A paywalled news report on Sunday evening in the Globe & Mail says that Apple may pull out of a mixed-use project called The ONE in downtown Toronto due to delays. Apple had reportedly leased much of the commercial podium of Sam Mizrahi’s tower project at the southwest corner of Yonge & Bloor Streets and litigation has revealed some interesting details.
The Globe & Mail article says that Apple could exercise an option in its lease agreement to exit the project without penalties if the developer misses certain deadlines. The matter is in litigation with Mizrahi saying that it has not missed deadlines and that his project will “suffer irreparable harm from losing a world-class tenant that was intended to be an anchor tenant for a world-class property, which is a loss that cannot be compensated in damages.”
The ONE will span more than 1000 feet into the air once completed in a couple of years. The tower will include retail at its base with restaurant space and a hotel above it, topped by a residential building housing some of the most expensive condominium apartments in Canada with penthouse prices nearing $40 million each. Mizrahi said in litigation that the entire building has been designed and built to be specifically tailored to Apple’s store which would span more than 15,000 square feet including more than 9,000 square feet at street level. Foster + Partners designed the hotel and the firm also designs Apple flagship stores.
The glass alone for the Apple store would cost in excess of $13 million according to the article, with 34 panels of glass each costing an average of $400,000.
If Apple does end up pulling out of the project, securing a replacement tenant could be a challenge, though the area is expected to see a boost with new nearby retail tenants. Sources are saying that a big-name retailer has secured the northwest corner of Yonge and Bloor in a newly configured multi-level space formerly occupied by Swarovski and Talbots. A Nordstrom Rack store occupies the southeast corner while a new development will be announced for the northeast corner that is currently occupied by a subway interchange and the mixed-used Hudson’s Bay Centre which currently houses a Hudson’s Bay department store.
Sam Mizrahi announced his massive Toronto project in the spring of 2015. Retail Insider covered the announcement and interviewed Sam Mizrahi who requested at the time that we not ask him the name of the “electronics retailer” that plans showed would occupy the base of his new tower.
