A commercial leasing opportunity in St. Albert's Servus Place Recreation Centre has generated little to no interest, the city says, although it's not sure why.
The space available for lease, which is near the swimming pool, was previously home to Source for Sports, which had operated its offshoot sporting goods store in Servus Place since the facility opened in 2006, up until the fall of 2019. Dave Ridd, the owner-operator of St. Albert Source for Sports, declined an interview about why Source for Sports didn't renew its lease after 2019.
Staff with the city's recreation and parks department weren't available for an interview, however, city spokesperson Tamara Russell explained that the city has been trying to spread the word about the available space for some time, even going as far as to issue a request for proposals (RFP) last fall that included an invitation to a city-led tour of the space. However, no proposals were submitted.
“This RFP was posted for three weeks, and an opportunity was given to visit the space and have any questions answered by a city representative during that time,” Russell explained. “Additional notices to bring awareness to the posting were published to the Chamber of Commerce newsletter, Economic Development newsletter, LinkedIn, the Gazette and the city’s other social media channels.”
“The city is not able to speculate or confirm reasons for the lack of response.”
Despite the lack of interest so far, Russell said the city is still hoping to hear from interested businesses about a potential lease.
“The city is currently entertaining discussions about partnerships for the lease space,” she said. “The city is looking for a partner whose values are aligned with the facility by serving users through health and wellness services while enhancing the overall financial stability of Servus Place.”
According to the RFP, the available space for lease is 1667 square feet, and is best suited for similar retailers like Source for Sports, such as: “outdoor athletic and or adventure goods and services; health, wellness, beauty; travel; [and] holistic medicine.”
The RFP also notes that the city prefers to sign a five-year lease, and prospective businesses would be expected to be open year-round with regular retail hours.
Russell did say that foot traffic, programming registrations, memberships and admission numbers have recovered since the COVID-19 pandemic. The RFP noted that Servus Place had 1.4 million visits in 2022.
Leasing is a small factor in how the city makes money from the facility, and the city currently leases space in the recreation centre to three other private businesses or franchises: Booster Juice, the Skybox Grill, and Active Physio Works. The Starbucks in Servus Place is owned and operated by the city.
Last November the Gazette reported that the city was forecasting Servus Place would run an operational deficit of about $1.5 million for the 2023 year, which represents an approximately 83 per cent cost-recovery rate.
Servus Place's operating deficit was about $2.1 million in 2022, and in 2021 the deficit was $2.9 million; however, the COVID-19 pandemic was a contributing factor both years.
