An increasing number of business tenants are being forced to move or close on Avenue Road in the stretch between Lawrence Avenue West and Wilson Avenue.
Dan Kahnert, owner of Kahnert’s Furs + Outerwear, just recently had to move his family business a few blocks north to the corner of Avenue and Joicey Boulevard after being pushed out by a development. Their former location between Fairlawn Avenue and Brookdale Avenue will soon be home to a seven-storey mixed-use development.
And they’re not the only ones.
“That whole block is going to be a part of it,” said Kahnert, referring to all of the tenants from 1678 to 1704 Avenue Rd., all of which will succumb to the development. The whole area was singled out for larger residential development by the City of Toronto, City Planning department in 2008.
One of the iconic businesses that will be closing its doors — at least on Avenue Road — is Bistro on Avenue.
Founded by Louis Nemes, one of the founders of the St. Louis Wings franchise, the local wing king has been a favourite haunt of North Torontonians for years.
Nemes plans to keep the restaurant open until he is forced out, which will be sometime in 2015. “The customers here, they wouldn’t let me leave.”
Nemes has not found a new location yet, but he says he isn’t worried. “We’ll open at a new location when it comes to that,” he said.
Kahnert, now renting a ground-level space in a new building, is already preparing for more neighbours on top. “There’s another few storeys coming in, commercial office space,” he said. Construction is currently underway.
And there’s more soon to come — North York Community Council recently recommended that city planning schedule a community consultation concerning a development at 2088 Avenue Rd., at Carmichael Avenue. A zoning bylaw application was submitted for a five-storey mixed-use development.
Changes are coming, but some are choosing to grin and bear it.
“It’s certainly going to be different,” said Kahnert, who has no intention of leaving any time soon.
