New developments continue to pop up across Lethbridge, and so do new businesses. Commercial real estate company Avison Young said commercial activity is going at a steady pace in the city–especially in the downtown, where there are not a lot of spaces to buy or lease–and those that are available, are going quickly.
“What we get in the downtown is more of an entrepreneurial tenant base, which is great because it really adds a lot of character and a sense of community in our downtown,” senior associate Jillian Chaffee said.
However, one property in particular has been sitting vacant for months after the tenant left. Now, thanks to the Heart of Our City housing incentive program, the downtown property will be redeveloped.
“The Bargain Shop is a great example, it’s currently one that’s undergoing renovations,” Economic Development Lethbridge chief executive officer Trevor Lewington said. “The city has two different incentive programs right now; one is to encourage residential development. Developers can receive a certain amount of money per door when they develop residential space downtown.”
Experts said new businesses aren’t redeveloping buildings like the empty grocery stores on the cities north side because they would rather build new buildings next to big box stores to capitalize on the traffic.
“It’s a part of a national strategy and with that comes the expense,” Chaffee said. “Those large national companies can pay the high rents for the newer locations in the suburbs.”
Lewington said the other challenge with empty buildings is that they may have certain agreements with their previous tenants.
“They’re often owned by real estate investment trusts, so those are landlords that may still be receiving lease payments from the companies that were originally there,” Lewington said. “It’s hard to know sometimes–between a private landlord and a private tenant–exactly what arrangements were made.”
Lewington said as the city approaches 100,000 residents, businesses should continue to view Lethbridge as a sound economic investment.
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