Goodyear Autocare Braddon gone?

chilli said :

But could they have survived if the buildings that house them weren’t old and cheap? Will they be able to survive in with larger floorspaces and bigger rent?
‘.

cheap ? out of curiosity a while back I looked at the rent for the space that pizza gusto eventually moved into, from memory it was $40K per year, and it isn’t all that big.

milkman said :

buzz819 said :

Isn’t it because the building has been sold for redevelopment, like the one across the road from it?

Braddon’s slated to be redeveloped as modern commercial/residential. We’ll be seeing more of this over the next ten years (hooray!).

Well, a qualified hooray.

I love the interesting small businesses that have opened up on Lonsdale St in recent years. But could they have survived if the buildings that house them weren’t old and cheap? Will they be able to survive in with larger floorspaces and bigger rent?

And what about ambience – will Debacle really be the same in a super-slick modern glassy place? Where will Roasters hang their bikes? ( yes, they too will be ‘redeveloped’, in time). Will only Gloria Jeans and the Coffee Club be able to afford Lonsdale St real estate? Will the Hive become a two-dollar shop? In short, will the nascent bohemia of present day Lonsdale St morph into a disembowelled Canberra Centre?

Sorry … I’d like to say ‘hooray’ but am more inclined to say ‘bugger’.

buzz819 said :

Isn’t it because the building has been sold for redevelopment, like the one across the road from it?

Braddon’s slated to be redeveloped as modern commercial/residential. We’ll be seeing more of this over the next ten years (hooray!).

The_Bulldog said :

I worked for another automotive business in Braddon nearly ten years ago. I recall discussions at the time the independant servo was closed that Braddon was in a process of being “rezoned” (?) with a long term plan to get rid of car dealerships and automotive providers, and turning Lonsdale St into a promenade (think City Walk) with fabulous restaurants and boutique stores. Not sure about the terminology – but that’s how it was explained to me as a (barely) glorified grease monkey.

But here we are several years later and, in true ACT form, a couple of businesses have closed and moved on, but not much else has changed…

Funny you say that, this afternoon I was driving down Lonsdale Street and thought the exact opposite, as to how much it had changed from when I worked there back in the late 80’s.

Probably the result of their toilets not being up to standard for female customers 🙂

Stupid, stupid adverts!

All about the changing nature of Braddon, isn’t it? More flats and coffee shops and hairdressers, fewer car repairers and tyre businesses. Sad in a way, but on the other hand, the more people who live in Civic (and immediately around it) the more it starts to resemble a city.

Lease has ended and the site will eventually be knocked down. I can’t find the equivalent riotact article, so a CT one will have to do http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/new-projects-on-lonsdale-street-to-bring-life-to-citys-ghost-town-area-20120411-1wshj.html
and a more recent one of http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/sleek-project-to-rise-from-dirt-pit-20120617-20iiv.html (yay, the big hole might be filled eventually)

I worked for another automotive business in Braddon nearly ten years ago. I recall discussions at the time the independant servo was closed that Braddon was in a process of being “rezoned” (?) with a long term plan to get rid of car dealerships and automotive providers, and turning Lonsdale St into a promenade (think City Walk) with fabulous restaurants and boutique stores. Not sure about the terminology – but that’s how it was explained to me as a (barely) glorified grease monkey.

But here we are several years later and, in true ACT form, a couple of businesses have closed and moved on, but not much else has changed…

Isn’t it because the building has been sold for redevelopment, like the one across the road from it?

Can’t say I’m surprised. I got a quote for some high-end Goodyear tyres from them about 18 months back. They were over $100 more expensive than Jax Fyshwick for the exact same product. When I mentioned that to the Goodyear Braddon rep they nonchalantly replied, “Yeah, we can’t do anything about that.”

Equally strange, I thought, Goodyear Belconnen was about $50 cheaper than Jax. So there was $150 difference for a single tyre between two Goodyear outlets.

This was also during a 3 for 4 promo deal, which Goodyear runs a couple of times a year; Braddon said they couldn’t do the tyre I was after on the 3 for 4 promo, Belconnen said they could.

So in the end I saved over $1100 just by thinking, I wonder if Goodyear Belconnen will be that expensive.