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

Wait a second ... a grocery store would be amazing for the area would it not? Better then home depot.

No one has yet to answer my question regarding the general state of Queen W :( that was directed to any residents living in the area.
 
taal said:
Wait a second ... a grocery store would be amazing for the area would it not? Better then home depot.

No one has yet to answer my question regarding the general state of Queen W :( that was directed to any residents living in the area.
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Please pardon my crude New York analogies...

I think what we're seeing right now is the SoHo-ization of Queen West, with rents increasing and chain stores pushing older one-of-a-kind and made-in-TO shops further west. The strip from University to roughly Spadina has basically become an inside-out mall, complete with Foot Locker, Aritzia, H&M, cell phone/wireless providers, and other typical mall schlock.

Meanwhile, the strip of Queen west of Bathurst (and more recently, creeping up Ossington and maybe all the way down to Roncy one day, which remains delightfully scuzzy) is becoming NoLita-ized with expensive retail boutiques and trendy restaurants and bars.
 
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Thanks, makes sense.

The many vaccines that exist now are just older stores that can't keep up with the new rents + throw in a little recession to boot?
 
Some of them are probably due to the recession, but there have been a lot of vacancies since the economy was booming. I think it's mostly land owners asking for too much rent/lease for narrow spaces that chain stores can't adapt to, or buildings that are simply too dilapidated.

It's easier to observe the phenomenon on Adelaide, which has a lot more vacant spaces. It's either increasing land values/rents/taxes or changing demographics (aging population).

I'm sure some would rather see RioCan split up the big retail space into smaller units to fit into the Queen St, mould, but I'm sure whatever eventually took up shop in those spaces wouldn't exactly be bead stores and tattoo parlours. I personally like the grocery store option best.
 
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Home Depot pulls out of Queen & Portland

I'm glad Home Depot has pulled out of this Queen St project, and hope RioCan reconfigures the retail space to conform to the existing street-front retail.



THE CANADIAN PRESS

Home Depot Canada is paying an unspecified amount in cash to terminate its lease on a site along Queen Street West in Toronto being developed by RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust.

RioCan said Thursday it intends to continue with the Queen and Portland development project, which has caused discomfort among artists and others in the trendy district uneasy about a big-box store.

Canada's largest REIT said it is "reviewing the possibility of repositioning the retail portion of the development to reflect a new retail footprint."

It added that there is no change in plans for the five-storey residential portion of the project, where construction has not yet begun on a one-acre site which now is a parking lot.

Original plans called for 91,000 square feet of retail space on three floors, of which 75,000 square feet was to be occupied by a single retail anchor.

"As a result of this change, we have an opportunity to reposition the retail portion of this project to reflect a more 'traditional' retail model, and are currently in discussions with several potential replacement tenants," stated RioCan CEO Edward Sonshine.

"We are optimistic that we will re-lease this part of the retail component and do not expect construction of the project to be delayed."

RioCan said 55 of the 90 residential condominium units have been sold.
 
I've got my ear to the wall on this project and will provide an update as soon as I know the direction they've taken.
 
grey, your assumption was pretty close. They intend on splitting the larger retail space (75,000 sq.ft) into two smaller units (~50,000 and ~25,000) with one of the tenants a grocery store. [bold added by me]

From NRU, Jan. 23, 2009

QUEEN WEST AND PORTLAND

Home Depot pulls out
By Mark Ostler

Home Depot Canada has paid RioCan REIT $11.5 million
to pull out of its lease on RioCan’s yet-to-be-built
retail/condo development, citing economic concerns. The
controversial ‘downtown big-box’ location will likely be
split into two separate stores.
“We are in negotiations with a variety of alternative tenants,”
RioCan CFO Rags Davloor told NRU, adding that
the company is “well down the path in fairly advanced
negotiations.”
About two weeks ago Home Depot began talking with
RioCan about pulling out of the site, Davloor said.
One of the tenants is likely to be a grocery store, said
Davloor, though he did not elaborate on a potential second
tenant. Home Depot was to have leased 75,000-sq.ft. of
space. RioCan is now looking to create two units that will
measure approximately 45-50,000-sq.ft. and 25-30,000-
sq.ft. Davloor said that RioCan hopes to be able to
announce new tenants in three or four months time.
“We re-evaluated the site within the context of the current
economic environment and just determined that it’s not
the right time to open that location,” Home Depot Canada
public relations and external affairs manager Tiziana
Baccega told NRU.
The Queen and Portland Home Depot had been planned
for a 2010 opening. Baccega said that the company will still
be opening stores that have been planned for this year, but
added that the company is focussing its efforts on customer
service and investing in its current network of locations.
However, Home Depot may yet open a downtown store.
“We’ve been looking for a site in [downtown] Toronto for
about 10 years,” Baccega said. “It’s definitely something that,
in the future, we would like to be a part of. Unfortunately,
with regards to how the economy is going right now, it didn’t
make sense for us to be there.”
Due to some of Home Depot’s specific requirements,
especially with regard to loading areas and elevators, RioCan
could save as much as 15 per cent on the cost of the development,
Davloor said.
The site is being developed by RioCan REIT and
Tribute Communities and includes 90-condominium units
sitting atop three floors of retail space. The development has
generated some controversy in the neighbourhood, with
some criticism of the gentrification and corporatization of
the stretch of Queen Street west of Spadina Avenue.
 
and hope RioCan reconfigures the retail space to conform to the existing street-front retail.
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The ground floor was already designed to conform with the existing street-front retail. Home Depot was going to be on the second and third floors.
 
We've shown this site to WholeFoods; too close to HazeltonLanes for them...but a grocery store would be a great use.
 
Hahaha, Hazelton Lanes way the hell across town, serving an entirely different market. How suburban of them. I think something less upmarket would serve the area better anyway.
 
This can't be too bad for RioCan if Home Depot is paying a settlment equal to about $150/sq ft and they can save 10% to 15% on construction costs.

They've finished the shoring and yesterday were pulling a couple of old oil tanks out of the ground but otherwise the site has been pretty quiet in the last couple of days.
 
I agree with the above poster who said a Loblaws could go here.

After living in this area a couple of years back, I did notice a lack of grocery stores. As the area naturally gets denser over time, a grocery store would definitely fit in nicely here. It's already dense enough to support one.
 
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