City’s plan to address downtown storefront and office vacancy could take more than a year
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Vacant storefronts and offices are both a symptom and a contributor to the current struggles in London’s core area business districts.
Vacant storefronts and offices are both a symptom and a contributor to the current struggles in London’s core area business districts.
In July, city council directed staff to develop a strategy to assist in reducing building and land vacancy in Downtown London and the Old East Village.
A new staff report estimates a comprehensive study and strategy will take many more months.
Specifically, short-term actions will begin to be piloted between June-Dec. 2022, the comprehensive vacancy reduction strategy will be sent to council for approval in April 2023.
But some downtown merchants say waiting up to a year and a half for action is too long.
“Yesterday,” responds King N. Jerome, owner of The Jumpoff London clothing store. “They should have started yesterday, because realistically this [vacancy problem] isn’t new.”
Jerome opened his streetwear shop on Richmond Street three weeks ago in a formerly vacant storefront.
