Much has changed at St. Clair and Yonge and not for the better according to STEPHEN CAMERONSMITH, vice-president of the Deer Park Resident’s Association – “Years ago we had 5 movie screens, a Liquor Control Board (LCBO), restaurants Bofinger and Rhodes, the best bookstore in the city (Lichtman’s). We had Leonard Furs, Ira Berg — the fancy ladies’ clothing store – all types of really neat and wonderful retail.”  The Hollywood and Odeon cinemas are long gone – CHUM and CFRB radio stations too. And the retail has become more and more generic.

But things are about to change.  SLATE ASSET MANAGEMENT has assembled properties on all four corners of the Yonge/St. Clair intersection – and a few others as well.   Even in TORONTO, which is going wild with new development, this is groundbreaking and it might be good news for the neighbourhood.

Part of SLATE’s plan is to consult the community and assess what is supportable. For beginners, they want to make the street more pedestrian-friendly and give the intersection a stronger identity. “There is no reason with its proximity to the core – to Rosedale, Forest Hill, Moore Park and sitting on a subway and streetcar line – for it to have languished like this for so long,” says LUCAS MANUEL, the developer.

To get things going a giant mural will be going up on the 12-storey Padula building. It will be designed by the UK artist PHLEGM, known for painting “mythological creations” and “strange contraptions” in cities around the world. We await the future!

    <St. Clair and Yonge in the foreground; city centre on the horizon – CBRE Photo>