Happy Goat Coffee given first right of refusal for shops at future LRT stations
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.
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
- Sign up now for our nightly CTV News Ottawa newsletter
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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
Haida elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.