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Sidney commercial vacancy rates declining

Economic Development Commission has budget restored to improve visibility
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A recent update of downtown Sidney business vacancy rates shows signs like these are becoming harder to spot. (File)

Communicating what the Town of SidneyB次元官网网址檚 Economic Development Commission (EDC) does is a high priority for the coming years.

On Monday, Sidney Town Council confirmed restoring the EDCB次元官网网址檚 annual budget to $100,000 and will allow the EDC to collaborate with North and Central Saanich on economic development issues on the Saanich Peninsula.

That will help the EDC meet some of its internal goals. In a recent presentation to council, EDC Chair David Calveley said the group has to lets its work be known in the general community B次元官网网址 or raise its overall profile in order to have the information they collect reach the public.

Some of that information in their recent report to council, includes a revision of the amount of buildings, stores or offices that are vacant in downtown Sidney in a retail gaps study conducted by Urbancis Consultants Ltd. and additional data collected by the EDC itself.

The Town commisioned Urbanics to collect local data on business vacancies, following up on a Sidney Business Improvement Area study done in early 2016 that in town. The EDC was given the in a more formal setting, and the Urbancs study was part of the process.

According to the Urbanics report, overall unit vacancies in Sidney were as high was nine per cent (or 36 units) in July of this year. By September, that had dropped to 8.29 per cent.

Looked at as vacant square feet along Beacon Avenue specifically, that percentage drops to a high of five per cent in July, dropping to 4.6 per cent in September.

Urbanics noted in its December report that most of those vacancies were on the second level of buildings in the downtown area of Sidney B次元官网网址 roughly 25 per cent of all second floor units.

B次元官网网址淚n contrast, only six per cent of street level units are vacant,B次元官网网址 stated the report. B次元官网网址淥f all the vacancies, six are either getting redeveloped or will soon be redeveloped and three are classified as vacant but might be amalgamated into neighbouring space.B次元官网网址

Overall commercial vacancy rates in Sidney, said the report, are not dissimilar from downtown Victoria, which has also experienced a drop in its overall street-level store vacancy rate between 2015 and 2016.

B次元官网网址淲e anticipate that SidneyB次元官网网址檚 business district is also likely to experience similar retail expansion and increased demand for street-front retailing going forward.B次元官网网址

Councillor Mervyn Lougher-Goodey seized upon the lower Beacon Avenue vacancy rate, saying that the work of EDC and the Urbanics report B次元官网网址渆radicates the bad stuff.B次元官网网址 He referred to the early 2016 SBIA study as B次元官网网址渇lawed information.B次元官网网址

B次元官网网址淭he problem is,B次元官网网址 he said, B次元官网网址減eople in the community still are asking about the empty storefronts.B次元官网网址

He said more work needs to be done to get the word out about more current vacancy rates.

Coun. Erin Bremner-Mitchell said thatB次元官网网址檚 the EDCB次元官网网址檚 objective B次元官网网址 to communicate better with the public about its work.

The report also showed council the gaps in retail in Sidney. Those fall in areas such as general merchandise, furniture and home furnishings and eating and drinking establishments. The report does address the local retail food segment, noting itB次元官网网址檚 well-represented, apart from specialty shops (butcher, cheese shop). The report stated those B次元官网网址渨ould be supported through additional B次元官网网址渋nflowB次元官网网址 of retail expenditure form the secondary and tertiary trade areas.B次元官网网址

Urbanics also looked at SidneyB次元官网网址檚 various market opportunities and noted that snapshots of commercial vacancies need to be taken periodically to determine trends.

The report takes in current market information and makes some projections based on population growth and income. It does not mention the potential impact of commercial projects such as the Sidney Crossing retail site on Victoria Airport Authority land, or the Sandown development in nearby North Saanich. Both of those projects have yet to come to pass.



editor@peninsulanewsreview.com

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