Yorkdale mall reaches $1 billion in retail sales

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2:38 pm

Yorkdale Shopping Centre has surpassed $1 billion in annual sales, or roughly $2.7 million per day, putting it on track to potentially become North America’s top-selling retail centre.

The milestone was reached after Yorkdale’s announcement of a $331 million, 298,000-square-foot expansion that will begin construction in January 2014 and will be anchored by American clothing retailer Nordstrom. This new development follows on the heels of a $220 million expansion boosting the mall’s size to 1.6 million square feet and 7,400 parking spaces that was completed last year.

“Achieving that goal, it underscores the strategy we have implemented of attracting the right retailers,” said Anthony Casalanguida, the general manager. He explained that striking the right mix of high-end shops, which pay roughly $350 to $375 in rent per square foot, was key as well as carefully planning Yorkdale’s expansions.

“It underscores the strategy of attracting the right retailers.”

Recently, Oxford Properties, Yorkdale’s landlord, bought back its lease from anchor tenant Sears. Now, Quebec retailer Maison Simons is eyeing the 190,000-square-foot spot. Though Casalanguida could not comment on prospective tenants, he said that Yorkdale may also consider potentially expanding the Sears site and adding on to the empty land currently surrounding it.

“We have over seven acres of land to play with,” he said. “Now it’s more of a strategic, long-term vision of what the property should [be].”

Yorkdale will examine its growth strategy as the Nordstrom expansion is built over the next three years. Michael Noble, a planner with City of Toronto, City Planning Division who has handled Yorkdale’s recent expansion proposals, said that the mall may expand within “fairly permissive” limits. It may reach up to three storeys in height, but must retain at least one parking space for every 20 square metres of gross leasable floor area.

“It’s a big site and it’s meant to be a major institution,” said Noble. “There’s a lot permitted on the site.”

Yorkdale may reach $2 billion in sales by 2018, said Casalanguida.

North York mall could see six towers

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2:37 pm

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An application to amend the City of Toronto’s official plan to permit the construction of six towers at a plaza at 865 York Mills Road that was submitted in late 2011 may finally come to fruition this coming fall.

Liberty Developments, which currently owns the York Mills plaza, is seeking approval from the city to construct two 25-storey office buildings, a 20-storey hotel and three residential buildings with heights ranging from 32 to 38 storeys on the current property.

The city’s official plan has identified the area as an “employment district,” which is defined as a large area occupied by office or industrial spaces “protected from the encroachment of non-economic functions.” Last year, the city released an official staff report recommending the area be designated a “retail employment” area.

“The city will be reporting on this, including recommendations, and the many employment land conversion requests at the November planning and growth management meeting,” said Andrew Misiak, assistant to Coun. Peter Milczyn, who chairs the Toronto City Council Planning and Growth Management Committee.

Landmark retailers eyed for LRT stations

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2:33 pm

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The provincial transit agency Metrolinx has been eyeing different lots along Eglinton Avenue as potential sites for stations for the incoming Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit (LRT) line.

Metrolinx said that though a few decisions have been made regarding property acquisition, many of the details are still up in the air. Some properties identified for acquisition include iconic steak house House of Chan and the Speaker Shop.

“The number of full properties required is still being determined because the station design process has not yet entered the detailed design phase,” said Vanessa Thomas, media relations and issues team lead for Metrolinx. “Full property acquisitions are being kept to a minimum and recommended only when there is a clear and supported case to the project.”

“[House of Chan] is scheduled to be acquired to allow for a station to be built,” Thomas said. “We expect that this station work will begin in late 2015 to early 2016.”

Metrolinx has stated that they are still negotiating the acquisition with House of Chan and a price has not yet been named.

Thomas said that once the acquisition is complete, fans of the steak house shouldn’t expect to say goodbye to the restaurant any time soon. “We’re working hard to keep this establishment open as long as possible.”

House of Chan could not be reached for comment at press time.

On March 24, site plan approval applications were filed with the City of Toronto, City Planning Division for LRT stations at 1578 Eglinton Ave. W. (Oakwood station), 1250 Eglinton Ave. W. (Allen station), 574 Eglinton Ave. W. (Chaplin station), 2190 Yonge St. (Yonge station), 256 Eglinton Ave. E. (Mount Pleasant station), 1787 Bayview Ave. (Bayview station) and 1155 Eglinton Ave. E. (Don Mills station).

Frank Fabian, who owns the Speaker Shop at 1578 Eglinton Ave. W., says that he’s been aware of Metrolinx’s plans for some time, but there has been plenty of uncertainty over the years. However, it is his understanding that his shop will eventually become a station.

“They’ve changed their minds three times in the last couple of years, so I don’t know what the reality is,” said Fabian. “But that’s the theory.”

Montreal-based children’s toy and book store Oink Oink says that they will be moving out of their location at 352 Eglinton Ave. W. (Eglinton and Avenue Road) this coming fall. “We are closing the store on Oct. 18,” said Linda Pinazza, general manager of Oink Oink. Pinazza said that the closure was related to LRT construction, presumably for the site of the Avenue Road station.

But Pinazza said that she had “no idea” if the store had been purchased by Metrolinx.

For its part, Metrolinx has denied any knowledge of any transactions or discussions of acquisition taking place. Thus far there is no development application for 352 Eglinton Ave. W.

“That’s not a property that we require,” said Jamie Robinson, director of community relations and communications at Metrolinx.

“There may be other issues there that the property owners are looking at, [but] that property is not one that Metrolinx requires to construct the station.”

One local mom’s saga

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2:32 pm

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Two years ago, when Leaside’s Angie Morris first walked 32 kilometres in the Shoppers Drug Mart Weekend to End Women’s Cancers, she was participating as a tribute to someone else.

“I did it in memory of my grandmother,” said Morris, 32. “I just wanted to do something to contribute to my community, and it’s a cause that touches so many people. It’s also very empowering and female-oriented and inspiring.”

The next year, Morris excitedly decided to participate in the weekend a second time. But during her preparation, the mother of two received a life-altering diagnosis that changed what the weekend would mean to her.

In the middle of her fundraising, she was diagnosed with stage two cervical cancer. This meant Morris would have to have a radical hysterectomy, and Morris would not be able to have any more children.

“At first I thought that was going to be the end of the treatment for me,” she said.

Several weeks later, additional testing revealed that her cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. From then on, Morris attended chemotherapy and radiation treatments, which wrapped up around Christmastime. Since then, Morris has been attending checkups every three months to make sure her cancer has not spread. In the meantime, Morris is lacing up her shoes for a third time, with this year’s Weekend to End Women’s Cancers taking place Sept. 7 to 8. Morris is going into this year’s weekend with a new outlook.

“A lot of it is internal. It’s your own mindset,” she said. “Going through the cancer journey has put me more in touch with my own self and who I am.”

Morris has already surpassed her fundraising goal of $10,000, but additional donations can be made at www.endcancer.ca/goto/angielmorris.

Study could address Yonge-Steeles traffic woes

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2:31 pm

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Residents are hoping a transportation study currently underway could help address growing concerns over traffic in a part of Thornhill already under major development pressure.

Grandview Area Residents Association (GARA) chair Ricardo Mashregi said the intensification of new development in the area is a concern for residents and the community has been waiting awhile for a traffic study to be undertaken.

“We wanted to have a study and to wait and see what was going to transpire before we started adding more towers in our area,” he said.

The provincial government and York Region have identified the Yonge Street corridor as an area for increased intensification, he explained.

Retained by the City of Markham to complete the traffic study, GENIVAR Consulting is currently assessing the Yonge-Steeles corridor. A draft of the recommendations is slated to be ready by the end of the year, said Pat Becker, GENIVAR’s communications coordinator for the project.

The study considers the area from Bayview Avenue to Yonge Street, and from John Street to Steeles Avenue, Becker explained. Although the study examines options for the City of Markham to consider, they need to work with the plans of other municipalities in the area, she said.

The study will consider existing transportation issues, potential solutions, transit in the area, and include the City’s future plans, she explained.

“It has to look at what the City has in their official plan and what the City has planned for development in that area,” she said.

In April, the Ontario Municipal Board approved the official plan amendment and zoning by-law amendment for a proposed 21-storey development at Yonge Street and Grandview Avenue. During the pre-hearing conference, two people voiced concerns over Yonge Street development.

Mashregi said GARA initially opposed the Yonge and Grandview development because it did not know how the World on Yonge would affect traffic.

Now with the study underway, GARA hopes the consultant will develop some useful measures, he explained.

“We’re cautiously optimistic they will come up with a recommendation that will be suitable for our neighbourhood because we just can't really take the onslaught of all these cars in our community,” Mashregi said.

He added the residents association wants the consultant to consider the possibility of a ring road along Dudley Avenue to separate new development from the existing homes and contain traffic to that particular area.

“Any kind of development has to come with proper planning,” Mashregi said, “and that’s all we're asking the City to do is to ensure that the existing community does not suffer from traffic infiltration and traffic intensification due to the new developments.”

Currently under construction is the World on Yonge development, which will include condominiums, a hotel, an office tower and retail stores.

North York mall reaches $1 billion in sales

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2:26 pm

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Yorkdale Shopping Centre has surpassed $1 billion in annual sales, roughly $2.7 million per day, putting it on track to become North America’s top-selling retail centre.

The milestone was reached after Yorkdale’s announcement of a $331 million, 298,000-square-foot expansion that will begin construction in January 2014 and will be anchored by American clothing retailer Nordstrom. This new development follows on the heels of a $220 million expansion boosting the mall’s size to 1.6 million square feet and 7,400 parking spaces that was completed last year.

“Achieving that goal, it underscores the strategy we have implemented of attracting the right retailers,” said Anthony Casalanguida, the general manager. He explained that striking the right mix of high-end shops, which pay roughly $350 to $375 in rent per square foot, was key as well as planning Yorkdale’s expansions.

Recently, Oxford Properties, Yorkdale’s landlord, bought back its lease from anchor tenant Sears. Now, Quebec retailer Maison Simons is eyeing the 190,000-square-foot spot. “We have over seven acres of land to play with,” he said. “Now it’s more of a strategic, long-term vision of what the property should [be].”

Though Casalanguida could not comment on prospective tenants, he said that Yorkdale may also consider potentially expanding the Sears site.

Yorkdale will examine its growth strategy as the Nordstrom expansion is built over the next three years. Michael Noble, a planner with City of Toronto, City Planning Division who has handled Yorkdale’s recent expansion proposals, said that the mall may expand within “fairly permissive” limits.

“It’s a big site and it’s meant to be a major institution,” said Noble.

Yorkdale may reach $2 billion in sales by 2018, said Casalanguida.

New Sheppard and Leslie public space

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2:17 pm

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The Concord Park development on Sheppard Avenue East between Bayview Avenue and Leslie Street will bring new publicly owned assets and serve both the immediate and broader Willowdale area.

Now the public has an opportunity to have their say in how we use those assets.

Are you interested in new sporting opportunities? Or are you interested in community space for a farmers’ market or live music?

Here are some of the new features that we will be considering this fall at our community planning sessions:

We will be considering a new community centre with an aquatic facility, children’s care centre and a new library. Another option is a central square that can host events and possibly even a farmers’ market

We’re also considering an artificial turf field that can support multiple sports, but there’s also the option of a passive recreational area for more casual activities.

We aim to keep the space family-friendly, so we’re also considering an active play area and a new dog park. We will be considering public art in the park and along all the public spaces, to beautify and add character to the area.

Bicycle parking, an underground parking garage and street parking will also be considered as well as the option for TTC access from Bessarion station.

With all these possibilities, we need your help to create these new spaces. There will be more information on planning sessions starting this fall. Contact me at [email protected] to let me know that you want to participate in designing new resources for your community.

Retail holidays up for debate

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2:12 pm

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On Sept. 13, York Regional Council will hear a request from Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill to remain open on all public holidays, except Christmas. I am surprised that Hillcrest has waited this long.

Over the past decade, the regional council has heard requests from 13 large retail businesses asking to remain open on some, or all, of Ontario’s nine public holidays, including Christmas. Debate has centred on the following concerns:

The minimum wage worker likely prefers to spend civic holidays with family and friends, and small retail establishments don’t want more competition from big retailers. Some traditionalists prefer to recognize days of rest, and others (like me) want to preserve Christmas.

People who work irregular hours would be happy if larger stores remained open, as would the two million tourists who shop and contribute more than $450 million annually to the region’s economy.

In Richmond Hill, the only retail business that has been granted an exemption is the Oak Ridges Food Market. It claimed to meet the provincial rule that allows an exemption to holiday closures if the business is located within two kilometres of a “tourist attraction.”

With the Oak Ridges Moraine and other recreational and cultural sites nearby, it would be easy to argue that all of York Region’s retail stores should be exempt from holiday closures. However, council needs to celebrate the histories, cultures and religious traditions of Canada. Protecting holidays from the shop-till-you-drop culture is a start. I welcome all opinions and concerns at [email protected] or 905-771-2498.

An urban future for Thornhill

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2:12 pm

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When I was young, my parents moved to the suburbs in North York. I hope I am not dating myself, but at the time, the area near Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue in Thornhill was entirely farmland.

However, things have changed as growth pushed the boundaries of suburbia further and further north.

Over 30 years ago, my wife and I moved to the city of Vaughan. Change continued as our neighbourhood became more urbanized. High-rise buildings appeared along Steeles Avenue, Yonge Street and eventually around the Centre and Bathurst Street area. Subdivisions, malls, community centres and parks were built everywhere.

For those of us who grew up in Thornhill, things are much different than when we were kids. There is now traffic to the point of gridlock — a huge problem. We still have limited cultural resources, but urbanization has resulted in more positive changes than negative ones.

We are a relatively walkable community. We have a growing transit network to take us where we want to go. We have a large variety of shopping close at hand. We can access a sophisticated network of highways. We have great schools and libraries, and a university is just minutes away. Our fire and police services are first rate.

The suburbs are now in Aurora. The challenge in Vaughan now is to create the best urban environment possible. For more information on this issue and others, subscribe to the W5 Update on the City of Vaughan website — www.vaughan.ca.

I can be reached at 905-832-8585, ext. 8349, or by e-mail at [email protected].

Keeping up with developments

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2:08 pm

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The end of summer is near and a lot has been happening in our ward. I would like to take this opportunity to update you on the status of a few developments that are currently underway or coming to our ward.

The Ontario Municipal Board [OMB] has approved the following applications: an official plan and zoning bylaw amendment for a new 13-storey residential condominium at 2400 Bathurst St. and a zoning bylaw amendment for a 23-storey mixed-use building at 1443-1451 Bathurst St. with the site plan control application currently being reviewed by staff.

Staff are currently reviewing the following applications: a site plan control application for a three-storey residential infill project at 120 Raglan Ave. and a site plan control application for a nine-storey mixed-use residential development at 829-833 St Clair Ave. W.

Currently on hold is a zoning bylaw amendment for a new 11-storey mixed-use building at 875 Eglinton Ave. W.

We also have one rejected application currently being appealed to the OMB — a zoning bylaw amendment application for a new 18-storey mixed-use building at 1486 Bathurst St. and 11 Raglan Ave.

I hope this gives you a good sense of our development projects in our ward.

Please feel free to contact my office should you have any questions or concerns about any of these developments.

Please join my e-mail list at www.joemihevc.com for more information concerning development (and all other) updates in Ward 21.

Toronto needs reasonable parking laws

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2:07 pm

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Every public, taxpayer-funded service should have a clear public benefit. To most residents, this statement seems obvious in relation to our parks and transit system, but less so when it comes to parking enforcement.

It often seems as if the police issue tickets for the slightest infraction on a quiet neighbourhood street simply in order to fatten the city’s coffers. Yet parking enforcement is rarely seen during rush hours on our main streets when a vehicle is parked illegally on a curb lane. That’s why I brought a motion to city council this summer requesting a common sense approach to parking enforcement.

Some infractions do not warrant the same level of enforcement as others. Quiet streets with surplus spots pose less of a problem than a street with a dearth of spots. And an illegally parked car or stopped delivery vehicle on an arterial road can delay thousands of drivers.

I believe parking enforcement should focus more on the interest of keeping traffic moving rather than penalizing residents who may be slightly late getting back to their car.

This is part of a comprehensive approach I’m taking to make sense of Toronto’s parking enforcement. Other related initiatives I’ve been successful in approving at council include raising fines for vehicles stopped in curb lanes during rush hour, exploring a ban on commercial vehicles making deliveries during peak periods, and moving forward with signal synchronization.

With the tools available to us now, we must apply common sense and thoughtfulness to how we use our limited resources.

Parking enforcement is one place to start.

Town’s longest serving mayor passes away

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2:03 pm

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Community members recently paid their final respects to Richmond Hill’s longest-serving mayor, William (Bill) Bell, who passed away July 28. Bell served as the town’s mayor from 1988 to 2006 and won six consecutive elections after an eight-year stint as the councillor for Ward 3.

Richmond Hill’s current mayor, Dave Barrow, said Bell was a man of integrity with strong values, who was attentive to the community’s financial well-being. Although the two mayors’ approach to their work differed, Barrow said Bell continues to inspire him to this day, particularly his approach to funding projects and how he would consider the financial impact on other things.

“From that perspective, I do think of his advice and his method of looking at financing projects,” Barrow said. He added that Bell was also always looking ahead. “When a town is growing as fast as we were during his term, there’s a lot of cash flow from development charges and things,” Barrow said. “It’s very easy to want to just spend it and not think of the future. Bill always thought of the future.”

Richmond Hill resident and community activist Karen Cilevitz said although she never worked with the former mayor, he was always welcoming. Bell did great things for the community, she said, and he leaves behind a legacy of being a dedicated public servant who worked in the best interests of local residents.

“Bill Bell was a true son of Richmond Hill and he will be sorely missed by everybody,” said Cilevitz, “but his legacy will continue and I have absolutely no doubt that the people of Richmond Hill will always remember him fondly.”