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I posted about this nearly two weeks ago.

First off are you sure that it is Dukes that is going to be rebuilding. From the link in my post it is not clear..........

There were no significant objections raised at the Jan. 27 public meeting convened to consider the proposal to rebuild 611-625 Queen Street West, destroyed by fire two years ago next week. As a result, as soon as developer Hamid Bahrami submits final architectural drawings and details that meet Heritage Services' exterior standards, he is free to proceed.

The destroyed buildings once housed Queen West retail icon Duke's Cycle, which had been in that location for 94 years, as well as Suspect Video's second location and apartments in the buildings' second and third storeys.


His plan is to replace the destroyed heritage designated commercial strip, the only commercial strip in Toronto to be so designated, with what planning department officer Nicole Ivanov describes as a three-storey mixed-use building with storage in the basement, retail on the first floor, and four residential units above, and no parking.

Though there's no definite date set for completion, Ivanov says work should begin shortly.

"People usually get started right away when the appeal period is over," she says
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Regarding the tax situation, Adam Vaughan has been trying to get the site qualified for a tax increment equivalent grant (TIEG). No word on that but he faces an uphill battle as retail space is excluded from the program. The CIP plan is to provide a Tax Increment Equivalent Grant, a refund of up to 60% of taxes. Even though retail does not qualify. What those how care about Toronto should worry about is that what fire did to Queen West, taxes will do to Kensington Market, The Beach, Ossington and many more. After the capping protection is gone these areas will be economically unfeasible.

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-22235.pdf

Through the process of working with the six property owners of these buildings in the aftermath of the fire, I have discovered that any new buildings constructed on the fire site would pay property taxes at the full CVA rate, and would be ineligible for capping protection. The reality of the significant tax increases facing these property owners threatens the viability of redeveloping these properties with street-related commercial uses. The longer the fire site remains vacant, the more severe the social and economic impacts facing Queen West and the broader neighbourhood become. This is why it is in the City’s interest to facilitate a timely and appropriate replacement of the lost fabric of this street.
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From the planning dept...
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-21527.pdf
 
Think about this. It is not viable to rebuild commercial space on Queen West, on land that is already owned. If the redevelopment of these properties had included the need to purchase the land also, it would have only compounded the problem and made it even more un-viable. The added cherry on top is that the calculation of the new tax burden were based on the 2008 MPAC assessments. In the case of Dukes cycle (623-625 Queen St. West) it was woefully under-assessed. The 2008 assessment has these properties valued at $ 654,975.00. As someone who is very familiar with the area, this assessment does not reflect the market. The Cameron House, a much smaller building of similar age is currently listed for more than 2 million. In light of this it is fair to say that being un-viable at a full CVA tax rate of $ 26,598 per year, think about what might happen with a more realistic assessment. If the assessment was updated to a more realistic 3 million, the taxes would rise to more than $120,000 per year.
 
This was really exciting news for the neighbourhood. Having the big bop turn into a urban version of crate and barrell is fantastic. I guess that is a reflection of my interests (ie. yuppie and not goth-kid). Now if only the city could do something about the quality of the streets/sidewalk.
 
Very glad to hear this!!!

Sounds like the whole fire site will be developed in the near future. I would be very interested in seeing what they have in mind for the Dukes site.
 
I was in Duke's the other day getting my bike fixed and asked if there was any word on when they'd be moving back. The fellow I spoke with said that they're thinking as early as next spring.
 
For the record, it looks as if they're building this on a tight budget.

They didn't bother building new hoarding before beginning excavation. The old hoarding was assembled to divide the sidewalk from the site, not for full scale construction. It doesn't stand on it's own and was falling over as earth was removed. There were two guys helplessly holding it up.

I hope this penny pinching isn't an indication of what's to come.
 
4 April 2010:

dsc01991l.jpg
 
Braddale: The site (Duke's portion of the burned out lot) is excavated down to one basement level, and foundation work is proceeding steadily.
 
BobBob said:
Braddale: The site (Duke's portion of the burned out lot) is excavated down to one basement level, and foundation work is proceeding steadily.
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Thanks. I am very interested in seeing what the new building will look like. Hopefully in the near future the whole fire site will be rebuilt.
 
Something just occurred to me: out of all the buildings that were destroyed as a result of the fire, only one of them caused it to start and spread. Wouldn't a court grant all the others the right to claim compensation from the originator of the fire? If so, would the culprit be on the hook for the future increases in property taxes that wouldn't have happened if there were no fire? If so, wouldn't this allow all other buildings to reconstruct and go on with business as usual since the only owner facing financial difficulties would be the one found guilty?
 
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