Chatham & Ferry

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• Sorry to say, but the idea of the big box has been around for over a century and it'll be around for centuries after. Detroit pioneered the big box with Kresges and Hudson's (the world's tallest with 28 stories in downtown) over 80 years ago. The reason downtown Windsor doesn't have it, which would bring people back to downtown, is that the mayor f'd it up with high taxes and pay parking. He should be replanning downtown, offering free parking, and marketing the urban village lands to a big box development to bring people back to downtown instead of sitting on his lazy butt with his overpriced salary with his useless and costly Development Commission staff... As long as we have this mayor, we're gonna see many more downtown demos.

• Ottawa street seems to be doing OK with pay parking, there are only a few small municipal lots & street parking yet there are plenty of businesses in the area. They have a nice diverse range of shoe stores, clothing stores, restaurants, bars, banks, travel agents, dentists etc. To top it all off, there's not a single national "Big Box" retailer on the street.

  I don't think a big box retailer with free parking downtown would help revive stores on Ouellette, Pelissier, University, Park or Wyandotte Street. Downtown needs a diverse range of retail stores with a better mix of residential and office space. Currently we have empty office space (i.e. Chrysler Building), lots of bars/restaurants and empty apartment buildings. The city needs to lower taxes on commercial/retail spaces to entice business to open up. We need to attract tourists to the Casino and to visit local restaurants and shops downtown, but most of all we need residents of this city to once again want to go downtown.

• David that is the most absurb thing I have heard in a long while. Buld a big-box store downtown? What would that solve? Now a big square building would be built and large swaths of land would be needed for their sea of parking. How is that conducive to downtown? How does that bring back retail?

  What we need is savvy people in city hall working with the BIA to attract independant retailers and chain retailers (like they have at the mall) and give them some incentives to move downtown. Other cities have done it so why doesn't Windsor?

• Ottawa Street has a lot of vacancies. It's not doing fine. And, if it wasn't for the three major anchors there--Canada Salvage, Liquidation World, and Freeds--no one would go there.

  Attracting small independent/chain retailers without a major anchor is ridiculous, ME. And, it's already been tried and failed, e.g., American Apparel on Pelissier, Quiznos on Ouellette, etc. Devonshire Mall is successful because of its three major anchors (big box)--Zeller's, Sears, and the Bay. If you take away those major anchors, you can kiss the small retailers at Devonshire Mall goodbye. The same thing happened with the London Galleria and Kitchener's Downtown King Centre when they lost their major anchors. The small retailers follow the major anchors... Show me a successful mall without major anchors.

  The big box could have underground parking like Toronto. Hudson's Department Store in Detroit had a 4-6 storey underground parking garage, which is still there, minus the demo'd building, which was on top, the garage was built 80+ years ago... And, you still had a lot of small retailers in downtown. This worked in downtown Detroit many, many years ago. I think an Ikea would be the best candidate, but the our useless Mayor and commission are too lazy market it. We need a new mayor with the energy to promote this city's downtown.

• One last point -- downtown windsor needs more retail, yes, but there is lots of other space for it. Keep this building a cultural hub (root for improvements and etc) because Windsor needs this building for all the Richard Florida creative class reasons.

• I have played here and drank there and refuse to do so ever again. The entire building has been in a state of neglect for so long that a stentch of urine and feces pervades the whole place. I have known employees who have been sick for years whilst working there and miraculously had a turn around for the better when they quit or found work elsewhere. There are serious plumbing and mold issues throughout. It is sad that the corporation that owns the building have let it go. Sadly I think the reno would be too costly to make any fiscal sense whatsoever. I am not claiming to be a building engineer but I think it's very probable that this building will meet it's proverbial Dr. Kervorkian.

• James, you have stated the case very well. Ken has added a personal touch to the same argument.

  I am actually going to agree with David here. He and I are apparently thinking the exact same thing. For a while now, I've been trying to figure out what major retailer, that is a draw on its own merits, could be brought into downtown. And I settled on something like an IKEA. But, that is just a dream. IKEA would not come to Windsor since there is already a store across the border.

  ME, a store like IKEA draws people by merely existing. If one stood downtown you would have at least a thousand new eyeballs walking past all the other attractions every single day. Why not put a camera store next to it? IKEA does not sell cameras, but a thousand people walking by would mean easy shopping for some of them. Restaurants would benefit the same way. Independent stores cannot do this on their own.

  Our city bungled the arena project by not placing it downtown. We caved to the Casino, from what I am told. That was just stupid -- even on the part of the Casino operators. More people downtown would have been good for the Casino, but they saw competition. That was short sighted stupidity.

• David, last time I checked none of those stores on Ottawa are "big box" stores as we know them. They are locally owned businesses with no ties to the big box stores that have emerged since the 1990's. You know, that decade where we had a jobless recovery after the recession? I wonder what helped to foster that?

  Big box? Sorry but I believe those to be department stores. Hardly a "big box" with their acres of parking and no feel to their cold dead stores (sorry racking stacked to the roof of a shell of a building is not aesthetic in any way). My definition of big-box is much different then your I guess.

  Now I will say an anchor tenant is a good idea which is why this city should be going after those types of tenants downtown while working with the building owners to do something with their disgusting buildings (I still believe that we should have a building criteria throughout our city. If you can't afford to upkeep it you shouldnt be owning it). But then we can't even have a properly functioning small business task force so what does that say about this region let alone a development commission.

  As for those storews that failed, ask them what their TAXES were. Ask them what their RENT was? Both are so mind boggling is it any wonder we have any business downtown at all?!

  As for an Ikea it will NEVER happen here because they place their stores in strategic places as to not interfere within each stores territory.

  Why does everyone think Richard "the snake oil salesmen" Florida is so great? He is just re-hashing the same crap that has ben said many decades ago. "Get educated people (IE: the creative class) to live close to one another and great things will happen." Well, no shit Sherlock! You can do that with most people who are educated. How do you get them to live close to one another? How do you get these people to locate if the jobs aren't already there (they go to places where there is a resource)? He has easy solutions but he has no path or guide to get anyone there. In my opinion he spouts good stuff but gives no road map. I hardly think he is worth what he charges. Consider me not a fan.

• do we not have enough? (bigboxes?) You want downtown back? Major revamping... looks too 1970's. no style. In addition you need unique shops, both upper scale and mid range. How do you get them? who knows. Maybe offer incentives for stores to open a 2nd location downtown, or maybe attract new stores with incentives... but it must be more than 1 at a time... must be a good 5 to start. Nobody will go downtown just to go to 1 store, then leave. Besides, in this current market, i dont think even the best of downtown's could attract business. looks like we gotta ride this one out, BUT, it doesn't mean we cant prepare for the upswing!

• Painted brick....sigh