[allengeorge]

Look at the condo at king and tecumseth, a huge retail unit has been empt for over a decade

My understanding - echoing the comments above - is that many of these units are not properly built for small-scale retail, and, are often overpriced. There doesn’t seem to be an incentive to let them out.

I do think the city should penalize empty units after a year, but that’s me…

 

[turbanplanner]

My understanding - echoing the comments above - is that many of these units are not properly built for small-scale retail, and, are often overpriced. There doesn’t seem to be an incentive to let them out.

I do think the city should penalize empty units after a year, but that’s me…

How viable is small retail in a "just listed" unit? Depending on the area foot traffic can be hit or miss. A lot of the existing places rented forever ago when things were lower. I think the reason almost everything turns into a shoppers is Canadian's in general love chains and you need something with a lot of traffic/appeal to actually break even on rents.

 

[allengeorge]

How viable is small retail in a "just listed" unit?

I don’t know. It depends on pricing. Do you have numbers you can bring up?

Depending on the area foot traffic can be hit or miss. A lot of the existing places rented forever ago when things were lower.

Yes. Again, sounds like pricing is an issue. I brought this up: “many of these units … are often overpriced. There doesn’t seem to be an incentive to let them out.”

I think the reason almost everything turns into a shoppers is Canadian's in general love chains and you need something with a lot of traffic/appeal to actually break even on rents.

I believe there are a few reasons for banks and Shoppers being default tenants, and it has little to do with Canadians loving chain stores. First: if you built large units, then obviously you’re going to get large stores. Second: these large stores are willing to pay the high prices that are being demanded. Finally (and this is very vaguely from memory) I recall there being construction financing benefits to letting out to large stores instead of smaller units. I’ll try to dig up details.

 

[dougtoronto]

Retail units that large can only house SDM, banks, chains, and supermarkets. That unit on King St. should be broken up into at least three different units. It's the new cafes, bars, niche stores, and similar unique businesses that keep our streets interesting, not massive banks and pharmacy-malls everywhere.

 

[Undead]

I think the reason almost everything turns into a shoppers is Canadian's in general love chains and you need something with a lot of traffic/appeal to actually break even on rents.

I believe there are a few reasons for banks and Shoppers being default tenants, and it has little to do with Canadians loving chain stores. First: if you built large units, then obviously you’re going to get large stores. Second: these large stores are willing to pay the high prices that are being demanded. Finally (and this is very vaguely from memory) I recall there being construction financing benefits to letting out to large stores instead of smaller units. I’ll try to dig up details.

It's because many segments in this country's economy are oligopolies.

 

[Allandale25]

Prabmeet Sarkaria on LinkedIn: Tunneling on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension is now complete! The… | 19 comments

Tunneling on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension is now complete! The extension will create a continuous rapid transit line from the east end of Toronto… | 19 comments on LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com

Looks like the headwall breakthrough by the other TBM.

 

[fanoftoronto]

Prabmeet Sarkaria on LinkedIn: Tunneling on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension is now complete! The… | 19 comments

Tunneling on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension is now complete! The extension will create a continuous rapid transit line from the east end of Toronto… | 19 comments on LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com

Looks like the headwall breakthrough by the other TBM.

That's fantastic news! And it coincides with the removal of the tracking map from the Eglinton West Extension Metrolinx website.

I do wonder what's going to happen to the 2 TBMs. As these TBMs are made for LRT, they are bigger diameter than is needed for the subway because of the overhead catenary. This means they definitely could be repurposed for the Yonge North Line or Ontario Line.

 

[Steve X]

That's fantastic news! And it coincides with the removal of the tracking map from the Eglinton West Extension Metrolinx website.

I do wonder what's going to happen to the 2 TBMs. As these TBMs are made for LRT, they are bigger diameter than is needed for the subway because of the overhead catenary. This means they definitely could be repurposed for the Yonge North Line or Ontario Line.

Possible for OL which uses overhead catenary but definitely not for Yonge north. The extra cost for more tunnel liners and extra dirt truckloads is not worth it.

It depends on the condition of the TBMs. If everything needs refurbishment, it would be easier to just buy a new one.

 

[ethan.l.cecc]

As it happens, I took some pictures of the site while walking my dog
First few are from the pedestrian bridge to the west of the Scarlett portal, the second batch of pics are from the path on the northside of Eglinton

Seemed like they were doing a celebration or recording a press release as there were a lot of people in the pit and they all cheered as I was walking past. Couldn't tell if the other TBM had been removed yet, but the crane looks position to do so.

 

[fanoftoronto]

As it happens, I took some pictures of the site while walking my dog
First few are from the pedestrian bridge to the west of the Scarlett portal, the second batch of pics are from the path on the northside of Eglinton

View attachment 566038View attachment 566039View attachment 566040View attachment 566041View attachment 566042View attachment 566043View attachment 566044View attachment 566045

Seemed like they were doing a celebration or recording a press release as there were a lot of people in the pit and they all cheered as I was walking past. Couldn't tell if the other TBM had been removed yet, but the crane looks position to do so.

What a timing of your walk! Yes, they were taking time lapse and probably having a celebration for tunnelling completion.

You can see the other TBM in the following post plus the timelapse. You happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Prabmeet Sarkaria on LinkedIn: Tunneling on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension is now complete! The… | 19 comments

Tunneling on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension is now complete! The extension will create a continuous rapid transit line from the east end of Toronto… | 19 comments on LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com

Looks like the headwall breakthrough by the other TBM.

 

[reinventingthewheel]

I do wonder what's going to happen to the 2 TBMs. As these TBMs are made for LRT, they are bigger diameter than is needed for the subway because of the overhead catenary. This means they definitely could be repurposed for the Yonge North Line or Ontario Line.

In addition to size needs, there are geological differences that dictate the choice of TBM.

All things considered (disassembly & reconstruction, storage, coordination between long-term, time sensitive projects), there is complexity, risk, and only potential moderate savings from reuse.

 

[fanoftoronto]

In addition to size needs, there are geological differences that dictate the choice of TBM.

All things considered (disassembly & reconstruction, storage, coordination between long-term, time sensitive projects), there is complexity, risk, and only potential moderate savings from reuse.

The TBMs from Sheppard Line 4 were sold to Moscow for $2.5 million each for their subway. If they can be shipped and used halfway across the world, I wonder what geological differences would necessitate different TBMs a mere 25 to 30 km away. If refurbishment was an issue, it would've been an issue for Moscow as well but they made it work somehow.

TBMs have a design life of 20 kms and most of our projects are well below that, so we buy top of the line brand new TBMs and sell them for pennies on the dollar after using them for around 20% to 30% of their design life.

These aren't cheap purchases for Toronto, ranging around $20 million per TBMs these days. Why do we not buy used? Why can't we reuse them between our projects?

More info can be found here: National Post Article
And here: Another article

The second article mentions newer TBMs have the potential to be faster but this is grasping at straws. The TBMs of the different projects all tunnel at relatively same speeds for the past 20 years.

 

[sixrings]

That's fantastic news! And it coincides with the removal of the tracking map from the Eglinton West Extension Metrolinx website.

I do wonder what's going to happen to the 2 TBMs. As these TBMs are made for LRT, they are bigger diameter than is needed for the subway because of the overhead catenary. This means they definitely could be repurposed for the Yonge North Line or Ontario Line.

Ship them to Brampton to help make their city centre an urban utopia not wrecking their lovely Main Street.

 

[Allandale25]

Ship them to Brampton to help make their city centre an urban utopia not wrecking their lovely Main Street.

A staff report from several years ago suggested it would be a sequentially mined tunnel, so a TBM approach wouldn't be used.

 

[afransen]

The TBMs from Sheppard Line 4 were sold to Moscow for $2.5 million each for their subway. If they can be shipped and used halfway across the world, I wonder what geological differences would necessitate different TBMs a mere 25 to 30 km away. If refurbishment was an issue, it would've been an issue for Moscow as well but they made it work somehow.

TBMs have a design life of 20 kms and most of our projects are well below that, so we buy top of the line brand new TBMs and sell them for pennies on the dollar after using them for around 20% to 30% of their design life.

These aren't cheap purchases for Toronto, ranging around $20 million per TBMs these days. Why do we not buy used? Why can't we reuse them between our projects?

More info can be found here: National Post Article
And here: Another article

The second article mentions newer TBMs have the potential to be faster but this is grasping at straws. The TBMs of the different projects all tunnel at relatively same speeds for the past 20 years.

I think the main difference is between harder rock and looser soil/fill that is more prone to cave in.