Toronto One Bloor East | 257.24m | 76s | Great Gulf | Hariri Pontarini

WeirdFishes said:
Not really, that location was set-up for failure from the start. A basement, over priced food, with a very obscure street level presence that is overshadowed by a massive department store and homophobic fried chicken fast food.

I remember walking around the grocery store when it opened and thought what a bad business decision.
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I know what you mean but nevertheless, I'll miss their prepared food specials that were offered every evening.
 
BloorMan said:
I know what you mean but nevertheless, I'll miss their prepared food specials that were offered every evening.
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It was failing even before Covid, unfortunately. Personally, I think it could've thrived with a pivot to ghost kitchen offerings and the like and an expansion of essentials over premium products. However, McEwan himself has kinda spent the whole pandemic acting like everything would be hunky dory if the government would just open things up like they were, rather than choosing to be aware of the change in tastes, incomes and mobility that the pandemic has wrought. There are damn good people working for McEwan, even at that location, and I know there's been a lot of built up frustration over his handling of things.
 
www.theglobeandmail.com

Nordstrom to exit Canada, lay off 2,500 employees

Nordstrom expects to take a US$300-million to US$350-million charge as it closes down Canadian operations
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com

Not great for 1BE. The commercial portion of this building has done terribly. Starbucks closed, McEwan’s closed, this closing, and even the weed store closed. That leaves it with 100% vacancy?
 
dodgeram said:
Thanks. I wasn’t actually aware of who owned it. I can only assume they’re simply asking for too much rent.

I guess Chic Fil A is still there.
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It's all rather pathetic, isn't it? A beautiful building at a very prominent intersection, and all they are left with is a trashy fast food outlet.
 
This whole corner is a ghost town now. The bay is gone, Nordstrom is gone, apple seems to not want to be in the new building and the CIBC building is being redeveloped…maybe the city should use these buildings for homeless shelters or build a school or something…
 
georgevicbell said:
This whole corner is a ghost town now. The bay is gone, Nordstrom is gone, apple seems to not want to be in the new building and the CIBC building is being redeveloped…maybe the city should use these buildings for homeless shelters or build a school or something…
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I had no idea that Bay was gone. hell of an ugly building but it was a real anchor for the corner. Is this a renovation and will they reopen or is this a permanent closure?

As for Nordstrom, I'm glad they are leaving Canada. I feel bad for those about to lose their jobs but in the long term, I'm pleased. Another American retailer who thought Canadian and American consumers were one in the same. Leaves a larger consumer base for Canada's original high end retailer, Holt Renfrew.
 
ssiguy2 said:
I had no idea that Bay was gone. hell of an ugly building but it was a real anchor for the corner. Is this a renovation and will they reopen or is this a permanent closure?

As for Nordstrom, I'm glad they are leaving Canada. I feel bad for those about to lose their jobs but in the long term, I'm pleased. Another American retailer who thought Canadian and American consumers were one and the same. Leaves a larger consumer base for Canada's original high end retailer, Holt Renfrew.
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Permanent closure. There’s a proposal for it to be converted to office.
 
So greedy, asking for exorbitant rent, and look where they're at now (I know that's not the reason for Nordstrom Rack's departure, but look at the rest - still vacant after 7 years). Even Aura's retail portion is doing much better. Meanwhile, the condo lobby is so cramped - I've seen more spacious lobbies in TCHC buildings - thanks to all those empty retail spaces.
 
Rascacielo said:
So greedy, asking for exorbitant rent, and look where they're at now (I know that's not the reason for Nordstrom Rack's departure, but look at the rest - still vacant after 7 years). Even Aura's retail portion is doing much better. Meanwhile, the condo lobby is so cramped - I've seen more spacious lobbies in TCHC buildings - thanks to all those empty retail spaces.
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The condo lobby in this building sucks. It actually used to be worse until they opened the lobby along Bloor. For a long time this mega condo’s entire lobby was a 2 metre wide elevator hallway.
 
dodgeram said:
The condo lobby in this building sucks. It actually used to be worse until they opened the lobby along Bloor. For a long time this mega condo’s entire lobby was a 2 metre wide elevator hallway.
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Yes I saw, especially when there were elevator capacity restrictions - it was a zoo! And the lobby was designed that way to free up valuable retail space. Guess what - it’s only valuable if it’s generating rent! At such a prime location, it shouldn’t be hard to find tenants if the price is right. Not sure what they’re asking, but the ‘mink mile’ isn’t what it used to be - there’s tons of vacancy now. It’s like those home sellers who insist on listing at Feb 2022 prices even when market has tanked, except in this case we’re stuck with a dead corner in one of the city’s most prestigious retail areas.
 
I think a full-service supermarket here would do quite well. I would look to re-lo one of the mini-supermarkets to this location.

There being 2 obvious choices........:

Longos, moving from across the street

or

Pusateri's.

As a dark horse set

Both Galleria and H-Mart have nearby mini-locations as well.
 
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