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365-367 Queen Street West (Silver Snail site, 3s, Montgomery Sisam)

this one is certainly a thinker. kinda like it, kinda hate it. kinda just want to go inside of it. If they wanted to catch eyeballs, they've done a great job.

I like how the modern side bends over to the historic in a sort of nod to the inclined/setback roof line of the older structure. The symmetry of the building b/w old and new is also nice and the white window framing was a good choice to complement that of the older structure.

Pleasantly surprised tbh
 
This is awesome! Goes great with Picasso. More of these silly, awkward buildings please. It's a dynamic City. We don't need suburban looking strip mall type structures.
 
Suprised they went ahead with the rebuild prior to finding at least a tenant for the ground floor !
 
Awkward, but intentionally so I think... I personally love it; it seems oddly derivative of that twisted house in Prague, without the twists... It's an odd comparison, but that's what pops into my head... Anyways it's fun and a bit silly and a bit irreverant; all things great cities should embrace in doses...
 
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By the way, I absolutely love the front door as it currently sits; I hope they keep something similar when finished...That would be a wonderful and perplexing portal to enter for the first time... I'm thinking someone involved with this project enjoyed their Lewis Carroll and Dr Seuss as a child!
 
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I think it's great - I think they generally did a nice job mixing the old and the new. My only quibble is on the west side, where I think they ought to have pushed that extension of the new construction next to the lane a bit further back, so that the historic structure reads more like a component of the whole rather than a facade tacked on.
 
That vacant grade level retail unit must be among the Top 5 most difficult to lease in the city. Looks like Tweed Inc occupies the upper level for their offices. But I don't believe the main retail unit has been able to secure a consistent tenant in the years since this building has been completed.

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That vacant grade level retail unit must be among the Top 5 most difficult to lease in the city. Looks like Tweed Inc occupies the upper level for their offices. But I don't believe the main retail unit has been able to secure a consistent tenant in the years since this building has been completed.

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I don't believe anyone has gone in since the makeover.

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The area feels a bit downmarket despite the rents, IMO.

Queen West between University and Spadina ain't what it used it to be.
 
Several of the typical mall retailers like H&M, Guess, Zara, Club Monaco, Little Burgundy, Brandy Melville, Foot Locker, G Star Raw, Lululemon, Lush, Aritzia, and even GAP, etc have hung around along this stretch of Queen West. And then some newer ones like Fjallraven, Nobu, Asics, Casper have opened up in recent years. MEC have their own building, and LCBO are also opening up at the former Carl's Jr/HMV building at Beverley.

I've found retail occupancy rates to be at a steady rate in the area. This specific unit just seems to be particularly unsuccessful in securing a major tenant. Maybe it's the curse of evicting Silver Snail?
 
The plot of land beside it also remains empty after all these years. I believe at some point there was a vague rendering showing potential for a 2 or 3 storey building there. But interest never materialized.

Same for the residual land from the Queen West fire site (between Portland and Bathurst) that remains unbuilt:

 
The plot of land beside it also remains empty after all these years. I believe at some point there was a vague rendering showing potential for a 2 or 3 storey building there. But interest never materialized.

Same for the residual land from the Queen West fire site (between Portland and Bathurst) that remains unbuilt:

There has been some conversations of things happening next door. But they start and stop.
 

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