I passed by the Starbucks on the corner of King and George a couple of days ago, and it was closed, boarded up. The units behind it on George St. were also boarded up. There is a sign there that says there was a fire at another unit, but the café was affected as well. I was in a hurry so I didn't read the whole notice, and I don't know how long the Starbucks will be closed, or how extensive the damage was.

It's funny how flammable heritage buildings become once a developer sets its sights on them...

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The fire, I think, was mostly on the George street part of the building. Which looks to be mostly cinderblock, stuccoed over to match the older part on the corner. Neighbourhood rumour has it that the fire began in an air conditioning unit.
 
AndreaPalladio said:
The fire, I think, was mostly on the George street part of the building. Which looks to be mostly cinderblock, stuccoed over to match the older part on the corner. Neighbourhood rumour has it that the fire began in an air conditioning unit.
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The building on George is actually quite old, the wall itself may be newer but behind it dates to mid 19th century. See this
Front-Jarvis%201895.jpg
 
I think I was looking at the southernmost part (where the v.v. messy architects office is?) which may have replaced the smaller building with the awning shown on this picture.
 
According the Lobbyist Registry the above properties are in play.

Easton's Group of Hotels Inc has retained a lobbyist for this site.

Details for Subject Matter Registration: SM32291​


Decision(s) or issue(s) to be lobbied

179-185 King Street East, Toronto

Aerial Pic of the site is below:

1630698916334.png


Site Size: ~ 1160m2/12100ft2

Heritage Status: All of the buildings here are 'listed' but none are designated. This is also a Heritage Conservation District * however that is under appeal*

Street Level Pic:

1630699313957.png

Taken from: https://urbanretailtoronto.com/property/185-king-street-east/

What a day for King Street! 3 different parcels on King being newly lobbied on, on the same day, by the same lobbyist, but 2 different clients.
 
DSC said:
I can see a facadectomy here - and not sure I will be happy!
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Giving HPS a head's up that they need to move to designation, now, might be a worthwhile precaution.

It might not save everything, but it is a higher level of protection than what the site currently enjoys.
 
The retail on the corner building has been closed for ages due to safety reasons. If the interiors are in such bad structural shape, a facade may be its only hope, no?
 
greenleaf said:
The retail on the corner building has been closed for ages due to safety reasons. If the interiors are in such bad structural shape, a facade may be its only hope, no?
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They did lots of repairs to building at King & George. it certainly may have had structural problems but, I think, not now.
 
Sigh. This is the oldest continuous block of shops in the city, dating back as far as 1834.

A lot of places in this neighbourhood should be tower sites. This one should not. Too bad about the last five years of heritage planning, which have apparently left this in play.
 
AlexBozikovic said:
Sigh. This is the oldest continuous block of shops in the city, dating back as far as 1834.

A lot of places in this neighbourhood should be tower sites. This one should not. Too bad about the last five years of heritage planning, which have apparently left this in play.
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I don't understand how these can't be designated already; but that must be pursued with all due haste.
 
ProjectEnd said:
There was an attempt to connect this with Allied's lands to the south, but I guess that fell through.
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Never too late, the Coras building is not old and neither is the Booster Juice one at end of the row on Front (though both were built at a time that people tried to make new builds fit in!). These two both look pretty good in their own way.
 
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