Toronto 225 Queen East | 121.4m | 37s | Dash Developments | Arcadis

[cabbagetowner]

I dunno. Surely I'm not the only one who remembers the area around King & Bathurst as being rather sketchy. Of course this was about 20 years ago -- when that first biggish condo building going up near there was considered to be 'an outpost of civilization in the wild'.

or queen west, which is a good example of how fast a neighbourhood can turn around.

 

[alafleur]

I have also heard that the Salvation Army building will close when the new building at Jarvis and Shuter opens.

That would be the 'tipping point' for this corner for sure if this happened. Then you'd see the floodgates opened and queen east from Sherbourne to Parliament would be redeveloped shortly after.

 

[casaguy]

Biking by this morning at 9am, a haggard-looking tall lanky broad comes storming out of the community centre and charges towards a group of guys loitering on the street and screams: "What the hell do you think I am? Some sort of f*cking TEST TUBE BABY!??!!"

Classy.

I have no idea what triggered this or what happened after. I got the hell out there fast, feeling sorry for her and anyone who had to wake up to that shrieking alarm clock.

I should start keeping a journal of all the things I see and hear here.

Sketchy, sketchy corner.

 

[LowPolygon]

I dunno. Surely I'm not the only one who remembers the area around King & Bathurst as being rather sketchy. Of course this was about 20 years ago -- when that first biggish condo building going up near there was considered to be 'an outpost of civilization in the wild'.

i lived at King and Bathurst for about 10 years right up to the early 90's (directly across the road from Crangles *tear in eye*) and it was never a sketchy neighbourhood.

it felt kind of remote because it was definitely outside the perimeter of "the cool part of downtown", which at that time didn't even extend to Queen and Bathurst, let alone King and Bathurst.

the corner was anchored by a TD bank on the northeast corner, a bank of Montreal on the southeast, the Wheat Sheaf tavern on the southwest, and this fantastic building on the northwest:

there was no poverty of any sort in the neighbourhood, and no homeless/indigent types to speak of. King st. between Spadina and Bathurst was a solid wall of thriving light industrial and small factories that were an extension of the garment district north on Spadina.

the area around King and Bathurst was mostly just kind of a sleepy neighbourhood with a mix of family homes on Wellington, Niagara, and Stewart street. there were warehouse building sprinkled throughout, and there were artists studios in the building on the southeast corner, as well as 101 Niagara of course...

the first sign that the neighbourhood was starting appear on the radar was the building of the Summit in the mid-late 80's. where the Summit stands was actually a giant field when i first moved to King and Bathurst in 1982!

after that of course, Carmen Lamanna gallery and Art Metropole opened on King West in 1988, and then Ydessa opened in 1992(?)...

in uhm, short--there is really no comparison between a hard core corner like Queen and Sherbourne and King Bathurst.....

 

[myxamatosis]

The property at 216-218 Queen St. E And 129 Sherborne N/E sold recently.

Definitely some developers interested in these lots..there is value to be had in
the area.

 

[DSC]

The property at 216-218 Queen St. E And 129 Sherborne N/E sold recently.

Definitely some developers interested in these lots..there is value to be had in
the area.

That building is the western one of a FANTASTIC row of matching, and pretty intact, buildings stretching along the north side of Queen Street just east of Sherbourne. It would be wonderful to see the whole row restored as the detailing is amazing.

 

[GraphicMatt]

They had big banners outside this morning saying that it's 50% sold-out. Not bad.

 

[cabbagetowner]

i was told they had sold 29 of the 57 units as of last weekend. it was very interesting to hear the pitch from sales rep about the neighbourhood.

 

[casaguy]

Someone dressed as some sort of Santa Claus figure was standing in the middle of the intersection today holding up traffic looking as though they thought they were going to be able to part the seas. Horns were blaring!

I'm cursing myself now for not snapping a picture of this.

Lots of good entertainment in this 'hood that's for sure.

 

[DSC]

Someone dressed as some sort of Santa Claus figure was standing in the middle of the intersection today holding up traffic looking as though they thought they were going to be able to part the seas. Horns were blaring!

I'm cursing myself now for not snapping a picture of this.

Lots of good entertainment in this 'hood that's for sure.

Probably it was Zanta: see http://torontoist.com/2007/08/zanta_cant_quit.php

 

[Mike in TO]

I haven't seen zanta is almost two years - he used to be a Yonge Street fixture - too bad he's disappeared...

 

[Hydrogen]

The city can always use more well-designed eight to ten floor buildings like this.

 

[Mike in TO]

Approximately half of the units have sold.

 

[UserNameToronto]

Giant first post forthcoming, brace yourselves--

I nominate Dundas/Sherbourne 2 blocks north as the worst intersection in the city, but this may come in as a close second!

I would agree. Queen & Sherbourne is sketchy, but Dundas & Sherbourne takes the cake.

I've been on Britain Street since 1994. Sherbourne from King north was sketchy in those days. There was hardly anybody around at night, at least not people you'd want to associate with. With the arrival of Mozo, Kings Court and all the rest of the condos the area has changed tremendously.

As recently as 6 years ago there were crack dens on Britain. This has all changed now. This project is a welcome addition to the area as are the Modern and the one at the northwest corner of Sherbourne and Richmond. And as are the Vu and Glass House. Yes the area to the north is still sketchy but the area is still much improved and getting better by the year.

BTW, you can see a bit of UT HQ in the second shot.

Ed007Toronto, I lived on Queen (backing onto Britain) recently before buying a house in the area. The merchants occupying most of the ground floor shops on Queen are cool people, and can see where the 'hood is heading.

Can you tell me where the former crack dens on Britain were? Also, what is up with the building on the north side of Britian, east of the parking lot (the one with tall glass, looks like a TV set inside)? And what's the deal with 41 Britain?

I'm up on the lower part (south of Dundas) of Seaton Street (generally called "South Cabbagetown") -- we're almost neighbours. What was the deal with the coffee shop at Britain/Sherbourne, by the way? Even when it was open, it looked entirely uninviting.

I've only been here since September, and I definitely agree with you. It's interesting watching the intersections around me change fairly rapidly:

- Queen/Sherbourne was sketchy with the Coffee Time, but since it was closed there's not even many people hanging out there. I used to go to Queen/Jarvis to get the streetcar just to avoid being asked for change, but I don't bother anymore.

- Queen/Shuter, the intersection closest to me, has always seemed pretty tame. There are a few lone prostitutes around, though. I don't really understand being a prostitute in Canada, by the way. Must be a terrible market.

- Queen/Parliament is actually turning around really really fast. The TD bank, the Shoppers, the Subway and (now) the Magic Oven. I'd love to see that section of Queen street get more nice retail.

Dundas/Sherbourne is still pretty much a wasteland, though. It'll likely be a long while before condo developers turn their eyes up there. They need to tear down those 101 Sherbourne monstrosity buildings.

Edit: Sorry, not 101. The ones starting at Shuter/Sherbourne. I can't remember the address off-hand. They're big and ugly and utterly depressing.

GraphicMatt, gotta agree. Queen street seems to be gentrigying from the margins outward--bright points at Leslieville and Riverside, with Parliament, Sherbourne and Jarvis a little farther behind. Question--what is up with the pizza-house at Seaton & Dundas? Is it infill or what? And do you know how Milan/Poulet(te) came to be "real" streets as opposed to laneways?

No I meant the Coffee Time. Cafe On Britain is still a mystery to the street as they just picked up and left one weekend.

Ed007Toronto, The Cafe on Britian family did a lot of catering, and very little walk-in business. Not really sure why they bothered having a storefront in the first place.

The George St. diner at George & Adelaide got new owners (and a better ventilation system aparrently). Much improved.

As many have said, the architecture is amazing in the area, and all of the weirdness in the area just gave it more character. There's more neat stuff happening further east, like the Berkley Church (whatever becomes of it) and the Berkley Gym. Both the Magic Oven and Domino's are following Shoppers, TD and Subway to Queen & Parliament.

Good ol' Kormann House, complete with development sign:

 

[Urban Shocker]

I lived in a house on Seaton, just south of Dundas, for a month in 1979 - Jearld Moldenhauer's Glad Day collective. There was another gay collective on Seaton, just north of Dundas, where my OCA friend Richard and his partner Tim lived. For a time, it looked as if that part of town was entering the same renovation and gentrification cycle that had struck Cabbagetown north of Gerrard more than a decade earlier. But everything just stalled ... and declined ... like the air going out of a balloon.