Toronto One Bloor East | 257.24m | 76s | Great Gulf | Hariri Pontarini

andrewpmk said:
There's lots of other lots around Yonge and Bloor where competing condo developments could be built. The Four Seasons sells for insane prices in spite of not being directly at a major intersection. Any developer can buy a run down building somewhere in this area (Brass Rail strip club anyone?), tear it down, build million dollar condos on it and PROFIT!!! Luxury condos in downtown Toronto are a terrible investment because of this.

Also if being near two subway lines is really important to you, there is also Bloor & St. George or Bloor & Spadina which aren't anywhere near as expensive as Yonge & Bloor. Also don't forget about Yonge & Sheppard (nice, though further from downtown) and Kennedy & Eglinton (not very nice). Union might count as well (subway-GO train interchange). In 2020 or so when the Eglinton LRT opens then Eglinton & Yonge (and Eglinton & Allen) will become subway interchanges as well. However, I have the nagging suspicion that the sort of ultra rich people who buy developments like this do not use public transit and do not care where the subway lines are. If this development is anything like the Four Seasons, there will be massive underground parking garages filled with lots of expensive cars.
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Just a note re. Stollery's: They own the land the store is on... so they don't have monthly lease payments... Its one part of the family holdings so who knows what the balance sheets look like.
 
pw20 said:
Just a note re. Stollery's: They own the land the store is on... so they don't have monthly lease payments... Its one part of the family holdings so who knows what the balance sheets look like.
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Well I've never seen any line ups to get in there... but who knows maybe their selling really well. In any case once 1 Bloor is completed (sometime in 2050) maybe the foot traffic will pick up and Stollery's will get some new affection from the passersby.
 
I would think that once One Bloor is complete the Stollery's property will be even more valuable. And if it's owned by the family, there is nothing preventing them from making a redevelopment deal that includes space for the store.

It may be silly of me, but I think that leaving that corner as a low-rise shows a lack of civic pride -- it is begging for a signature high-rise building.
 
Owner responds

Uncle Teddy said:
The only thing the Stollery's folk may have to worry about is property taxes. I'm sure they will cash out big at some point.
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A few years ago I asked the owner if he was planning on selling any time soon...he responded with surprising scorn at the suggestion with something like, "WHY would I want to do that! I own the building...it's all paid for!"...
 
Tulse said:
It may be silly of me, but I think that leaving that corner as a low-rise shows a lack of civic pride -- it is begging for a signature high-rise building.
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I think quite the opposite, I hope that block stays intact. Look at the stock there for goodness sakes (sans the 1980's addition above Stollery's)! There's plenty of room for development elsewhere. How about imploding that mess nearby on the north/west corner of Charles and Yonge? There's plenty of space there for re-development and few would miss that eyesore.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
I think quite the opposite, I hope that block stays intact. Look at the stock there for goodness sakes (sans the 1980's addition above Stollery's)! There's plenty of room for development elsewhere. How about imploding that mess nearby on the north/west corner of Charles and Yonge? There's plenty of space there for re-development and few would miss that eyesore.
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Well, we can at least agree that one thing Yonge street in not in short supply of is eyesores.
 
Big Daddy said:
Well, we can at least agree that one thing Yonge street in not in short supply of is eyesores.
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And not in short supply of some good to great aging stock that's being criminally neglected or defaced.
 
Automation Gallery said:
Thats crazy talk..the guy is a businessman...as soon as a developer hands out a wad of cash (2-3 times market value) its gone.
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Use and no... I used to know the family fairly well.

First of all there are about two families involved- the Stollery clan and another family who is managing the store for them.

The land and building is paid for so they aren't paying rent. Subsequently they don't have rent costs like other stores on the strip. They just have property taxes. (that being said a large chunk of retail has become a residential play these days). And yes... they could get more money by selling the land - but when you don't have management that is looking forward strategically and simply holding onto vestiges of the past... you don't make rational decisions. Again from a balance sheet perspective - the store may be "profitable"

The family also sees the store as a source of pride (for whatever reason).

That being said - the family also has significant other land holdings and the store isn't a main concern.

Long story short... its a mess of intersts - I would be shocked if they closed anytime soon.
 
I think it would be spectacular if they did a terrace-style shopping centre on the site of the site of the Stollery shop, and kept its facade as part of one of the terraces- Stollery's could even stay in its current location once the project is done. A terrace opening out towards Yonge and Bloor would almost make the corner feel like part of an amphitheater.

I.e. here, without the monstrous towers:

cond-1.jpg


The%20Lifestyle%20Center.jpg
 
pw20 said:
The land and building is paid for so they aren't paying rent. Subsequently they don't have rent costs like other stores on the strip. They just have property taxes. (that being said a large chunk of retail has become a residential play these days). And yes... they could get more money by selling the land - but when you don't have management that is looking forward strategically and simply holding onto vestiges of the past... you don't make rational decisions. Again from a balance sheet perspective - the store may be "profitable"
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When I worked at Yonge & Bloor in the early 90's there are three other buildings between Stollerys & the Uptown cinemas that are (or were) owned by one fellow who is a lawyer. He may be dead by now, he was probably in his 60's back then. If I recall he owned two buildings that were joined, and then one other. He was obsessive about managing the laneway in behind the shops, which is how we came to know and love him (not). So basically it's possibly still a hodgepodge of owners south of Stollerys.
 
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