I find the term "below operating cost" a little unusual. Could it be that what the Farmer's Market is paying is the going market rate for the building.

If the market was not there I do not think they could rent out the entire space to one tenant,or not without a major facelift.To divide the building up into smaller rental units would also take a large infusion of cash. With the amount of vacant space in the downtown core, Commonwealth should be happy that they have some rent coming in.

Before any decision is made Commonwealth should disclose what the Market is paying and what the going rate for a similar space would be.

Although to my knowledge Commonwealth has not revealed how much profit they made flipping the PG Hotel, but if the rumor of 500k is correct it would only mean 4% of that to do the damn paintjob themselves.

Yeah, and I have a rental house rented to a low income family at “below operating cost". Maybe the city should fork out for a few updates so that this family could have a nicer place. With all the expenses, including the unreasonably high property taxes I pay, it's impossible for me to come up with the cash for improvements too and this family can't afford for me to increase their rent.

What kind of reception would I get at city hall or regional district if I came in with my request?

Commonwealth could easily do what it has done to other buildings on George, tear it down and put up a fence. As a result, they may have to pay less tax to the city. It is easy to see that the "improvements" on the property are still viable and as long as they remain they should keep the assessed value of the property above the bare land value, even if it is relatively little. It still, however, increases the taxes coming to the City.

If I were the owner, I would be looking for rent which would cover at least the interest on the money I borrowed, the interest on any capital investment I made and the taxes, insurance, and other fees I would have to pay on the property above the costs I would have if it was simply a vacant property. Any money I am making above that, I would look at, in a case like this, being available to help out the tenant to make improvements OUTSIDE the building which would benefit the tenant, the City and the DBIA. That money would not benefit the owner since it is not the intent to keep the property for that use.

In fact, there could even be a scenario where the exterior improvement would benefit the owner. Any money like that should up the value of the property at sale by at least the amount that can be shown to the purchaser as being a legitimate cost to maintain the property as a business. Anything above that could be looked on as goodwill which providesd the owner with an income, the loss of which should be accounted for in a sale.

With any luck, of course, all that may not matter to Commonwealth. In the end, it is a corner location on what has the potential to be a prime corner for the right user. In that case, other factors will dictate the value and perhaps the sale price of the property.

Northern Hardware owns the building and operates a business out of it. Hardly a comparable situation with the Farmers Market even just from that point of view.

The whole thing really begs the question of what, if anything, will the City do to help the Farmers Market develop into something more substantial. A decade ago we were talking about that. It was going to be the centerpiece of that day's version of a revitalized downtown. The SGOG plan also had a Farmers Market location proposed.

Is there going to be any assitance to developing a year round facility such as some other communties have, or is this just a big brass ring that will never be able to be grabbed?

Where is the City on that?

Where is the DBIA on that.

Where are the people who keep providing us with the market stalls on that?

Wherre are the people who love to go downtown to stroll through the market on that?

I think it is just an idea whose time will never come and everyone is full of BS.

It is too bad that Commenwealth is tied up with this. I wonder if it was someone else who owned the building, whether people would be so up in arms. I doubt it.

It would be really nice if the Farmers Market and Commonwealth could speak more openly about their relationship. I doubt either of them figured this would blow up in their face like this.

The Farmers Market people really do not deserve this.

How has this blown up in their face?From an article and a couple of negative comments about the deal?I would think it has a good chance of passing and we will be paying for a private outfits upgrade to their building!

Sorry,I had not read the other story related to this topic above!

Yes, sometimes the same "story" is in more than just one article which I find a it frustrating at times. It might help putting a cross link to help those of us who are mentally challenged by such situations ... :-)

While some Councillors might not like to admit it too often, some do read the comments on here. Some even post on here. :-)

That means each will decide how much the opinions on here will influence their decisions. I am sure many will have similar thought already. I suspect they find themselves between a rock and a hard place on this one and wish that the proponents had handed them an easier "ask" report.

Having said that, I have not seen this in the Council package on the net for tonight, so am not sure where this is in the process. If I had read the actually request, I would feel more comfortable about commenting. But, it is an important and controversial issue and needs some balanced feedback, I thought.

These decsions that Council has to make are not always that easy. So, when in doubt, ask for a report by Administration ... LOL

Conflict of interest comes to my mind after reading this. But that's me. That ex-foam store at Domano and Gladstone is still for rent. A while back I was told the guy wants $6000 bucks a month for it. It is still empty. Whatever the leaser sells in it better be mega volume.

I think the owner should seriously look at partitioning it into smaller spaces if that is the kind of money he needs to finance his property.

I went in there once. Seems it is a specialty store which basically makes it a destination store that could operate almost anywhere. I gather it is the same store which is now located near Hollandia. Certainly more centrally located with better exposure.

Medical services - Dental, MD, physio, etc. - are located in several of such neighbourhood centres. Those services are in enough demand that they are destinations to which people will come from other parts of the city. Some professional consulting services might also be able to operate from a location like that. They might even pay that sort of rent if the owner enters into a 5 year lease agreement and throws in some tenant improvements for that - equivalent of one year rent .. $70,000 or so as an "incentive" to move in.