Development from above

The city is pushing property owners in the uptown to develop their upper floors. Upper floors could house office space, apartments or condominiums. If executed properly, adding to the stock of rental apartments, office space and condos will help make uptown a feasible place for people to live and work. I think this sort of development is needed to attract people from other urban areas who are used to living and working in the heart of the city. It will help attract creative minds who have embraced the romantic appeal of living in a diverse community with rich history. Of course to further accelerate the attraction of new residents to the area, services (i.e. grocery store, cafes open past 5 pm, etc.) will have to return to the uptown and nightlife will need to improve.

Being that there are few empty lots left to develop, the idea of developing upper floors makes sense on the supply side of the equation; developing upper floors might be the cheapest way to add new rental space to the market as land prices inch up. I wonder however if market demand warrants a rash of new uptown development. The redevelopment on Canterbury Street (adjacent the John Law building) appears near completion and should be a good test to see if commercial space in the uptown will be absorbed quickly. As more upper floors are developed, the more difficult providing parking will become in the area. Ideally a dense core with adequate services allows for workers and residents to operate without cars, but there are short term growing pains that could result in reticence among potential tenants of upper floor spaces.

With the city firmly behind this type of development, hopefully my concerns are those of an overly cautious observer. Perhaps this new push will invite more people back into the uptown and services and cultural growth will occur.