MetroMan
Senior Member
There's a minor variance notice on the hoarding of the burned down Dukes building on Queen @ Bathurst. I'm surprised this was missed until now. It's a major development for those living and shopping on West Queen West.
For those not aware of the issue with rebuilding these heritage buildings that burned down: because anything built here would be new structures, the city was assessing the owners new property taxes that were huge increases over what they previously paid. Out of all the tenants, I guess Duke's is the only business able to afford the new property taxes. Also, I believe it was reported that Duke's was the only owner with insurance that would cover the rebuilding costs.
I hope that they use photos of the old buildings to reconstruct them in the spirit of West Queen West's architecture. The good news is that Duke's takes up 2 lots so rebuilding it will go a long way to narrowing the empty lot.
For the purpose of this thread, does anybody have photos of the buildings before they burned down?
For those not aware of the issue with rebuilding these heritage buildings that burned down: because anything built here would be new structures, the city was assessing the owners new property taxes that were huge increases over what they previously paid. Out of all the tenants, I guess Duke's is the only business able to afford the new property taxes. Also, I believe it was reported that Duke's was the only owner with insurance that would cover the rebuilding costs.
I hope that they use photos of the old buildings to reconstruct them in the spirit of West Queen West's architecture. The good news is that Duke's takes up 2 lots so rebuilding it will go a long way to narrowing the empty lot.
For the purpose of this thread, does anybody have photos of the buildings before they burned down?
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