Might be a stupid question but is the Green Onion Market a confirmed retailer? Or just used as an example in the rendering? I'm curious to see how this looks in real-life. I like the brick but the opaque white balconies reminds me of those used for The Wyatt which don't look great imo.

I do think that the red brick will allow this development to fit in nicely with the Victorian Cabbagetown historic buildings and near-by One Cole.

Right now there is an awkward dead zone retail-wise between Cabbagetown and Dundas/ Parliament, so really anything in that area feels like a huge upgrade. Once it's built, I'm curious to see what type of retailers this will draw into the area. Anyone have any ideas?

From my understanding, the "Green Onion Market" is a fictional retailer used for the purpose of showing potential usages. There's a few other made up conceptual places inserted in the older set of renderings here.

There hasn't been any confirmed tenants yet, so it remains pretty open what ends up setting up shop here in the future.
 
Retailers very rarely confirm this far in advance, and most new condos with retail space on the ground floor don't have the spaces leased until after the buildings are up.

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Retailers very rarely confirm this far in advance, and most new condos with retail space on the ground floor don't have the spaces leased until after the buildings are up.

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Absolutely true, most of the time; but were this a supermarket of any size; that would not likely be the case.

Most of the majors are now in on the design stage of the building.

It's a necessary part of working around the the structural columns, fitting in 'warehouse' space, making sure the loading dock situation is viable, and typically having dedicated access to commercial parking.

***

That said, there is no major supermarket contemplated in the retail of this block.

As one can see, there in the layout below, there is no space for large-format retail; and that corner unit is only ~2,300ft2

1609356822592.png


No retail is indicated on either the P1 or +2 levels.
 
Looking at the Landscape Plan for this one...........

On the upside, generally very good soil volumes; and every single tree shows as being irrigated.

On the downside, at least 2 species are mislabeled as native when they are not; and are, in fact, invasive.

Black Locust (Tree species) may be acceptable here; but I would much rather see its nearer-native cousin, Honey Locust.

Black Locust is native to Canada, only if we annex Arkansas; and all other things being equal, I'd rather we didn't.

St. John's Wort is also non-native, invasive, in their list of herbaceous plants; and is marked native, not to this continent it's not.

Honestly, I have trouble with industry professionals making this mistake.

Plant Schedule and Ground Floor Planting Plans are below:

1609360005275.png


1609360048816.png


There are a couple of odd planting ideas in here too; that aren't offensive, but I've never seen them done or never seen them work.

American Sycamore is the native answer to London Plane Tree...........it's very rarely used as a street tree here.

It's a wetland edge/riparian species; the planters are irrigated; so maybe it'll work.......hmmmm

Also, American Beech as a hedge.......hmmmmm; first because I've only ever seen it done w/the European one.............and second because good Beech are really hard to find and they've spec'ed a lot of them.
 
I contacted the Cabbagetown BIA a long time ago specifically regarding the state of the commercial properties at the intersection of Gerrard and Parliament streets. The following text is an excerpt from an email I sent to the Cabbagetown BIA over a year ago
I’ve lived in Cabbagetown for over forty years and have seen dozens of businesses on Parliament Street come and go. It must be one of the most fickle streets for a business to take hold and prosper on in the city.
One of the businesses that has remained successful for decades is Jenny’s Convenience at the corner of Gerrard and Parliament. I don’t know if Jenny’s owns the building or leases it. There is a lot of commuter traffic on Parliament Street and the corner of Gerrard and Parliament is the southern gateway to Cabbagetown. I have attached photos of the intersection and I have to say I think it presents a very dismal “welcome” to the area.

Jenny's Convenience_1_small.jpg



Jenny's Convenience_2_small.jpg



Jenny's Convenience_3_small.jpg
 
I'm not a Cabbagetonian, but around 5-6 years ago when I worked with mates at my previous company, this neighbourhood used to be one of my main hangout areas. Kingyo, Zakkushi, Kanpai (gone), Under the Table (gone), that bar on the west side of Parliament just south of Carlton, and Hey Lucy's (gone) for those nights with the martini specials...those were the days.

Retail turnover is going to be normal. One of the main retail strips close to me, St Clair/Corso Italia is still trying to find its identity and sustainable markets now that the older Italian presence are retiring. The relentlessness of the pandemic won't make things easier. But the main drag on Parliament around Carlton to Wellesley remains fairly healthy.

I agree that that the Gerrard southern gateway currently remains underwhelming, but now that the SE corner is starting to formalize along with the the final phase of Regent Park revitalization, hopefully this part of Parliament gets properly formatted in terms of urbanity.
 
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I bought quite a few Kit Kat bars from there though...
 
I bet that corner hasn't changed since the 'Dirty Thirties'. I , sure thee a re historical pics of this corner. Anybody?
 
I bet that corner hasn't changed since the 'Dirty Thirties'. I , sure thee a re historical pics of this corner. Anybody?

Just a hint of what appears to be the same building in this 1954 photo from the Globe and Mail:

1609607177953.png

 
Ha! Good photo Northern Light. It does indeed look like the same building. I'm guessing that It's a very lucrative spot. The Gerrard streetcar turns north at that corner then proceeds west on Carlton to the Yonge subway. You'd think that the owners would make some effort to clean up the building. After all they profit in large part because of the city owned TTC stop there. I don't understand why city bylaws don't require at least a modicum of good repair on commercial properties. Even a few gallons of paint would be a big improvement. Yeeesh!
 
I contacted the Cabbagetown BIA a long time ago specifically regarding the state of the commercial properties at the intersection of Gerrard and Parliament streets. The following text is an excerpt from an email I sent to the Cabbagetown BIA over a year ago
I’ve lived in Cabbagetown for over forty years and have seen dozens of businesses on Parliament Street come and go. It must be one of the most fickle streets for a business to take hold and prosper on in the city.
One of the businesses that has remained successful for decades is Jenny’s Convenience at the corner of Gerrard and Parliament. I don’t know if Jenny’s owns the building or leases it. There is a lot of commuter traffic on Parliament Street and the corner of Gerrard and Parliament is the southern gateway to Cabbagetown. I have attached photos of the intersection and I have to say I think it presents a very dismal “welcome” to the area.

View attachment 291976


View attachment 291977


View attachment 291978
Did you send a Property Standards complaint to 311? They deal with this kind of thing.
 

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