545 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

Victoria office vacancy rate expected to remain high throughout 2011
By Mike Kozakowski, VibrantVictoria.ca
http://vibrantvictor...hroughout-2011/

Greater Victoria’s office market had a turbulent year in 2010 with multiple construction projects bringing new office space to the market while a subdued economy impeded absorption.

In a market report released by Colliers International’s Victoria office, the region’s office space vacancy rose from 4.47% to 9.14%, fueled by 341,400 square feet of new space. In total 412,000 square feet sit empty throughout the city. [Read more].

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[gumgum]

I'm seeing a disturbingly large spike in vacant retail spaces downtown as well. I find this quite worrying.

[spanky123]

Despite what the TC publishes each month, statistics from the BC Stats website show a bleak picture of what is happening in Victoria. The population is increasing at a rate of about 1.3% a year, but the number of people employed has been dropping steadily since late 2007.


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Since the unemployment rate is still relatively low, the answer appears to be more of a demographic shift to older retirees. Fewer people working means fewer businesses to employ them in addition to the fact that retirees tend to consume less as many are on fixed incomes.

[Sparky]

I'm seeing a disturbingly large spike in vacant retail spaces downtown as well. I find this quite worrying.

You are spot on gumgum, the same is happening in some of the outlying areas. Take a drive down Keating Crossroad, once a thriving economic area.....it looks like a ghost town now.

Perhaps we need to think about the affect of ordering products online.

Lots of couriers.....fewer shops.

[Bingo]

Despite what the TC publishes each month, statistics from the BC Stats website show a bleak picture of what is happening in Victoria. The population is increasing at a rate of about 1.3% a year, but the number of people employed has been dropping steadily since late 2007.

These statistics seem to support what some people are saying about light rail on other threads. We may have an increasing population base consider light rail, but not the numbers of employed people to use rail to downtown to make it viable.

[jklymak]

I'm seeing a disturbingly large spike in vacant retail spaces downtown as well. I find this quite worrying.

Same reason, I'd expect. Too much new product. That's why I'm not very much for ground level retail everywhere downtown. A few streets is great, but there is no way every 100 unit building can support 3 or 4 stores. Concentrate the retail so those blocks are vibrant, and let the other blocks be quieter I.e. View st.

[spanky123]

You are spot on gumgum, the same is happening in some of the outlying areas. Take a drive down Keating Crossroad, once a thriving economic area.....it looks like a ghost town now.

Perhaps we need to think about the affect of ordering products online.

Lots of couriers.....fewer shops.

I don't know how much is related to online ordering as it is a lack of a cohesive regional development plan. Population growth is low in the CRD and employment is falling, yet every muni seems to want to support new retail, office and business growth to try and rescue their tax base.

You don't have to be a genius to figure out at that hundreds of thousands of sq ft of new retail and business development just pulls the equivalent amount of space from another location.

[G-Man]

Same reason, I'd expect. Too much new product. That's why I'm not very much for ground level retail everywhere downtown. A few streets is great, but there is no way every 100 unit building can support 3 or 4 stores. Concentrate the retail so those blocks are vibrant, and let the other blocks be quieter I.e. View st.

I agree with this strongly. We have to encourage projects like 834 as well which have ground floor townhouses. Not only should not every spot have retail but the townhouses provide a larger urban option.

[Nparker]

That's why I'm not very much for ground level retail everywhere downtown.

I partially agree. Not every new residential development needs ground floor retail, but ground floor office space simply becomes a dead-zone after 5:00 PM and on weekends. I think the Atrium is a great example of how ground floor retail in an office building can completely reinvigorate a lifeless area. How many people even walked on that side of Blanshard before the Atrium was built? For contrast look at the Jack Davis building only a few blocks away. When it was built the Bay was still operating and ground floor retail here might have worked quite well. As it is, it's just another dead space for people to walk past most of the time.

[Mike K.]

Did you know that the landlord at the old Zambris restaurant location beside London Drugs is asking $8,500 in rent every month? Victoria's commercial and office rates are incredibly high and that's why operating a business in Victoria is an extraordinarily expensive proposition. Our population is relatively small yet landlords have been charging big city rates for space in nondescript buildings.

The City of Victoria is so expensove to do business in that's it's no wonder so many businesses are throwing in the towel.

[sebberry]

Did you know that the landlord at the old Zambris restaurant location beside London Drugs is asking $8,500 in rent every month? Victoria's commercial and office rates are incredibly high and that's why operating a business in Victoria is an extraordinarily expensive proposition. Our population is relatively small yet landlords have been charging big city rates for space in nondescript buildings.

The City of Victoria is so expensove to do business in that's it's no wonder so many businesses are throwing in the towel.

But isn't the HST supposed to help offset this?

I'd like to coin the phrase "There's a big box store for that". Simply put, with just a little more effort and time big savings can be had by not driving downtown and instead driving out to BigBoxVille, Langford.

I haven't studied lease rates for ground-level retail downtown, but I should imagine it is fairly substantial. Retailers need to make up for that somehow, usually by passing it onto the consumer.

Add to that the parking, risk of having your car smashed into downtown, etc.. and it's no wonder why people are taking their shopping out of downtown.

[gumgum]

I have never had my car smashed downtown.

[sebberry]

I have never had my car smashed downtown.

I know someone who did.

I know someone else who had it keyed.

I know someone else who had the door mirror kicked off, as was the case with most of the other cars parked on the street that night.

[ZGsta]

Add to that the parking, risk of having your car smashed into downtown, etc.. and it's no wonder why people are taking their shopping out of downtown.

:rolleyes:

[gumgum]

I can't help but think you have a very distorted view of downtown, Seberry.

I'm sure your negative experiences are very real. However coming from someone who is downtown almost every day - and happily brings his kids along sometimes - I can assure you that it is quite safe.

[aastra]

Let's keep our eyes peeled for the first incident of a car being keyed or broken into while parked at a mall or a power centre. It's bound to happen sooner or later.

[ZGsta]

It seems there are a lot of people who are just downright scared of downtown Victoria for no good reason (god knows how they'd fare in a bigger city) and like to go out of their way to try and spread that fear to the point where they're actively rooting for downtown Victoria to suffer economically.

Don't let fear control your life.

[ZGsta]

Let's keep our eyes peeled for the first incident of a car being keyed or broken into while parked at a mall or a power centre. It's bound to happen sooner or later.

And as people have pointed out many times in this forum, robberies, vandalism, and even brutally violent crimes occur in the suburbs.

[sebberry]

Hey, I don't want downtown to suffer, but let's be honest - it's a bit of a freak show down there.

[aastra]

There are some problems, no argument. But a new bridge should lick them all pretty quickly.