Conrad Bidet said:
www.designlinesmagazine.com

The Well Is a Beautiful Missed Opportunity

The City Beat covers Toronto's newest downtown marvel: a sprawling mixed-use residential complex at Front and Spadina known as The Well.
www.designlinesmagazine.com www.designlinesmagazine.com

Not an unfair assessment in my opinion. But it's early days and retail is naturally in flux.
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The overall tone is complimentary w/the real knocks being that the retail is a bit too ordinary/upper-middle/un-original (ie, curation to deliver some small, independent, non-chain spaces would have been nice.); and that there is no affordable housing component.

On the former, 100% fair, in that, such curation almost always drives higher traffic/footfall and that in turn means the remaining predictable chain stores pay more in rent, making up for any breaks given to start-ups/indys.

On the latter, I certainly support more affordable housing, but if there's neither a statutory obligation to provide it, nor a government inducement, it would seem unlikely that most developers would unilaterally offer such a thing. (be nice if they did though)
 
Northern Light said:
The overall tone is complimentary w/the real knocks being that the retail is a bit too ordinary/upper-middle/un-original (ie, curation to deliver some small, independent, non-chain spaces would have been nice.); and that there is no affordable housing component.

On the former, 100% fair, in that, such curation almost always drives higher traffic/footfall and that in turn means the remaining predictable chain stores pay more in rent, making up for any breaks given to start-ups/indys.

On the latter, I certainly support more affordable housing, but if there's neither a statutory obligation to provide it, nor a government inducement, it would seem unlikely that most developers would unilaterally offer such a thing. (be nice if they did though)
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Groovy is a indie shop.
 
Northern Light said:
The author is identifying that as being missing from The Well.
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I'm not saying these sorts of places don't exist at all, but that cheap coffee is now essentially the sole purview of Tim's and McDonalds, is my point. Recall my story from last year about $14+ for two coffees at De Mello here in The Well...

The erroneous romanticization of something that's just not a thing hurts the article's overall (correct) thesis about general corporate sterility here.
 
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Gotta head out to the east end, most options at the Birchcliff are still under 5-6 bucks these days; regular coffee around 3 bucks. That's kind of how it goes though, prices decrease the farther away you are from the core. I imagine the rents at Kingston/Birchmount are a touch lower...
 
From last week that I meant to post.

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ProjectEnd said:
I'm not saying these sorts of places don't exist at all, but that cheap coffee is now essentially the sole purview of Tim's and McDonalds, is my point. Recall my story from last year about $14+ for two coffees at De Mello here in The Well...

The erroneous romanticization of something that's just not a thing hurts the article's overall (correct) thesis about general corporate sterility here.
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Yeah, you have to go pretty far from the Well to get anything I would describe as an "inexpensive local cafe". I suppose everyone has their own definition of "inexpensive" but if you're looking to pay less than 5 bucks for a cappucino, you're going to have to leave downtown Toronto (or even the surrounding suburbs, even the cafes in Leslieville and Parkdale aren't exactly "inexpensive" these days).

There is some independent retail in the Well. The article even mentions GotStyle, which might not be "inexpensive", but is not a big chain.
 
ProjectEnd said:
I'm not saying these sorts of places don't exist at all, but that cheap coffee is now essentially the sole purview of Tim's and McDonalds, is my point. Recall my story from last year about $14+ for two coffees at De Mello here in The Well...

The erroneous romanticization of something that's just not a thing hurts the article's overall (correct) thesis about general corporate sterility here.
Click to expand...

$6 lattes are unironically one of my favourite parts of living downtown. GotStyle is a pretty sold menswear store. Dog and Bowl has some pretty unique items for fancy pooches. I am still pretty optimistic about the future of the retail component at the Well.
 
So the only thing open so far is Fix Bikes+ Coffee. What a treat! Also the plaza on the south side of the atrium is ready for Spring and a beer garden at some point! It was busy this morning and looks like it is coming into its own . Btw Bailey Nelson looks like it is going to open imminently.

And the best thing was that I saw tulips beginning on Wellington! Spring!

Taken 28 March.



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