I think the issue is that the other developments were not dense enough. There are not currently enough residents in this neighbourhood to support a robust retail presence along front. With future proximity to East Harbour, and its gateway like access to the Portlands, this neighbourhood is going to become a lot more central in the next 10 years.
I also think this tower will complement River City quite nicely.
just a question for anyone in general, because I've seen this argument made before. But what density is required to support what retail? Shops like Footlocker didn't last - but most of the other condos were under construction at the time. Sukothai, Dark Horse and Fuel have been around since the beginning- the Aviary, the convenience store have hung in there for awhile. And now Marché Leo is putting money into that location. Aisle24 felt their business was good enough at Harris Square to go and put a smaller shop in the Distillery. So what businesses would have gone into Front St. if the surrounding buildings were 20-30 storeys each?
Gears had the largest space, no? More density would have made that a what? A Rabba? Some times it feels like successful retail depends on the category, other times its a bit of a crapshoot. Long & McQuade has zero parking right? Not a lot of vehicles stopping right at that intersection so close to the police station, doesnt feel too convenient- and yet its still there.
From what I understand, rents in Canary early on were one of those deals that it was percentage of sales rather than flat rate- so arguably, if a shop doesnt do well enough to have hung on- then when rents went back to basic, wouldn't the market value just reflect the area and allow a different business to use the spot? (Like a restaurant that doesnt need foot traffic because they have busy take out?).
Taking a look at Bremner off lower Simcoe, which has pretty high density- they've got an Aroma Espresso, Hoops Sports Bar, 4 fast food joints in small shops and a Hasty Market. Around the corner the same building has some health & dental centres along with a dry cleaner. Which seems somewhat comparative to Front St in Canary atm. How do retail chains calculate things?
Canary plus Harris Square & RC3 is 4369 units, or upwards of 6553 residents, and that doesn't count the rest of River City, Cherry House or the Distillery, which would get us past the 10k mark. Comparatively Cityplace has 17k. What more would we get with that extra 7k?