Recent content by CityPainter

100%. I'm sure this sounds like a petty complaint to many people but walking downtown has been a nightmare for most of the winter, and this single closure was perfectly positioned to cause me to make multiple extra street crossings when trying to get to/from my home, No Frills, and the...

Looks great. But I would very much like that sidewalk back soon.

The original plan for this was approved back in 2020/2021. Six years later, will we actually see some shovels in the ground? I hope so. But I notice the most interesting and arguably most important parts -- the cycle track rebuild and the proper dog park -- are still years out.

That would be great, just like the South Market, basically. But I didn't notice anything about that explicitly in the REOI. The diagram does specify that the cafe tenant will need to provide washrooms directly inside the space. Regardless, I imagine a lot of the business will be taken to go, as...

The city has released a Request for Expression of Interest (REOI) Proposals for Leasing the North Market Café [PDF] with a March 13 deadline for proposals. I notice the retail area includes some outdoor space in front (I assume the black circles in the diagram on page 21 are supposed to be...

I suggested creating a Canary District thread a few years back but was told the existing West Don Lands thread covered the same area. I'm actually not sure if the boundaries coincide exactly, but they are pretty close. Maybe we could renamed the other forum to something like "Canary District /...

The Nealon House building at 197 King East, formerly part of the Sonder empire that went bankrupt last year, has now been taken over by a Canadian aparthotel company called Nester & Finn. The signage is already changed and the location is available to book on their website. I'm glad to see that...

The Goose Island and Bier Markt pubs on the Esplanade are now both closed. According to rumours elsewhere online, they were both purchased by the owner of the neighbouring Scotland Yard pub. Does anyone have information about what the plan is here? That stretch of large patios is great for the...

I noticed there's new building permit in the city database for 12 Market St, dated Jan 9, 2026. 12 Market St is the narrow unit most recently used as an overflow seating space for Balzac's. A few years before that, it was home to the Evolution Food Co / Garden Gangsters vegan restaurant. The...

Interesting. To protect the trees from sidewalk salt, or dogs, or both? I don't mind the little railings, though they do look a bit bare-bones in the harshness of winter. I would love to see them painted black but that would probably be futile.

This is really exciting. I think it is a smart move and they'll do very well. I'm curious exactly which space they might be taking (upper or lower level, I wonder?) but I'm sure that will be revealed soon enough. But I wonder if it might spell the end of their summer Beer Garden down on the...

Lost Craft Brewery will be taking over the former Aviary Brewpub at 484 Front St East. Their current location is on Runnymede. It will be fantastic to see that space and the great patio back in use for the neighbourhood, hopefully this summer.

Are you thinking of the House of Rohl, a high-end kitchen showroom that opened in the St. Lawrence condo tower at 158 Front East, on the northwest of Front and Sherbourne? Some variation of this shop used to be on King East, I think.

A person (okay, me) might argue that the Canary and Distillery areas are particularly nice because they don't have any of those big chains. But I also know they are affordable and popular and as the population density grows, some of them will inevitably move in. As long as the area stays a good...

Yesterday the hotel chain Marriot announced they were terminating a long-term agreement with Sonder, the company that manages the short-term stay building at 197 King East in the St. Lawrence Market neighhbourhood. This building has been undergoing extremely intensive and slow restorations since...