Before looking forward, I figured we’d take a look back.
Back at the plaza through my very own eyes.
What can I say? I’m nostalgic, alright?
–
Like I said; thanks for indulging me.
I understand that to many people, this is just another under-utilized piece of land, and there’s no reason to preserve or try to keep it. And I agree, no question about it. But just as you wanted to go for that last slice of pizza before the negibhourhood shop closed down, or whatever it was that was near and dear to you, I felt that I wanted to reminisce a little bit about this plaza before it gets bulldozed.
The amazing part about this is: although this plaza was built in 1952 and time has seemingly flown by, I wrote a blog about the potential demoltion of the plaza back in 2008. Yes, 2008. Twelve years ago! Talk about time flying by…
March 20th, 2008: “Preserve History, Or Build New Memories?”
I can’t believe it’s been twelve years since I wrote that.
I also can’t believe it’s taken twelve years for this development to get off the ground!
As I wrote in 2008, RioCan had, according to my barber, paid $18,500,000 for the plaza with plans to redevelop it.
Had you told me back in 2008 that come 2020, I’d be walking on the sidewalk taking a video of the still-existing plaza, merely boarded up, I never would have believed it.
Twelve years, and not a shovel in the ground!
Of course, I wrote that 2008 blog before the Eglinton Crosstown LRT had been announced. In the blog, I detail how the McDonalds was slated to become a high-rise condo, but the residents fought against it, and won! Okay. So instead, you get a train rolling under your feet…
As I noted in the blog, there’s a lot of redevelopment going on in Leaside right now, so on Wednesday, I’ll walk you through every project and potential site…
Francesca
at 6:50 am
David, you and I definitely must have crossed paths at some point maybe at shark city or maybe at the McDonald’s you reference. My sister was born the same year as you and I am six years older than you. I lived on st Clements just west of Yonge street from 1978-1985 (we moved to Montreal then) and I remember many of the shops at that plaza both then and later when we moved back here in the mid 90s. Consumers distributers as a kid was my Mecca to circle Toys for Christmas and my birthday. From 2008-2009 I took my daughter to gymboreee in the Metro plaza. I don’t believe that is there anymore either. The whole stretch of eglinton has changed so much since we were kids but I think the last decade has seen the most. It’ll be interesting to see how the condos look once they are done but from the rendering they look quite nice and that they should fit in nicely with the area.
Joel
at 5:05 pm
Bring back the McDonalds Pizza!
Julia
at 6:23 pm
I remember spending many Friday evenings at that plaza looking through Rogers Video rental DVD collection! Remember what a pain it was to actually get in the car and go to rent a movie, rolling the dice on whether it’s actually in stock?
Appraiser
at 8:27 am
Interesting proposition to the bears, racists and of course the “really smart analysts” from @benmyers:
Also curious where the “foreign buyers own all the condos and keep them vacant, so rents won’t decline with excess supply” people are at? https://twitter.com/benmyers29/status/1333567435006504960
Reality: where empty theories go to die.
Chris
at 10:47 am
Please clarify, taxing non-resident investors who hold domestic housing for unproductive purposes is racist against which race(s) exactly?
Alex
at 7:50 pm
Somebody has to pay back all those distributed money and future blown out of proportion budget. Time for tax creativity for all levels of government. Google and all digital giants, short-term rentals and now some extra squeeze from landlords – resident or non-resident – it does not matter.
Chris
at 11:01 am
“Canadian real GDP rose at a massive 40.5% annual rate in Q3 following the historic 38.1% plunge in Q2 (revised from -38.7%). No matter how impressive the Q3 bounce was, the reality is that it fell short of seemingly well-telegraphed expectations—even yesterday’s Fall Statement assumed a 47.5% surge
With renewed restrictions rolling across much of the country in recent weeks, the rebound in Q3 feels like very stale news indeed, and the focus now falls on how Q4 and Q1 are shaping up.”
– Doug Porter, BMO Economics
JG
at 2:19 pm
Awesome post!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I haven’t been down there in many many years.
Full of nostalgia right now. 🙂