Looks like Empress Walk & Pacific Mall with even a cheaper budget.

Just looking at the Office Building is more damaging than inhaling toxic mold in a nearby basement apartment.
 
The doctors' and dentists' offices will bring in lots of steady foot traffic throughout the day.
 
A couple of items. I'll break this down in parts.

The mini-mall

I visited the site before the supermarket and now with the market in full operation. The volume of people in the min-mall has gone up significantly. On the weekend, there was hardly any space in the underground parking lot. The supermarket caters to the surrounding demographic which is Persian, Korean and Chinese (isles are labeled Chinese, Korean, Middle Eastern, Japanese) etc. It's been a good addition to the mall and given that the parking lot fills up considerably, these are people visiting that are not part of the condo complex. I agree that the lightening in the supermarket has helped the mall's atmosphere.

The mall is shaping up slowly. Essentially (as sad as it may be), you unusually have 50% of initial business failing and then some brand name stores come in. The businesses that usually come (on cheap rent while a place is under construction) are hair salons, your real estate broker offices, dry cleaners, etc. Every other store is either a hair/nail salon or something equivalent. Most will fail and then established stores will fill the void.

The area of the mall that is still questionable is the food court. For some odd reason, Liberty decided to build a parking garage with direct (same level) access to the supermarket and allow the supermarket to have a small food court (where they are selling bubble tea, sushi, Chinese food) for you to eat right there. As such, a lot of volume in the supermarket may never go up to the actual food court.

The supermarket will be extremely successful given the demographic it's catering to and the fact that (if memory serves me correctly), it's open until 11 pm, which very few places in that neighborhood are. The mall will not be another pacific mall given the mixed demographic in the vicinity.


Apartments
the mini-mall is so so but I do think the residential apartments will be quite successful. That complex has no threat of being blocked with construction on any side (it's on top of a hill) and has a more open feel (the views on the higher floors would be unobstructed) unlike say the yonge and sheppard corridor. Also, unlike empress walk etc, the main advantage this complex has is the location. There are very few locations that have 4 schools (one French immersion) at walking distance along with 3 parks so it's perfect for young families and starters seeking convenience. The mall may not cater to the 'outside' world as much as other constructions, but the residents will have convenience (pharmacy, supermarket, walk in clinics, dentists, mail service, etc).

Hotel/Office Building
Yes, it's a bit of an oddity I have to agree. I'm not sure what business model Liberty was thinking building a hotel here and why they had to stack it as such but I'll reserve judgment until it's complete.
 
Photos from last night.
In the mall most of the units are still empty, however the supermarket is good, with great selection and reasonable prices.

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And a new park with a playground on Meadoview just east of Yonge.


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I was one of those rare pedestrians looking for the supermarket. Had to ask somebody for directions one Sunday morning. Not really obvious and lack of signage makes it so uninviting.

Why is retail tucked far into the back from the main street? Empress Walk and Hullmark have it right.
 
And there never will be if they keep designing the buildings like this. What about thinking ahead to the future and charting a better course? This is just very badly designed any way you look at it.
 
27 September 2014 (photodump):


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr


World on Yonge by MafaldaBoy, on Flickr
 
It's been almost 2 years since the last post on this thread so I thought a quick update might be in order.
The commercial component of this project has been, without any doubt, an absolute failure.
The retail is probably 85% vacant and as of this morning there are 124 commercial units available on MLS within the project.
Businesses that have dared to open have invariably failed and with the exception of the Seasons Grocery (which I rather like) I doubt any business there can cover their rent.
I think the micro commercial style has proved to be a poor choice for most commercial projects as they fail to attract the major retailers and because of the lack of larger footprints, greatly restricts the variety of retail offerings. How many cell phone or sunglasses shops do they need?

The residential component has faired better but there are 40 units available for sale and 13 for lease on MLS. Not an unreasonable number for a complex of this size.
 

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