gei said:
A few spots wouldn't be terrible. LCBO usually makes them free for customers too which is nice.

Sometimes dragging a ton of liquor on the street car is a little inconvienient. Although based on posting history I wouldn't expect some people here to understand that. :rolleyes:

Seriously though I would probably walk to this place 90% of the time. The rare times I have a lot of stuff to buy (ie for a party) it would be nice to have a few spots. Although I guess I could just drive down to the one at Queens Quay....
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No, any surface parking at one of Toronto's most architecturally prominent corners would be terrible. That's not Toronto-worthy, it's not even Grand Rapids MI-worthy.
 
Agreed. There should be no surface parking here. No reason they can't put it underground if it is really needed.
 
I think that would enormously increase the cost of this project, but I'd really prefer to see underground parking here. Some Green P spots wouldn't hurt, either -- might even pull some parked cars off the curb along Spadina.
 
I got a call back from someone at the LCBO. The call was a little disjointed due to a repeated other caller to my cell which caused the audio to drop but I think I got everything (plus I was busy with work stuff, excellent timing as usual... the story of my life :rolleyes:)

- the LCBO store won't be massive but will be bigger than the Liberty Village store
- the land owner also owns the land next door where Winners sits
- the land owner wants to combine both spots to develop a larger building but can't yet until the lease is done so there's not much point building a large store on the existing demolished site if it's going to be pulled down later
- in the meantime a smaller building will be put up
- it sounds like the LCBO would be part of that larger building down the road
 
First LCBO for King & Spadina district
Posted: June 04, 2008, 4:53 PM by Rob Roberts

By Brianna Goldberg, National Post

The condo district around King and Spadina is to get its badly needed first liquor store this fall, but the city and LCBO officials continue to knock heads over its design.
Adam Vaughan, the councillor for the area, is demanding the LCBO re-draft its current plan for a one storey location at 415 King St. West.
“We’ve got concerns about it as a one-storey building,” he said, “but we understand that it’s a complicated process.”
The LCBO’s Chris Layton blamed the land developer, who hasn’t offered any leeway for a taller store because it is currently trying to secure more parcels of land in the area. He said that would allow the development to become larger, with an expanded LCBO, in the future.
They hope to take possession in October, Mr. Layton said.
“What’s on offer is a one-storey type of store,” he said. “We’ve taken a short-term solution to provide service to the area.”
The current plans are for a free-standing store, without parking, with a selling area of around 8,000 square feet.
“As a replacement for the parking lot that’s there now, it’s a good thing — and we’ll continue to work with the developer on an expanded site plan,’’ said Mr. Vaughan.
‘‘But right now it’s the LCBO that’s got to lighten up a little bit, and even on a temporary basis let the land be used in a different way.”
The councillor said that means re-thinking the “fairly dead suburban-style frontage the LCBO has planned, as opposed to the pattern of the downtown core which is lots of little storefronts — this will be one big storefront with one big entrance on the corner.”
He noted the success of the Summerhill location, which does not fit the typical LCBO designs. “We have to convince them to break the mold again and play with the site in a more creative way.”

Photo of Jesse Capon making a purchase at the Summerhill LCBO by Brett Gundlock, National Post
 
I hope they're serious about this being temporary. I'm sure whatever they come up with for this space could be easily trumped by any random condo sales centre in terms of design.
 
If it's only going to be a temporary location going in for now, why doesn't the LCBO just look for some vacant retail space somewhere else in the neighbourhood? Or isn't there any?

42
 
If it's only going to be a temporary location going in for now, why doesn't the LCBO just look for some vacant retail space somewhere else in the neighbourhood? Or isn't there any?
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I doubt there is anything that large but does that really matter? Would you rather live with a parking lot until the next cycle?
 
interchange42 said:
If it's only going to be a temporary location going in for now, why doesn't the LCBO just look for some vacant retail space somewhere else in the neighbourhood? Or isn't there any?

42
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There's that large space that Hide House recently vacated. One minute west of here. Diesel Fitness' vacated floors... Actually, there's a ton of DTZ Barnicke properties for lease in this neighbourhood. Many of them are larger than their St Lawrence Market location.
 
Spadina's a significant psychological barrier. It would be good for them to have an outlet to the east of the street.

On a tangentially related note, I wonder if they'll consider more normal mall hours at the Metro Centre mall with all of the condos built nearby.
 
grey said:
There's that large space that Hide House recently vacated. One minute west of here. Diesel Fitness' vacated floors... Actually, there's a ton of DTZ Barnicke properties for lease in this neighbourhood. Many of them are larger than their St Lawrence Market location.
Click to expand...

Exactly - that Hide House space would be perfect for the LCBO, or so says I.

42
 
Perhaps it's impractical, store layout wise, but what about buildings with parking in the centre. I'm talking about a parking courtyard, with the store around it. No need for expensive underground, or even covered parking, and no visible surface lot from any angle.
 
^^^ I like that idea, but the size of this particular site isn't big enough:

kingspadinadx1.jpg
 
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