bishop street – The Concordian

Bishop Street businesses have not been compensated for loss of foot traffic

After 15 years as a small business owner and months of decreased foot traffic, Gaby Nassar is losing Kafein, a café-bar popular among students.

“Basically, the landlord is taking over my business. This is happening in a week or two,” Nassar said. “I’m so behind on rent, and he would excuse my debt to him. So that’s where we are now.”

From Nassar’s perspective, the overdue rent payments and outstanding debt are the result of one thing: a 42-month construction project that has dissuaded potential customers from walking along Bishop Street, where his business is located.

As The Concordian previously reported, Bishop Street businesses have been struggling since October 2016, when the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) began construction on a new metro ventilation station that will ensure fresh air for the green line between the Peel and Guy-Concordia stations. The infrastructure project is predicted to finish in 2020, but according to Nassar, things took a turn for the worst as soon as the project began.

“We basically lost 25 per cent [of foot traffic] within the week after the construction, right off the bat. During the school year, students would make the trek, but then in the summer months, we had a 40 per cent decrease [in sales],” Nassar explained.

After the loss in customers jeopardized his rent payments, Nassar, along with a coalition of four other affected Bishop Street businesses, including Ferrari restaurant, Craft Grilled Cheese, Gourmet Burger and Mesa 14, filed a lawsuit in April against the STM and the city of Montreal. They requested compensation of $2,500 per business for every month of construction, free advertising in nearby metro stations, as well as funding to commission an engineering firm to see if the project could be sped up.

Despite the fact that his landlord is taking over Kafein, Nassar will be continuing with the lawsuit. Although a court date has yet to be confirmed, Nassar said he believes it will be at least six months until the trial begins.

Nassar did not lose the business he has operated for years without a fight. He claimed he had been speaking with “high-level [city] officials,” but after the latest update he received from them, he knew he would be unable to support his business financially.

“[The city] is not coming up with a program to help businesses until June or July, and that’s way too far outside my comfort zone. Even then, they’re not 100 per cent sure if I would be included in that program,” Nassar said.

Nassar said he doesn’t know what Kafein’s future will be once his landlord takes over the business. Currently, he is focused on finding some justice through the upcoming lawsuit.

Nassar added that many of the other Bishop Street business owners are struggling as well, to the point where they may soon close or lose their business to landlords. In the case of Craft Grilled Cheese, the owner has already decided to close the restaurant permanently. Ste-Catherine Street businesses may be the next to experience a decrease in customers, as a two-year construction project began in January 2018, according to Global News.

Although attention from tourists and pedestrians decreased as soon as construction on Bishop Street began, Nassar said he is grateful for Kafein’s most devoted customers, including many students.

“We had gotten a lot of support in the last year. People were willing to make the trip, and there were a lot of obstacles,” he said. “It’s too bad. A lot of people tried to help with this; we just couldn’t do it.”

The Concordian reached out to the STM for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Photo by Kirubel Mehari

Construction on downtown street has caused some to consider closing up shop

Restaurant and bar owners on Bishop Street want financial compensation from the city of Montreal for lost revenue due to the construction of a new metro ventilation station that’s driving customers away.

According to the the Société de transport de Montréal, the station will replace an aging one on De la Montagne Street and provide fresh air to the green line between the Peel and Guy-Concordia stations. The STM said work on the station began in October 2016 and should be finished by mid-2020.

That’s too long for Carlo Zahabi, the owner of Le Gourmet Burger, a restaurant on Bishop Street that’s been hit hard by the construction. He said sales have dropped by as much as 60 per cent since the work began.

“I’m three to four months behind on my rent,” Zahabi said. “It’s a real possibility that I’ll have to close down.”

In April, Zahabi and a coalition of Bishop Street business owners filed a lawsuit against the city of Montreal and the STM requesting $2,500 compensation for every month of construction, and $25,000 to commision a private engineering firm to inspect the project and see if it could be done faster. The coalition also wants free advertising for their businesses in the nearby Peel and Guy-Concordia metro stations.

Last week, a judge denied the coalition’s request for temporary compensation—which would have given the businesses financial aid before the case went to trial. It’s a decision that seriously hurts the businesses’ ability to stay open even up until the trial date which will likely only take place in 2019, according to Legal Logik, the firm representing the merchants.

“We tried to show [the judge] that it was urgent,” said Gaby Nassar, the owner of Kafein, a café-bar on Bishop Street affected by the construction. “Now the delays will be substantial.”

The construction turned a usually busy street into a tangle of concrete barriers and metal fences. On their website, the STM urged pedestrians and cyclists to avoid the section of Bishop Street where the work is taking place.

“They’re blocking access to my restaurant with a fence,” Zahabi said. “It’s a dead end sidewalk, and they put up a sign that says ‘Trottoir Barré.’ Who’s going to come down there?”

Both Nassar and Zahabi said they’re unhappy with the way the STM notified them the work was going to start.

“[The STM] said they sent fliers,” Zahabi claimed. “That’s not any way to notify a business of construction in front of their place. They should have prepared a plan to save us before they started the work.”

Nassar agreed: “They could have approached us months in advance to talk instead of letting us cry for help.”

In February, the city of Montreal unveiled a plan to reconstruct a large part of St-Hubert Street. The work is slated to begin in the summer of 2018 and continue until 2021. The city announced it will be offering financial compensation to St-Hubert Street merchants who lose business as a result of the construction.

The city did not offer any compensation to the merchants on Bishop Street.

“[The city] told us [they have many] resources for financial programs to help businesses out when there’s construction, but for some reason we’re an exception,” Zahabi said. “I don’t see any exception. It’s all work.”

According to Zahabi, the construction has already forced two restaurants on Bishop Street to close and another to file for bankruptcy.

The coalition of Bishop Street merchants is determined to continue their legal battle against the STM and the city of Montreal. The STM refused to comment on the Bishop Street construction, noting that information about the project is available on their website.

“It’s a situation that needs a bit of attention,” Nassar said. “The city is being slow and not active. We’re not going to give up. My business has been here 15 years. We’re going to keep fighting.”

Photo by Alex Hutchins