Toronto YC Condos -- Yonge at College | 198.42m | 62s | Canderel | Graziani + Corazza

ndawgg said:
I see an RBC Coming Soon sign on the Yonge facing retail of the 5ive St. Joseph site. It's only a few blocks up. Any chance that it's timed so that when they leave Y&C, they move to Y&StJ?
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No - the developer at Yonge & St Joseph won't be turning over those units to tenants until next winter sometime, possibly even later. Then with build time, any retailer/tenant wouldn't be ready until at least mid-spring.

And in my experience, condo development retail units generally slip, slip, slip slide away into the far far away future, since the developer is focusing on turning over the units to owners.
 
There's also the RBC in Aura just a couple of blocks south of College. I think RBC has adopted the strategy McDonald's had on Yonge St in the 80's, when there was at least one for every subway stop on Yonge, starting at Bloor.
 
I wouldn't mind it if the banks just took up the space of one storefront on Yonge Street and had a few ATMs but that's not the case. Most of these banks take up huge spaces, many times covering 3 or 4 storefronts. It ruins any chance of creating destination retail or building any kind of synergy. That's why these areas fail as retail clusters and end up with dollar stores. No thought is going into getting the right combination of stores and attracting destination retail. One day, I'm sure all of Yonge Street will be a major retail district but it's taking a long time to get there. The landlords/BIA need to start making better choices and waiting for businesses that are a good fit but they also need to take a few risks and be creative.
 
Torontovibe said:
I wouldn't mind it if the banks just took up the space of one storefront on Yonge Street and had a few ATMs but that's not the case. Most of these banks take up huge spaces, many times covering 3 or 4 storefronts. It ruins any chance of creating destination retail or building any kind of synergy. That's why these areas fail as retail clusters and end up with dollar stores. No thought is going into getting the right combination of stores and attracting destination retail. One day, I'm sure all of Yonge Street will be a major retail district but it's taking a long time to get there. The landlords/BIA need to start making better choices and waiting for businesses that are a good fit but they also need to take a few risks and be creative.
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I agree. I wish the City would just mandate or encourage a certain maximum width for at-grade retail, so that block-long banks would be precluded by the sheer physical space afforded them, or limit banks to the second floor, as I’ve heard has been done in N.Y.C.
 
Yeah, if other cities are putting restrictions on banks at street level, why can't we? Oh yeah, because of our timid politicians who roll over for businesses and NIMBYs. If we can restrict strip clubs and dancing, why not banks? Put them on the second floor or in the basement and save the street front retail on Yonge Street, for something more animated, interesting and fun. I miss the old days when Yonge Street was a fun place to be. Bars, night clubs, stores, amusement arcades and cinemas were lined up all along that street and it attracted huge crowds, day and night.
 
Torontovibe said:
I miss the old days when Yonge Street was a fun place to be. Bars, night clubs, stores, amusement arcades and cinemas were lined up all along that street and it attracted huge crowds, day and night.
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In the olde days, there was generally a bank on every block and they certainly attracted crowds as well as the thrill of bank robberies. There used to be at least 6 bank branches on Yonge between College and Wellesley and I don't recall street life being diminished by their presence even if they were only open from 10 AM - 3 PM.
 
Hundreds of branches were shut down throughout the 90s. We are still no where near the peak number with many more customers. I do miss arcades.A tablet just isn't the same.
 
jaborandi said:
In the olde days, there was generally a bank on every block and they certainly attracted crowds as well as the thrill of bank robberies. There used to be at least 6 bank branches on Yonge between College and Wellesley and I don't recall street life being diminished by their presence even if they were only open from 10 AM - 3 PM.
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Well I guess I didn't notice the banks because there was so much else to do. There were cinemas, nightlife and other things to divert my attention. I spent a lot of time there with my friends and family growing up and I always found it an exciting and fun place to go. It started to lose it's appeal around the 1990's when all the entertainment and nightlife started to close. With all the new condos going up, nightlife and fun things to do will probably never return. We all know that condo dwellers hate the sounds of people having fun. All we can hope for now is a decent shopping/restaurant strip on Yonge Street, with maybe a few bars here and there.

If condos like YC are going to go up, they should at least strive to attract some interesting retail. Yonge Street does not need more dry cleaners, nail salons, fast food joints, dollar stores or banks.
 
Interesting retail has an added risk to the oligopoly of companies buying /managing 90% of the retail units in these towers. Expect the usual clients.
 
Torontovibe said:
Yeah, if other cities are putting restrictions on banks at street level, why can't we? Oh yeah, because of our timid politicians who roll over for businesses and NIMBYs. If we can restrict strip clubs and dancing, why not banks? Put them on the second floor or in the basement and save the street front retail on Yonge Street, for something more animated, interesting and fun. I miss the old days when Yonge Street was a fun place to be. Bars, night clubs, stores, amusement arcades and cinemas were lined up all along that street and it attracted huge crowds, day and night.
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It's called retail banking and it's a business. It's also a convenience to the people living nearby (you know, in their 'back yard' so to speak). Cinemas are mega-plexed or otherwise gone. Record stores have vanished and book stores are disappearing. Arcades have been placed by Play Stations.

Remarks like this always make me laugh. It's either a claim that politicians are weak and "roll over" or a rant that politicians have too much power and control everything.

Banks are stable clients and pay there bills.
 
Torontovibe said:
Yonge Street does not need more dry cleaners, nail salons, fast food joints, dollar stores or banks.
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Perhaps Yonge Street doesn't, but apparently, the residents of the neighbourhood do, otherwise there would be no demand for these services and they would soon go out of business.
 
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