Granville and West Georgia in downtown Vancouver. Photo: Lee Rivett.
Craig and Lee delve into a detailed comparison of the retail landscapes in Vancouver and San Francisco. The discussion starts with the alarming number of store closures in San Francisco, on and near Market Street and Union Square. Vancouver seems to be more resilient in this regard, especially in popular areas like Robson Street and Granville Street. The conversation takes a somber turn as they address the issue of poverty and homelessness which is more concentrated in Vancouver, notably in the Downtown East Side, leading to challenges for retailers in the area.
The dialogue transitions to the topic of retail crime, with both cities grappling with theft and shoplifting problems. San Francisco’s retail crime appears to be more brazen, while Vancouver is not immune to these issues. The situation has led to a coalition in British Columbia to address these challenges, impacting retailers of all sizes. Despite these hurdles, high-end retailers in San Francisco’s Union Square area are reported to be thriving, highlighting the persistence of luxury brands given the wealth in the city. Both cities offer a unique shopping experience, with San Francisco featuring a wide range of luxury boutiques and Vancouver ranking as the second-best city for luxury shopping in Canada, with continued growth potential.
The discussion concludes with a visit to Gastown and the Woodward’s atrium, highlighting the architectural and historical significance of the area. While they appreciate the unique elements, the hosts acknowledge the challenges posed by addiction and homelessness. Despite these difficulties, they hope for positive change in the future and emphasize the importance of discussing and addressing these issues in the retail context.
The Weekly podcast part of theThe Retail Insider Podcast Network by Retail Insider Canada and is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.
Subscribe, Rate, and Review our Retail Insider Podcast!
Drop us a line at Craig@Retail-Insider.com. You can also rate us in Apple Podcasts or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!
Background Music Credit: Hard Boiled Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
One-of-a-kind group fitness studio, STRONG Pilates is launching its first of many Canadian studios on January 6, 2024.
With over 5,000 square feet, this flagship studio, in Toronto’s Little Italy neighbourhood, will feature a workout space, beauty bar, washrooms with showers, stretching area and community collaboration space.
Alyce Luczak, Director of Operations & Performance for STRONG Pilates Canada, said the brand fills a gap in the market.
“We’re Pilates-inspired. So we’re not just solely a Pilates studio. It has basically the low impact workout formats that you would find in a Pilates class but it’s also a very high intensity workout. It has a very unique machine, which is the first of its kind in the Canadian market,” she said. “It has the option to either row or bike.
“That is where the high intensity comes from and it’s a really good mesh of the two formats together and on top of that you’ve also got your traditional resistance style training as well. So we do have the dumb bell aspect as well.”
Future STRONG Pilates in Little Italy in Toronto (Rendering: STRONG Pilates)Future STRONG Pilates in Little Italy in Toronto (Rendering: STRONG Pilates)
Ashley Haraburda, STRONG Pilates Flagship Studio Co-Owner, said the Toronto location will be the first in North America. It will be located at 533 College Street in the lower level of the building.
“Our location is just over 5,000 square feet so also for a Pilates studio it is very large in scale,” she said. “We are going to have 20 (of the row/bike training equipment). And options for clients to sign up to either row or ride. It started with the row and the bike has been a new part of innovation that the brand has implemented pretty recently. So we’re really excited that we’re going to be able to offer both those options to our guests.”
Strong Pilates co-founders Michael Ramsey and Mark Armstrong. (Image: STRONG Pilates)
The founding headquarters for the brand is in Australia.
“It launched in 2019 and ever since then it’s been going strong, pun intended, and it’s basically expanding across the globe. There’s studios obviously across Australia, New Zealand, in the UK, Singapore, soon to come in Indonesia and obviously in Canada soon,” said Luczak.
She said the company wants to have more than 50 studios across Canada, hitting all the major cities.
“At this point in time there’s a lot of interest in the GTA as well as Vancouver,” said Luczak. “Right now, we are going through all the inquiries and the leads that people are submitting to become a part of the franchise and just looking for the right fit for the brand.
“Looking to find those owner operators, the investors, that really believe not only in the STRONG workout, the brand and the network of it but are going to be able to drive it forward in a really positive way.”
Image: strongpilates.caFuture STRONG Pilates in Little Italy in Toronto (Rendering: STRONG Pilates)
Haraburda said the brand can appeal to all demographics. Traditionally Pilates has been geared more towards women.
“In terms of actual workouts, it’s a combination of everything. It’s the best of Pilates, rowing, cardio, cycling and strength,” she said. “In the past, we’ve seen people who love Pilates, and my background is in dance, you tend to have your Pilates studio and then you’re going somewhere else for your cardio, or maybe you do a Pilates class and afterwards you want to go for a run to make sure you’re getting your heart rate up.
“We’re eliminating all that so now you can do everything in one studio and hold one membership and it’s open to everyone. And the way the classes are structured too, we make sure that you’re set up for success . . . Instructors are there to make sure you’re really working hard and sweating throughout the class.”
Image: STRONG Pilates
Haraburda said the studio also has a mobility area that encourages people to focus on recovery which is really important and has become more of a buzz word in the industry as well lately.
“So you can either stretch before class, after class and those moves are created to benefit the moves that you’re doing directly in the class,” she said. “So we’re really making sure that people are getting the most out of their time and classes are 45 minutes. We know people are busy. We’re accommodating.”
Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. Here are the top stories from the past 24 hours.
“Across Tip Top and our Big & Tall stores, Grafton Apparel offers unparalleled quality, value, and style that has delivered record results,” said Lance Itkoff, President and CEO of Grafton, in a statement.
“We are the definitive go-to solution for men’s workplace and event apparel as well as the only nationwide chain catering exclusively to the Big & Tall customer. Stern Partners brings us the benefit of strategic Canadian investors who understand the retail landscape and we look forward to leveraging their insight and resources to help us deliver even better value to our customers and enhanced growth for Grafton.”
Tip Top Markham (Image: Tip Top)
Grafton said it will continue to independently operate and grow its retail and ecommerce businesses – Tip Top, George Richards and Mr. Big & Tall – in the Canadian market.
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to be finalized over the coming weeks. National Bank Financial acted as exclusive financial advisor and Davies Ward Phillips Vineberg acted as legal advisor to the Company on the transaction. Norton Rose Fulbright acted as legal advisor to the Purchaser.
George Richards Big & Tall Menswear at West Edmonton Mall
Stern Partners is a Canadian investment firm with more than 30 years of experience investing in a diverse range of operating companies, including extensive long-term interests in the apparel industry.
“The growth of the retail apparel market in Canada has been an area of interest for us. Grafton’s commitment to delivering quality and value to consumers, backed by a strong team, has created a growth trajectory that we want to support,” said Daniel Cairns of Stern Partners, in a statement. “We are excited to partner with the strong team at Grafton as we turn the page into this next chapter together.”
Stern Partners’ investments currently include over 20 standalone businesses that collectively employ more than 7,000 employees.
“Halifax Shopping Centre and the Annex exemplify the quality and market leading nature of Primaris REIT’s target acquisition profile. The shopping complex is extremely well located in central Halifax, adjacent to Halifax Transit’s Mumford Terminal and at the gateway to the Halifax peninsula, with a market leading position in one of Canada’s fastest growing mid-sized population centres,” said Patrick Sullivan, President and Chief Operating Officer, in a statement.
“With very strong sales performance trending above $1,000 per square foot, this acquisition enhances the REIT’s portfolio value proposition with retailers, and offers a significant income growth opportunity consistent with the growth we see ahead for our existing assets.”
Image: Halifax Shopping Centre
The Halifax Shopping Centre is Atlantic Canada’s leading regional enclosed shopping centre. Located at the gateway to the Halifax peninsula in central Halifax within the newly redesigned main mass transit node, the 562,000-square-foot mall is located on 20.9 acres of land.
Some highlights of the property include:
$1,012 per square foot same store sales productivity and annual all store sales volume of $260.8 million as at September 30, 2023;
69.0 per cent in-place occupancy, and 96.2 per cent committed occupancy including executed leases commencing over the next few months as part of the Sears redevelopment including Simons, Winners, Dollarama and PetSmart;
$54.0 million Sears redevelopment substantially completed in 2023, and $70.0 million expansion, food court relocation and design upgrades throughout the centre completed in 2017;
BOMA BEST Certified;
Other large format tenants include Sport Chek and Zara;
Unique commercial retail unit (CRU) tenants to the region include Apple, Aritzia, Michael Kors, Victoria’s Secret, Browns, and Nespresso, and other notable CRU tenants include Sephora and Lululemon; and
No traditional department store.
The Annex property highlights include:
Open air centre located immediately adjacent to Halifax Shopping Centre;
Halifax Transit Mumford Bus Terminal on site, one of the city’s busiest terminals;
99.7 per cent in-place occupancy, and 93.9 per cent committed occupancy including the impact of Winners moving to Halifax Shopping Centre;
412,000 square foot shopping centre located on 26.7 acres of land, for an approximate 47.0 per cent site coverage;
Site designated as a future growth node by the city, enabling phase I master planning application for approximately 1,800 residential units with mixed-use component, and future phases of approximately 5,500 residential units;
Large format tenants include Walmart, Sobeys, and Dollarama, with other notable inline and pad tenants including the NSLC, Mark’s Work Wearhouse, Shoppers Drug Mart, and the Bank of Montreal; and
Adjoining 187,000 square foot Mumford Road Office Complex with 95.4 per cent in-place occupancy and 96.2 per cent committed occupancy.
Rendering: Simons at Halifax Shopping Centre
The Halifax property has been managed by Cushman and Wakefield Asset Services.
Earlier this year, Primaris bought the Conestoga Mall in Waterloo from Ivanhoé Cambridge for $270 million.
Alex Avery
“We are very pleased to add Atlantic Canada’s premiere shopping centre complex to the Primaris portfolio,” said Alex Avery, Chief Executive Officer, in a statement. “This acquisition further demonstrates Primaris as an attractive buyer for Canadian pension fund vendors of market leading Canadian shopping centres, with multiple discussions continuing for further acquisitions.
“Primaris is uniquely positioned as a buyer, with institutional scale as the second largest owner-operator of enclosed shopping centres in Canada with proforma assets of approximately $3.9 billion, a differentiated financial model featuring a very well capitalized balance sheet, and a clear mandate for growth.”
Primaris said similar to the Trust’s existing owned portfolio, Halifax Shopping Centre and the Annex offer significant net operating income growth potential over the next few years, as operating and financial performance normalizes, and as Primaris’ full-service management platform integrates and operates the properties.
It said opportunities to increase operating income include:
Lease up of approximately 20,000 square feet of vacant or temporary tenanted space to strong tenants at market rents;
The conversion of tenants on preferred rent deals to standard market leases, as well as resolution of leases subject to co-tenancy rental rates; and
Primaris intends to leverage its scalable management platform to deploy its cost management strategy.
Primaris is Canada’s only enclosed shopping centre focused REIT, with ownership interests primarily in the leading enclosed shopping centres in growing markets. The proforma portfolio totals 37 properties, or 12.5 million square feet, valued at approximately $3.9 billion at Primaris’ share.
Primaris said Halifax is experiencing significant population growth, and has been in the top-five fastest-growing Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) in Canada for the past four consecutive years, according to Statistics Canada.
In July 2023, the city recorded one-year population growth of 4.5 per cent, the highest ever recorded for the city, and remains the second fastest growing CMA in Canada. The region is expected to grow by 18.4 per cent by 2033, supported by attractive relative cost of living, growth in employment opportunities and significant infrastructure investments, far outpacing the national average of 13.6 per cent, according to Environics Analytics.
Holt Renfrew CEO Sebastian Picardo at Holt Renfrew Calgary, November 2023 (Image: Mario Toneguzzi)
When Sebastian Picardo took over as President and CEO of Holt Renfrew three and a half years ago, he wanted to know how people perceived the iconic Canadian retail brand.
He had many conversations with various stakeholders in the company.
“One of the things I learned was that Holt Renfrew at the time was perhaps perceived as being a little bit elitist and was for some people a little bit intimidating,” said Picardo in a recent interview with Retail Insider at the retailer’s downtown Calgary store. “And that to me indicated that we had a big opportunity to evolve and make changes. We could change the perception because the reality was in the cities, more today than then, is that we have a product curation that caters to a lot of people.
Holt Renfrew at The CORE in Calgary (Image: Mario Toneguzzi)
“We have products for women, for men, for the home, for kids. We have beauty and grooming. We have all these products. We are a lifestyle retailer if you will and of course we have a very significant product offer in the luxury segment but we also have products that are more affordable at entry prices.
“It’s just a question of people being aware that we have those things and when they come here, if they haven’t been here before, that they’re going to be welcomed, they are going to feel welcomed, and they’re going to be able to experience Holt Renfrew like anyone else.”
Picardo said the retailer’s services are also accessible to anyone like facials for example and personalized shopping and styling appointments. He said the brand started working really hard to ensure that it had products for a range of people.
“The key thing we worked on when it comes to product assortment and curation is to ensure that not only do we have different price points but also the products that are special. Our customers still want to find things that are special. Is it diverse? Is it sustainable? Is it new? Is it unique to Holt? What is special about it? Is there something special around the story of the brand, the story of the product? And then we work very hard to be able to communicate those things that make those products special.”
Holt Renfrew CEO Sebastian Picardo at Holt Renfrew Calgary (Image: Mario Toneguzzi)
Picardo said the company is doubling down on the Holt Renfrew brand and it is working on clearly communicating who it is and what it stands for. This has been a key to the brand’s evolution in the past few years.
“First of all we’re a brand that has been in Canada for over 186 years. At the heart of the brand we have four key pillars that makes us different and unique. We’re Canadian. We own the colour magenta. We’re very proud of that. You see it everywhere. You see the colour and you immediately associate it to Holt Renfrew.
“Another brand pillar is sustainability which is all the things we are doing around social and environmental aspects. For example, Holt Renfrew in 2021 became the first, and I believe still the only retailer in Canada, to have science-based targets across Scope 1, 2 and 3. So we are really, really committed to making a difference when it comes to environmental aspects and social aspects.
“And finally personal service. That’s another key pillar to our brand. So when I think about the future, those four pillars will continue to be shining through everything we do.”
Holt Renfrew at The CORE in Calgary (Image: Mario Toneguzzi)
Picardo said the company will be bringing forward more personalized services and experiences for its customers in the future. Holt Renfrew wants to take personal relationships to a new level and that will show up on a more one-on-one basis.
“The results of this evolution have been phenomenal,” he said. “First of all, since 2020 our market share has grown by 33 per cent. Our customer base has grown dramatically since 2019. We had record sales last year and we’re continuing to see growth in our customer base.
“Compared to 2019, (sales last year) were up 30 per cent. This year we’re tracking against our plans and we’re doing well even though it’s a very different market.”
Holt Renfrew currently operates seven stores in Canada. By the end of next year there will be six as the retailer’s standalone men’s store at 100 Bloor Street West in Toronto will be relocating back into the 50 Bloor Street West flagship store nearby where it had operated for years. The new men’s store will be located on the third floor of the larger Holts and will open towards the end of 2024.
“We have been investing in renovations across the board,” said Picardo.
In recent years, it opened a store in downtown Montreal with a flagship Holt Renfrew Ogilvy store on Saint-Catherine St W.
“We currently are very happy with the presence that we have across the country and what we’re looking to do is to actually continue to do an even better job within that footprint and that’s why this investment that we’re making in bringing everything to life in Bloor and if we are expanding we may be expanding with seven brands that need more space because we want to showcase additional new lines or additional products. But I think the idea is to continue to do that,” said Picardo.
“We think we can continue to serve the key markets in Canada with our store footprint and then serve the rest of Canada where we don’t have a store with our online presence . . . The core markets too. We have a lot of customers shopping online in the markets we have shops as well.”
Holt Renfrew at The CORE in Calgary (Image: Mario Toneguzzi)
The company also has stores in Yorkdale, Square One, downtown Calgary at the CORE and at CF Pacific Centre in downtown Vancouver.
“What we’ve seen in the last few years is changes in the customer behaviour and also we see changes in the customer in general,” said Picardo. “The first thing I’ve seen when I arrived was that through an extremely successful immigration program that Canada has, the customer has been changing dramatically in Canada. We have a very diverse consumer. Some of them are new Canadians. Some of them have been here for a long time. And over the years there have been people immigrating to Canada.
“The second thing I observed when I arrived there’s a much higher expectation, I think it’s a concern, around climate change and there’s also interest in ensuring that retailers have a role to play when it comes to social and environmental aspects that our communities care about.
“Thirdly, I think there’s a lot of competition. Canada is very competitive and it’s very challenging to win. And on top of it, if you add some of the customer behaviour in terms of what happened during the pandemic when people were not traveling, people were not going out for a meal, they were not socializing as much, and therefore we saw that a lot of discretionary spend grew and was in luxury goods. As the pandemic got to an end, we saw changes in behaviour. So people started traveling again, they started shopping abroad and also they started diverting spending to other areas like going out for meals and socializing.
“And more recently with inflation and also with interest rates going up, we’re seeing that the demand for other categories such as mortgage payments or other categories where prices are going up people need to divert their spending to that.”
Picardo said there are many different dynamics taking place in the retail sector today with both opportunities and challenges.
Single-Use Plastic (This image was generated with the assistance of AI)
A Federal Court judge has recently declared the federal government’s decision to categorize plastic items as toxic to be both “unreasonable and unconstitutional.” This ruling has introduced further regulatory uncertainty for the food industry as it grapples with its dependence on plastic.
While waste management primarily falls under provincial jurisdiction, the classification of plastic items as toxic played a significant role in enabling the federal government to move forward with the prohibition of certain single-use plastic products. These regulations, slated to take effect on December 20th, will effectively ban the sale of plastic checkout bags, utensils, food service items, stirrers, and straws in Canada.
In the decision made public this week, the Federal Court asserted that federal law cannot apply a generic toxicity label to a broad category of plastic-manufactured products, deeming it excessively inclusive. In essence, this ruling underscores the diversity among plastic materials, as not all plastics are created equal.
Winners (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
For Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Minister Steven Guilbeault, this verdict serves as a lesson in the consequences of allowing doctrine to guide cabinet decisions. Consequently, an appeal is likely to follow.
Nevertheless, for the food industry, the battle to reduce its reliance on plastic is far from over. The industry acknowledges the necessity for change and adaptation to align with our collective sustainability goals. However, from the outset, many observed that Ottawa’s approach to climate and plastics was not only an overreach on provincial jurisdiction but also ideologically driven, often lacking practical logic.
The repercussions of phasing out plastics in the food industry could be profound, particularly in terms of our access to fresh produce. Canada imports approximately $7 billion worth of fruits and $3.5 billion in vegetables annually, and international trade plays a crucial role in ensuring affordable food for Canadians. While we export our food globally, we also depend on global markets for our sustenance. Therefore, the economics of food packaging hold immense significance both domestically and internationally. Surprisingly, many foreign suppliers providing produce to Canada remain unaware of our policy directions and their potential implications. Over the years, several food manufacturers, including Nestle, have exited the Canadian market for various reasons, leading to the withdrawal of some brands. Our policies could further deter key suppliers that support our health and sustainability objectives.
A few years ago, a comprehensive analysis led by Dr. Martin Gooch, a prominent expert in supply chain management and food waste in Canada, forecasted that ineffective packaging had the potential to result in an increase of nearly half a million metric tonnes in food losses and waste compared to current levels. This would amount to a value of CA$2.5 billion. It’s important to emphasize that this projection is on the conservative side. Notably, the most substantial losses are expected in the case of perishable goods that are susceptible to damage or require specialized packaging. Plastic packaging plays a crucial role in prolonging the shelf life of products sensitive to ethylene, a natural ripening agent produced by fruits and vegetables. Take carrots, for instance, which can be adversely affected by ethylene emitted by adjacent produce, leading to a shortened shelf life, altered appearance, and diminished taste. A decline in the appeal of produce at the retail level ultimately results in reduced consumer interest.
Replacing plastics won’t be easy, but it can be done. A comprehensive approach to eliminating plastics recognizes the diversity of plastic materials and involves the active participation of provinces and cities in this endeavour. Ottawa’s approach has been divisive and, more importantly, patronizing and resented by various stakeholders seeking to contribute positively to environmental efforts.
Furthermore, Ottawa must acknowledge that our food industry operates within a larger system that includes partners beyond our borders. Significant changes to our packaging policies can and will impact our nation’s food security. Plastics have facilitated the transportation of food over long distances, ensuring freshness and safety while minimizing waste. While all companies aim to contribute positively to the environment, they also prioritize competitiveness. Policies should strive to create a level playing field for all while remaining grounded in scientific evidence.
Especially at a time when food prices are a significant concern for many, ECCC must proceed with caution. While eliminating plastics from our lives is a commendable goal, it is essential to treat industry stakeholders and Canadians with respect and recognition of their intelligence.
Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. Here are the top stories from the past three days.
Hullmark and BGO Reveal Master Plan for Beltline Yards, A New Landmark in Toronto (CNW Group/Hullmark)
A partnership between Hullmark, a world-class Toronto real estate investment and development firm, and BGO, a leading global real estate investment manager, is planning to develop a massive, unique, mixed-use, community-driven neighbourhood for the Beltline Yards in Toronto.
Beltline Yards is Hullmark’s first master-planned community and Toronto’s newest landmark destination. This almost 1.7 million-square-foot development owned in partnership with Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, an institutional investor with BGO, will be designed by world-renowned architects, Allies and Morrison.
Situated along Toronto’s York Beltline Trail where it connects with two transit corridors, Beltline Yards will set a new standard for mixed-use developments in Canada, combining housing in a layered family of buildings, dedicated rental housing, unique retail opportunities, extensive parkland, and maker-focused light industry.
Hullmark and BGO Reveal Master Plan for Beltline Yards, A New Landmark in Toronto (CNW Group/Hullmark)
Jeff Hull
“We have been inspired by the York Beltline Trail and the Toronto Beltline Railway, and the incredible opportunity we now have to complete the vision in a modern context. We will be using this existing infrastructure to enhance the area, making sure that not only will people—locals and visitors alike—know about it, but will include it in their daily lives,” said Jeff Hull, President of Hullmark. “Beltline Yards will be unlike any other neighbourhood in Toronto, building upon the trail and the well-established maker spirit of the community, to energize and empower a sense of creativity within anyone who visits.
“Beltline Yards represents an opportunity for us to apply everything we have learned about design-focused neighbourhood development in a multi-phase master plan where we believe we will help establish a welcoming, lively community in the city. By connecting the city to the beltline with this master plan, we are creating a destination that will become a calling card for Toronto.”
Ross Strowger
Ross Strowger, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, BGO, said the partnership with Hullmark continues to shift the boundaries on innovative, thoughtful, and sustainability-driven development in Toronto.
“Beltline Yards is a large-scale, transformative masterplan that delivers much-needed housing with connectivity to public transit corridors and green space.”
The new neighbourhood is located at the intersection of Bowie Avenue and Caledonia Road, adjacent to the new transit hub at Caledonia Station, and is bounded by the York Beltline Trail along its northwest edge.
Hullmark and BGO Reveal Master Plan for Beltline Yards, A New Landmark in Toronto (CNW Group/Hullmark)
The site will include about 1.4 million square feet of residential and about 300,000 square feet of commercial space. The majority of the site is the current manufacturing facility for Canada Goose. The entire site is about 7.3 acres. Residential will be a mixture of mid and high rise buildings.
This new project will showcase transit-oriented urban planning, a variety of housing tenures including purpose-built rental housing, employment space for innovative retail and light industry, high-quality public space and parkland connecting to the city’s most expansive linear park system, and varied and unique architectural design inspired by Toronto’s historical vernacular.
Built around the core idea of creating a place for making of all kinds, Beltline Yards will be a design-led neighbourhood and is planned to be fully approved with the first phase shovel-ready in 2026.
“The current plan contemplates about 2,000 (residential) units that could be put on the site,” said Strowger. “Depending on the unit size that would be about 3,000, 4,000 residents on site. From a type of asset perspective, Sun Life is in the business of building purpose-built rental. In our portfolio, we have about 4,000 units that we own and manage for long-term ownership perspective.
“The intent would be, at least in terms of our long-term ownership on the site, to build purpose-built rental now. It’s a pretty large site so I would say in the long run it’s probably a mixture of purpose-built rental and condos there.”
Hullmark and BGO Reveal Master Plan for Beltline Yards, A New Landmark in Toronto (CNW Group/Hullmark)
Strowger said for Sun Life growth in long-term multi-family projects is a key to its strategy.
“If you look at the dysfunction and dislocation in the current housing market, I think it presents a real opportunity for investors to build long-term, institutionally owned and managed assets for these communities. And I think that long-term ownership is an amazing value proposition for everyone involved in terms of our commitment to the site, commitment to the community and commitment to the residents,” he said.
Strowger said Toronto has seen significant immigration to the city and significant rental growth.
“In the long-run what this community needs is more housing. What the city needs is more housing. That’s a strategic fit for our portfolio growth model,” he said. “Looking at places like this, gives us the opportunity to build these things over the long term and build them purposely with those goals in mind.”
Hull said the vision is to create a mixed-used community the likes of which has not been seen before in Toronto, taking advantage of the connectivity with the new transit station being built at the corner of the site and the Beltline Trail.
“We really love the neighbourhood as it exists today. This development isn’t about changing the nature of the neighbourhood. Yes, we’re going to be adding in some residential uses but we really want to build upon the amazing things that are happening in the neighbourhood already from a design and a maker perspective,” he said.
“At grade, we’re going to have a lot of commercial uses. That could be larger scale, vertical factories, that could be showrooms, that could be amenities for the neighbourhood like a grocery store, that could be smaller CRU units for sort of daily necessity type uses for the new residents and the existing residents in the neighbourhood. A real mixture of stuff at grade or grade related. Above that would be residential uses.”
Beltline Yards will highlight the area’s natural greenery and parkland, while creating walkable space for families, professionals, creatives, and visitors as well as shopping, recreation, food, employment, and industry. This project will open up connections with parkland by improving the York Beltline Trail, attract retail and other light-industrial destinations that harness a maker spirit, and include world-class placemaking and public realm design.
“We really want this development to be a catalyst for the re-imagining of the Beltline Trail to be something sort of more for the neighbourhood and the city. We’re looking at ways we can improve the Beltline Trail, we’re looking at ways that we can plan different uses along the Beltline Trail. We’re looking at ways to connect the Beltline Trail to the Humber River, multi-use path and the West Toronto Railpath to create more connectivity,” added Hull.
Central to this development is an acre (43,000 square feet) of publicly accessible park, an open-air covered yard, and over 10,000 square feet of community space, all centrally located in the heart of the site. In addition to bringing much needed and thoughtful intensification to a key transit intersection, Beltline Yards will boast almost four acres, or over 160,000 square feet of open space – almost 50 per cent of its total land area, not even including the improvements proposed to the York Beltline Trail adjacent to the site.
“Beltline Yards is a special project for us and is representative of our long-standing exploration of how to design great places with high density,” said Alfredo Caraballo, Partner at Allies and Morrison. “As architects, we have been dealt with the very interesting specificities of this site: how it relates to the York Beltline Trail so the landscape connects to a wider network; how it relates to the industrial uses around it so a culture of making and light industry remains as an intrinsic part of the character; how it relates to the public transport transformation of the area so that it unlocks many opportunities to live and work here. All these result in a design response that could only be here – a place ‘of its place’.”
The Ford government is once again considering the end of Ontario’s Beer Stores. According to the Toronto Star, there is no intention to renew the 10-year Master Framework Agreement, which imposes stringent restrictions on the sale of beer in Ontario venues other than the designated retailer. The Ford government has less than a month to commit to a new contract or not. The current agreement ends in 2025. However, for Ontario, it’s high time to move on from this archaic business model that has been around for far too long.
Founded in 1927, The Beer Stores in Ontario are thought to be the sole foreign-owned oligopoly controlling the retail sale of beer in Canada’s food industry. It is quite peculiar when you think about it. They operate a total of 420 stores throughout the province, have 8 distribution centres, and employ almost 7,000 people.
Image: The Beer Store
This chain is primarily owned by Molson, Labatt, and Sleeman, with a few smaller breweries owning stakes in the chain, but very few. In fact, many Ontarians believe that Beer Stores are government-owned because that’s the impression they often get when visiting one of them. Going to a Beer Store in Ontario feels as mundane as buying bread in Europe during the Great War – devoid of personality, lacking any excitement, and downright boring. It’s hard to imagine why Ontarians are still accepting a sub-par experience when buying beer. Other provinces would never put up with it. The beer world has indeed changed, but apparently, not in Ontario.
The Beer Store chain doesn’t have to be eliminated. For one, in the current, flawed system, only the Beer Store can sell some discounted cases. Eliminating this restriction would have a significant impact on competition and create a more level playing field. It would give more options to consumers. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to redecorate stores and make them more inviting. Right now, some of them just look like a prettied-up warehouse, and some people just take your order. In retailing, the Beer Store is far from being a benchmark.
Ontarians have also enjoyed the luxury of returning bottles to the same place of purchase. Perhaps, beyond 2025, Beer Stores could also play a role by continuing to accept beer bottles while the province figures out a different method to preserve the necessary green logistics to support a recycling strategy. Again, other provinces have figured out different systems. Surely, Ontario can come up with a new plan.
Changes are long overdue in the need to recognize and support the countless small, local microbrewers who struggle to secure any shelf space at the Beer Store due to the dominance of a retail distribution oligopoly. Many microbreweries need support and attention so market access in their own province is not an issue. It’s a straightforward decision that would benefit both consumers and those who foster job creation.
Image: The Beer Store
At the center of it all lies a unique but ambiguous fact. The evolving and sometimes awkward relationship Ontarians have had with alcohol over the years has indeed been truly intriguing. The Beer Store stands as an emblem of that distinctive relationship. Ontario has changed over the years, and so should the province’s beer distribution policies.
But in the end, this outdated model has become obsolete and serves as a hindrance to the free and competitive beer market. For consumers in Ontario, it’s time to modernize and open the beer market in Ontario. Free the beer!
