Alberni Street, in the heart of downtown Vancouver, is known for its luxury retailers and hotels. Recently, however, it is also emerging as the landing ground for some of the city’s most anticipated restaurant openings, opening conversations about how real estate strategy is shaping Vancouver’s restaurant scene.
The latest addition to the area is Eggslut, a Los Angeles-born breakfast restaurant that has confirmed its first Canadian location on Alberni Street. The opening follows a series of new arrivals, including Din Tai Fung‘s first Canadian restaurant, South Korean boulangerie Paris Baguette, Cambodian restaurant Touk and Mexican restaurant Acuyo.
This collection of restaurants were not chosen at random, but were part of a strategy from Peterson, the private real estate company that owns the commercial properties for each new opening.
“The conversation around the Alberni strip is becoming a little bit louder, a little bit more exciting,” says Luke Moran, Peterson’s senior vice-president of leasing and property management. “Eggslut wanted to land somewhere where there was a lot of buzz, and I think we just hit the timing perfectly.”
Moran says that the planning behind restaurant leasing is akin to city-building. Every unit comes with a different set of physical constraints, from venting capacity and electricity, even down to how sunlit the side of the street is, with every neighbourhood requiring a different strategy.
“You really want to know every little nuance about your street,” he says. “You might develop a leasing plan in Gastown a lot differently than you would [on Alberni].”
For Alberni Street, that plan revolves around the large presence of hotels in the area. It sits between downtown’s commercial core and the residential West End, while also serving thousands of hotel guests staying at the Shangri-La, Paradox Hotel and Carmana Hotel.
“As a breakfast option, we thought Eggslut would be perfect,” Moran says. Nearby, Paragon Tea was chosen with similar thinking, as it gave visitors an alternative option without competing with it.
Yet, restaurants across British Columbia continue to struggle with the rising cost of operating. “It’s a very challenging market,” Moran says. “The cost of everything is going up, while consumption is basically flat.”
While globally known restaurants such as Eggslut can be expected to hit the ground running, smaller independent restaurants pose more of a risk for commercial real estate companies. But, Moran believes a successful street requires a balance of both. Though international restaurant groups may come with foot traffic and headlines, independent restaurants can give a neighbourhood its identity. “It’s those unique local tenants that really make your city or your commercial node unique.”
With Eggslut completing a line-up of restaurant openings on Alberni Street, Moran believes there will be little change in the near future. “It’s taken us a couple of years of cherry-picking exactly who we thought would best service the community,” he says. “Now we’re pretty stable.”
