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Davenport

"The Davenport" at Christie & Davenport has officially closed. The restaurant was a joint project between the Annabelle next doors and Frankie's Italian from Leslieville.

 
The properties at 322 & 330 Geary Ave are listed for sale. Getting mixed feelings about this. That western pocket of Geary Ave has grown into an interesting area for musicians and the creative community in recent years. The buildings are currently zoned as employment industrial in a core employment site.


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Currently:

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I think this is technically considered another neighbourhood being east of Bathurst, but I'll just put this here for simplicity.

Looks like George Brown College are looking to offload 2 buildings: 555 Davenport Road and 500 MacPherson Ave just south of it, including their corresponding parking lots. The upcoming listing mentions that these are considered as potential redevelopment sites.



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I think this is technically considered another neighbourhood being east of Bathurst, but I'll just put this here for simplicity.

Looks like George Brown College are looking to offload 2 buildings: 555 Davenport Road and 500 MacPherson Ave just south of it, including their corresponding parking lots. The upcoming listing mentions that these are considered as potential redevelopment sites.



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Oh wow -- I grew up in the townhouses pictured above, and even in my pre-urbanist awakening youth had always been keen to see those buildings redeveloped.
 
I wonder if GB is looking to or has picked up a new site in that area.

I know they identified the need for more space, a landbank to allow for redevelopment of buildings, the absence of public space at Casa Loma campus, and the need for more residences.

In their Masterplan, 500 Macpherson was listed for revitalization as I recall.

So jettisoning it suggests they see potential elsewhere, to me.
 
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Oh wow -- I grew up in the townhouses pictured above, and even in my pre-urbanist awakening youth had always been keen to see those buildings redeveloped.

Yeah, I grew up further west on Davenport and have passed by these buildings countless times while rounding Kendal in the direction towards downtown. I don't think they're necessarily offensive buildings. IMO, both are reasonably serviceable. The one at the Davenport also has some more historical features, albeit not that significant. With that said, I wouldn't be against seeing them redeveloped. Especially if that means that parking lots get put to better use.
 
I wonder if GB is looking to or has picked up a new site in that area.

I know they identified the need for more space, a landbank to allow for redevelopment of buildings, the absence of public space at Casa Loma campus, and the need for more residences.

In their Masterplan, 500 Macpherson was listed for revitalization as I recall.

So jettisoning it suggests they see potential elsewhere, to me.

I'm actually a bit surprised that GBC aren't expanding on these 2 properties of discussion. Both sites have potential for a larger building, including the current parking lots. Unless they consider selling these off to be a more lucrative choice.

In terms of other spots in the area they may look at expanding on, there is the retail plaza up along Davenport where Timmies and a couple other things are located at. Or maybe some of the low-rise structures down on Bridgman Ave, the side street which runs along the railway. I can't see them looking too far west as the neighbourhood just fades into SFH housing.
 
I'm actually a bit surprised that GBC aren't expanding on these 2 properties of discussion. Both sites have potential for a larger building, including the current parking lots. Unless they consider selling these off to be a more lucrative choice.

I don't have direct knowledge of GB's thinking here, but I would guess that this has to do with centralizing their campus around main campus and the new and planned waterfront buildings; these are a bit orphaned up here, and you often hear universities speak to the benefits to clustering.
 
I don't have direct knowledge of GB's thinking here, but I would guess that this has to do with centralizing their campus around main campus and the new and planned waterfront buildings; these are a bit orphaned up here, and you often hear universities speak to the benefits to clustering.

This is the most recent Master Campus Plan (their word ordering), from 2014:


They give no indication of moving away from Casa Loma, which by ft2 is not much smaller than St. James.

They do show an interest in the waterfront; and implicitly, perhaps Yonge/Eglinton; though no proposals for any site there are discussed.

The one real negative on the Casa Loma campus, in terms of potential is transit. Its not that far from decent transit, but it is just a bit off the beaten path.
 
This is the most recent Master Campus Plan (their word ordering), from 2014:


They give no indication of moving away from Casa Loma, which by ft2 is not much smaller than St. James.

They do show an interest in the waterfront; and implicitly, perhaps Yonge/Eglinton; though no proposals for any site there are discussed.

The one real negative on the Casa Loma campus, in terms of potential is transit. Its not that far from decent transit, but it is just a bit off the beaten path.

Transit actually isn't that bad. Dupont subway station is only about a 5 minute walk away. Prior to the pandemic, you'd see crowds of students getting out of the station and walking towards GBC along Spadina/MacPherson during every morning commute, and then in both directions scattered throughout the day.
 
Article about the plans by C3 Church to open on Geary at the current site of Rehearsal Factory:


 
On the southern edge of the Davenport area.

Probably a nothing burger but saw a bunch of trailers on site on the auto garbage at Dupont & Bartlett:


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The ground floor of the Faema building at Dupont & Christie is being completely redone:

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