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
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.