Mizrahi himself said that they planned to open the retail before the tower was complete.
Let’s say it takes a year to dig the hole and build it to above podium level. That would be a really long time for a building with comparatively shallow lower levels but to be safe, a year to have the retail shell ready to go.
As we know, once a podium is built, towers fly up very quickly. While the tower rises, work can begin inside the Apple Store.
A year of building floors at a very doable 1.5 floors per week would top off the tower in 12 months with cladding having started to climb alongside it.
Now, I don’t think Apple would open under a heavily under construction tower but if it’s topped off and cladding is completed far above the Apple Store, I don’t see why Apple would need to wait for residential units to be ready which would take another year but would happen out of sight. From what I understand, staging is happening behind the building, not on Bloor or Yonge.
Nonetheless, Apple employees at Eaton Centre were told 2 years but I don’t necessarily expect that to be exactly 24 months. It could mean some time in 2020 which people would loosely say is 2 years from 2018 even if it opens several month into the year. For what it’s worth, Apple tends to open stores in the Fall ahead of Holiday shopping. My bet is on late September, 2020. By then, The One will be fully topped off and clad but still a year or so away from completion.