{"id":16047,"date":"2015-12-16T07:30:35","date_gmt":"2015-12-16T11:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/?p=16047"},"modified":"2015-12-16T08:19:46","modified_gmt":"2015-12-16T12:19:46","slug":"devils-advocate-tearing-off-the-water-street-refresh-bandaid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2015\/12\/16\/devils-advocate-tearing-off-the-water-street-refresh-bandaid\/","title":{"rendered":"Tearing Off the Water Street \u201cRefresh\u201d Bandaid"},"content":{"rendered":"

St. John’s, NL<\/strong> – Lately there\u2019s been a lot of discussion surrounding the benefits of delaying St. John\u2019s aptly\u00a0named Water Street \u201cRefresh\u201d project. As a landlord and retail professional, the uncertainty this\u00a0project has already created has without question deterred regional and international retailers\u00a0from opening in the downtown. Council\u2019s decision to delay the project only further\u00a0exacerbates this uncertainty and while saving some businesses in the short term, it is a\u00a0detriment to everyone downstream. Not only does it compress rental rates in downtown, but\u00a0deters landlords from investing in their property and provides retailers another year to shutter in\u00a0the urban core amidst ongoing concerns.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0038\"<\/p>\n

St. John\u2019s is undoubtedly home to some of the region\u2019s most dynamic local retailers and\u00a0arguably the best restaurants in Canada. As a “downtownie” I understand the importance of\u00a0protecting these operators and want nothing more than to see them flourish. That being said we\u00a0love these businesses for a reason, they are savvy, creative, and above all resilient. The\u00a0retailers that define our urban identity will survive what should be a straightforward infrastructure\u00a0project and while there will be casualties we need to ask ourselves if\u00a0that operator belonged on\u00a0the street to begin with. These are the uncomfortable realities that the downtown is going to\u00a0have to address if it is to compete with Avalon Mall and Galway as Newfoundland\u2019s premier\u00a0retail destination.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0048\"<\/p>\n

Looking outside of the retail environment the Water Street rip up also fosters uncertainly for\u00a0office users in the downtown. Over the past five years St. John\u2019s has seen several major office\u00a0tenants leave the urban core in favour of suburban office parks such as Bristol Court. This\u00a0loss is not as apparent as the newspaper-wrapped windows of a recently closed retailer, but it is\u00a0equally important. In the face of parking issues, increased rental rates, and heightened heritage\u00a0bylaws adding an additional year of questions surrounding accessibility and traffic will\u00a0further push offices toward the suburbs. This will not only have an impact on\u00a0landlords but a trickle-down effect on urban retailers, hoteliers, restauranteurs, residents, and every other\u00a0stakeholder in the downtown. Remember that activity generates activity, it is cyclical and downtown\u00a0St. John\u2019s is no different.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0049\"<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s recognize this \u201crescheduled refresh\u201d for what it is, a bandaid solution used to\u00a0quiet the justified cries of a few retailers. I appreciate that the city will not change its decision to\u00a0reschedule the dig to 2017, but when this topic arises again in a year\u2019s time, and it will, let\u2019s\u00a0make the tough decision to rip off the bandaid, remember it\u2019s all for the greater good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St. John’s, NL – Lately there\u2019s been a lot of discussion surrounding the benefits of delaying St. John\u2019s aptly\u00a0named Water Street \u201cRefresh\u201d project. As a landlord and retail professional, the uncertainty this\u00a0project has already created has without question deterred regional and international retailers\u00a0from opening in the downtown. Council\u2019s decision to delay the project only further\u00a0exacerbatesContinue reading “Tearing Off the Water Street \u201cRefresh\u201d Bandaid”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8293,"featured_media":16051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[393,37,335,5873],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-infrastructure","category-spacing","category-streetscape","category-traffic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTearing Off the Water Street \u201cRefresh\u201d Bandaid - Spacing Atlantic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2015\/12\/16\/devils-advocate-tearing-off-the-water-street-refresh-bandaid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tearing Off the Water Street \u201cRefresh\u201d Bandaid - Spacing Atlantic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"St. John’s, NL – Lately there\u2019s been a lot of discussion surrounding the benefits of delaying St. John\u2019s aptly\u00a0named Water Street \u201cRefresh\u201d project. 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