Downtown Red Deer’s vacant spaces filling up, but major pieces remain empty

Funding is to go towards 50 per cent of a business’s rental costs for the first six months they’re in existence, up to a maximum of $10,000.

“We weren’t sure what we’d see for applicants in the first year, but it really gives us encouragement that the downtown is a very viable option to do business,” she says. “What we’ve heard from the successful applicants of this grant is that it has really tipped the scale for them to locate their businesses downtown versus other parts of the city.”

Applicants are graded on a points scale, based on business type and where they want to go, plus a few other factors, as noted below:

Project Outcomes: potential to effectively address the following outcomes: Increase downtown attraction for residents and visitors. (Maximum of 5 points)

Organizational Capacity: ability to effectively deliver the proposed project based on its purpose and activities. Demonstrates sufficient level of planning and preparedness. (Maximum of 15 points)

Budget and Timelines: seems realistic to project success (Maximum of 10 points)

Location: priority will be given to projects within areas in the following order (Maximum of 10 points)

1. 50 Avenue between 48 Street and 53 Street (10 points)
2. 49 Street between 48 Avenue and 50 Avenue (5 points)
3. All other locations within downtown Red Deer (3 points)
4. No pre-selected location. (1 point)

Industry Sector: priority sectors include retail, food & beverage and entertainment (Maximum of 10 points)

1. Retail, Food & Beverage, and Entertainment (10 points)
2. Health & Wellness (5 points)
3. Professional Services (3 points)
4. Other (1 point)

“We had conversations with business owners when first developing the grant, and often when we look at what already exists in downtown, if you have a clustering of a particular type of businesses, it increases walking traffic in that area,” Stannard explains.

“There isn’t a disqualification if you’re not within those priorities. It just means you receive a different amount of points.”

Stannard is hopeful that once a number of contracts have been finalized, it will have a positive impact on the vacancy rate.

Last summer, rdnewsNOW reported vacancy rate figures from the Q2 2023 Salomons Commercial retail report.

For that quarter, the vacancy rate downtown was 5.41 per cent, down from 5.74 per cent in Q1 2023, and down from 7.85 per cent in Q4 2022.

However, the latest report, for Q1 2024, shows an 8.20 per cent vacancy rate downtown. While higher than a year ago, it is down from 9.06 per cent in Q4 2023.

The Salomons Q1 2024 office report notes that while the completion of the Red Deer Justice Centre won’t impact vacancy rates, it will hopefully have a positive impact on the downtown market.

The Red Deer Justice Centre earlier this year. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

JUSTICE

rdnewsNOW inquired with Alberta Infrastructure about the fate of the current provincial courthouse with the new Red Deer Justice Centre on the precipice of opening its doors.

In a statement, the ministry says it is still considering future options for its use, and no decisions have been made.

Construction of the new justice centre is nearing completion, “and has reached the construction milestone of interim acceptance. This means main construction is complete and Alberta Infrastructure is putting finishing touches in place, such as testing building systems and installing necessary equipment.”

An occupancy permit is anticipated in the fall, with it becoming quite operational early in 2025.

WELIKOKLAD THEATRE, FORMER BMO, AND THE EX-HUB ON ROSS

There are a number of other prominent spaces of particular interest in the downtown, not the least of which is the Red Deer Polytechnic-owned Welikoklad Theatre (4922 49 Street), which has now sat empty for multiple years.

Asked what’s happening with the building, the polytechnic says they have no update at this time, but that their downtown presence remains strong within the Millenium Centre.

The City of Red Deer tells rdnewsNOW that it continues to work with RDP to activate the facility, but there are no current plans for the City to lease, buy or rent the space.

“We know there are community groups that continue to search for appropriate and affordable spaces in the downtown, and City staff are working to assist them whenever possible,” says Stannard.

Another one that’s been empty for some time is the former Bank of Montreal at 4903 Gaetz Avenue.

A spokesperson with Cushman & Wakefield confirms a sale of the 17,339 square foot space is pending. It’s been listed on their website for a sale price of $1.095 million.

Finally, there’s the ex-Hub on Ross at the prime location of 4936 Ross Street.

Last fall, rdnewsNOW learned that the provincially-owned building, which has sat empty since Hub programming lost its funding, is part of the government’s surplus building inventory. It would be publicly sold, Alberta Infrastructure said.

In an update this week, the ministry tells rdnewsNOW it’s been listed for sale since November at a sale price of $629,000.

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by Josh Hall | @Vancan19

Downtown Red Deer’s vacant spaces filling up, but major pieces remain empty

JUSTICE

WELIKOKLAD THEATRE, FORMER BMO, AND THE EX-HUB ON ROSS

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