Westboro Village in Ottawa is experiencing transformations with new mixed-use developments, a vibrant retail scene, and community-focused initiatives.
Westboro Village in Ottawa is rapidly growing with new mixed-use buildings, residents, and new businesses opening. Judy LincoIn, the executive director of Westboro Village Business Improvement Area, discusses the neighbourhood, new developments, and future plans.Â
“We are very much a lifestyle neighbourhood, and that is reflected both in our retail leasing and our services. We have a number of new mixed-use buildings that are nearing completion, have recently been completed, or are under development. We do expect a lot of new residents coming into the area and brand new commercial spaces becoming available. We hope to continue to have a healthy mix of businesses,” says LincoIn.Â
New businesses in the area
The vacancy rate is ten per cent: “We are really fortunate we don’t have many vacancies, leasing is quite brisk.”
With the neighbourhood thriving, Lincoln says more businesses are coming to the area including DUER, which just opened its fifth location at 348 Richmond Road. The space is 1,700 square feet and brings an exciting element to the neighbourhood.
DUER’s press release says “the new DUER location joins a host of brands in Westboro Village, including lululemon, Saje, MEC and Ollie Quinn. Filled with shops, restaurants and cafes, this upbeat neighbourhood is popular with active individuals thanks to its parks, bike paths and proximity to the Ottawa river.”
“I’ve always loved the extensive bike lanes in Ottawa and this is just one of many reasons DUER is a natural fit for this market,” says Gary Lenett, CEO of DUER in a press release.
Other businesses that have recently opened include Sleep Country Canada, Baskin Robbins, a leather company Barcon Getta, and a natural footwear company Sole Freedom. Additionally, some larger businesses have opened locations in the Westboro Village including Knix, Repair and Run, and Fjallraven, an outdoor clothing and equipment store.Â
Support from the BIA
The Westboro Village BIA ensures they support each retailer, big or small. Lincoln says the BIA provides personalized resources by offering traffic and visitor data to help businesses in the area understand their customer base and grow their success.
“We really want to meet you and find out what your business is about. We recognize that most of our businesses need support in different ways. Sometimes, if it is a national footprint, they really want local traffic data, local community engagement opportunities, and sponsorship opportunities that they can then work with their regional managers or national sales managers on,” says LincoIn. “For one of the smaller, independent businesses, it is having access to some of the visitor data and traffic data they maybe wouldn’t be able to purchase on their own, and we are able to support them.”
LincoIn says when businesses open they introduce themselves, explain what they can offer, campaigns and programs they run throughout the year, give an overview of community partnerships, find out the business’ goals, and answer questions.
“We really want to do everything we can to evolve and enhance that we are a village within the city. We want to do everything we can to attract and promote, so working with our businesses to hear what their needs are and try to respond so that we are able to build on programming each year with their engagement and involvement.”
Moving forward
Looking ahead, the Westboro Village BIA is going to continue to improve the neighbourhood including its engagement with both existing and new businesses and to expand community events and programs.
“We have partnered with a local company called Capital Pop-Up Cinema, and they work with different partners throughout Ottawa to show vintage movies in unusual places. It is held sort of right in the centre of the BIA, in an outdoor space next to the City Heritage property, and we will have three movies this summer,” says Lincoln. “We also are doing some really hyper-local programming in the summer that brings people down. So there is a community ukulele group who does free lessons and sing-alongs in our public square. We have also launched a wellness campaign where we are offering fitness classes with the registration fee going to the local school as they are trying to rebuild their playground.”
Lincoln says the BIA is also looking at improving the aesthetics of the neighbourhood to draw more people to the area. This includes adding more community art installations, and working with the city to improve public spaces.
“We are positioned well. The city of Ottawa’s official plan is to create 15-minute neighbourhoods, and we are well positioned to be that 15-minute neighbourhood for a lot of people. You should be able to do sort of everything within a 15-minute walk. We have a lot of professional services, healthcare services, beauty services, groceries, and a local bakery – you can sort of get all that done within a 15-minute walk and we are looking forward to continuing to improve the area.”
