Toronto Five St Joseph | 160.93m | 48s | Five St. Joseph | Hariri Pontarini

TheKingEast said:
Plus, the buildings don't need to be revamped as much as these ones with FIVE. Just cleaned up. Paint and some new windows can go a long way.
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A lot of the buildings don't look that great structurally - they could very well require more than just cleaning and painting if you want them to endure.

AoD
 
ttk77 said:
So how do we incentivize building owners to do this kind of restoration work? If we rely on condo developers to buy up the buildings and do the restoration then we're unlikely to get back the vast majority of shops that make up the character of Yonge st.
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Simple. These restored buildings will bring in higher end retailers. Even if they are Tim Hortons, Starbucks, Aroma, or even banks like TD/RBC, the landlords will be getting a lot more rent having large corporations renting out these units rather than small junky businesses who can barely afford their rent. Here's to hoping most landlords on Yonge St. eventually realize that by restoring their buildings, they'd make a lot more money in the long run.
 
Like was said above, it's a double-edged sword. We end up with the same few corporate places, or places that only meet the needs of the upper strata of the population, and there's less opportunity for people to start independent businesses because rents everywhere are too high. Yonge St. doesn't necessarily need to be the place for small, quirky businesses to grow, but you need that somewhere. Can't all be banks and Shoppers and Starbucks. Plus corporate places might be less adaptable to setting up business in narrow hundred year old buildings.
 
devjohnson said:
Simple. These restored buildings will bring in higher end retailers. Even if they are Tim Hortons, Starbucks, Aroma, or even banks like TD/RBC, the landlords will be getting a lot more rent having large corporations renting out these units rather than small junky businesses who can barely afford their rent. Here's to hoping most landlords on Yonge St. eventually realize that by restoring their buildings, they'd make a lot more money in the long run.
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But that's part of what I'm getting at. A large part of the character on Yonge is the types of shops that line the street. Raise the rents in those buildings and you'll lose a lot of what makes Yonge st what it is. Sure it will be pretty, but it will also be sterile. What I was trying to ask was how you entice the landlords to restore their properties but keep all the indie shops in the area at the same time. You might not use it, but that tattoo shop in the above photo is a heck of a lot more interesting than another bank branch or Tim Hortons.
 
ttk77 said:
BWhat I was trying to ask was how you entice the landlords to restore their properties but keep all the indie shops in the area at the same time. You might not use it, but that tattoo shop in the above photo is a heck of a lot more interesting than another bank branch or Tim Hortons.
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Yeah, it would be hard to justify a landlord spending a million bucks in a renovation/retrofit for a cheap rent
 
typezed said:
Like was said above, it's a double-edged sword. We end up with the same few corporate places, or places that only meet the needs of the upper strata of the population, and there's less opportunity for people to start independent businesses because rents everywhere are too high. Yonge St. doesn't necessarily need to be the place for small, quirky businesses to grow, but you need that somewhere. Can't all be banks and Shoppers and Starbucks. Plus corporate places might be less adaptable to setting up business in narrow hundred year old buildings.
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I've heard that some businesses along Market Street are struggling because the value of the property has increased so much. I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of them were priced out soon.
 
I don't think anyone can stop the upward "creep" in retail that comes with revitalizing these buildings without very aggressive intervention. I do think the city can at least set up the conditions that encourage use of storefronts in a manner consistent with the current "grain" by stipulating a minimum number of retail units in the zoning bylaw.

AoD
 
Looks pretty neat to me

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Yes that does look pretty good to me too. In lower light though, the balcony panels look a lot darker than they appear in that photo, but nonetheless, the balconies are looking good.
 
ttk77 said:
So how do we incentivize building owners to do this kind of restoration work? If we rely on condo developers to buy up the buildings and do the restoration then we're unlikely to get back the vast majority of shops that make up the character of Yonge st.
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The city already give out grants. Of course, it's chump change for something as extensive as this but, I'm surprised more businesses don't take advantage of it.
 
There aren't that many interesting independent businesses along Yonge. Most of the shops are selling junk. The restoration of these Victorians is NOT a double edged sword, its a win by any standard.
 
I completely agree. There are mostly junky looking nail shops, hair salons and stores selling garbage (which have to be fronts for something because I have no idea how they survive). It's kind of lame to have nothing but a bunch of RBCs but at least they're nice, clean and people actually use them.
 
^^ Agreed. Does the character offered by Yonge's loan sharks and rip-off electronics really trump the character of these once beautiful buildings? I understand the sentimentality for a gritty Yonge St. But these buildings won't sit in modest disrepair for perpetuity, offering cheap rent to peep show artists and e-cig vendors. Eventually they must either be restored or replaced.

Besides, crumbling facades and tacky signage aren't really protecting small business owners from Toronto's big, bad chains. I think some have failed to notice that this stretch of Yonge already has a 7/11, a Subway, a Shoppers, a couple Starbucks, a Popeyes, etc...
 
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