Toronto Emerald Park Condos | 128.92m | 40s | Bazis | Rosario Varacalli

[Scudder]

Well for now Metro will either pull out and pay the penalty which they likely will do or lease the space. They had The Air Canada centre store and gave that to Longo's. A store in Woodbridge they excited and leased it to a competitor.
Let's see. Should have a decision soon.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Talk is the location like you said not being off Yonge St and word is Whole Foods is having some challenges. The Metro up the street on Church is now starting a full Reno to the Company's new format and that's a major investment so maybe also playing a part.
Stay tuned for now.

Converting the Metro at Doris & Church to new format with more ready made food stations is a good idea since high density Yonge Corridor in North York Centre (between Doris & Beecroft from 401 to Finch Hydro Corridor) is about 2/3 full of high density development,.... there's still another 1/3 to go,.... ie expect 50% increase in density from current levels,... and most of that newer condo developments will be towards the north end between Empress/ParkHomes to Finch, where that Metro store will be in the middle,.... thus more condo dwellers, living in limited space not having all the kitchen gadgets and limited time to cook,.... but that Metro store really needs more Yonge presence somehow,....

The only way I could really see a Metro going into EmeraldPark is if one of the other local Metro like the Metro at Sheppard & Bathurst gets converted to a Food Basics,.... but why would they do that since that Sheppard & Bathurst Metro is basically a local monopoly with no other supermarket around,... why convert it to a lower margin store?,.... To open at money eating bottomless pit Metro store at EmeraldPark????

Years ago, I warned about the layout of the EmeraldPark retail area,... specifically about how the food court is located way in the back off Yonge Street to draw in false traffic through the 1st floor retail space. We saw the same thing happen at North York City Centre where the food court was originally located far from Yonge Street in the west end of the lower concourse - to force people to walk through the entire mall. Guess what? People just didn't use that food court and the lower retail level basically closed down because there wasn't enough foot traffic,.... North York City Centre eventually relocated their food court on the main concourse level in the middle of the mall and closer to Yonge Street. At EmeraldPark, by locating the bottom of that escalator to the supermarket off Poyntz at the middle of Yonge and Beecroft to generate false traffic through the first floor retail space is the same stupid strategy that doesn't create a good customer experience,... it makes customers into rats trying to navigate a maze!

If EmeraldPark converted a couple of their street level Yonge frontage stores to a grand mall entrance with escalators to the 2nd floor supermarket and layout of the LCBO store was altered so LCBO would have about 1/3 Yonge frontage and supermarket have 2/3 Yonge frontage,.... that would make the supermarket retail space much more desireable. But the current layout is like a rat maze to generate false traffic through the first floor retail space,.... North York City Centre already proven that strategy doesn't work,.... why? Because the next retail mall is right across the street,.... literally!,.... NorthYorkCityCentre retail space tanked once EmpressWalk retail space opened,.... and here, RioCan's SheppardCentre renovated mall will be completed in about 2 years,.... if EmeraldPark is smart, they'll use that 2 years window to figure out a complete strategy/theme for the entire retail mall space,.... EmeraldPark retail space can't complete head on against RioCan SheppardCentre,.... but they can complement it,... by going completely ethnic,... or some other theme,....

The MapleLeafSquare supermarket space for Longo's is in the basement with poor street level presence but the escalator leads right to York Street without any of that rat maze crap,..... and it's a relatively large supermarket space for that area with little competition and that area is growing not just with high density condo but also with SouthCore Financial area,.... I'm surprised Metro gave up on that space without at least trying a more urban format type Metro store like College Park but with more ready made food stations,..... since decent size supermarkets are so rare near the harbourfront condos,....

 

[Scudder]

I totally agree and the Church location will have an excellent offering. Anyone interested just go to the store in Liberty Village to see the new HMR offering.
One thing I know for sure is that Metro is the most fiscally operated chain in the business. They count every penny and if no return the store is simply gone so opening a money loser just won't happen. Not with these guys. Longo's on the other hand still have not produced a profit at ACC. The lease there is in the $175,000 range monthly. Sick!
Let's Wait and see. That location certainly is a retail soap opera. Never seen so many changes in one location.

 

[Bill123]

I went today to check on the mall. All the coming soon signs in the food court have been replaced by for lease and for sale signs. They removed the drywall blocking the escalators and they put the address sign up outside the building. Maybe the food court owners realized 4 sushi & korean rice restaurants won't do very well in a new mall especially one that has a fickle anchor tenant. Or perhaps they cannot keep up with the monthly fees?

 

[Scudder]

Looks like they better do a redesign soon. I'm guessing Metro just might be gone.

 

[Angus]

Photo today on the Emerald TTC tunnel.

 

[Scudder]

Can't wait to see how this all ends.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Today, they installed the clear glass top of the first floor black canopy along Yonge frontage,....

Also notice the steel truss to hold up the signage at the side of the building close to Yonge,... both will have 2 signs, the dimension of one of them seems correct dimensions for LCBO,... but the dimmension of the longer signage seems right for Adonis (they rejected site),... err, I mean Metro (they're not opening here),.... hmmmm,....

BTW, first photo shows new signage for "4750 Yonge" on Poyntz Ave!!!,.... NOT on Yonge Street (no such signage on Yonge Street or visible when coming from the more busy north),... so if you're looking for the offices of 4750 Yonge Street, you'll have to enter via that TTC Subway Entrance,... walk straight through that TTC Subway entrance into the north-south retail corridor for those Yonge frontage stores and make a quick left to find elevators to 3rd floor offices. That's how poorly design the layout is,....

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Construction quality or the lack thereof, is like the tip of an iceberg,.... you're only able to see the 10% that's above the surface,... 90% is hidden.

The buider of EmeraldPark, TMG, generally have a good reputation in the industry for their innovation construction methodology that allows each cement floor to be built faster,... though, we really did NOT see such performance at EmeraldPark,.... EmeraldPark construction started a few months after HullmarkCentre but yet HullmarkCentre (much larger project) finished years before EmeraldPark,... and that's including the year long delay for HullmarkCentre NorthTower and part of podium due to redesign of NorthTower pedestrian subway tunnel,... and we're still waiting for EmeraldPark completion date,....


Notice the uneven cement floor (it dips where orange spraypaint is),... compare level of cement floor to straight steel frame for interior window wall, quite a variance,... this is one of the larger retail space right at southwest corner of 1st floor retail level (unit 124).

Here's a column and joint on 1st floor retail level food court area (between unit 129 & 130 on Beecroft) that's supposed to hold up the second floor where the supermarket is,... not only are there chunks of cement missing, but that cement joint base (cement colour thingy on top of column) for the ceiling of 1st level and floor of 2nd level seems off,... it's not flush like the others,.... seems like it's buckling! I've seen 50 year old buildings in better condition than this one,... and this one hasn't even completed yet!

 

[TheKingEast]

Time is money. Quality work takes time and costs money. It is what it is.

 

[Automation Gallery]

Thats nothing that cant be fixed,
reading sunnyrays posts you would think that this BAZIS project is headed to a physical and financial collapse..lol

 

[modernizt]

The column isn't buckling; it's reinforced concrete and is incredibly strong.

As for the way it sits behind the glazing, that's just a poorly designed detail. It should have been specified that it would be hidden behind or flush in the slab/ceiling treatment, in my opinion.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Thats nothing that cant be fixed,
reading sunnyrays posts you would think that this BAZIS project is headed to a physical and financial collapse..lol

Sure it could be fixed,.... but now the developer pass the responsibility to the buyers to pay to have it fixed,.... it's the developer & builder poor quality work,... but they expect buyers to fix it! Case in point, those uneven cement floors in the retail stores are now the store owners responsibility to fix.

Speaking of Bazis,.... why is Metropia in the thread heading instead of Bazis,... yeah, I know they're a partner that came on board later with PlazaCorp when Bazis was having issues raising financing for this project,... but Bazis was the original developer and designer,... they should at least get the main credit or blame,.... ditto for the other Bazis developments on urbantoronto.ca

As for a Bazis project heading to financial collapse,..... Bazis is too clever for that,..... Bazis market, price and sell their condos as luxury units,.... but cut soo many corners to minimize their costs in terms of quality of material, build quality, deliverables, physical ceiling height so they can squeeze in more floors of condos!, etc,.... that's how they make money,..... find suckers to sell high to but build & deliver low quality,... Bazis only completed project is CrystalBlu,.... and after 7 years, we and some of the original buyers are still waiting for this EmeraldPark,.... Bazis is the poster child for why you should never buy pre-construction.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

The column isn't buckling; it's reinforced concrete and is incredibly strong.

As for the way it sits behind the glazing, that's just a poorly designed detail. It should have been specified that it would be hidden behind or flush in the slab/ceiling treatment, in my opinion.

Seeing chunks of cement missing,.... and crack in reinforced concrete on a project that isn't even complete yet isn't reassuring,...

Even the Gardiner Expressway took decades for chucks of cement to start falling off it's reinforced concrete supports,...

 

[NorthYorkEd]

This project puts off a lot of bad vibes. The "LCBO Coming Soon" sign has been up for months and months. I guess their definition of "soon" is different than most people's. And I think every single one of those ground floor retail kiosks has a "for lease" sign in the window.