Two condo towers with street-level retail are on the way for this block, perfectly illustrating the rapid transformation of TORONTO’s main street from low-rise to high-rise. Teahouse2, a two-tower Lanterra condo complex in a prime location will open in 2018, replacing this two-storey strip of restaurants, offices, a tattoo parlour and low-end clothing store on the east side of Yonge.
Up to now all heritage buildings along Yonge (or in a few cases their facades) have been saved from the wrecker’s ball. This strip, built in the 1950’s, has no heritage value – but several small businesses have been forced to move.
Toronto Savvy 
I guess this is minor compared to the clearing of the land between Alexander and Wood Sts. where two churches and many homes were demolished, obliterating any ties to 19th Century Toronto. But every blow, every demolition, has a ripple effect, materially and psychologically- in what is said, and in what is silenced, in what is simply stripped of meaning, leaving a hole in the ground and in collective memory. Pictures help but without narrative to support them, they all seem the same- ruins porn or pseudo-ruins.
Very well put, Rod. My only consolation is that many of the new high-rises occupy former parking lots (which several decades ago contained – as you say – ties to 19th century TORONTO). One of the most destructive eras in the old city’s history was the 1960’s. A lot of damage was done back then when city hall thought modernizing meant wiping out the past – for instance the plan to ram the Spadina Expressway through the Annex, and a cross-downtown expressway somewhere around Davenport Road. Wiser minds prevailed. Have faith. DAVE