Riverdale

[GKW]

Home Hardware might have a new franchisee to take over the spot.

ETA: Not likely. The Pape location has now been removed from the store locator on the Home Hardware website.

I rode by on bike a few days ago and noticed a banner over an empty store a few doors east that said they were moving into there...but when I walked by today to confirm, the banner was gone and there a "leased' sign against the wall in the still empty store...the mystery continues....

 

[nfitz]

I rode by on by bike a few days ago and noticed a banner over an empty store a few doors east that said they were moving into there...but when I walked by today to confirm, the banner was gone and there a "leased' signed against the wall in the still empty store...the mystery continues....

Odd.

And I always thought that was a rather odd Home Hardware. I'm a regular at the one at Coxwell/Gerrard, and it just seemed so much more functional than the one at Pape, which always gave me an odd vibe.

 

[Skeezix]

I never got an odd vibe there. It was a pretty consistent Home Hardware experience. When I first moved into the area, I was there a lot, and they were very helpful. The drawbacks were that the line-up at the cash could move unnecessarily slowly sometimes, and sometimes it was hard to get assistance if they were busy.

When Canadian Tire Express first moved in down the street, I was worried about Pape Home Hardware. But then I needed a fluorescent tube bulb one day, and went into Pape Hardware. Couldn't reach the product high up on the shelf, couldn't tell if they even had what I wanted, and couldn't find anyone to help me. Went to CT Express, and what I needed was nicely displayed/organized on a shelf at eye level.

 

[nfitz]

I never got an odd vibe there. It was a pretty consistent Home Hardware experience. When I first moved into the area, I was there a lot, and they were very helpful. The drawbacks were that the line-up at the cash could move unnecessarily slowly sometimes, and sometimes it was hard to get assistance if they were busy.

Perhaps I caught them on a bad day. Couldn't find anything. Couldn't get any help. They didn't seem busy. Didn't seem friendly.

When Canadian Tire Express first moved in down the street, I was worried about Pape Home Hardware. But then I needed a fluorescent tube bulb one day, and went into Pape Hardware. Couldn't reach the product high up on the shelf, couldn't tell if they even had what I wanted, and couldn't find anyone to help me. Went to CT Express, and what I needed was nicely displayed/organized on a shelf at eye level.

I'm confused. Sounds like my experience in Pape Home Hardware too. Not sure what you are saying here ...

 

[Skeezix]

Why are you confused? I generally liked Pape Hardware. Was in there a lot when I first moved to the area. Wasn't perfect (couldn't always get help, as I said) but pretty typical of any other Home Hardware I've frequented over the years. One day, had better service at CT Express and realized that, as much as I had like Pape Hardware over the years, perhaps having CT Express in the hood wasn't a bad thing. To be more clear (sorry if I was confusing) - I am perhaps not as sad to see Pape Hardware go, as much as I would have been even 2 years ago, as I also like the modern new kid on the block.

 

[nfitz]

Ah, I see ... your talking about 2 different time periods.

Is it really gone? I used to change from the 25 to the subway at Pape all the time, and would shop in the neighbourhood, but I don't really get there as much these days, compared to the Broadview to Chester area, or the Greenwood to Main area ...

 

[Skeezix]

I've been meaning to post this for the better part of two weeks, but keep forgetting. A place called "Sully's Sandwich Kitchen" is opening on the south side of Gerrard, east of Logan, just a few doors east of the Mad Dog Cafe, opposite the east end of the Beer Store parking lot. This morning the paper was off the windows and it actually looked ready to open.

https://twitter.com/sullyssandwich

 

[GKW]

Hells Angels lose bid to keep Riverdale clubhouse
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/11/27/hells_angels_lose_bid_to_keep_riverdale_clubhouse.html

 

[Lenser]

Wonder who has got those metal figureheads now - contemporary gargolyles? - which used to grace the entrance to the club. Doubtless they're someone's trophies.

Oh well. It's an ugly exterior - especially that fortified blockhouse entrance. Don't know what the interior's like but I'd love to see the building change up or be demolished in favour of some vibrant new business. Eastern could use more commercial activity like restos and bars.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Eastern could use more commercial activity like restos and bars.

Really, really tough to have restaurants or bars on Eastern given the traffic volume and speed. I'd say the best bet will be a long way off, but I can see the Streetcar/Great Gulf project being done with a real WDL feel to it. Both sides of the Don are going to be a completely new face of Toronto in 20 years, almost as much as this 'nabe has changed over the last 20 years.

Maybe someone will put a decent resto into whatever becomes of the bread factory, though.

 

[Lenser]

I think the restos and bars are coming. As for the traffic speed, it'll slow down. It's already dog-slow in rush hour. I've seen it change fairly dramatically over the past ten years or so.

Projects like the bread factory and the revamping of the film lands in and around 629 Eastern (a combination of retail and new office space) will drive demand for local amenities so workers don't have to leg it up to Queen to get a bite or grab a drink. Further east, a big wild card will be what happens to that ginormous postal plant on Eastern, just before Le Papillion on the Park. It's supposedly the country's largest mail sorting plant but rumours are that its days are numbered. If and when that thing goes, watch what happens to that stretch of Eastern. It's super close to Ashbridges Bay and the Beaches vibe and it offers superb access to the Gardiner and the DVP. I'm only speculating, of course, but I note in passing that Loblaws on Leslie at Lakeshore is undergoing a painful, lengthy reno, tarting itself up in advance of other competition slated to go in 629 Eastern (Sobey's? Not sure - my wife and I attended a meeting about the project two years ago but no one was officially committing on what was going in). Opposite the postal plant, I don't think the streetcar barns at Connaught and Eastern are going away anytime soon; they'll be storing a third of the new streetcar fleet, we were told at the last Doors Open, so there's not going to be a Wychwood-type conversion happening here anytime soon.

Still, stuff's happening. Le Papillion has established a beachhead (pardon the pun) a few years ago and they seem to be doing alright; they are part of the changing face of Eastern. Combine that with the mid-rise projects slated to happen along Queen just a bit west of Greenwood and one or two other mid-rise projects a little further west on Queen and you have a good set of conditions to prompt further retail and residential development on Eastern.

Conclusion: Eastern is due for a renaissance.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

I think the restos and bars are coming. As for the traffic speed, it'll slow down. It's already dog-slow in rush hour. I've seen it change fairly dramatically over the past ten years or so.

Projects like the bread factory and the revamping of the film lands in and around 629 Eastern (a combination of retail and new office space) will drive demand for local amenities so workers don't have to leg it up to Queen to get a bite or grab a drink. Further east, a big wild card will be what happens to that ginormous postal plant on Eastern, just before Le Papillion on the Park. It's supposedly the country's largest mail sorting plant but rumours are that its days are numbered. If and when that thing goes, watch what happens to that stretch of Eastern. It's super close to Ashbridges Bay and the Beaches vibe and it offers superb access to the Gardiner and the DVP. I'm only speculating, of course, but I note in passing that Loblaws on Leslie at Lakeshore is undergoing a painful, lengthy reno, tarting itself up in advance of other competition slated to go in 629 Eastern (Sobey's? Not sure - my wife and I attended a meeting about the project two years ago but no one was officially committing on what was going in). Opposite the postal plant, I don't think the streetcar barns at Connaught and Eastern are going away anytime soon; they'll be storing a third of the new streetcar fleet, we were told at the last Doors Open, so there's not going to be a Wychwood-type conversion happening here anytime soon.

Still, stuff's happening. Le Papillion has established a beachhead (pardon the pun) a few years ago and they seem to be doing alright; they are part of the changing face of Eastern. Combine that with the mid-rise projects slated to happen along Queen just a bit west of Greenwood and one or two other mid-rise projects a little further west on Queen and you have a good set of conditions to prompt further retail and residential development on Eastern.

Conclusion: Eastern is due for a renaissance.

That's a very optimistic take, but not necessarily too crazy. The new streetcar barn at Leslie will also spark a redevelopment of Connaught(sp?) and the Fire Department could also move their tower to somewhere south of Lake Shore. That makes for a huge amount of development land in the swath from the park at Coxwell all the way to the soap plant at the DVP. The second film studio might even get developed (didn't the owners purchase a second location down Mimico way?) So now you're talking both sides of Eastern, from Lake Shore to Queen, from DVP to Coxwell, in mighty big chunks...

I'd say it's nuts, but WDL went up 20 years faster than I expected, as well.

 

[Skeezix]

A lot of the housing adjacent to Eastern is less desirable/in worse shape that a lot of the housing stock to the north, but insane housing prices and bidding wars are pushing even more buyers to take a closer look at a number of these properties. As gentrification takes a stronger hold on the side streets immediately adjacent to Eastern, that will add to the pressure.

 

[Lenser]

That's a very optimistic take, but not necessarily too crazy. The new streetcar barn at Leslie will also spark a redevelopment of Connaught(sp?) and the Fire Department could also move their tower to somewhere south of Lake Shore. That makes for a huge amount of development land in the swath from the park at Coxwell all the way to the soap plant at the DVP. The second film studio might even get developed (didn't the owners purchase a second location down Mimico way?) So now you're talking both sides of Eastern, from Lake Shore to Queen, from DVP to Coxwell, in mighty big chunks...

I'd say it's nuts, but WDL went up 20 years faster than I expected, as well.

Connaught is a teensy street. There's only so much room for redevelopment on it - a couple of city-owned homes but the rest is semis and one or two detached homes, plus the skinny towns at the top of the street; some places have been nicely renovated, some are pretty dilapidated. Near the top end of Connaught is a development on the east side that's supposed to become a pretty slick RAW-designed building. Nothing's happened in a long while and the last windstorm blew the big sign advertising it to bits. It's pretty pathetic; I suspect there are soil remediation issues holding things up - that or the prices are deemed insane, I dunno. As for Eastern, from what I understand the stretch fronting the barns is going to have the right hand lane dedicated to the streetcars, so westbound traffic ripping around the corner hitting the straight stretch will be confronted by a narrowing to a single lane. That alone ought to, as they say, "calm" traffic somewhat. I don't really see Connaught changing up a great deal but I do see more promise on Eastern.

About the film industry; I don't know about Mimico, although I did work on a Bomb Girls film lasts year in a gigantic old plant on Brown's Line.... currently another series is in there, I forget its name. Beyond that, there's huge facilities for film at 777 Kipling, a former glass factory. That's been a going concern for quite a few years now. Other smaller facilities are located elsewhere in Mimico. Film production is scattered all over Toronto, really - up in Downsview, in Scarborough, on Eastern, on Booth, on Commissioner, in Mississauga - Hamilton too these days. Even Sudbury is getting in on the low-budget action, opening up their own facilities with ancillary businesses happening in the Sudbury basin to feed the industry. Film and television work employs tens of thousands of people in the GTA. I just wrapped out of season eight of Murdoch Mysteries; they shoot all over southern Ontario, including Cambridge, St. Mary's, Hamilton, Lake Simcoe, Oshawa... all sorts of places where there's nice old period building stock still in good shape.

As for Pinewood, on Commissioner, I think they've completed Phase 2 of their build-out plan. Phase 3, if memory serves, would involve yet more sound stages but I don't know where they're at with this. Maybe they're holding off because there's tons of competing space that's cheaper. I've only worked there once; being brand new it tends to rent out only to big features and big budget series.

 

[nfitz]

The new streetcar barn at Leslie will also spark a redevelopment of Connaught(sp?) ...

There are no plans to get rid of the (Russell) streetcar yard at Connaught. TTC have ordered 204 new streetcars, and have said they will ask city for funding to purchase 60 more, for 264. In length this is equivalent to 528 of the standard length old streetcars (CLRVs). Leslie Barn only holds 100 new streetcars, leaving 164 for the existing 2 yards.

Those 164 remaining new streetcars are equivalent in length to 328 of the CLRVs (short old streetcars). The current fleet is only equivalent in length to 276 CLRVs. The streetcar yard at Connaught will be fuller than ever!