'We have tremendous interest in the site': New retail building planned for former Lydia's Pub spot

The former home of Lydia's Pub on Broadway Avenue could be seeing new life starting this spring.

The site's owners are putting the finishing touches on architectural drawings for a new one-storey retail building that will be built on the property. After that, they will apply to the city for building permits.

"We have tremendous interest in the site," said realtor and project spokesperson Gaby Akl. "We feel very confident about it."

The historic Farnam Block building was torn down in 2015 and has been a parking lot ever since. While the ownership group initially looked into saving the famous Broadway landmark, architects found the large brick building had deteriorated past the point of saving it.

While initial plans had been made to add a multi-storey condominium development to the project, Akl said those plans were scrapped early on in the development.

"We knew those plans were just not feasible," he said. "With the size of the site and the restrictions on the parking and the cost involved in that, plus you add in the turn in the economy when it comes to condos, it was just not the right thing to do."

The former Turning The Tide bookstore was also demolished by the developers.

Akl believes construction could start by March or April.