1678 replies to this topic

[spanky123]

Can't find if there was a seperate Smokin Bones thread, but according to this: http://guiltykitchen...f-a-restaurant/ post they are opening on the 19th of Jan.

Walked by there the other day and a worker said the opening was delayed until February. Maybe they put on a last minute rush!

[Mike K.]

Anyone notice anything happening with the big (grocery store) space?

[Coreyburger]

Anyone notice anything happening with the big (grocery store) space?

It was open when I walked by to work the other day and work was being done inside, but it looked like finishing touches, not the installation of a new client. Plus there have been no changes with the signs.

[Mike K.]

Interesting that something is happening in there now. Thanks for the heads up.

[concorde]

Royal Bank and a medical clinic are moving in

[jonny]

Royal Bank and a medical clinic are moving in

Do you know which storefronts they will be located in?

[Holden West]

^^That can only mean the Royal Bank is vacating their Douglas/Pandora branch, which really opens the door for development there as now the entire half-block is either vacant or contains crap temporary leaseholders. I just hope the bank doesn't waste half the frontage like HSBC does at The Falls. Banks are great tenants but a little goes a long way.

[jonny]

^^That can only mean the Royal Bank is vacating their Douglas/Pandora branch, which really opens the door for development there as now the entire half-block is either vacant or contains crap temporary leaseholders. I just hope the bank doesn't waste half the frontage like HSBC does at The Falls. Banks are great tenants but a little goes a long way.

Wasn't the Douglas/Pandora RBC building bought by the Jawls recently? That's the building adjacent to the massive parking lot the Jawls are proposing to build Atrium 2.0 I believe.

[G-Man]

Correct

[ZGsta]

^^That can only mean the Royal Bank is vacating their Douglas/Pandora branch, which really opens the door for development there as now the entire half-block is either vacant or contains crap temporary leaseholders. I just hope the bank doesn't waste half the frontage like HSBC does at The Falls. Banks are great tenants but a little goes a long way.

That that HSBC at the Falls is a disaster outside of working hours in my opinion. Such a waste of a streetfront.
Hope the same thing doesn't happen at the Hudson.

[Phil McAvity]

^Wow what a bizarre comment. How is the HSBC at the Falls different from any other bank? On top of that, for after hours, there's a nice new pub in the building just in case the other 15 pubs and nightclubs within 200 feet aren't close enough.

[Sparky]

I have to agree Phil, once upon a time not only did the banks take up street front, they took up the whole street.

Most of our major downtown intersections had a bank on the corner. That's why they called them "the corner bank".

Now you can get a beer at the "Bard and Banker".....at...you guessed it...an old bank.

Banks and liquor stores are never .....repeat never...located...on the second floor.

[ZGsta]

^Wow what a bizarre comment. How is the HSBC at the Falls different from any other bank? On top of that, for after hours, there's a nice new pub in the building just in case the other 15 pubs and nightclubs within 200 feet aren't close enough.

Call it bizarre all you want, but when half a block is taken up by what amounts to a blank frontage for a large chunk of the hours in a heavily trafficked area it's not ideal, historical precedent or not.

I never said the bottom floor of the Falls was bad, the pub is a great addition, just that I don't like that the bank takes up so much frontage. Lots of people agree.

[Coreyburger]

Interestingly, Oak Bay has a bylaw in place that prevents banks from expanding their storefront in Oak Bay Village for exactly this reason: they are not great storefront tenants from a vitality point of a view, but they are great tenants from a landlord's point of view.

[VicHockeyFan]

Interestingly, Oak Bay has a bylaw in place that prevents banks from expanding their storefront in Oak Bay Village for exactly this reason: they are not great storefront tenants from a vitality point of a view, but they are great tenants from a landlord's point of view.

That whole village is full of banks.

RBC seems to be going into the SW corner.

2% Jazz says OPENING FEBRUARY on the signage but the interior tells me they are 2 or more months away still.

A hair/beauty place is going into the south side.

[Nparker]

And still no announcement regarding any major retailer for the remainder of the interior ground floor...Is it me or has Townline fumbled on this project almost since day one?

[Coreyburger]

That whole village is full of banks.

It is, hence the bylaw. I don't have the exact dates, but I believe it was enacted after the last major round of bank expansions in the village.

[Coreyburger]

back on topic: the interior was getting some steel framing today, a dozen or so people working inside

[Mike K.]

You mean the interior of the large space or one of the smaller commercial spaces?

[Rob Randall]

We may not see a major grocery retailer here at this time. It seems will be more interested when the area densifies. We should know most of the remaining tenants within two months and the 2% Jazz coffee shop should be open by the end of the month. Tower II, the rental project is still struggling its way through the system.