Came across an
interesting article from Ottawa Community News today (from 1 month ago). Some interesting information from the article:
Quote:
Last week, after the mayor publically criticized Shahrasebi for failing to meet his commitment to tidy up the site, the building's owner said politicians have a lack of understanding about running a business.
"The mayors and politicians come and go. I own a lot of property in this city. I am not going anywhere," he said.
Last spring, Shahrasebi was set to ink a tenancy agreement with a pharmacy after two years and $200,000 spent negotiating.
When that deal fell through, the project was put on ice as Shahrasebi worked on two other redevelopments: the former Salvation Army building on Gladstone Avenue and the renovation of a former garage into a new burger joint, the Bacon Factory, on O'Connor Street.
Opening that restaurant has given new motivation to the Somerset House project, said Shahrasebi, who is now keen on opening his own restaurant honouring the heritage of the Somerset House.
He would likely call the eatery the Duke of Somerset, after a popular historic pub that used to occupy the building.
"For Somerset (House) I don't have any tenant(s), but I am getting to the point since now I have gotten into the restaurant business, now I have a lot of chefs and managers around. So I think we can do something ourselves," he said. "Therefore, we are going to be our own tenant. We are not going to rent it to anybody."
Another option he is working on is a "market mall," which would include space for around eight individual vendors in a "funky, European style" indoor market, Shahrasebi said.
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The "market mall" is an interesting idea, though the one in the Byward Market failed in the 80s/90s and was replaced by radio/television studios for CTV2 et al.
The Duke pub is super underwhelming.
I may have mentioned this before, but I'd rather see a CB2 or West Elm furniture store go in there - the CB2 location in Toronto is in similar heritage-style building. And we are sorely lacking on decent furniture stores in this city.
[
Source, CB2 Toronto]
[
Source, West Elm, Melbourne]
* Not that I'm suggesting painting the building black...
