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Originally Posted by Baker58
Well while it isn't much they moved CWB out of one of their towers into Tower 3 and are now leasing that area as food retail and have another food/retail area for lease in Tower 3. Basically building the tower has allowed for two potential food/retail locations and they offered a part of their lobby for public viewing and they paid a 400k fine on top of this. All in addition to a couple hundred new jobs downtown and a new 18 story tower. Is it going to generate 1000 new visitors a week to downtown? No but when it is all said and done if they can get two busy restaurants into that location they will have contributed.
Before you start denouncing them, why not just ask yourself if the downtown is better with or without the project.
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That's great news that the former CWB will be marketed as retail/restraunt space. Only time will tell what happens with it. As for the "restraunt" space in tower 3, it's only 1900 square feet, which doesn't really make it large enough for a full service eating establishment. From what I've heard, and this could be totally wrong, Subway is negotiating on a lease. Great for the daytime crowd, however not likely it will draw people downtown in the evenings.
Anyway my point is, there was a lot more a company like Harvard could have done to enhance downtown, and contribute to the Downtown Neighborhood Plan with tower 3. At the end of the day, their primary focus is making money. They did a cost benefit analysis and determined it's cheaper to pay a fine, rather than follow the guidelines outlined in the downtown plan.
Unfortunately, Harvard has now set a precedent for other developers that it's ok to ignore Regina's Downtown Neighborhood Plan and pay a fine. To me, that way of thinking is disappointing. Harvard has been such a integral part of this community and its history. I would much rather see them in a leadership role, promoting the downtown plan, rather than buying their way out of it.