Everything will be gone. Dynevor Furniture & Appliances, which has been here for over 50 years. Sunlong Natural Market, where lots of local shoppers buy their fresh fruit and veggies. Rincon Paisa, a Colombian restaurant you can count on for a good meal in a clean space. Everything from Dynevor to Kirknewton on Eglinton will disappear.
Their landlords have big plans. They’re going to tear down the commercial block and replace it with a brand new 32 storey condo tower. The project is called Cricket Park 3 and is estimated to be shovel ready by 2025.
If this is true and the project is approved, these local businesses have less than a year to leave. Construction usually starts with the foundation of the building which means these shops will be replaced by a hole in the ground months before the actual building goes up.
Once construction starts, local shopping will be limited to Shoppers Drug Mart, Dollarama, and No Frills.
But there’s a twist to this story. Developers across the city are sitting on land, saying they’re going to build something, but don’t. They just rezone the property, which raises the price of the land, and then sell it to another developer at a higher price. Which means land prices go up while no actual construction takes place, raising real estate prices. Kind of explains why rents are so expensive, doesn’t it?
That may be happening right here in the Midtown. If you walk along Vaughan and Northcliffe, you’ll see a big, broken, spray-painted sign. It’s a notice that a building’s going up. It’s been there for two years.
We’re just waiting for big developments to replace our local businesses and paying for it.
