"A 6-story office building has been topped off. It's located a bit north of the North-West intersection of Kennedy & Sheppard."
That site was dormant for years...good to see something finally go up there, although I'd prefer they hold off on future construction around Agincourt Mall until the Sheppard subway is finished
"Also I was at Scarborough Town Centre today and just wanted to mention how sleek and modern the 360 looked."
I was actually a bit disappointed by 360...it's not round and it has a large boxy part on the side that acts as a precast parasite. I have to admit, though, that it is impressive in some ways...it looms over Brimley and can seen from very far away. The townhomes are inexcusably awful, though...maybe the worst I've ever seen.
"I recall Loblaws is building the new format Real Canadian Superstore at this location."
They started grading the old State Farm site almost two years ago...they finally got permission to proceed with the construction of the Real Canadian Superstore.
"a Chinese shopping plaza at Midland and McNicoll"
There was supposed to be a Building Box here a few years ago but it was fought and defeated by local NIMBYs. I forget if a Rona is going in or not...there's quite a bit of land. I'd have to check out the size of the Chinese strip mall to be sure. The construction wakes me up some mornings but I rarely see the area in daylight so it's hard to keep up. The farm between the rail line and Kennedy was for sale forever...don't know if it's been sold, either in full or in part (since the farm was split when McNicoll was pushed through c.1995).
"across from Pacific Mall, Splendid China Tower (a Canadian Tire big-box store now being converted into another massive Chinese mall in the area) has metal frames in place for a Chinese-style facade."
Watching this get built every day, I must say the work looks really shoddy so far. It'll be even more craptacular than Market Village, for sure. I'm wondering how they're gonna fit a rail over/underpass here - GO service cannot be improved without it (and at Sheppard, Huntingwood, Finch, McNicoll, Kennedy, Denison, 14th, #7, Kennedy, McCowan, etc....so much for quick and easy GO improvements in this case). It's been about 15 years and still no sign of them actually caring about this part of the city.
"Deliberate landlord decision? I wonder if that's a first..."
I thought State Farm moved to the 905 (not sure about Telus...miketoronto would know).
I'd love to know what will become of the three remaining corners of Brimley & Progress. The SW corner was zoned for multiple condos but was for sale forever (the sign has fallen over and lies rotting). The SE corner might become a big box pad, but hopefully it won't. The NW corner (really, the Schick Court land) once saw a proposal for 7 towers and an office building, but lies fallow now, soaking up the smell of fresh cookies (used to smell like pickles, too, and it will soon smell like cardboard). They desperately need a large library somewhere in STC...the parking lot between the federal building and the YMCA would work, as would the parking lots south of the Bell building and west of the Civic Centre.
