Jay Downton thinks opening a new coffee shop in the Cloverdale neighbourhood later this month could help increase interest in Edmonton's river valley.
"I bet you people will be watching," Downton, the lead investor and president of River Valley Hospitality, told Taproot about Cloverdale Coffee. "We're just doing our part to help (build community amenities), but it's going to take a team effort by a bunch of other like-minded Edmontonians."
Downton's work in the river valley happens through two businesses — River Valley Co and River Valley Hospitality. Their overlapping portfolios include Little Brick and the Umphreville Block property that houses their Dogpatch, Bread + Butter Bakery, and short-term rental suites. All are located in Riverdale, which is also in the river valley but north of Cloverdale, across the North Saskatchewan River.
Downton's partners for the hospitality arm are Carmen Winkler and Clark Murray. His other businesses are The Nation Network, the home of Oilers Nation, and the fast-casual franchise chain Oodle Noodle.
Cloverdale Coffee is the hospitality company's first foray into Cloverdale, a neighbourhood of less than 1,000 residents best known for hosting the Edmonton Folk Music Festival each summer at Gallagher Park. Strathearn Psychology solicited the group to open in the space adjacent to its practice at 9407 98 Avenue NW, which is on a busy arterial road for commuters. The coffee shop, which is just 248 square feet in size, will offer counter service for coffee and grab-and-go food, thanks in part to Bread + Butter.
Downton said adding amenities to the community is important. "Cloverdale itself is an amazing neighbourhood," Downton said. "(But) it doesn't have any services to draw the community together or to support the community. Sure, they can travel over to Riverdale or go up the hill to downtown, or Capilano, or (the) Whyte Avenue area, but (there is) nothing that's approachable by foot."
The new shop's location fits the hospitality group's ambitions to create amenities that draw in visitors to the river valley while also serving their host communities. Cloverdale's present lack of services (aside from Cafe Bloom within the Muttart Conservatory) is similar to Riverdale before his hospitality company opened its various businesses, he said.
"(Around) 2014, we had no real amenities in this beautiful space that we like to tell the world about," Downton said. "You'd always have to get in your car or go for a long cycle ride or walk up a big hill to get to one of the areas where there's a lot of commercial activity. We viewed this as a problem that we wanted to solve."
Downton's passion for the river valley's beauty is effusive. There is "no greater joy" than introducing Edmontonians to its neighbourhoods, he said, adding that hospitality helps lure people to the area while enhancing their outdoor experiences. Before Cloverdale Coffee, his work on that was concentrated in Riverdale, where Little Brick, Dogpatch, and Bread + Butter are congregated within two blocks of the neighbourhood. Retailer Good Goods moved into the Little Brick space last fall after receiving a grant to operate downtown and leaving shortly after.
Cloverdale resident Sandy Fleming told Taproot in an email that he and his neighbours are "very excited to have a new amenity here on this side of the river valley."
River Valley Hospitality will expand in the titular area with Cloverdale Coffee. (Supplied)
Not all private businesses are welcomed by residents of the river valley's neighbourhoods, however. A proposed Nordic spa in the Brander Gardens neighbourhood has been challenged due to concerns about traffic. If successful, the spa would replace a historic mansion that the University of Alberta, its owner, says it cannot maintain. The house was donated by the family of its original builder, Sandy Mactaggart.
Another question in the river valley is what might happen when work on changes to the area redevelopment plan, which came out in draft form in November, is completed. The draft has yet to be reviewed or approved by council.
Back to java, Cloverdale Coffee isn't the only new coffee game in town. In January, ACE Coffee Roasters opened its fifth location with a new spot inside Manulife Place, while Balay Coffee has begun to operate pop-ups inside Delavoye Chocolate on 124 Street NW.