Toronto Queen & Portland Loft & Condominium Residences | ?m | 9s | Tribute | Turner Fleischer

Well who says it's because of the economy? Maybe it's because they have come to a realization that it would not be in the company's best interest to open up shop here?
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Tough choice. A housing market in the toilet or The Home Depot handing out briefcases of cash for little reason. Hmmm, I'll go with the former.
 
Yes, I personally think this is great news.
Unlike the above comment though I do not mind the orginal design. I hope they stick to it or do a complete re-design. Not some mid-way compromise.

They will give the opportunity for more *interesting* retail to expand on Queen West.

The only problem I forsee is exactly the above ... who's looking to expand to Queen W now a days anyway. There are many vacancies along the strip.

Is the Queen W era coming to an end before it really even started? Maybe this is just normal given the increased rents + recession. Hopefully in a few years things can turn around for the area.
 
I'm glad the Home Depot is gone, but after viewing the showroom the other day, the suites were surprisingly well done and very eco-conscious. Hopefully not a single bank will go into this space (they should all be relegated to the 2nd floor of bldgs imo, as they contribute nothing to a streetscape).
 
^I certainly would go that far. I think this aging neighbourhood could of greatly benefited from a Home Depot. The location with access from Richmond and Portland wasn't too bad either.
 
I'm slightly disappointed to hear that Home Depot has pulled out of its lease. By no means am I advocating for big boxes to set up shop within a dense urban fabric, but this proposal had me intrigued and I wanted to see how it would have worked out. The design is appealing with the mixture of retail formats on multiple floors and residential units above, and appropriate setbacks for the upper levels. To echo Maestro, the access points off of Portland and Richmond are well situated.

I wonder if the design can remain the same and Riocan could sign a lease with another 'big-box' tenant. One that comes to mind is Leon's. Instead of going into the Roundhouse, they could go to this location and still keep to their 'urban-store' format that they are intending on doing. Keep the store format the same at Queen/Portland, and whether it's Home Depot of Leon's, I couldn't care. I suggest Leon's because I don't think the Roundhouse should be used as a furniture store, just a personal bias (that some or many may agree with).
 
I'm pretty sure Wal*Marts only get built by SmartCentres, Rio-Can's competitor, or at least most of them do.
 
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As a resident of the area I'm extremely disappointed. I was really looking forward to having Home Depot there rather than having to drive out to the Sherway one. (Yes I know it won't be the same as the usual HD's and wouldn't have lumber and it would cater more to the urban lifestyle, blah, blah, blah. That's exactly what I want.)

I'm curious to know, of the happy naysayers, how many of you are residents of the area?
 
Is excavation still underway?

While I will be happy to see more space for independent retail, I am a little disappointed. Acculturating big boxes like Home Depot to urban environments is a very good thing for cities--which won't get crazy demands for parking lots and huge footprints, etc next time--and for suburbs, where the retailers might consider changing their approach too. Home Depot is fairly progressive, judging by New York and Vancouver stores, but every bit helps.

The most intransigent retailer remains, of course, IKEA, who have never to my knowledge shown any interest whatsoever in anything but the biggest, baddest greenfield operations. It's amazing. Even in the least big-boxed parts of Europe, their stores are pretty much identical to those in say, Atlanta.
 
lister said:
As a resident of the area I'm extremely disappointed. I was really looking forward to having Home Depot there rather than having to drive out to the Sherway one. (Yes I know it won't be the same as the usual HD's and wouldn't have lumber and it would cater more to the urban lifestyle, blah, blah, blah. That's exactly what I want.)

I'm curious to know, of the happy naysayers, how many of you are residents of the area?
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You're right ... I'm not. So in some senses it is a shame this won't go ahead as planed.

ps - regarding my other comment on Queen W. How true is it?
Are many retail outlets closing down / moving - I haven't been to the area in a while? What's the issue, increased rents or a lack of demand? What do you think the future is for this stretch? ... being a resident and all :)
 
allabootmatt, I was thinking Ikea as well as a possible tenant here. It wouldn't be a bad fit at all, especially given their 'green' initiatives. They also had that retail space leased on Front St. East a little while book for their catalogue release. I would only question if there would be enough floor space for an Ikea. I suppose if you remove the display rooms and self-serve furniture area, only stock small things like kitchen stuff and lights in the store and deliver furniture from the other locations it could work.
 
I'm not disappointed by this change. The project would have meant a very long dead space along Queen Street. If they put in retail of more traditional width, it would be positive for the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, the base of a condo isn't likely to have anything other than a subway, Rabba, bank, or dry cleaner's.

Maybe what the neighbouring fire lot should do is get together to rebuild the block in order to reduce costs, but retain separate ownership of the different lots, sort of like a townhouse.
 
Un, Home Depot was only going to take up the corner at Portland; the rest of the Queen Street frontage was going to be other stores. Home Depot was basically going to be an experience in escalators.

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