A prominent commercial real estate broker is expecting a “huge influx” of new downtown retailers over the next several months as civil servants spend more time at the office and visitors are drawn to attractions such as the History Ottawa live music venue. “I think there are a lot of positives coming in Ottawa,” Candice […]
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A prominent commercial real estate broker is expecting a “huge influx” of new downtown retailers over the next several months as civil servants spend more time at the office and visitors are drawn to attractions such as the History Ottawa live music venue.
“I think there are a lot of positives coming in Ottawa,” Candice Lerner-Fry, head of the retail leasing division in the Ottawa office of Marcus & Millichap, told OBJ on Thursday. “I would say by next spring, summer, we’re going to see a new downtown core.”
Marcus & Millichap has retail listings in major downtown properties such as Minto Place, Place de Ville, the World Exchange Plaza and Constitution Square.
The firm is also marketing several retail spaces in the ByWard Market and surrounding areas, including 90 George St.; 135, 489 and 560 Rideau St.; 22 York St.; and 499 Sussex Dr. All have potential tenants expressing interest, Lerner-Fry said.
She cites a number of factors for the uptick in leasing activity. Chief among them is the federal government’s mandate that employees work in the office at least four days a week, which kicked in last month.
“I know that it’s a very touchy subject in Ottawa, but we need people back in offices so that the economy can continue to flourish,” Lerner-Fry said. “September to December, I think we’re going to see a huge amount of (foot) traffic.”
She also pointed to this week’s opening of History Ottawa, a 2,000-person live entertainment venue in the former Chapters space at the corner of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive that’s on track to sell out its first several shows.
The new music hall should draw more visitors to the core and give surrounding businesses a boost, Lerner-Fry said. Other construction projects such as the new 224-room Moxy Ottawa Downtown hotel on York Street and a 288-unit residential complex being built next to the Rideau Centre will also attract more residents and tourists downtown, she added, while Claridge’s acquisition of the former Hudson’s Bay store on Rideau Street is another sign that momentum is heading in the right direction.
“I truly believe that, within a year, we’re going to see (retail vacancy) rates being back to pre-COVID numbers,” Lerner-Fry said. “We just need to give it a bit more time. We’re almost there.”
As for the Rideau Centre itself, she said she expects mall owner Cadillac Fairview to make some big announcements in the not-too-distant future about multiple “new, exciting, first-to-market retailers” that are finalizing leases to backfill the former Nordstrom space.
