The area has long been the home of the city's arts and cultural communities but it has never been able to attract more than the diehards to live there. That's beginning to change.
The most significant development is the pending ribbon-cutting of All City Modern Convenience, a 1,400-square-foot grocery store, the first in the area. Talia Syrie, co-owner of All City, said she believes a grocery store is "desperately" needed because any time residents run out of dish soap, for example, they have to get in their car - or worse, take the bus or a cab - and go to another neighbourhood to restock.
Its captive customer base will no doubt include residents from the several batches of condominiums set to begin construction over the next two years. Kurtis Sawatzky, president of James Avenue Holdings, said his plan is to immediately renovate 128 James Street for both commercial and residential purposes - including 10 condos scheduled to open in the summer - and to knock down the building next door in 2013 and build an eight-storey residential tower housing 60 condos.
Federal and provincial funds have also gone into refurbishing the area, such as the funding commitments for the historic revitalization of the Union Bank Tower in the Exchange District. The Union Bank Tower will become the new home of Red River College's culinary and hospitality programs and a 100-student residence.
from Western Investor, January 2011
