Toronto Five St Joseph | 160.93m | 48s | Five St. Joseph | Hariri Pontarini

I'm musing on a scenario where the City can intervene in the rental market, specifically in areas like this.

I know that some forms of rent controls in the past generally backfired in terms of quantity of housing, keeping prices low, and various other inefficiencies. But what about something like San Fransisco's Rent Stabilization Ordinance which pertains to buildings constructed earlier than the 1970s (and exempts newer buildings)? What if the City used that to target streets full of potential heritage stock? The ultimate goal being to increase building investment by creating an incentive for retail tenants to maintain and renovate their spaces from their own pockets without losing the added value to their landlords, and maybe controling the incentive for landlords to rennovate and improve their buildings via vacancy decontrol.

Please forgive my ignorance about the City's bureaucratic nuances and the use of rent controls throughout history.
 
Last edited:
Preserving history
Forever Yonge at Five St. Joseph

Gary Switzer’s enthusiasm is apparent as he stands at the intersection of Yonge and St. Joseph, peering across to the southwest corner.

“We’re going to preserve those old buildings,” he explains, gesturing towards a series of gritty brick-clad storefronts along Yonge St.

Then he points along tree-lined St. Joseph St. to a four-storey 1905 Gothic Revival warehouse. “I’ve always admired that old warehouse. Most recently, it was a gay dance club. We’re going to keep the old facade and it will become the entrance to the new condo.”

More............http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/realestate/siteprofiles/article/811972--forever-yonge-at-five-st-joseph
 
The vision of encouraging use of local shops, clubs, and theatres as opposed to housing internal facilities marks a truer urban transition, moving away from vestigial and irrelevant suburban home elements. They are keeping with the tradition of having a party space: these rooms in most older condo's have that bland basement rec-room feel, whereas Radio City and MET/Encore rooms (for example) are designed as lounges and have great atmosphere. I like the feel of this project.
 
I don't buy that there are no fruit markets on Yonge Street because the rent is too high. There's one in the village, and the rent there is much, much higher.
 
threnody said:
I don't buy that there are no fruit markets on Yonge Street because the rent is too high. There's one in the village, and the rent there is much, much higher.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

There are no fruit markets for the same reason there are T-Shirt shops. Yonge street is traditionally walked by tourists and suburbanites out on the town. The people there are not in the mindset to do some marketing. They are there to be in the big city and do some impulse buying and that doesn't include Russet Pears or Eggplant. Sure many people live downtown these days and parts of Yonge Street are just part of their neighbourhood, but on the whole, it acts like a Main Street not a side street with corner shops.

Sure, if you lined Yonge with fruit market after market, it would eventually become more popular with Torontonians than Kensington, but you're going to piss off a lot of tourists.
 
threnody said:
I don't buy that there are no fruit markets on Yonge Street because the rent is too high. There's one in the village, and the rent there is much, much higher.
Click to expand...

There are no fruit markets on Yonge Street per se but residents in this area don't have to walk for more than five minutes to get fresh vegetables, fruits and groceries at a variety of stores. In this area there's a 24 hr. Metro, 24 hr. Sobeys on Yonge, 24 hr. 7-11 on Yonge, several 24 hr. Rabba's close by and a host of smaller grocery shops that offer all the basics including fruits & vegetables. Yonge Street and surrounding areas will continue to organically change once Aura and these off-Yonge projects are complete. Whether more grocery stores pop up on Yonge is yet to be seen.
 
totally agree...i don't think proximity to fruit market would be a concern for buyers...it's certainly not on the top of my priority place when buying here...

sadly, 7-11 on Yonge St. is gone :( lots of vacancy on Yonge st recently...
 
When Kyle Rae moved into 70 Alexander he did an interview with a local paper that stated it was his mission to clean up Church Street and turn it into an extension of Yorkville. He wanted all the bars gone and replaced with fine dining eateries, art galleries and haute couture boutiques.
Click to expand...

This doesn't square with what I know of Kyle. In a conversation a few years ago, he said that Church-Wellesley is zoned highrise and his record consistently supports highrise development. He shares Chris Hume's contention that the most important aspect is how it engages the street. It's much less important than fretting about the number of stories (e.g., 42 vs 49). He has mused on more than one occasion that Church Street needs a ggod bakery and I agree! (Roncesvalles... sigh).
 
Last edited:
luxome said:
totally agree...i don't think proximity to fruit market would be a concern for buyers...it's certainly not on the top of my priority place when buying here...

sadly, 7-11 on Yonge St. is gone :( lots of vacancy on Yonge st recently...
Click to expand...

Didn't even notice 7-11 being gone, though it's not necessarily a bad thing. Sketchy clientielle, overpriced goods and those damn places are way too bright and obnoxious.

Just say it UD, there are a plethora of places in the area to pick up plenty of yummy fruits...
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top