Toronto The Well | 174.03m | 46s | RioCan Living | a—A

Thanks! And while I am glad that this end is fina
in opening up it is sad that I will have to share Draper Street Park with the hordes as it was quite secluded and peaceful before! Lol
 
First time I went to the well, loved it- but surprised at how dark a lot of it was.

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afransen said:
I went early on and it was slammed, overpriced, etc.

Has the hype and crowding died down? It's a nice space, but only enjoyable if it is not a 30 minute wait to get a $20 sandwich.
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Rascacielo said:
When the place is still busy 3 months after its opening, I’m not sure you can call it a hype. I agree that some of the offerings are overpriced, although I don’t think the merchants price their products any higher than at their other outlets (the ones that I frequent anyway, like Gus Tacos). I guess despite the constant chatters about inflation , people are still willing to spend money on eating out. Look at the recent restaurant openings on the higher end - Aera, Mott 32, Nobu etc - $70 for a glass of cocktail anyone?
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It's servicing the demand:

1. All the people in 12 CityPlace towers have no food hall. The demographic is young people who cook less and socialize more -> food hall is a good fit with more choices, more affordable and more social than restaurants. 2 more towers in CityPlace with 1400 units with possession Q4 2024/Q1 2025
2. The Well residents of 1700 residential units
3. All the retail, office workers at the Well and King West for lunch time
4. King West area residents in the buildings near by, same demographics (shared with Waterworks for demand now)
5. West of Entertainment District, all the buildings between Peter and Spadina on King is a good catchment
6. Visitors coming to Toronto to shop, walk, explore the Well on the weekends + visitors from out of town, GTA, outside of ON etc.
7. People stopping by before after Entertainment events near by: Exhibition Place + Rogers Center + Theater District etc.

The math is mathing
 
^There are ~4000 units being occupied now east of Spadina along King being occupied and that area is under-served with retail.
 
The second floor is a near dead zone. Aside from Arcadia Earth, there’s not much going on there. Several (at least 3) retail spaces are still vacant and the huge RBC branch by the main escalators doesn’t help. When I explored the floor with some friends last weekend, the down escalator near Arcadia Earth (connecting that area to Indigo and Wellington Market) was not only out of service, but was blocked off, so you had to walk to the other end to go down, or take the elevator/ emergency stairway. I noticed there’s a still closed set of escalators somewhere in the middle of the ‘galleria’ on the Wellington St side, connecting all 3 floors, but there’s only one escalator between each floor, so I don’t know if it’s meant to go up or down. They need to do more to animate that floor, maybe by having at least one F&B tenant (if the vacant retail space is even set up for that), or it will become a ghost floor.
 
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The should help The Well even more. The National Bar/Entertainment:

National - The Well Toronto

thewell.blackjetdigital.ca thewell.blackjetdigital.ca

National is a restaurant & entertainment venue inspired by North American tastes, with games and events, extraordinary food and select craft beers. An ideal place to unwind with friends, host a private event, or soak up the sun on the patio.

Expect long, communal tables and ample seating, making it the perfect place to meet new people, and gather with friends for brunch, lunch, or dinner. Private rooms are also available to accommodate business lunches and intimate gatherings. Or maybe choose to settle old scores on the ping pong and foosball tables, or head downstairs to bowl a few frames in the alley.

The food menu at National is big and well-considered, perfectly paired with our curated selection of craft beers from small North American brewers. A huge oyster bar and robust wine and cocktail menu are also sure to round out your options.

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Brands said:
The should help The Well even more. The National Bar/Entertainment:

National - The Well Toronto

thewell.blackjetdigital.ca thewell.blackjetdigital.ca

National is a restaurant & entertainment venue inspired by North American tastes, with games and events, extraordinary food and select craft beers. An ideal place to unwind with friends, host a private event, or soak up the sun on the patio.

Expect long, communal tables and ample seating, making it the perfect place to meet new people, and gather with friends for brunch, lunch, or dinner. Private rooms are also available to accommodate business lunches and intimate gatherings. Or maybe choose to settle old scores on the ping pong and foosball tables, or head downstairs to bowl a few frames in the alley.

The food menu at National is big and well-considered, perfectly paired with our curated selection of craft beers from small North American brewers. A huge oyster bar and robust wine and cocktail menu are also sure to round out your options.

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I heard about this bowling alley, sounds like a fun bar. Im guessing the 2nd half of welllington market will open in the fall?
 
I like the idea of folks living and working above a mall. It totally makes sense to me. I love the complex. I also love the big swing it took architecturally, and hope it naturally evolves over the years buuuut… (and I’m likely just echoing past sentiments)

There’s quite a lot of dead spaces. I don’t mean “there’s a store coming soon”, I mean places where there’s nothing; no reason to be other than passing through. There’s maybe a tiny bank of elevators or stairwell. But otherwise just brick and an ad.

This feels even bigger because of the scale of things. I try to compare how it feels to stand on the little bridge at the top of the eaton centre vs the third level of the Well. It’s a gargantuan difference. It almost feels brutalist in scale, if that makes any sense. But that’s the cathedral-esque thing they were going for, no?

I walked through almost everywhere and barely remember a single store. Maybe it was the darkness, or the soaring airy space that distracted, but the storefronts felt very flat. It immediately made me wonder if they’re allowed to put anything out front. Like, would we ever see a “sidewalk sale”? Maybe that’s kinda junky, but I feel like in a lot of cases, I’d have already passed the door before I knew what was inside, and would likely not just wander inside. I figure in an enclosed mall, everything has a wide entrance with products up front to draw you in. Here, not so much.

It’s an interesting take on residencies over retail, and however folks take to it (or not) over the next twenties years will be an interesting Toronto story.

It’s not going to become Aura and its basement, but it I do wonder if the desired class of clientele will maintain. Cuz at a certain level, one can afford to live in a place like this but maybe not constantly shop here. In some ways it’s kinda like the Distillery- folks living over a mall that caters to visitors more than residents.

In some ways, and hopefully someone with more knowledge than I can speak to this- it kind of reminds me of Crescent Town- where things were designed as a contained community connected by a series of outdoor walkways.
 
Rascacielo said:
The second floor is a near dead zone. Aside from Arcadia Earth, there’s not much going on there. Several (at least 3) retail spaces are still vacant and the huge RBC branch by the main escalators doesn’t help. When I explored the floor with some friends last weekend, the down escalator near Arcadia Earth (connecting that area to Indigo and Wellington Market) was not only out of service, but was blocked off, so you had to walk to the other end to go down, or take the elevator/ emergency stairway. I noticed there’s a still closed set of escalators somewhere in the middle of the ‘galleria’ on the Wellington St side, connecting all 3 floors, but there’s only one escalator between each floor, so I don’t know if it’s meant to go up or down. They need to do more to animate that floor, maybe by having at least one F&B tenant (if the vacant retail space is even set up for that), or it will become a ghost floor.
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The units are also very wide/large, so the density of interesting things is not great for walking along those levels.
 
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