MONTREAL -- Montreal officials say they have become increasingly worried about the number of vacant storefronts around the city.
They say they are hoping to come up with solutions to the problem and held public consultations on the matter at City Hall Tuesday night.
The commercial vacancy rate in the city has hovered around 15 per cent over the last five years; a normal rate would be between four and seven per cent.
On some streets, like Saint-Denis Street and Sainte-Catherine Street East, that number jumps to 26 per cent.
Normal rates are found a little farther away from the downtown core, like at the Promenade Masson in the Rosemont neighbourhood (six per cent) and Promenade Fleury in Ahuntsic (seven per cent).
Officials point to rising rent, real estate speculation and a general preference to shop online as part of the problem.
“Now, it's mostly services people are looking for locally,” explained Joseph Mazotta, a real estate broker. “Anything they can buy as items, they're going to buy them online, so retail is taking a backseat and that's why we're starting to see a lot of vacant locales.”
He says it has been increasingly difficult to find tenants willing to fill up commercial buildings and suggests reconfiguring zoning regulations to help people who want to open a business.
Public consultations are expected to continue in January. The commission studying the problem of vacant storefronts in Montreal is expected to present its recommendations soon after consultations wrap up.
