[CoryB]

Originally Posted by Winnipegger

Given the Bay's size and the fact that it simply isn't feasible to be fully used by one tenant, it would be great if somehow the building could divided in to multiple spaces so that many small businesses could choose to operating in the building.

This sounds like basically replicating the model originally tried at The Forks Market. I have said for some time, someone needs to really do a deep dive on why The Forks Market moved away from that concept and create a plan on how those challenges can be avoided at a different site. Ideally this would also include the idea of a year round farmers market (produce in winter is likely a major challenge here) and the downtown grocery concept.

If the grocer in the Bay basement was such a profitable idea do you not think the same company that was running it before would be using their sales data to get it happening again ASAP? That they let it close and used the wind-down of Zellers as a cover story basically tells you everything you need to know.

Originally Posted by Winnipegger

I know this is probably a far-fetched question, but does anyone know the maintenance and utility costs for operating the Bay, along with the estimated cost of doing a proper renovation including opening up the middle? I'd imagine that it's likely financially unfeasible since there is next to no interest in doing anything with this structure by anyone.

No direct insight into the cost but for every existing square foot of space you need to either fully demo or retrofit there is an added cost, even without getting into something like the complex logistics of building a new exterior inside an existing building. So looking at the new Wawanesa building as a comparison, they are going to fully demo a couple of relatively small buildings to make way for their massive new building. If they were to try and put the same size project into the Bay building their cost per square foot would definitely be higher. That is one of the big challenges facing a redevelopment of the Bay. There is simply too many cheaper locations to develop a project downtown regardless of the type of project. The current surplus of existing office space also makes an office conversion a complete non-starter.

Originally Posted by esquire

Office space would still be preferable for a building like that, though. I wonder if Skip the Dishes seriously looked at it? At first blush it looks perfect for a giant tech cube farm.

I am not sure if Skip specifically looked at the Bay but it has definitely been looked at for conversion to a number of different office projects over the years with the Hydro HQ project being one of the most public. Until demand for office space downtown catches up the the current supply there is zero economic support for an office conversion unless there was outside funding for the project such as a government incentive. With the current assurity pushes on all three levels of government those seem extremely unlikely right now.

Originally Posted by drew

I think long term, the only reasonable approach for a re-use of this building is to hollow out the interior.

It would benefit a few ways by reducing the floor area, making the floor area that is available more tenant friendly (i.e. windows), reduce the amount of interior space that requires conditioning (i.e. mechanical costs).

I am not sure hollowing out the Bay would actually reduce the conditioning costs. Yes, there would be less interior space to condition but it would also increase the amount of interior space directly adjacent to exterior walls so that would be a trade off.