Toronto Sherway Gardens Expansion | ?m | 2s | Cadillac Fairview | DIALOG

[junctionist]

I once remember Mr. Tory talking about how the Scarborough Town Centre was the only remaining "city centre" in Toronto without adequate transit (as a reason for building the subway), and I couldn't help but think about South Etobicoke.

The mayor probably used the name of the mall for the whole area. Scarborough's city centre is far more than just a mall: it has a civic centre, public square and an urban district of office buildings and condos. It's easier to justify building rapid transit to a district like that versus just a mall.

Mall owners sometimes promote their properties as "town centres", but only when convenient to commerce. They're not going to tolerate many of the kinds of activities that happen in real city centres: protests, youth hanging out or even something as simple as a person handing out brochures regarding their views on a contentious issue like abortion.

It would be good to extend the subway to Sherway Gardens because it's a major destination for consumers. It could be the centre of a dense city neighbourhood one day. It would also provide a new hub for suburban bus routes. To remove the many Mississauga Transit buses driving through Toronto's streets to Islington Station would be a good thing. Sherway Gardens is quite close to Mississauga.

 

[interchange42]

Mi-Way Transit buses will be moving to a new terminal at Kipling Station in a few years, but yes, instead of that the move should have been to new stations on a two-stop extension of the Bloor-Danforth line. That extension simply is not on the City's or Province's radar right now though, even though with plans for significantly more density along Dundas West near the East Mall and down by Sherway Gardens (as mentioned by @toaster29), it should be.

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[drum118]

Mi-Way Transit buses will be moving to a new terminal at Kipling Station in a few years, but yes, instead of that the move should have been to new stations on a two-stop extension of the Bloor-Danforth line. That extension simply is not on the City's or Province's radar right now though, even though with plans for significantly more density along Dundas West near the East Mall and down by Sherway Gardens (as mentioned by @toaster29), it should be.

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The ward councilor who is now the local MPP as well being vice chair of TTC, has try since 2005 to get the extension built to Cloverdale and has fallen on deaf ears. He doesn't support the line going to Sherway. I don't support the extension as well.

Cloverdale under the Big Move was to be the Gateway Hub, not the plan Kipling to be in operation by 2019/20 now.

Having the Gateway Hub would kick start the redevelopment for the area and deal with TTC current issues of dead-heading time for their bus routes, lack of space for the buses and no accessibility access to GO.

If Sherway Area was redevelop, it wouldn't come close to STC to have a subway to it.

 

[mustangjay]

I know i don't post much on this forum, I'm more of a fly on the wall but Sherway has a special place in my life for me. Since 1990 I've been going there and its changed so much. Once having such nice Christmas displays to a plan book now, its sad with what kids miss nowadays.

I pop in to Sherway way once to twice a week (mostly for the Lego store, Timothy's and HMV) I use the Saks entrance and it is so dead, I also got word from a realtor that they are not happy with the sales at Sherway. I also heard the many patrons miss the old food court as well as I, it was so different and unique. Its a shame that CF failed to notice what they had with that gem, I find the new food court somewhat disappointing with the limited selection and overall bland feel to it. You would thing having a central square like Sherway the food court location was prime for a slight upgrade.

Anyway thats my insight, I can bring more updates if anyone is interested.

From what I've heard and observed, you're probably right. Word on the street is the mall's traffic has plateaued in recent years and the new wing has done little to stem the hemorrhaging of customers to nearby Square One. The newly opened De Beers store seems to be a bust and it escapes me why they opted to open their Toronto store at Sherway instead of Yorkdale or Bloor Street where the real money is. In the end, Sherway is more of a preppy, slightly upscale suburban mall; not the place where people go to lay down $3,000 for an outfit. Saks made this same mistake in the U.S., opening in malls where it underperformed and that subsequently closed. I think now HBC's dream of opening up to 8 Saks Fifth Avenue locations across Canada may appear a bit ambitious.

 

[Towered]

I also heard the many patrons miss the old food court as well as I, it was so different and unique. Its a shame that CF failed to notice what they had with that gem, I find the new food court somewhat disappointing with the limited selection and overall bland feel to it. You would thing having a central square like Sherway the food court location was prime for a slight upgrade.

I couldn't agree more. The food court under the Zeidler tent was stunning and unique, and it was a big mistake to move it to the utterly generic new one instead of doing a subtle upgrade and renovation on the existing one. Really, really dumb move, but then again I expect no less from CF these days. They have no feel for good design.

 

[interchange42]

You may have seen the Indigo has opened at Sherway - it's design has garnered some press of late. Here are my shots of it!

I was rather hoping that the store would over look the hall here at the second floor level, but it wasn't to be.

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[interchange42]

Meanwhile, besides the area where Nordstrom is going in, there are approximately a dozen other stores still going through a shuffle from older spots to new larger ones, along with those that are new to the mall still opening.

Sport Chek is preparing to opening this summer in an area that is approximately ⅓ of the size of the former Sears on the site, the Saks Fifth Avenue having taken the other ⅔s.

While the exterior has mostly morphed, there are still some vestiges of the old Sears exterior (above) to bury behind new cladding. On the south side of the mall, meanwhile, another new parking garage is being completed beside where Nordstrom will go in.

The ground floor glad for Nordstrom has been poured (above). Finally, back around to the north side where Indigo has opened: the east wall of the Indigo is rather inexpensively clad, and painted black. Beside it is the Holt Renfrew store which will close when the new Holt Renfrew opens at Square One in Mississauga. Bulldozers will no doubt move into the current Holts site for a rebuild of that portion of Sherway too.

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[toaster29]

From what I've heard and observed, you're probably right. Word on the street is the mall's traffic has plateaued in recent years and the new wing has done little to stem the hemorrhaging of customers to nearby Square One. The newly opened De Beers store seems to be a bust and it escapes me why they opted to open their Toronto store at Sherway instead of Yorkdale or Bloor Street where the real money is. In the end, Sherway is more of a preppy, slightly upscale suburban mall; not the place where people go to lay down $3,000 for an outfit. Saks made this same mistake in the U.S., opening in malls where it underperformed and that subsequently closed. I think now HBC's dream of opening up to 8 Saks Fifth Avenue locations across Canada may appear a bit ambitious.

Disagree with your anecdotal opinion, here. Yorkdale caters to very high and, because of its position as a transit hub, low and very low income earners. Sherway caters to universally high to mid-high income earners. Also, "nearby" is quite a relative term. It takes about the same amount of time to get to Yorkdale as it does to get to Square One from Sherway Gardens.

 

[Jasonzed]

 

[duper]

SportChek on North Queen has closed down and they are moving inventory to the new location in the mall.

Oddly, there's still no grand opening date posted on the SportChek website or in the mall. I'm actually looking forward to this, as the SportChek at Yorkdale is great, but that mall is hell to get to and impossible to park at.

Sherway, in comparison, has ample parking.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Where would the subway station for the Line 2 extension go, that was voted for yesterday? Across the street, The Queensway? May need a covered walkway if so.

 

[toaster29]

Where would the subway station for the Line 2 extension go, that was voted for yesterday? Across the street, The Queensway? May need a covered walkway if so.

The original proposal from decades ago had the station at West Mall and The Queensway, but I'd like to think that a stations directly in the mall (or attached) would be more beneficial, (with an entrance at North Queens & The Queensway).

 

[interchange42]

The spot at the southeast corner of Queensway and The West Mall is still considered as the future station location. Any redevelopment along the proposed route of the extension must be built in a way to not block it, eg. the foundations of new buildings must avoid the route (which leads to the se corner station location).

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[drum118]

Oct 3
The Nordstrom store will not open until 2017 and money is no option for the store construction. All the precast is from Lexington KY and thats a very costly drive, let along duty to bring it across the borders in US funds. I guess no one up here is able to do the work to their standards.

Looks like another pad going in west of the Keg. The old Holt store looks out of place now with it gone.

80 photos up on site. After going to a meeting close by, stop to have a look at the mall.

 

[Consilium]

An update (01/29/2017)

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1: Windows have been installed on the new Nordstrom's south side.
2: The north hallway leading from the centre court curves as it approaches the Gourmet Fare food court.
3: The former Holt Renfrew entrance has been blocked off from the public.
4: Union Chicken Rotisserie will be opening soon across the entrance from Shoppers Drug Mart.
5: Apparently Zara will be opening in the south wing anchored by Nordstrom.

Photo Credit: all myself