Daily insights for city builders, delivered every morning at 6 AM ET. I’m Brandon Donnelly — a Toronto-based real estate developer and founder of Globizen. I’ve been writing here since 2013.

Ground-floor retail?

I recently asked this on Twitter:

You live in an apartment/condominium. If you could pick one ideal use/tenant for the ground floor of your building, what would it be?

And a number of people responded.

But I suppose I should also answer my own question.

I lean more towards utility. My ideal use — assuming an urban storefront — is not a fancy restaurant or a super cool coffee shop. It would be some sort of quality bodega that:

  • Sells essential grocery needs (milk, eggs, toilet paper, etc.)
  • Sells wine & beer
  • Has a deli/food counter where you can buy a breakfast bagel, a sandwich for lunch, or a quick dinner when you’re in a pinch
  • And, yes, has pretty good coffee

It would also need to be open early and late: 7am to 12am, please.

What would you want?