Toronto Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR

tnarduzzi said:
Interesting info. That yellow pipe next to the roach is cast iron sewer pipe... (likely 6" diameter).

EDIT: @mdrejhon 200th! <<<<<<<<<
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On second thought, perhaps the roach is indicative of the unsanitary conditions that existed within the fast food tenants that previously occupied the Bay concourse? My guess is the roaches were/are living off of old fries and stale Big Macs!

That said, will that McD's make a return to Union upon completion of the renovations?
 
tnarduzzi said:
Does anybody have information on how many retail tenants have already signed with Osmington? I am specifically interested in trying to calculate what percentage of units *may* be occupied when the lower concourse finally opens. (So far all the confirmed tenants seem to have chosen retail units on the upper-concourse or promenade. As far as I know nothing is yet confirmed for lower-concourse retail. Is that correct?)
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In regard to leasing & real estate at Union:

"Apparently quite a few tenants confirmed, both national and independent. Problem is asking rent is very high. Will likely be a great tenant mix (CRE firm Beauleigh does great work) but 1st gen retail may not be profitable. Commuter flow alone may not drive enough business initially, may take 4-5 years to establish itself after novelty surge, esp. w/ office & res traffic. Read: https://www.bisnow.com/toronto/news...eigh-combatants-of-cookie-cutter-retail-58632 & http://beauleigh.com/drive/Union Station - January 2016.pdf."
-- (Courtesy of Braden Halpin via Twitter.)
 
tnarduzzi said:
In regard to leasing & real estate at Union:

"Apparently quite a few tenants confirmed, both national and independent. Problem is asking rent is very high. Will likely be a great tenant mix (CRE firm Beauleigh does great work) but 1st gen retail may not be profitable. Commuter flow alone may not drive enough business initially, may take 4-5 years to establish itself after novelty surge, esp. w/ office & res traffic. Read: https://www.bisnow.com/toronto/news...eigh-combatants-of-cookie-cutter-retail-58632 & http://beauleigh.com/drive/Union Station - January 2016.pdf."
-- (Courtesy of Braden Halpin via Twitter.)
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Bang-on assessment.

Need fully opened Bay connection without obstructions & good York PATH connections to massive downtown lunch market and also GO RER expansions. It is a huge market, but not before 2020ish.
 
gregv said:
Someone from Eva's Original Chimneys commented on the blog TO article indicating there would be a market at Union this summer. So maybe just a new operator? I really enjoyed the market last year and am hoping something as good will replace it.
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The BlogTO article has been updated with new information regarding the Union station food market. It will be back this year.
A new market from Front Street Foods, the original creators of the Union Station outdoor market, is surfacing at University and Adelaide this June for a three month run. But the Union Station market will live on with new vendors and a new organizing team.

Now simply referred to as Union Summer, the Union Station market will run 7 days a week from June 27 through Sept 5 and feature 21 different food and drink vendors, a licensed area from the team at Parts & Labour Catering, a fresh produce marketplace and live music.

New this year there will also be a free outdoor movie screening every Wednesday evening.

While Union Station was pleased with the success of last year's inaugural effort they reached out to different event producers to bid on putting together this year's market. Ultimately they decided to switch partners and award the contract to BaAM Productions.
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Am going to run a story about the Waterfront transit "reset" (forum thread here: http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/waterfront-transit-reset-phase-1-study.25504/) , concentrating initially on the downtown link between the east and west sides, which could have implications for Union Station - especially if it involved a second terminus (one of the options). What do you think? There's a poll about the alternatives on that thread and keep an eye out for the story which should be up tomorrow. There was a story written four years ago http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2012/08/cityrail-depth-union-station suggesting a second terminal would not be needed if Union Station sacrificed the heritage Bush trainshed and reorganized the space.
 
I was walking through Union earlier and noticed this closure of the Bay concourse. According to Ed Drass there was a flood in the concourse.

I wonder if they will use this an excuse to close it permanently?

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I'm amazed that it's still open. Once it was down to just this section I thought it would be a few weeks or a month at most. They can't close it until the moat is open, though, because I can't possibly see the bay north detour being enough to move that many passengers, but similarly I'm amazed the moat still isn't open.
 
Megaton327 said:
I'm amazed that it's still open. Once it was down to just this section I thought it would be a few weeks or a month at most. They can't close it until the moat is open, though, because I can't possibly see the bay north detour being enough to move that many passengers, but similarly I'm amazed the moat still isn't open.
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Work on the moat is moving ahead but it still looks MANY weeks away from completion.
 
I walk through the VIA concourse a couple times a day going to/from the Union subway stop. It looks like they are almost doing a full gut of the interior there. Does anyone know what the heritage components in this space are? Based on what's left standing in certain areas it can't be much.
 
Any idea when it closed? I heard mid-Sunday but a gent manning the TTC crash gate said something about "three days".
The "Leather Shop Bypass", to the left in the photo, is going to be overloaded.
There are still people - infrequent visitors to the station - who use the "Bay Concourse" for bearings, I reckon.
 
Richard White said:
I was walking through Union earlier and noticed this closure of the Bay concourse. According to Ed Drass there was a flood in the concourse.

I wonder if they will use this an excuse to close it permanently?

View attachment 77777
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I have video of it leaking during yesterday's downpour, will try to post later.

Something else that happened while I was taping: a security guard came up to me and said I couldn't videotape. I started to argue with him, saying it was public space, when another fellow security guard grabbed him and said no, it was fine, and he told me I could take as many videos as I wanted.

Okay...
 
DSC said:
Work on the moat is moving ahead but it still looks MANY weeks away from completion.
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Question on the Bay concourse. So...following the story...York concourse opened last summer for Pan Am Games. Bay concourse closed in August 2015. With respect to the Bay concourse photo above - isn't it fully closed for renovation already?
 
TransitBart said:
Question on the Bay concourse. So...following the story...York concourse opened last summer for Pan Am Games. Bay concourse closed in August 2015. With respect to the Bay concourse photo above - isn't it fully closed for renovation already?
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Not entirely. It is closed for the most part but there is still a passageway through it allowing for a connection to the TTC. The Leather Shop Bypass is not equipped to handle the crowds at Union Station so they have to keep that passageway open for the time being.

This gets me to thinking... why did they remove the stairs that went from the moat to the plaza out front of the station? I know they were not AODA friendly but at least it provided an option for those who want to access the station?
 
Big, big nit.....about the Leather Shop Bypass.....

....The wheelchair ramp is excessively conservative! Even ramp angle requirements in law is not that conservative, and the other ramp angles in the station, such as between the Grand Hall and VIA Concourse is much more steep.

The ramp pokes out too far and creates a massive pinch point.

Fix that pinch point by using a smidgen steeper ramp, and you can double pedestrian throughput.
 
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