Yonge-Bloor tenants told to move
Demolition to begin in December to make way for 79-storey condo-hotel complex
DANNY GALLAGHER
Special to The Globe and Mail
September 4, 2007
Moving on in the face of change and urban renewal can be difficult. In the case of about 20 businesses at the southeast corner of Yonge and Bloor Streets, the prospect of relocating has suddenly become all too real.
Bazis International of Concord is scheduled to construct a 79-storey complex at the site and intends to start demolition in December. And so recently it sent out lease-termination notices. That's when reality set in.
"To have to move from here is a very big loss for me," said 75-year-old Jack Tcherkezian, the owner of HyArt Gallery, a photo-frame operation he has run for 15 years in Roy's Square, a quaint, 18-foot-wide laneway that runs south from Bloor and then circles west toward Yonge. "It's a very big project they're planning. When it's finished, there's going to be a lot more waste, garbage, congestion, traffic, people and cars."
Across the laneway, Percy More, manager of Ritz Caribbean Food, is perturbed at the idea of having to move. "We're very upset and our customers are upset because we don't want to leave," Mr. More said. "They are running us out just like that."
The project will cost close to $500-million and will include 450 condos, a 120-room, five-star boutique hotel and a number of retailers. Although no names for the hotel and retailers have been finalized, Bazis has decided on the price range for its condos: $300,000 for a one-bedroom unit to over $2-million for a full-floor penthouse of close to 10,000 square feet.
Some modifications are being made to architect Roy Varacalli's original exterior design, but the size and height remain intact.
"The project goes to marketing in October," Mr. Varacalli said. That's when Bazis will find out how the public will respond to its condo sales pitch.
The development will run east along Bloor and one full block south to Hayden Street, the location of the Naval Club, another casualty of the project.
"Nobody at our club is happy about this project but what can you do?" said Naval Club president Alan Simpson as he sipped a beer at the club, which has about 325 members. "But this is not something new. They've been talking about this for a few years."
Knowing something is coming doesn't make it welcome, though.
"It's a great location for us. We have the best corner in the city with the subway system," he said.
Veronika Belovich, Bazis's director sales and marketing, said: "We're trying to make the city better. This is a junky corner and we want to make it a fabulous area."