kcantor
Senior Member
Except we have had developers/development in addition to Cidex commit to and complete projects in the Quarters for decades including the Brighton Block,, the Pendennis, the City Market Building, the Army and Navy, Jaffer’s two buildings, the Double Tree, National Cappuccino, the Goodridge Block, the Chinese Elders, The Quarters Arts Collective, Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective etc.I hope we start seeing more movement in the Quarters. Cidex has been a start for the area but I thing we need at least a couple other developers who will take some of the properties out of the hands of the long time/current owners of the lots, who are happy to just let these lots sit while they earn a passive amount of money from the parking lots.
At the same time we’ve lost Brittany’s, The Nook, The Hardware Grill, the market, etc. We even lost the police recruitment centre and a cannabis store!
Many of those long time/current owners and their families would be quite happy to see their holdings developed or redeveloped by themselves (many of them are quite capable and experienced) or by partnering with/selling to a developer.
The problem isn’t a lack of developer interest, the problem is a lack of viable demand for the commercial, retail, and residential spaces that they and the Quarters need for development to proceed.