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Corktown

DSC said:
If you "take it daily for your commute" you presumably know!
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What i mean to say is there was a discussion last year about few options on Gardiner. Did not hear much afterwards. I don't think it will be major problem when completed. I just wanted to know the timeline.
 
Amaya at 263 King St E seems to be closed. Not sure if the space is going up for lease, or maybe they're transforming it into another "Junoon" like their location in FCP. Either way, they're regularly cited by Dinesafe health inspectors, so I'm staying far away.
 
507 King East (the artist/small business building)on south side of King just west of Sumach Street is being emptied out. Demolition, renovation, conversion?
 
Conversion. It's being turned into WeWork-style coworking office space. Occupants have been given notice of eviction. I visited two live/work studios on the 2nd floor that were having a content sale (the only two participating). One craftsman had been there for 20 years, the other for 10. I don't think they'll be able to relocate anywhere within the city at current rental rates.

The building is amazing and feels like being inside an old wooden ship. It's a lot like the old office buildings on Spadina Avenue, only it hasn't undergone extensive renovations by big property management companies.
 
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"Terroni opening massive new space in Corktown: Spaccio will house a cafe and storefront, as well as a commissary space serving Terroni and Sud Forno."

nowtoronto.com

Terroni opening massive new space in Corktown - NOW Magazine

Spaccio will house a cafe and storefront, as well as a commissary space serving Terroni and Sud Forno
nowtoronto.com nowtoronto.com

Note that 22 Sackville is actually just south of King, not at Queen as indicated in the article.

Along with Gusto 501 (and to a lesser extent Reyna) I think this marks a major tipping point for the neighbhourhood, with bigger-money places moving in. I hope the indie spots like Tandem, Old Town Bodega and Henrietta Lane and Morning Glory can coexist with them.
 
Great-looking refurb by top commercial realtor Julie Seo, who recently personally bought 356 King East (opposite historic Little Trinity Church, with its connection to the African-American underground railroad). Shame that Shawn Hewson and Ruth Promislow, wealthy owners of Bustle clothing brand and rumoured owners of 354 King next door, are letting their property crumble.
IMG_0591.jpg
 
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CityPainter said:
I hope the indie spots like Tandem, Old Town Bodega and Henrietta Lane and Morning Glory can coexist with them.
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Absolutely.

As a resident of the St Lawrence neighbourhood I often visit this relatively quiet part of Corktown regularly. I'd love to see Tandem and others thrive in the area for many years to come.
 
The Corktown Residents and Business Association conducted a survey of 43 business owners over a ten-day period from March 26 to April 4. 75 per cent responded that they cannot pay May rent, and almost 30 per cent have not yet paid April.

"The Province needs to implement a Commercial Rent Freeze immediately," says Aaron Binder, President of the Corktown Residents and Business Association. "Commercial Landlords are still expecting businesses to pay up after being shut down."

Responses to the survey indicate that adaptive measures like new revenue models, cost-cutting strategies, and offering takeout, delivery, pre-payment or online services have not been successful for most businesses.

While nine in ten business owners had tried to make at least one change to generate revenue, only one in ten felt these measures were effective.

www.blogto.com

75% of downtown Toronto business owners say they won't be able to pay May rent

Most downtown business owners in Toronto won't be able to pay rent this May according to a survey done by a neighbourhood business association. The...
www.blogto.com www.blogto.com
 
I have noticed the creep of We Work from their large publicly identified space at the south-west corner of Queen and Parliament to now essentially covering almost all of the block on both sides of Queen between Berkeley and Parliament.

I couldn't understand what was happening at first as all the businesses left or shut down and then any exterior glass windows appeared to have a translucent white covering applied over them. Then I noted the exact same video surveillance warning sign appeared on all of them across the whole block on both sides of the street, and all the doors had identical keyfob locks applied to them. Finally, at the large building at the south-east corner of Queen and Berkeley the same change happened and I could sort of peer over the top of the covering there and see the whole space was filled with computer workstations. I can only conclude that We has snapped up and bought or leased almost this entire block on both sides of the street.

Save for a Subway, a Dominos pizza, and a small independant pharmacy that appears to rarely be open, this whole block is now a retail dead-zone with ominous looking warning signs everywhere about "24/7 surveillance." They literally put one of these warning signs every five feet on both sides of the street.

This is not inviting or quality street level material, especially since new construction of condos on Parliament one block south will mean the demand for retail will shortly rise significantly.
 
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Jonny5 said:
I have noticed the creep of We Work from their large publicly identified space at the south-west corner of Queen and Parliament to now essentially covering almost all of the block on both sides of Queen between Berkeley and Parliament.

I couldn't understand what was happening at first as all the businesses left or shut down and then any exterior glass windows appeared to have a translucent white covering applied over them. Then I noted the exact same video surveillance warning sign appeared on all of them across the whole bloc on both sides of the street, and all the doors had identical keyfob locks applied to them. Finally at the large building at the south-east corner of Queen and Berkeley I could sort of see over the top of the covering the whole space was filled with workstations. I can only conclude We Work has snapped up almost this entire block on both sides of the street. Save for a Subway, a Dominos pizza, and a small independant pharmacy that appears to rarely be open, this block whole is now a retail dead-zone with ominous looking warning signs everywhere about "24/7 surveillance." Like, they literally put one of these warning signs every five feet on both sides of the street.

This is not inviting or quality street level material, especially since new construction of condos on Parliament one block south will mean the demand for retail will shortly rise significantly.
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It's not WeWork (a commercial and profit seeking company, see https://www.wework.com/en-GB ) but WE a charity. https://www.we.org/en-CA/
 
DSC said:
It's not WeWork (a commercial and profit seeking company, see https://www.wework.com/en-GB ) but WE a charity. https://www.we.org/en-CA/
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Interesting. I didn't know that, and it must be annoying to them that We Work came around and is now simply "The We Company". What exactly do they need so much space for then? They must have space for several hundred staff now and a dozen meeting rooms.
 
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