Happy Goat Coffee given first right of refusal for shops at future LRT stations

Happy Goat coffee blends are seen in this undated file image. (Chris Black/CTV News Ottawa)

Ottawa city council has approved giving Happy Goat Coffee the first right of refusal for setting up at five future LRT stations when Stage 2 launches.

The Ottawa-based coffee chain has a location at the Blair LRT station. It won a contract prior to the launch of Stage 1 of LRT to also have kiosks at Tunney's Pasture, Rideau, and Hurdman stations. To date, only the Rideau Station shop ever opened, but it has since closed because it was financially unviable.

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City staff said in a report prepared for the finance and corporate services committee and council that Happy Goat has never reached its sales targets.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed ridership patterns across the city's transit network, and public confidence in the LRT has been shaken by numerous incidents and failures on the line in the short time it's been operational. That includes a stench passengers long complained about at Rideau Station.

Happy Goat Coffee owner Henry Assad told CTV News Ottawa in September he's cautiously optimistic about the LRT.

"We see the evidence at Blair Station. It has been progressively getting better and we're breaking even at Blair," he said.

Now, the city is giving Happy Goat another kick at the can with Stage 2.

Council voted to waive the section of the city's leasing policy that requires public notice of leasable city space.

"The intent of this proposal would provide additional investor interest and growth opportunities for Happy Goat while maintaining customer service standards. This first right of refusal would be subject to the Leasing Policy requirements, would not be transferable and would require Happy Goat to negotiate in good faith a new separate lease agreement for these five stations," the report said.

It passed unanimously at council on Wednesday.

The future commercial spaces would be at Trim and Place d‘Orléans stations in the east, and Alqonquin, Bayshore, and Lincoln Fields stations in the west.

"We will evaluate each one of them separately and we will make that decision when the time comes," Assad told CTV News Ottawa last month.

The current timeline for the opening of the eastern extension is 2025. The western extension has been delayed until 2026.

Happy Goat currently has 14 locations across Ottawa.