Nimbus
Active Member
The Burger 320 spot is becoming an Indian place, I think they were almost ready to go until the Covid shutdown.
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Calgary's Kensington
- Thread starter Surrealplaces
- Start date
zagox
Active Member
Calgary tavern permanently closes doors after eight years of business | Dished
The Oak Tree Tavern, located at 124 10th Street NW in Kensginton, revealed it has permanently closed after eight years of business.dailyhive.com
One of my favorite places in Calgary, Oak Tree is closing its doors permanently, along with Midtown just up the road. So now Julios spot is empty along with oak tree, burger 320, midtown, almost every commercial unit in the kensington gate building...all empty. I love kensington but its getting to the point where its no longer a destination neighborhood because half of the commercial spaces are empty
Maybe someone with more insight into commercial real estate can give a good explanation, but i don't get it, what do landlords gain by charging such high rents that no one can afford the space? seems like a lose-lose situation to me.
I have heard that the landlord of the Midtown building has been keen to push them out to redevelop - maybe speculation but they did mention they had trouble with the landlord.
As to the rest of Kensington, the general consensus seems to be that there are a lot of big national investment funds that own properties and have been reluctant to lower rents as it would force them to mark down the value of their buildings to their investors. I presume that game is over and a broad and fairly substantial mark-down of commercial rent is coming. The issue will be bankruptcy and foreclosures of commercial property that could slow down the leasing process.
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
Calgary tavern permanently closes doors after eight years of business | Dished
The Oak Tree Tavern, located at 124 10th Street NW in Kensginton, revealed it has permanently closed after eight years of business.
One of my favorite places in Calgary, Oak Tree is closing its doors permanently, along with Midtown just up the road. So now Julios spot is empty along with oak tree, burger 320, midtown, almost every commercial unit in the kensington gate building...all empty. I love kensington but its getting to the point where its no longer a destination neighborhood because half of the commercial spaces are empty
Maybe someone with more insight into commercial real estate can give a good explanation, but i don't get it, what do landlords gain by charging such high rents that no one can afford the space? seems like a lose-lose situation to me.
The loss of Oak Tree, Midtown, and 320 are brutal, and it's a really fair question; what the hell are landlords in this city thinking? We're 5 years into an economic stagnation, and it's about to get worse than it has ever been.
Obviously it's not just the landlords though. With the coming economic recession/depression, the government is going to have to intervene in the banking sector to force banks to do something about mortgage stuff (I don't know much about finance ?
) so that we don't see 10 to 20% of businesses closing and 20 to 30% of people losing their homes over the next 2 years. Shit's whack.
MichaelS
Senior Member
The local government would also do well to try and reduce commercial property taxes. 10th Street has also had it difficult, with a couple of years of disruption for the streetscape reconstruction project back in 2017ish, and I have heard there is now an additional line item on those properties' tax bills, for the local improvement. So, not only were they subject to a few years of disruption due to construction, but they get an even higher tax bill for it.
zagox
Active Member
That's an issue for existing triple-net leaseholders who got burned with unexpectedly higher taxes, but rents should reset down to take into account the current level of commercial property tax.
This isn't like downtown office space where the operating costs plus taxes exceed the market rent. I'm pretty sure that the potential profits from operating retail on 10th street exceed the operating costs plus property taxes. Over time that should drive rents down to a sustainable level. It could be a long road to get there though, especially if bankrupt landlords and leaseholders gum up the lease-up process.
Disraeli
Active Member
It looks like they are working on the Plaza Theatre. Hopefully there is a plan to re-open it.
Cow-garian
New Member
Also, with the Sunnyside flood barrier plan now picking up steam, along with more infills and the new 9-story mid-rise 'The Hive' being constructed hopefully this encourages more people to come back to Kensington. I agree with the above, it hasn't been the same since COVID. But I guess many places have been affected.
Fingers crossed!
Fingers crossed!
Archer is also under construction, and another proposal near Gladstone Rd moving closer, things are looking up for Kensington.
zagox
Active Member
The Sunnyside flood barrier plan is losing steam, now it’s a battle between flood protection and urban tree canopy. Could be down the ‘engagement’ rabbit hole for a few years.
JEMM pulled the DP on the Hive at the last minute at SDAB and it’s a bit of a mystery when they are going next.
But, we have meatballs and sweet sushi pocket thingies, so I agree, Kensington is on the up.
Cow-garian
New Member
I don't have one of those fancy cameras to take nice pictures, but this citizen lead initiative is well underway (Community Garden now has a skatepark). City is apparently re-analyzing the ContainR triangle site. From my understanding it's meant for future affordable housing. Again, as mentioned above trying to reactivate key areas of Kensington, coupled with densification has to equal some positive movement for the area?!
Source: Bow to Bluff Corridor
Source: Bow to Bluff Corridor
Cow-garian
New Member
They must have pulled The Hive very recently? They presented to the Hillhurst Sunnyside Planning Committee last week on the 18th and they didn't mention anything. They were planning for movement in the early new year.
This is disappointing news....
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
They pulled it and then resubmitted it like a few weeks later. It was very bizarre, but yes it’s still active.
MichaelS
Senior Member
Hive is still proceeding. There were some very, lets say, unique, antics that happened at SDAB that created a risk with the initial DP. The decision was made to pull that one, and resubmit, to resolve the unique situation, rather than risk the initial DP getting tied up in a legal proceeding for a very, very long time.
And while that sounds criptic, nothing untoward happened, but this was determined as the most expedient path forward for JEMM.
And while that sounds criptic, nothing untoward happened, but this was determined as the most expedient path forward for JEMM.
zagox
Active Member
Presumably the wacky Stubicar family will be back again to appeal the new DP, can’t wait for the next chapter in the saga
Zoom
Active Member
I haven't been down to Kensington area for some time now. How are the businesses doing these days? There were a number of them closing down during the pandemic.