Thinking about it for a bit, I believe that this could actually be fixed pretty inexpensively. If they installed a timber awning like at the King St store, it would break up the uniformity of the monolithic brick walls and soften the appearance of the building with natural materials.

01CED5C8-1FE0-4038-A1A9-F132EB2F9197.jpeg


Maybe they can bring over the hotdog stand or perhaps install a free to use outdoor bike repair station on the Soho side.
 
still think it is ridiculous that this store is now part of Queen St. - it is such a waste of prime real estate, and not in tune with urban life, and is already sticking out like a sore thumb.
bad enough it was on King- don't know why the could have just kept it there- I am sure rent is much higher on Queen.
hate to sound soo negative- but as this my neighbourhood, there is no need for this store- and items can be easily found in Canadian Tire--( and cheaper too ) but at least Canadian Tire has items that are needed on a daily basis and appeals to all..
I am sure this area could have been used for something sooo much more ...
I actually miss the parking lot-- ( and vendors that were there) odd how that sounds..but it had character- better than this ...
ahhh.. Queen st.- how it was before. The Pursuit of Happiness, I am an Adult now

* now ducks from all the naysayers..who love this store...
sorry just my 2cents..
 
crooked soul said:
still think it is ridiculous that this store is now part of Queen St. - it is such a waste of prime real estate, and not in tune with urban life, and is already sticking out like a sore thumb.
bad enough it was on King- don't know why the could have just kept it there- I am sure rent is much higher on Queen.
hate to sound soo negative- but as this my neighbourhood, there is no need for this store- and items can be easily found in Canadian Tire--( and cheaper too ) but at least Canadian Tire has items that are needed on a daily basis and appeals to all..
I am sure this area could have been used for something sooo much more ...
I actually miss the parking lot-- ( and vendors that were there) odd how that sounds..but it had character- better than this ...
ahhh.. Queen st.- how it was before. The Pursuit of Happiness, I am an Adult now

* now ducks from all the naysayers..who love this store...
sorry just my 2cents..
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone likes the design of the MEC here. And, yeah, you are not the first person to say that you wish the parking lot was still there. Maybe we should just hate the idea of the MEC, but maybe find another way to express it.
 
crooked soul said:
still think it is ridiculous that this store is now part of Queen St. - it is such a waste of prime real estate, and not in tune with urban life, and is already sticking out like a sore thumb.
bad enough it was on King- don't know why the could have just kept it there- I am sure rent is much higher on Queen.
hate to sound soo negative- but as this my neighbourhood, there is no need for this store- and items can be easily found in Canadian Tire--( and cheaper too ) but at least Canadian Tire has items that are needed on a daily basis and appeals to all..
I am sure this area could have been used for something sooo much more ...
I actually miss the parking lot-- ( and vendors that were there) odd how that sounds..but it had character- better than this ...
ahhh.. Queen st.- how it was before. The Pursuit of Happiness, I am an Adult now

* now ducks from all the naysayers..who love this store...
sorry just my 2cents..
Click to expand...
Okay, duck:

MEC does have all sorts of stuff that Canadian Tire does not, it is a specialist in its area, not a generalist like Canadian Tire, and so the store draws shoppers from all over the city. Moving a couple of blocks away will not much affect those who have traveled several km to shop there.

They will not be paying more in rent on Queen than on King: they owned the King Street store, and sold that site to buy the former parking lot on Queen. They got a ton of money for the King Street site as a 40-something storey tower can be built there, and paid much less for the Queen Street site as only 3 storeys can be built there owing to the Heritage Conservation District in place there.

There's no downside with the new location for them, other than sub-par architecture for us.

42
 
crooked soul said:
still think it is ridiculous that this store is now part of Queen St. - it is such a waste of prime real estate, and not in tune with urban life, and is already sticking out like a sore thumb.
bad enough it was on King- don't know why the could have just kept it there- I am sure rent is much higher on Queen.
hate to sound soo negative- but as this my neighbourhood, there is no need for this store- and items can be easily found in Canadian Tire--( and cheaper too ) but at least Canadian Tire has items that are needed on a daily basis and appeals to all..
I am sure this area could have been used for something sooo much more ...
I actually miss the parking lot-- ( and vendors that were there) odd how that sounds..but it had character- better than this ...
ahhh.. Queen st.- how it was before. The Pursuit of Happiness, I am an Adult now

* now ducks from all the naysayers..who love this store...
sorry just my 2cents..
Click to expand...
Ya MEC is nothing like Canadian Tire - don't know what your on about there. It's defiiely a destination spot for camping. They sell high quality products that you cant find in any other store downtown. In the past I have bought a tent, camping stove, dry bags, back packs, travel packs, sleeping bags, air mattresses, climbing shoes/harness and rope, hicking boots, dried foods. You can find some of those things in other stores but you cant find them all in any one store.There really is no Canadian comparable to MEC in the "outdoors" world. As 42 said it is a destination store.
 
I want to dig deeper. Why did the local councillor, none other than Joe Cressy, let this slide under the radar so easily? Remember the Walmart proposed for Chinatown? Cressy fought that with the heat of the Sun, yet did absolutely nothing to oppose a big box store on Queen Street. Something tells, Joe and MEC have a friendly relationship.

Joe took this photo (I was there behind him) and tagged MEC’s owner.
1E6B7C3B-2552-403C-BF21-C3EF08A12D4F.jpeg


I’d like to look further into the approvals process for this building. Why did Joe Cressy allow this to be built on Queen St in the form of a big box store?
 
He didn't fight it because it fell within the zoning.

42
 
MetroMan said:
I want to dig deeper. Why did the local councillor, none other than Joe Cressy, let this slide under the radar so easily? Remember the Walmart proposed for Chinatown? Cressy fought that with the heat of the Sun, yet did absolutely nothing to oppose a big box store on Queen Street. Something tells, Joe and MEC have a friendly relationship.

Joe took this photo (I was there behind him) and tagged MEC’s owner.

I’d like to look further into the approvals process for this building. Why did Joe Cressy allow this to be built on Queen St in the form of a big box store?
Click to expand...

Wow. I'm all for holding MEC / Sweeny accountable but you're going full QAnon here. It's unhelpful, half-baked, conspiracy generation.
 
ProjectEnd said:
Wow. I'm all for holding MEC / Sweeny accountable but you're going full QAnon here. It's unhelpful, half-baked, conspiracy generation.
Click to expand...

I’m not suggesting a massive conspiracy here, nor even anything illegal. This is the kind of dynamic that goes on at City Hall every day. MEC is in alignment with Cressy’s values so he wouldn’t oppose their new building even though he should have had a closer look and been more strict with how it addresses the street, both on Queen and on Soho.

It’s a big box store that turns its back on the neighbourhood. That should not have gone unchallenged. Had it been a used car showroom with the same exact massing and design as MEC’s new building, do you honestly think it would have been built?
 
MetroMan said:
I’m not suggesting a massive conspiracy here, nor even anything illegal. This is the kind of dynamic that goes on at City Hall every day. MEC is in alignment with Cressy’s values so he wouldn’t oppose their new building even though he should have had a closer look and been more strict with how it addresses the street, both on Queen and on Soho.

It’s a big box store that turns its back on the neighbourhood. That should not have gone unchallenged. Had it been a used car showroom with the same exact massing and design as MEC’s new building, do you honestly think it would have been built?
Click to expand...
You had a pretty good idea of what is coming here for year, and you've decided to go to war now that it's pretty much complete? What do you hope to achieve with your public shaming? It's not as if they will agree with you and demolish it. So you don't agree with the aesthetics? I'm sure lots of people do, so you can't please everyone.
 
raptor said:
You had a pretty good idea of what is coming here for year, and you've decided to go to war now that it's pretty much complete? What do you hope to achieve with your public shaming? It's not as if they will agree with you and demolish it. So you don't agree with the aesthetics? I'm sure lots of people do, so you can't please everyone.
Click to expand...

It is a fair point that the time to express outrage was during the approvals process. Was this a rezoning or SPA only?

I was just defending City staff in another thread, but honestly this is a travesty and I am disappointed staff didn't do a better job of forcing a better design here. Especially as they have considerable teeth of the HCD to do so.
 
RonThom said:
It is a fair point that the time to express outrage was during the approvals process. Was this a rezoning or SPA only?

I was just defending City staff in another thread, but honestly this is a travesty and I am disappointed staff didn't do a better job of forcing a better design here. Especially as they have considerable teeth of the HCD to do so.
Click to expand...
Can we stop blaming staff? There is no mechanism for city staff to enforce design excellence. Please educate yourself first before going after the city staff, who are doing their job.
 
RonThom said:
It is a fair point that the time to express outrage was during the approvals process. Was this a rezoning or SPA only?

I was just defending City staff in another thread, but honestly this is a travesty and I am disappointed staff didn't do a better job of forcing a better design here. Especially as they have considerable teeth of the HCD to do so.
Click to expand...
SPA only, as I've already stated.

42
 
Can anyone explain Parallax's position in this development before I join the MEC/Sweeny conspiracy? Is MEC an owner or just a tenant?
 
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