Premium-casual restaurant Joey has secured a 17,000-square-foot ground-floor space at the foot of 20 King Street West in Toronto.
Alex Edmison, Senior Vice President, of the Urban Retail Team with real estate firm CBRE, said the space has 25-foot ceilings and is column-free.
“It’s at the corner of Yonge and King. So right down in the financial core,” he said. “I think it’s nice that you see them coming downtown because the narrative around downtown, I don’t think rightly, has been negative. It’s getting way more positive now and we’re seeing a lot of life downtown.
“And just seeing Joey’s joining the fray I think is fantastic. So I think that’s a good message to the market. They’re obviously a phenomenal tenant and that’s just so exciting on so many levels.
“It’s going to be a great addition to Toronto.”
No date has been announced for the opening of the restaurant.
Edmison said the building had been occupied by the Royal Bank since it was built in the 1960s and it sits at centre ice in the core of Toronto.
“This massive new Joey restaurant will not only give people a new reason to come to work, but to come and stay and play in the financial district,” said Edmison, noting that the restaurant will also offer premium private dining experiences for celebrations of all sizes.
“This is part of a wave of exciting new restaurants opening that are making downtown the place to be. These new restaurants popping up around the financial core are making it a dinner destination for office workers as well as those considering coming from around the GTA for an amazing downtown dining experience.”
Edmison said Joey’s has secured a marquis location.
“If you asked ‘find me 17,000 square feet column-free with 25-foot ceilings’ there might be only one building in Canada that offers that. It’s very rare. I think there’s something very special to be said about the space,” he added.
“This building has been occupied by the Royal Bank since it was built. So to get this kind of real estate, and these opportunities, they don’t come around very often. Like, you might see a whole century pass and there might only be two tenants in this building in the span of 100 years.”
In a leasing brochure, CBRE said 20 King Street West is ideally connected to the PATH system, an underground pedestrian walkway that spans more than 30 kilometres of restaurants, shopping, services and entertainment. The PATH provides links between 75 buildings in the downtown core including some of Toronto’s most popular tourist and entertainment attractions, including Scotiabank Arena, The Eaton Centre, Roy Thompson Hall, The Hockey Hall of Fame, The CN Tower, and Ripely’s Aquarium. The PATH is also connected to six subway stations, including King Station which is located directly next door to 20 King West. King Station has a daily ridership of over 60,900 people.
The Joey Restaurant Group, one of North America’s top restaurant chains, is demonstrating its firm belief in Toronto, added Edmison.
The Group has existing Toronto locations at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, Yorkdale Shopping Centre, CF Sherway Gardens, CF Markville and CF Shops at Don Mills (along with 18 other locations nationwide), and it had been looking for another space in the heart of downtown Toronto.
Edmison and his team at CBRE worked on securing the space on King St.
CBRE said the Joey deal is the latest in a trend of high-end restaurants betting on downtown Toronto, including Alo Bar at 150 York (another CBRE deal) and Black & Blue at Exchange Tower, a deal that also involved CBRE.
Chinese fine dining concept Mott 32 is coming to the Shangri-La hotel at 180 University Ave and Daphne opened earlier this year at 67 Richmond St W, it added.
“The future of restaurants and great dining experiences in downtown Toronto has certainly never been brighter,” said Edmison.
Of all the chain restaurants Joey’s is my favourite however their prices are now getting out of touch with my wallet. We used to go every few months for a dinner night out but now we go once a year for our anniversary dinner. I do look forward to checking this new location out at some point!