At a recent meeting between Council and SmartCentres Inc., regarding the proposed retail expansion of the Wal-Mart at 0 Woodlawn Rd., when the representative of the above corporation was asked by a councillor whether or not multu-level office and residential space had been considered as part of the expansion, he stated that “We do not do residential”.
The following article that appears in today’s (Wednesday, 2007 06 27) Toronto Star seems to indicate that the representative present in Guelph was not aware of his company’s policy.
I attach the column for your consideration. The highlighting is mine. BHResidents angered by big-box proposal
Councillor demands detailed plan of facility developers are planning for film studio lands site
Jun 27, 2007 04:30 AM
Donovan Vincent
city hall bureauConcerns over a “big-box” outlet possibly coming to the film studio lands on Eastern Ave. have the area’s city councillor demanding that developers come clean on what they intend to build there.
Councillor Paula Fletcher (Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth) put forward a motion that was adopted at Toronto and East York community council yesterday demanding that Rose Corp. and SmartCentres Inc. provide a detailed site plan for the 700,000-square-foot facility they want to build on the massive property east of Carlaw St., south of Eastern.
The developers and the city are before the Ontario Municipal Board because the developers want a variety of uses on the property, including office, retail, hotel and residential.
But city staff are calling for a “significant reduction” in the amount of retail development envisioned.
A large component of the project “could be retail” and “it might be a Wal-Mart, but it might not be,” Dennis Wood, the lawyer for the developers, said in an interview.
Wal-Mart is a common anchor tenant for Mitch Goldhar’s SmartCentres Inc., which has a 50 per cent stake in the property. Rose Corp. has the other half. The property currently houses the Toronto Film Studios, but that operation is planning to move south to a mega-studio slated for the portlands.
Wood yesterday showed the council pictures of what the developers have in a mind: a two- to three-storey facility he said is far from the “power retail” concept people in the area fear. “The scale of this project is modest,” he said, adding it calls for about 1,800 multi-level parking spots and about 60,000 square feet of residential space.
But several residents voiced strong opposition to a retail centre yesterday. Fletcher said she shares their concerns, noting that since the stump of the Gardiner Expressway was knocked down near the site, large retail outlets have predominated, including a large Canadian Tire still under construction.
“The Gardiner came down and all of a sudden all we’ve had is big box: Canadian Tire, Price Chopper, Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaws. The list is starting to get endless,” Fletcher said, adding the trend doesn’t bode well for the waterfront area. The area has developed around good jobs, film jobs, “creative jobs,” she said.
Fletcher’s motion goes to the full council next month.