A rezoning application on Dundas Street West in downtown Toronto threatens to demolish an entire block of decades-old restaurants to make way for a mixed-use, high density condominium tower.
The application was submitted by Dundas Centre Holdings Ltd., and plans to demolish a row of restaurants, from Centre Avenue on the West to Chestnut Street on the East (181-195 Dundas Street West).
Restaurater Syed Rahman, owner of Indian Biriyani House, said his restaurant has been open for 16 years and counting, but that could soon come to an end.
“When I heard about the demolition, I was very shocked and upset,” he said in an interview over the phone.
Rahman said his restaurant brings life to Dundas Street West. He estimates the block’s restaurants collectively bring in more than a hundred people daily, and that’s on a slow day.
“Our customers are business people, university students, cab drivers and more. Without us, where are they going to go?” he said.
He added many of the other surrounding restaurants, like those on University Avenue, are too expensive for his regulars to visit if the demolition goes through. And like his customers, Rahman believes he and his neighbours will have nowhere else to go. This means they’ll be forced to close their doors – permanently.
“But this restaurant is my family’s only source of income,” he said.
Joseph Chung, assistant manager of Dundas Centre Holdings Ltd., said his family business is struggling, too. He said he understands what his tenants are going through and has their interests at heart.
“COVID hit our clients hard, so we only charged them half of their rent. We’re a small business, so we have more leeway than those giant corporations,” he said in an interview over the phone.
Chung said the row of restaurants are costing him too much and not making enough. In addition, he mentioned his business pays more than $80,000 in taxes annually on a parking lot attached to the block. He believes a mixed-use condo would not only give the business an opportunity to demolish the parking lot, but would also increase revenue.
“As small-time landlords, we have to balance our tenants’ dreams and livelihoods with our own,” he said.
The greater good?
In addition to alleviating financial pressures on his company, Chung also hopes the condo will help ease Toronto’s housing crisis.
“We’re trying to establish high-density housing, like what we see in Hong Kong,” he said.
Deborah Scott, of Scott Shields Architects, is part of the project. She believes the future condo’s location – a five minute walk from Yonge-Dundas station and a two minute walk from St. Patrick station – means it has the potential to serve thousands of TTC commuters.
“It’s about keeping up with the city’s evolution,” she said in an interview over the phone.
Chung said his organization filed the rezoning application in part because they believe the land could be better used.
“Toronto doesn’t want parking spaces. They want development,” he said.
Scott also believes the condo tower can meet Toronto’s housing needs without sacrificing the street’s commercial potential.
“In New York City, even though the ground floors are so busy, you see lots of restaurants on the second or third floor,” she said.
And Chung added he’s willing to help his tenants secure a spot in the future condo.
“Some of these tenants have been with us for 30 years. We work closely with them,” he said.
Despite this, some of his tenants doubt the condo can maintain the street’s restaurant-heavy retail makeup.
As part of the application, 129.54 square metres (1,400 square feet) of floor space would be allocated for retail. Of that, 72.46 square metres (780 square feet) of this would be placed on the corner of Dundas Street West and Centre Avenue, with the remaining 57.08 square metres (615 square feet) being located further East along Dundas Street.
Rahman anticipates that despite his landlord’s best intentions, the kinds of affordable restaurants characterizing this block of Dundas Street West will be able to afford rent in a new condo podium.
“The students and cab drivers can’t go to these restaurants in the condo towers. And the streets will be empty,” he said.
Timeline? To Be Determined…
Scott estimates the demolition will not be complete for another decade, let alone the construction of the condo.
“At the end of the day, this is all just long-term planning,” she said.
Despite already filing an application with the city in September, Chung said the condo’s details are still tentative.
“For the time being, we’re considering closing down the parking space and turning it into a night market,” he noted.
Despite how far into the future the potential demolition is, Rahman, and his neighbours, are still anxious.
“There is no amount of compensation or consolation that can make up for the loss of my only restaurant,” he said.
