What do you think of this project?

  • Total voters
    61
Gus Haynes said:
Re: The coffee discussion above, it still really stands out to me that Starbucks had a location in ICE District (near the community rink, iirc) but quickly pulled the plug on it. (And this was pre-pandemic!) I think ICE District is nice, but there are a lot of folks, in the planning stages, who really oversold its impact on downtown retail.
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IMO Starbucks has really lost it over the last few years, so maybe it is not so bad they are not here, although I would think it would actually be a good location for them. However, it would be nicer to see some decent local coffee place set up here.

As the saying goes, nature abhors a vacuum, so in the absence of such high profile food and beverage chains, it is not surprising that it has turned into the bank district.
 
Other than having more cash than they know what to do with, I don't see the value in banks collecting in one location, especially where the emphasis is entertainment -- surely TV commercials are cheaper than the rent they are expected to pay monthly.
 
archited said:
Other than having more cash than they know what to do with, I don't see the value in banks collecting in one location, especially where the emphasis is entertainment -- surely TV commercials are cheaper than the rent they are expected to pay monthly.
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I agree and CIBC in particular has a very nice historic branch on Jasper Ave which they spent a lot of money to renovate and attached to a nice office tower they have space in.
 
Gus Haynes said:
Re: The coffee discussion above, it still really stands out to me that Starbucks had a location in ICE District (near the community rink, iirc) but quickly pulled the plug on it. (And this was pre-pandemic!) I think ICE District is nice, but there are a lot of folks, in the planning stages, who really oversold its impact on downtown retail.
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That SB was in a really odd location, at the backside of the casino in an area with very little foot traffic on non-game/event days (where people enter Rogers through the LRT station in the back. I think it would’ve done better if it was in the plaza or on ground level (like where Servus just opened).
 
Markyeg said:
That SB was in a really odd location, at the backside of the casino in an area with very little foot traffic on non-game/event days (where people enter Rogers through the LRT station in the back. I think it would’ve done better if it was in the plaza or on ground level (like where Servus just opened).
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Even on game days the place quickly became devoid of activity once people realized they couldn't bring in their SB beverage into the arena past security. Like who were they planning on selling to? How did Katz Group hoodwink them so bad on foot traffic estimates? Been a lot of strange and questionable decisions this past decade on their Edmonton portfolio... 109 & Jasper closure remains puzzling to me.
 
northlands said:
Even on game days the place quickly became devoid of activity once people realized they couldn't bring in their SB beverage into the arena past security. Like who were they planning on selling to? How did Katz Group hoodwink them so bad on foot traffic estimates? Been a lot of strange and questionable decisions this past decade on their Edmonton portfolio... 109 & Jasper closure remains puzzling to me.
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The Jasper Ave/109 St Starbucks location was closed to executive incompetence. Apparently they thought suburban drive-thrus were a better idea than downtown cafes.

Thankfully, Blenz has more than picked up the slack at the Jasper/109 location.
 
northlands said:
Even on game days the place quickly became devoid of activity once people realized they couldn't bring in their SB beverage into the arena past security. Like who were they planning on selling to? How did Katz Group hoodwink them so bad on foot traffic estimates? Been a lot of strange and questionable decisions this past decade on their Edmonton portfolio... 109 & Jasper closure remains puzzling to me.
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I wonder if the people in Starbucks who make these decisions actually ever set foot here before doing so, or have much familiarity with the city. Perhaps that is part of the explanation.

It should have been fairly evident to almost anyone who walked around the block that the location behind the casino was a poor choice.
 
The_Cat said:
I think the greatest successes at Rogers Place/Ice District (besides the indoor events) have been the outdoor events at the Ice District Plaza and 101 Street (future CRL development).
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Fair point, but it’s also rather telling that the highlight of a billion-dollar downtown revitalization/transformation project is still a dirt lot hosting outdoor events.
 
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^ Although the sentiment is full-on declarative, I can't see that anyone would care enough about the original statement so as to be so bent-out-of-shape as to undertake such a drastic step -- all said it is a forum of opinions after all, graduated all the way from "I had a fever dream last night" to "I might be an expert, but it is still just and opinion".
 
I think the reality about any downtown development is that many of the sectors are industrial, and located in suburban locations, or residential where it could be cheaper to repurpose older buildings to residential.
 
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