An Ottawa-based developer has purchased a well known building on Front Street in Belleville and hopes to add a bit of life into the Downtown District.
Bruce Firestone recently bought the former China Gate Restaurant and plans to put micro-suites, or one-person apartments on the top two floors, with the potential for a service-based business, or more living space, on the ground level.
Firestone says that idea seems like it will be a great fit for the area, especially given the ongoing pandemic and people looking for more space for themselves.
“The idea of having roommates has kind of gone out of style, even before the planet got whacked by COVID-19 and with a pandemic, people don’t really want roommates. So small apartments that are 300, 400, 500 square feet seem to be the in thing and the third floor is already set up perfectly for that.”
While he’s firm on plans to put the apartments upstairs, Firestone tells Quinte News they are still tossing around ideas about what to put on the ground level.
“One of the things I am sure about is it’s hard to go to classic retail the way you and I maybe would have thought about it a decade ago. It’s more likely to be service oriented. It could be a law office, an accounting office, a physiotherapy office, registered massage therapist, a cafe, things that the internet hasn’t put out of business.”
He added that Belleville’s new official plan also allows for people to live on the ground floor of buildings, so that’s an option as well.
The former China Gate Restaurant closed in 2015 because extensive repairs were needed to the building and Firestone says that work will begin to clean the property up, with more upgrades being made in the new year.
“The building is quite run down, it’s old. It was built in 1872 or something like that, it’s very old. So you’ll see some things start to change basically securing the building envelope and putting the power, water and heat back. Basically cleaning it up on the inside and outside, with the upfit starting in January or February.”
He says the final plan is for the building to “have the feel of Front Street rather than North Front Street”.
