Toronto The Well | 174.03m | 46s | RioCan | Hariri Pontarini

Agreed. The Eaton Centre's interior was impressive and had its own innate charms. It's how its exterior greeted Yonge Street that was abysmal. It made the place as a whole feel oddly schizo.... like a bunker that had impressive public spaces trapped within.

This project, however, feels really great... I'm impressed by the materials and details I'm seeing.
 
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From the Tridel Livecam during the windy evening of November 30, 2022:

Tridel Livecam of The Well November 30, 2022.jpg
 
cadice said:
Looks like the park will be built

Can’t have exposed railways infront of this
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Do you have any actual news about the rail deck park?

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I love this project for its city-building quality and generally solid architecture, but I can't help but feel how mediocre the retail and restaurant tenants have been. I guess it's a combination of Riocan looking for stable boring tenants and this being off our traditional retail arteries, but damn. O+B restaurants occupying the patios of what will be one of the most appealing streets is so sad. And imagine if Simons actually was in there? Instead we have an eyewear store and Adidas...
 
hbf92 said:
I love this project for its city-building quality and generally solid architecture, but I can't help but feel how mediocre the retail and restaurant tenants have been. I guess it's a combination of Riocan looking for stable boring tenants and this being off our traditional retail arteries, but damn. O+B restaurants occupying the patios of what will be one of the most appealing streets is so sad. And imagine if Simons actually was in there? Instead we have an eyewear store and Adidas...
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It is an unfortunate and sad state of our economy. These boring corporate chainy tenants are the only ones that can afford the rents here I bet.
No small creative independent stores or restaurants can. And Riocan also probably prefer the stability of the old boring Scotiabank over others.
 
hbf92 said:
I love this project for its city-building quality and generally solid architecture, but I can't help but feel how mediocre the retail and restaurant tenants have been. I guess it's a combination of Riocan looking for stable boring tenants and this being off our traditional retail arteries, but damn. O+B restaurants occupying the patios of what will be one of the most appealing streets is so sad. And imagine if Simons actually was in there? Instead we have an eyewear store and Adidas...
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As others have pointed out, there literally isn't the space needed for a Simons store in this complex, without the store taking over office space. Simons would have been an amazing anchor store for The Well, but it's just not physically designed to allow for the kind of store they'd need, which is why we get smaller anchor stores like Adidas.
 
I'm sure over time the retail mix here will develop i's own vibe - it's never going to be a fashion mall like Yorkdale or Eaton Centre. My biggest concern is the amount of space on the second level that was planned to be retail was ultimately leased to office tenants, or inward facing businesses like Sweat and Tonic. I fear it's going to make that upper level a dead zone after hours, where folks who wander too close to the Konrad or Warner Music doors are shooed away by security.

I know RioCan can't make any brands sign leases, but preserving the main areas of the mall for retail should have been priority one.

On a side note, I also think signing such a massive space to Arcadia Earth was a huge mistake. I just don't see it being popular for more than a few years... and then what?
 
I would never pre-suppose to speak on what the original leasing strategy was..........

But....perhaps..........Alama Draft House was mused about..........I dunno, just sayin.......

Sadly, sometimes the creative doesn't work out..............

Pandemics, changing consumer habits, major retailers blowing up in a new market (in the bad sense)

It may be that leasing some spots wasn't quite as easy as one might have hoped............

Just a thought.
 
DavidCapizzano said:
I'm sure over time the retail mix here will develop its own vibe - it's never going to be a fashion mall like Yorkdale or Eaton Centre. My biggest concern is the amount of space on the second level that was planned to be retail was ultimately leased to office tenants, or inward facing businesses like Sweat and Tonic. I fear it's going to make that upper level a dead zone after hours, where folks who wander too close to the Konrad or Warner Music doors are shooed away by security.

I know RioCan can't make any brands sign leases, but preserving the main areas of the mall for retail should have been priority one.

On a side note, I also think signing such a massive space to Arcadia Earth was a huge mistake. I just don't see it being popular for more than a few years... and then what?
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Arcadia reminds me of when I went to see teamlabs borderless in Tokyo, Japan. I would imagine that after the popularity wears down for the locals, it will still be a popular attraction for tourists. There is also the option of redeveloping the exhibit over and over again after every few years to keep it new and fresh, or just redevelop the space into something else after Arcadia is done with it.
 
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