Woodbine Centre

[adma]

Yeah, I agree, locating at the racetrack proper (like a proto-Woodbine Live!, I suppose) wouldn't have helped one bit.

But as I've suggested before, it's more than just Rexdale/Malton not being "very monied nabes"; it's that back when the Woodbine Centre was first conceived, such environs were still largely of Euro-American stock--or at least, any incipient demographic shifts t/w ethnic/ghettodom weren't so in-your-face. Sort of in the way postwar blue-collar zones like Hamilton Mountain or East London remain today: eternally Flintstonesian. The Woodbine Centre was the last gasp of that Euro-American retail identity--within a decade of its opening, it was a cultural orphan. The uptalking Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm offspring of Rexdale's Flintstones generation were displaced by a flock of Sanjeets and Jamals...

 

[slickpete83]

update , i heard from an employee of the mall , that the current owners of woodbine mall are selling the entire mall this week

 

[milanista]

update , i heard from an employee of the mall , that the current owners of woodbine mall are selling the entire mall this week

To who?

 

[Cast_Member]

Well, it is safe to say its not me.

 

[slickpete83]

sorry i meant to say they are putting it up for sale , i don't know who will buy it ??? maybe the same people who are behind woodbine live ???

 

[dufferin&rogers]

I had originally heard that target was supposed to open in the old zellers space and it was supposed to be one of the first locations to open and that alot of people in the area were excited about that opportunity and almost a year later and after hearing multiple rumors about set back and which zellers locations target is and or is not opening i had been pretty sure that this location would have opened as it is both very acessible and target is the cheap and chic which many people in this area are looking for due to the lower income as compared to a mall like square one. does anyone have any further updates on this ?

 

[Transportfan]

I think the problem with Woodbine is that it was built in the wrong place at the wrong time. By 1985, the golden age of mall-building in the 416 was already over, and Rexdale was already an aging area. To build a mall like that, with that Fantasy Fair for kids, in an old-school hood like Rexdale was a big mistake.

Also, I wonder why "ethicized" malls tend to become dead malls?

 

[adma]

I think the problem with Woodbine is that it was built in the wrong place at the wrong time. By 1985, the golden age of mall-building in the 416 was already over, and Rexdale was already an aging area. To build a mall like that, with that Fantasy Fair for kids, in an old-school hood like Rexdale was a big mistake.

Also, I wonder why "ethicized" malls tend to become dead malls?

And actually, it wasn't so much an "aging area", as much as the developers didn't anticipate the poor-ethnoburban tsunami hereabouts...

 

[Maco in the 6]

The new owner is planning a major makeover for the mall, along with a condo development in the outer parts of the parking lot.
Renderings of the project are on display in front of the food court.

 

[PMT]

Does the new owner happen to be Prime Real Estate Holdings? I found this link a few months ago: http://www.marino.ca/properties/woodbine/

I couldn't find any information to corroborate that page so I thought it was outdated.

 

[James]

Does the new owner happen to be Prime Real Estate Holdings? I found this link a few months ago: http://www.marino.ca/properties/woodbine/

I couldn't find any information to corroborate that page so I thought it was outdated.

Very interesting development plan. I'd be really interested to see how this rejuvenation pans out. This mall is in dire need of some aggressive rehabilitation.

 

[sixrings]

Too bad smarttrack doesn't actually exist and there isn't a stop here.

 

[PMT]

And it's too bad the Finch LRT will only terminate at Humber College. If this condo project is built as planned, there would be some decent TOD if the LRT was extended here.

 

[PMT]

So I dropped by the mall today and saw the poster mentioned by @Toronto Macedonian. I took some pics.

First, the complete poster:

The mall:

Entertainment complex:

The renderings depict a food court as empty as it is now

Supermarket:

Medical offices:

Condos:

And finally, birds eye views of the entire site:

I gotta say this is an ambitious project. But given the failure of Woodbine Live, I'm going to remain cautious.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Dinner theatre? Is there even a market for that left?

AoD