Yeah....this "plan" is an ill-conceived mess.
The internal road network looks to be designed to squeeze out maximum amount of density without even giving thought to how pedestrians or cars will interact with the space. And on that note, the road connection to Islington would be car accident paradise with the amount of lane switching that goes on right in-front of the area as it currently stands. I'd be shocked if the city wouldnt take an issue with that idiotic planned idea.
The parkland space isnt optimized in any kind of useful way asides from a pissing ground for dogs, the density is overbearing and frankly the area cant absorb this. Clearly they are catering to the car owners, and even if they werent the transit here couldnt absorb any of this. Neither the 110 or 80 buses could absorb the new demand even if the TTC, in a dream world, increased service. There is no higher order transit planned for Queensway (ie: LRT), and even if the city started planning for it nothing would come online until 2050 at the earliest.
So all in all, this is garbage that does nothing except jam residents into an area. I havent taken a look at the retail plan here, but i'm sure that's just as sub-optimal as the rest of this "plan".
As for Cineplex and the Queensway theatre, as discussed above, it's considered one of their flagship locations and they often test different concepts at this location before rolling things out nationwide (ie: think new screen concepts like Screen X, or product offerings like VIP). It does very well from a financial perspective when compared to other locations, and it does draw people in from quite a large radial distance. I'd be surprised if they werent looking to have a similar, significant presence on site. Regarding the company's strategy, they are pivoting (for the moment) to expanding their Junxion and Rec Room concepts since their movie business is flat.
