Buzz builds, vacancies drop
Sun Apr 27, 2008

By: Jillian Follert

OSHAWA -- It’s a small sign but it carries a big message.
    
Instead of a standard “for rent” or “vacancy” card advertising the empty space within, the window of a Simcoe Street storefront in downtown Oshawa features a banner that reads “downtown opportunity.”
   
David Tuley says it’s part of a slow but steady shift in the way people are thinking about the area.
   
Instead of looking at an empty building as evidence of decline, the City’s downtown development officer says many developers and entrepreneurs now see it as a chance to get a foothold in a downtown on its way up.
   
And because of that, downtown vacancy rates are dropping.
   
The commercial vacancy rate downtown now sits at 14.5 per cent, a drop of more than four per cent in the past two years. To compare, it was 28.6 per cent in 1996.
   
“Just in the last six months we’ve seen a change in so many of the big, empty buildings,” Mr. Tuley said, referencing things like UOIT opting to move students into the former Scotiabank building. “Something like 10,000 square feet of space has been absorbed in a short time.”
   
While the cost to purchase downtown property has gone “through the roof” in Mr. Tuley’s words, rents have stayed pretty much the same, at an average of $7 to $12 per square foot. Those figures can vary depending on whether they are net or gross or include utilities, but the bottom line is that they’re still considerably less than rates for most malls and shopping plazas.
   
Last year saw 13 new businesses open downtown -- and stay open. That detail is key, because there have always been new businesses in the city core, but until recently many came and went quickly.
   
Of those 13 newcomers, many are having a big impact.
   
Mr. Tuley said eateries like Avanti Trattoria, Country Style Bistro, Sunnyside Eatery and Riley’s Pub are generating a noticeable increase in foot traffic, which benefits other downtown merchants too.
   
And 2008 is already on track to match or beat last year’s new business statistics.
   
Women’s clothing store Strut recently closed and reopened with new merchandise and plans to update its facade. Local entrepreneur Zebedee Barrow just opened one new downtown store and is on the way to unveiling a second.
   
His Simcoe Street venture is called Unieek Sneeka and aims to tap into “sneaker culture” by featuring a rotating stock of designer shoes, while his King Street store Nadagucci will carry clothing and accessories.
   
“The downtown has a lot going on, but it lacks a lot too,” Mr. Barrow said. “It needs more things that get young people down here and give it an edge and I think my stores will do that.”
   
As commercial spaces find new tenants, residential projects are also seeing success. Parkwood Residences is now 92 per cent occupied and pre-sales for the new Canvas Downtown condos on Bruce Street are brisk, with between 30 and 40 per cent of the units already sold.
   
Two other condo towers are in the planning and approval stages.
   
To keep the momentum building, the Downtown Oshawa BIA recently launched a marketing campaign set to include television radio and print ads that feature a new logo and tag line for the downtown.
   
A more user friendly BIA website is also in the works.
   
For his part, Mr. Tuley recently finished a new downtown brochure that he will use to recruit new businesses and is working on new shopping and restaurant guides as well as a vacant property database that will be updated regularly and circulated to realtors, site selectors and potential renters.