Toronto Emerald Park Condos | 128.92m | 40s | Bazis | Rosario Varacalli

[Bill123]

Even, I doubt vacancy rate is that high,.... you're assuming that just because space doesn't have coming soon sign (only 5) then it'll be for lease (only about 12-15 such signs),... some of the stores without signage could be owners getting ready to open their own stores,... I mean, you're about to open your own store - do you have coming soon sign? If so, you're either the cell phone hacking/repair place or one of the 4 (& counting) sushi places,...

There's a for sale sign for one of the stores in the food court,... likely brought in 2008 due to Loblaw's T&T being anchor,.. but can't sell until now because no one will buy unfinished retail space,...

I really don't understand why they would do this one store a week release,... the shell for all the 1st floor stores without Yonge frontage are already done waiting to be leased, renovated and stocked,...

That Feb 2016 TTC entrance opening date is very tentative,... and even if Bazis manage to finish that TTC entrance by then (cement all done, just need to add tiles, trimming, flooring and railing!),... you should still add about 6 more months for TTC inspection and corrections,...

Most of the local pedestrian trafffic are from Avondale Condos on other side of Yonge Street,... when they walk to Sheppard-Yonge TTC station they go via Proctor&Gamble building and thus bypass the Yonge-Annedale/Poyntz intersection,... the best way to get them into EmeraldPark retail space will be via food court with authentic, cheap, ready-made dishes,... since most condo folks are young single, couples, small families and don't want to spend too much time preparing their own meals.

EmeraldPark food court is in back forcing people to walk through 1st floor retail area to get to food court,.... that strategy didn't work at NorthYorkCityCentre so their food court was relocated,... Yonge frontage stores varies from 10-20 feet frontage with 20-50 feet depth, these are decent size stores (some much bigger than the PacificMall type cubical stores) that could easily attact customers but they don't really integrate well with the rest of the mall,... also missing a real mall entrance on Yonge Street,...

I wouldn't count on any of the retails stores from SheppardCentre to move in just because of their renovation. SheppardCentre retail space has been half empty for years and years,... they have lots of empty retail space for them to shift around any retailers during their renovation. And besides why would you want the SheppardCentre's junk jewellery or Bell store? Every Asian mall in the GTA has more than enough junk jewellery and cell phone/accessories stores,....

In your washroom time calculation, you're assuming each store will only have one store worker,... some will have two especially the food court places.

I don't have floor plans for second floor,... I suspect they were last changed early this year as there was a number of Committee of Adjustments meetings for Metro,.. it seems to me that Metro brought the entire second floor including the LCBO,.... the shell seems to be complete and Adonis contractors are probably working on the interior now,... thus, I haven't seen the 2nd floor yet,... Metro was supposed to be geared towards ready-made food and have an on-site food eating area,... Adonis seems to be keeping the ready-made food theme and on-site food eating area as there seems to be an outdoor patio as well,...

For the first floor retail, every single owner, sales and possible tenant seems to be Chinese,... Adonis execution will be key,... Adonis in Quebec caters to Persian & MiddleEastern, Adonis in Ontario is supposed to be more multi-cultural,... so far, Adonis in Scarborough & Mississauga caters to Persian, Lebanese, MiddleEastern,.. but carry some dry/can goods for other multi-cultural markets,... which is basically crap,... I mean, a real Italian guy wouldn't be caught dead eating tomato sauce from a can,.. they insist it has to be fresh ingredients simmer for X hours, just the way mama makes it! Adonis needs to carry fresh vegetables and other fresh ingredients for various ethnic markets.

Let's say Adonis opens by year end or early in new year,... just in time for Chinese New Year,... 1st floor Chinese retailers put on a Chinese New Years celebration and shows Adonis there is a local Chinese market,... would that encourage Adonis to carry more Chinese vegetables and authentic Chinese grocery items? Top 3 ethnicity in North York Centre are Korean (already well served with numerous H-Marts, M2M, and KoreanTowns), Persian (Persian stores along Yonge between Cummer & Steeles) and Chinese,.... Most local Chinese (including myself) end up going to Korean H-Marts or M2M to grab Korean food thinking well, at least it's Asian and close enough,.... but mostly we end up going out of the area for grocery shopping,... closest place are Finch & Leslie or WorldOnYonge-Spring or T&T,... there's nothing local!

Huge number of people going by on subway,... problem is getting them to get off the train to shop here,... WholeFoodsMarket has done a terrible job of that and thus, the store usually has more staff than customers.

You should also keep an eye on the 4800 Yonge development (southwest corner of Yonge & Sheppard),.... zoned for all office (Nestle phase2 many years ago) but Menkes now proposing mixed use with mainly condo, some main floor retail and maybe some office,.... there's been some feelers that city have rejected,... Menkes formalizing proposal and will likely be rejected by city again,... likely end up at OMB.

I was just estimating time needed for the mall to fill up given that on average 1 coming soon sign is put up every week since the keys were handed off to retail owners. I have no way of knowing anyhow other than with the signs. I only know one other unit owner and he says if he can't rent out his unit, he will open his 3rd store there. Most units I think are being rented out. It is not advertised however its on listings exclusive to buyers and realtors/sales reps. Never said they would do one store a week release, was just projecting based on some assumptions. Almost 100% of the units are owned by Chinese so there is that language barrier when getting to know procedures to set up shop which delays the mall even more.

At this point I just want the mall to be filled up so when people come they won't think its just empty stores and then never come again. Since these spaces are relatively small, there is a limit to what businesses can operate here thus you will likely see the usual Asian businesses such as cellphone/nails/dry goods/bootleg whatever/bubble tea/prescription eyewear...

Yes I am aware of 4800 Yonge. I don't think that parking lot is going anywhere soon since Hullmark still has a lot of empty offices.

The Chinese eat anything as long as it tastes good. Around that intersection there is no fresh live fish, Adonis will have that (and they do it very well!). That alone should bring a ton of Chinese in. Persian food already shares a lot of similar ingredients with Chinese food because of silk road so I don't think they will hesitate to set aside some stalls for the few unique Chinese vegetables. Metro might not have "bailed out" but instead realized Adonis was a better fit and "tagged out".

 

[urbandreamer]

Looking up Yonge this AM from the 401 they almost looked cool--green shiny slivers bowing their heads to respect our departed friends to the west.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Been over a month since first floor retailers,... err, retail space investors,.... took possession but still nothing opened or even store design-renovation being done,... I guess, they're all awaiting aproval.

For Metro / Adonis,... I'm hearing EmeraldPark hasn't even delivered the basic shell for them yet,... thus, they haven't accepted possession and thus can't begin their own store construction/renovation/design. Previous speculation was that Adonis would open by year end,... now looks like possession by then and another 6 months or so of store construction/renovation/design so,... thus, Metro-Adonis summer opening if lucky. But I do see some work being done on that 2nd floor supermarket retail space,...

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Attached are recent photos of the streetscape design incorporated around EmeraldPark.
First shows north sidewalk along Bogert where both condo lobbies entrances are right next to parking entrance and loading docks!
Second shows south sidewalk along Poyntz
Third shows west sidewalk along Beecroft - nice grassy boulevard
4th-7th shows Yonge sidewalk streetscape of EmeraldPark
Last 2 shows Yonge sidewalk streetscape of HullmarkCentre right across the street from EmeraldPark

Notice they cheaped out on Yonge Streetscape design VS what HullmarkCentre did
- EmeraldPark did the 6 inch tripping hazzard inground planter VS HullmarkCentre knee high planter that could function as sitting area and offer pedestrian more protection from cars
- EmeraldPark cheaped out and used cement on their property VS HullmarkCentre used dark pavers on their property
- EmeraldPark cheaped out and used cement stairs VS HullmarkCentre granite stairs

For comparison, these last 2 photos are of HullmarkCentre pedestrian sidewalk streetscape,.... right across the street from EmeraldPark

 

[Bill123]

Here is what Adonis looks like:

LCBO sign mount has gone up too.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Wow Bill123, you're a better man than I am,.... I've been trying to sneak into that 2nd floor Metro/Adonis supermarket retail space for the last month without any success,.... doors are always locked.

As for the LCBO mount signage on Yonge Street,.... there's 2 on Yonge Street,... the shorter signage to the north is for LCBO,.... the longer signage to the south is for Metro,... err, I mean Adonis,....

 

[Bill123]

Wow Bill123, you're a better man than I am,.... I've been trying to sneak into that 2nd floor Metro/Adonis supermarket retail space for the last month without any success,.... doors are always locked.

As for the LCBO mount signage on Yonge Street,.... there's 2 on Yonge Street,... the shorter signage to the north is for LCBO,.... the longer signage to the south is for Metro,... err, I mean Adonis,....

Interesting, I see...

To get into Adonis go first to retail first floor. You don't need hardhat or anything just move quickly to the elevators which you can find using the map I posted. Use the far right ones that are big enough to transport construction materials. Go to 3rd floor and keep walking until you are at the middle of the office floor. You can recognize this by seeing the management office sign taped to a door. Then head south to the stairs and go down until you are at level 2 and that's the unlocked door to Adonis I think. If not try the North stairs... Try to avoid management, they usually have hardhats on with boots and are too slim/refined to look like they are in construction. If they see you they will try to get you to leave immediately. Right now they have tarp on the office floor as they have just glued carpet down.

 

[Adjei]

Cheap concrete sidewalks again, what else is new.

 

[salsa]

Cheap concrete sidewalks again, what else is new.

Glass wall podium, plentiful amounts of spandrel.

 

[stjames2queenwest]

The public realm is really dull on this one. But the towers shape and colour really gives a lot.

 

[UD2]

What materials should side walks be made from?

 

[interchange42]

Granite would be great, but it costs mo' money. We have lots to do to improve our public realm, but I'd venture that if there was the money to do fix something, that given the choice, people would vote to spend it on burying wires before they spent it on anything else. I don't think we're going to see stone sidewalks anywhere other than in the areas where rich BIAs are willing to bear much or all of the cost.

42

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

I compared streetscape of EmeraldPark to HullmarkCentre across the street because both were marketed by their respective developers as luxury condo towers,..... over the years we've seen how the developer of EmeraldPark cut corners (and even ceiling height!) where ever possible and deliver something inferior to their original renderings,.... but yet the developers at HullmarkCentre were able to deliver something true to their renderings without cutting corners to line their pockets with more profits at their residents and locals expense,...

Anyways, attached photo of front of EmeraldPark retail podium on Yonge Street showing the new steel truss for signage mounts,....look for LCBO Opening Soon signage and then look to left and right of that signage,..... notice northern one (to your right) is shorter in length and dimension seems to be perfect for LCBO sign,.... whereas southern one is longer in length and dimension seems to be better for Metro,.. no that would be Adonis sign,....

Bill123,.... as for me trying to sneak into the Metro/Adonis 2nd floor supermarket space,.... if you do it and get caught, you could just tell them you have a store on first floor and was looking for washroom and got lost,....... for me, it'll be criminal tresspassing,....

 

[salsa]

Bill123,.... as for me trying to sneak into the Metro/Adonis 2nd floor supermarket space,.... if you do it and get caught, you could just tell them you have a store on first floor and was looking for washroom and got lost,....... for me, it'll be criminal tresspassing,....

Or you can just wait until the supermarket is built, like everyone else is doing. Stop being impatient.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Or you can just wait until the supermarket is built, like everyone else is doing. Stop being impatient.

It's not about being impatient,..... trust me, I'm a very patient person.

The problem is this entire development was originally promised to be completed in Nov 2011,.... then 2013,.... when that wasn't possible, Loblaw's T&T bailed,.... Metro came in with 2015 promised date,.... Metro now bailing out, err, I mean tagging out to thier Adonis arm,..... Metro/Adonis still waiting for delivery of the shell from this developer/builder,..... But let's assume that goes smoothly and developer can deliver by year end an acceptable shell to Metro/Adonis,.... then Metro/Adonis will still need about 4-6 months for their contractors to put in a store,.... thus, right now we shouldn't expect the second floor supermarket to open until summer 2016 at the earliest,..... but judging from how everything is constantly delayed with this project,.....

Anyways, the real problem is all those little guy that brought into those small retail PacificMall type stores on 1st floor retail level like Bill123 who will open his own business or others who will rent out their retail space,.... they already accepted their retail space shell from the developer last September,... but now they really can't do anything with it until the 2nd floor anchor tenant Metro/Adonis supermarket opens,.... because they're the ones that draw in the foot traffic,.... so now all these little guys are left holding the bag paying tax on space they can't use or rent out yet,.... because there's no foot traffic,....

This is what happens when you have an inexperienced developer overpromising too much and under-delivering on everything.