News   Mar 28, 2024
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Bedford Park/Lawrence Park North

Looks like someone has assembled all of the retail space in the courtyard of 3050 Yonge Street. It's a great, but hidden, location above Lawrence Station. Any scuttlebutt about what is happening?
 
Will increased density along the Yonge corridor from Lawrence north destroy the character of the neighbourhood? Here's the dilemma. Yonge Street north of Lawrence is currently dominated by low rise (2 to 4 storey) buildings with small retail shops at street level. Most of the shops are independent, but there's a scattering of chain stores dispersed throughout. It's a wonderfully vibrant retail streetscape and makes the entire Bedford Park/Wanless Park neighbourhood one of the most livable in the city. A number of these small retail shops are being bought up and developers are assembling multiple properties to apply for larger denser developments. The issue isn't so much that the increased heights may shadow the low rise residential (although it likely will), but rather that the commercial property taxes will increasingly render it uneconomical for small independent retailers. I spoke with a developer the other day, and he told me that trying to incorporate the small frontage retail shops in new developments just doesn't work economically. Basically, commercial property taxes are already a burden on small shops/landlords, as they are assessed at market prices. Potential development generally causes the taxes to go up, but when a development actually occurs, the rates tend to go up even more. Because of this, the developer I spoke to indicated it simply doesn't make sense to incorporate small frontage retail shops in new projects. The only viable option seems to be to build large storefronts and work to attract larger chains with good credit and an ability to pay the higher taxes. My concern is that this vibrant streetscape that currently forms the heart of commercial activity in the neighbourhood will be lost as the area gets developed.
 

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