Downtown building comes down (7 photos)

A demolition crew was on the site of the former Chornyj’s-Hadke this morning.

The family-run china shop, which was previously a grocery store run by the same family, closed last summer after four and a half decades in business.

The property is likely to remain vacant for now, with potential for development down the road, said James Horbatuk, one of the shareholders of the numbered company that purchased the site.

The same company owns the vacant property next door, which used to be the site of the Eastgate Hotel. It was torn down in 2010.

Horbatuk said the company did the same with buildings on the corner of East and Bay before selling the property to developer Sar-Gin, which put up a five-storey apartment building on the site.

“Something similar could happen here, but right now there’s no talk, other than there was a building that was getting dilapidated and rundown,” said Horbatuk.

He said a cost-benefit analysis of the former Chornyj's building determined it was not worth the cost to renovate in the long run.

“The intent is hopefully for making downtown look better,” said Horbatuk.