kade1064
Active Member
not funny, woodbine mall needs change now
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Woodbine Centre
- Thread starter slickpete83
- Start date
slickpete83
Active Member
there already is a Walmart close by at Rexdale Blvd & Islington Ave. across from the Costco
cslusarc
New Member
I think that Hudson's Bay wants to close all of its lowest "Silver" tier stores, which in Metro Toronto includes its Woodbine, Elgington Square and Centrpoint stores while maintaining redevelopment rights if it holds below market-rate leases.
RGB_11
Active Member
WHAT??? I thought The Bay wanted to keep their Eglinton square store open as a Bay clearance centre!!
Northern Light
Superstar
The Eglinton Square store is the subject of redevelopment plans for which we have a thread here at UT.
1 Eglinton Square | 158.8m | 46s | KingSett Capital | BDP Quadrangle
You can still provide housing for 6000 people and also give them places within their development to gather. Artscape in the Regent Park redevelopment is a perfect example. The Golden Mile isn't downtown, so I guess planners and developers figure it's not worthy of building actual communities in...
The store will go when the proponent is ready to build, its not imminent, but it will certainly be in the next few years. (assuming HBC survives)
Northern Light
Superstar
Eglinton Square and Centrepoint are both the subject of redevelopment threads here on UT, and there is no plan to maintain HBC at either site when the malls are entirely removed.
While no other official plans have been announced I feel comfortable saying that if 'The Bay' survives, it will be radically slimmed down, likely to fewer than 50 stores nationally.
SubHuman
Active Member
A suburban mall with enough parking lot space (like this one) could easily attract crowds with a series of free concerts. Some might roll their eyes and say these are all over the place in the summer at ribfest, park, and street festivals, but they do almost always work when they're free.
A couple of times in recent years I've walked from Markville Mall to free concerts in Unionville. Apparently there's been a problem with too many people showing up to fit in the area in front of the Unionville Bandstand, and them having to pay for the police to shut down the surrounding streets, along with the local neighbourhood sponsorship no longer covering their expenses. (It seems next year they're having to shift away from professional acts to local school bands and such.)
The thought occurred to me that maybe the mall and its larger retailers could do something similar in their parking lot.
Vaughan has a series of free park concerts with large crowds, sponsored by TD, Tim Hortons, etc.
https://www.vaughan.ca/residential/recreation-programs-and-fitness/events/concerts-park
Maybe they could get a bunch of those outdoor heater things and try it outside of summer, if they thought it might work better at times of the year when there's not much outdoor stuff like that happening. A temporary outdoor stage might not be a great idea in the middle of winter with the possibility of snow, but they could also build one of those more permanent ones like at Woodbine Park if they thought it would be worth it. Or maybe just have it inside if one of the big abandoned department store spaces can be cleared of the junk put in there by the former owner.
Maybe there was no serious bid this time? If so, do they just wait a few months and try again?
I wonder if a new owner would change the name of the mall? Despite having been Woodbine since it opened, it's always seemed awkward and slightly confusing to imply the non-existent connection to the racetrack, perhaps more now that retail may be built there.
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mark.a.m
New Member
The mall will most likely be flattened
Chimpur
New Member
In case anyone wants to shop at Woodbine; here is the mall directory. Don’t laugh… lol!
cslusarc
New Member
Looking at that directory and noticing all the vacancies, you have to wonder how soon until this mall is demolished.
slickpete83
Active Member
still no sold price info ? or is it not sold yet ?, maybe no interest in buying during this time of higher interest rates etc...
SubHuman
Active Member
Only if and when new owners wanted to demolish it, after they get plans approved to build something else there.
As long as it remains in receivership, I assume not much will change. If this goes on for a long time and the situation gets worse, I suppose they could eventually shutter it, but they would have no reason to pay for it to be demolished without any definite plan for the future of the site.
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Chimpur
New Member
Was told by a worker in a store that the mall was bought by a company that is looking at improving and then flipping the mall in under 5 years.
J-M-Z
Active Member
When Sunpact Holdings (Chris Hinn) purchased the Woodbine Centre from Cadillac Fairview several years ago, the sale price was estimated at $150 million.
On a similar note, I recently read that the nearby Canadian Tire on Kipling and Rexdale just sold for a relative figure of $125 million.
Unlike Woodbine, Canadian Tire's property remained dormant for about a year before an eventual sale was reached. The difference being a change of address
(Canadian Tire), and a forced receivership for unpaid loans (Woodbine).
The concept of flipping the Woodbine isn't a new one. While I can't say how much the Woodbine supposedly sold for, I read that Mr. Hinn was originally looking to
get $600 million (pre-receivership) for Woodbine based on the mall being situated next to the Woodbine Racetrack. From a business perspective, Mr. Hinn believed
the Woodbine's market value was worth a greater sale price in response to the Woodbine Racetrack's 2 billion dollar renovation plans.
I visited the Woodbine earlier this month, and instantly felt the reduced air conditioning. Other than a slight draft lofting through the Fair, the stuffy conditions inside
the mall were only matched by the summer heat blistering outside it. Just by walking around, I could see why ride attendants would be miserable with these working
conditions.
I only hope the new owners begin renovating the mall shortly. The corpse of the Woodbine Centre definitely needs a positive turning point in our Urban Toronto discussions.