is - it's like a 20-30 person capacity total. For what is effectively the only (?) pathway-adjacent patio experience in Calgary at the heart of the entire river pathway network that is incredibly underwhelming.

The key for this new 606 development would be a large and highly visible patio space for easy pathway access and people watching + the right business model that can be attractive to a large range of visitors (easy for a quick drink or stay a while, casual enough to be comfortable for exercisers after a run, destination for weekend suburban recreation cyclists on the paths, families during the day etc.)

Thinking like Ol' Beautiful patio + Central taps. A bit "corporatey" to be safe for families at most parts of the day, but also casual and relaxed. Essentially the goal is to hit as many of those pathway market demographic segments as you can. With a bit of skill, luck, clever programming, and time, the goal would be to slowly evolve this riverfront patio to be a Ship and Anchor destination patio in 20 years.
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The main challenge is year-round attractiveness, including when cold weather keeps the pathway numbers low and the patio of limited use. This will take some skill from the business - perhaps a destination brunch spot or a breakfast-forward menu that keeps people coming in. I think people that don't use that pathway regularly would be surprised how busy it is is year-round in all weather conditions which would help, but obviously summer is peak-season for this kind of place.

Pathway adjacent retail can be done well and successfully as cities around the world do with far worse pathways and public spaces than this location. Just got to do it right!
 
Agreed, something like the Ol' Beautiful patio there would be perfect. Keep it a casual family-friendly beer garden in the summer, and perhaps it could even work in the winter with the right heating setup.
 
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