mdrejhon
Senior Member
And, for Union Station itself, apparently a great tenant recruitment tool to boot, too!
MetroMan
Senior Member
I'm surprised at how few tenants have re-opened in the new concourse. Are they going to wait years until the old Bay concourse reopens? Cinnabon was very successful at Union Station. Are they just forgoing business until they can go back to their old home? That makes no sense.
Also, how have so few *new* tenants opened up at Union? They would have a monopoly on hundreds of thousands of commuters. It's a captive audience that often has to wait around for trains yet there is so little retail/food in a station with plenty of space for lease. Why is this happening?
Also, how have so few *new* tenants opened up at Union? They would have a monopoly on hundreds of thousands of commuters. It's a captive audience that often has to wait around for trains yet there is so little retail/food in a station with plenty of space for lease. Why is this happening?
Megaton327
Senior Member
There is very little retail space currently completed/accessible to the public at Union. As far as spaces with retail go, only the York Concourse on the 2nd floor is fully complete so far, and since it's a GO concourse given the new 2-floor design of the station they are trying to minimize the amount of retail there to prevent it from obstructing passenger flow.
The vast majority of retail, from what I understand, will be on the first floor, below the 3 concourses, and none of that level is open at all yet. There will also be some along the promenade north of the concourses on the 2nd floor, and some in the 2nd floor Bay Concourse presumably, but again construction is not complete.
Woodbridge_Heights
Senior Member
Years? I thought the Bay concourse was scheduled to be complete next summer...
Megaton327
Senior Member
To be fair, there may be some minor non-critical work needing to be done when they open it up to passengers that precludes tenants from moving in. Additionally, even once it's 100% ready for them, it takes some time for them to set everything up, move in, hire and train employees, stock everything, test systems, and open to the public.
union2pearson
Active Member
Don't know if anyone else has noticed, but at the North and South ends of the York Concourse, they've taken down some of the hoarding that was once covering both of the escalators. I'll take some snaps of it shortly.
mdrejhon
Senior Member
So a fully operational mall, perhaps 2019 or 2020. Boo.
But that does coincide with some rather large ramp-ups in GO service.
Markster
Senior Member
On this point...
When are they going to finally open up the lower York area? Are they waiting until the entire renovation is done to open the whole "mall" simultaneously?
MetroMan
Senior Member
innsertnamehere
Superstar
I hope they clean up that concrete pillar between the escalators.. not looking the best with the rough concrete there.
TOareaFan
Superstar
not sure if this has been posted but that great summer market is back this year....but not at Union
http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2016/05/summer_food_market_moving_from_union_station/
http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2016/05/summer_food_market_moving_from_union_station/
MetroMan
Senior Member
I have to say that I'm kind of glad. The Union Station plaza was built the way it was to support large volumes of travellers and commuters. The market took up 2/3rds of that space, leaving a strip of sidewalk similar to the one that was there before. One offs that last a week or so are fine. Permanent summer long fixtures are not.
Megaton327
Senior Member
I definitely disagree and wish it were back at Union. It did very well there, I enjoyed it tremendously, and obviously many people did with how busy it was--very convenient to actually have good food options right at union. I went there a few times a week either when travelling myself or meeting a friend coming into/heading out of the city.
Once the Union food court opens, and there are more food options, I'd agree that it's probably not necessary to have this out front. Mind you, "necessary" and "good" are not the same thing, I think it's a very nice space that added a lot to the station by having an outdoor patio area, but with a food court inside I wouldn't beleaguer that point. But before that, I definitely don't see any reason to get rid of it. The few current tenants in the York concourse have fairly minimal food options between them, and virtually nothing constituting an actual lunch, which many of the market tenants did have.
In terms of pedestrian flow, a LOT of Union users use the direct below-street access between the main station and the TTC/main PATH connection, the northwest PATH, the south exit/Union Plaza PATH connections to the ACC/Southcore/Waterpark Place, the skywalk PATH, and the 4 teamways' direct north/south exits on Bay and York streets. In comparison, the people that would be affected by the market are those using the two main front doors, or the Via Arrivals Concourse door with the ramps up to the two main front doors, who wish to walk along the south side of Front St. People who use the teamways, or are just walking along Front, can use the north side of the street too. I think there's plenty of space for those remaining people with the market in place.
Once the Union food court opens, and there are more food options, I'd agree that it's probably not necessary to have this out front. Mind you, "necessary" and "good" are not the same thing, I think it's a very nice space that added a lot to the station by having an outdoor patio area, but with a food court inside I wouldn't beleaguer that point. But before that, I definitely don't see any reason to get rid of it. The few current tenants in the York concourse have fairly minimal food options between them, and virtually nothing constituting an actual lunch, which many of the market tenants did have.
In terms of pedestrian flow, a LOT of Union users use the direct below-street access between the main station and the TTC/main PATH connection, the northwest PATH, the south exit/Union Plaza PATH connections to the ACC/Southcore/Waterpark Place, the skywalk PATH, and the 4 teamways' direct north/south exits on Bay and York streets. In comparison, the people that would be affected by the market are those using the two main front doors, or the Via Arrivals Concourse door with the ramps up to the two main front doors, who wish to walk along the south side of Front St. People who use the teamways, or are just walking along Front, can use the north side of the street too. I think there's plenty of space for those remaining people with the market in place.
smuncky
Senior Member
Awful decision. I remember the market filled with sunshine almost all day. Now it'll be tucked up off the ground, between a bunch of towers. Definitely not as enjoyable.
And outside of the normal workday, there'll be much less foot traffic there, especially since it'll be elevated up above where people actually walk.
And outside of the normal workday, there'll be much less foot traffic there, especially since it'll be elevated up above where people actually walk.
gregv
Active Member
Someone from Eva's Original Chimneys commented on the blog TO article indicating there would be a market at Union this summer. So maybe just a new operator? I really enjoyed the market last year and am hoping something as good will replace it.