Scattered empty store fronts and for-rent signs have become the norm on St Denis Street, but on Thursday, Plateau Mayor Luc Rabouin announced some fresh ideas he hopes will revive the once-thriving shopping district.
“We were used to walking on St. Denis. It was great,” said Rabouin. “Now, it’s too noisy, it’s empty, it’s not interesting, it’s not interesting to walk there.”
“It will become vibrant again in one or two years,” he said with a smile.
Sareka Sehgal, who runs Design Zola, a furniture and decor store, told Global News after a year on St Denis she is closing up shop. There was a ‘closing sale’ sign stuck on the front window.
“As much as we love the street, the reality is we don’t have enough traffic here, so we decided to look for other opportunities in other areas of the city,” she said.
Sehgal believes the years of construction drove business away from the once-bustling street.
Rabouin is hoping to bring the street back to life by getting rid of some red tape. At a press conference Wednesday, he talked up some changes to the old rules passed at Plateau-Mont-Royal borough council on Monday.
A limit on the maximum space a store or restaurant could use was removed. Commercial buildings will also now be allowed to house residential units on empty floors, as long as a business occupies at least one floor. The residential units can potentially be Airbnb-style rentals.
“Airbnb is legal on St. Denis Street, so probably there will be some in the next future,” said Rabouin,
The building at the corner of Rachel and St. Denis was a Mexx store until it was gutted by fire two years ago. The new owner, Bryan Spatzner, joined Rabouin at the press conference, saying the bottom floor will soon be a business, the top an Airbnb.
“We are very excited to be involved in the tourism industry here in Montreal, and to turn the upstairs into Airbnb,” he said.
“We believe it’s only good for the street.”
Another of the announced rule changes will allow bars to open within 50 metres of each other. Until now, 150 metres had to separate them, a rule that was exclusive to St Denis.
Jean Francois Daoust, co-owner of the board game bar Colonel Moutarde, has been battling to have his business licensed as a bar for five years. It’s technically a restaurant because of the old rules, so people must order food with their drinks.
“We lost every day some clients that are coming in, who just want to take a drink and play some games,” he explained.
Rabouin said the situation on St Denis is improving, and that the business occupancy rate is now at 81 per cent.
He pointed to other previously announced innovations coming to St Denis, including some dedicated bike lanes. He said a public consultation on empty storefronts may eventually allow the city to provide more relief for merchants, but for many it’s already too late.
“Small businesses like the one I’m operating don’t really have years to wait for the change to happen, so we have to look for areas that have more action,” said Sehgal.
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