Sparks Street's great divide bad for business, merchants say

Merchants on Sparks Street are calling on their landlord the federal government to do a better job filling empty storefronts along one side of the downtown pedestrian mall.

Nineteen of the 38 ground-level storefronts on the north side of Sparks Street between Bank and Elgin streets currently sit emptyorserve as construction offices for parliamentary precinct workers.

The properties are owned and leased byPublic Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).

I don't think they want to be in the landlord business.- Elayne Schwartz, owner Ottawa Leather Goods

Until recently, Elayne Schwartz was a tenant of PSPCat 179 Sparks St., where she owned and operated Ottawa Leather Goods, amainstay since her grandfather opened the shop in 1921. She closed her doors for good on Aug. 31, and said her deteriorating relationship with her federal government landlord was a big reason.

"They're not in the landlord business, and I don't think they want to be in the landlord business," Schwartz said. "They're using the space for storage and for construction offices. In any other country,this is prime real estate for retail."

Schwartz said the construction outside her business was constant.

"Last year I had scaffolding up in front of my store for almost eight months out of the 12 months. But it wasn't just one time, it was four times," Schwartz said. "They would put it up, they would do something, they would take it down, and a week laterthe scaffolding would be back up."

Making matters worse, Schwartz said, was PSPC'srecent move to begin offering shorter-term leases instead of the usual five years plus an option to renew for another five, industry standard for established tenants.

"Theyoffered me a two-year lease anda substantial increase in rent," Schwartz said."There was no point."

Sparks Street deserves better retail, store owners say

5 years ago

Duration 1:16

Elayne Schwartz, a former Sparks Street store owner, and Ian Wright, co-owner of The Snow Goose on Sparks, say the retail mall would work better if there were far fewer empty storefronts.

The empty windows onthe north side of Sparks Street sit in stark contrast to the south side, which is lined with new shops and eateries including the upscaleRiviera restaurant. A new hotel will soon open between Metcalfe and O'Connor streets.

The buildings on the south sidebelong to either private firms or the National Capital Commission (NCC), which has hired a private company to handle commercial leases.

Some north-side tenants wish PSPC would do the same.

Two years ago, Jason Komendat opened Retro-Rides,abicycle service and sales shop on the north side of Sparks Street, but he soon outgrew the space and beganinquiring about leasing a larger space from PSPC.

"It seemed like every time we were getting close there was always something that got in the way," Komendat said about the negotiations.

"We negotiated on one space for quite a long time, did a formal proposal for it, only to find out afterwards that it was only available for about a year. When you find things out like that at the last minute, it's a bit devastating."

In a written statement to CBC, PSPC said it'scommitted to restoring and modernizing the buildings on the north side of Sparks Street,some ofwhichdate from the late 1800s andare "currently in poor condition."

The department defended its move toward short-term leases.

"Short-term leases are required to enable the needed rehabilitation work to move forward," PSPC said, adding its goal is to secure longer-term leases once the renovations are complete.

Ian Wright, co-owner of The Snow Goose Canadian craft shop, saidhe understands PSPC's need to renovate the buildings, butquestions how the department is going about it.

"The Four Corners building [at Sparks and Metcalfe] has recently been renovated after years and years and years. It looks fantastic," Wright said. "But the first thing they doisuse the ground floor as an office for the construction company that's working on Parliament. Could they not have used the second floor?"

Wright worries the department's focus on beautifying the parliamentary precinct has resulted in a missed opportunity for Sparks Street.

"It's perfect retail space for what I like to call Canada's street and Ottawa's street, and it's all blanked off."

The vacancies along the north side of Sparks Street come as the mall's Business Improvement Area (BIA) prepares to request the city beautify the pedestrian mall by planting treesand adding amenities such as benches and hammocks.

"Millions of dollars are going to be put into the streetscape. It's going to be absolutely beautiful," Komendat said."But if things continue the way they are, there's going to be 50 per cent of this street that has a 60 per cent vacancy rate or more, and it just doesn't make sense."

Warren Wilkinson, an Ottawa commercial real estate broker with Colliers International, said PSPC is by nature less flexible than the NCCand the private firms on the south side of the street, which are able to offer incentives to attract tenants.

"They're offeringimprovement allowance packages in order for the tenants to build out their space," Wilkinson said. "I think it's hard for the north side of the street and the public side to use public funds in order to help improve the space for private users."

If attracting retail tenants isn't a priority for PSPC, former Ottawa city councillor Peter Harris believes the department should at least consider making the ground-level spaces on the north side of the street open to the public through mini-museums or interpretationcentres.

As a formermanager ofthe Sparks Street Mall Authority, Harris has a warning for the residents of Ottawa:"If people aren't careful, we're going to lose this street as a civic street, as an identity of Ottawa," hesaid. "This is going to become a pavilion for federal bureaucrats. This will become a fancy Tunney's Pasture."