Comings and Goings + Spaces Available in Riverside this winter
Here’s the latest scoop since our last edition of Change is in the Air in November 2015…
First off, we are excited to welcome the news of The Arts Market coming to Riverside! In about a month from now their new location should be opening up at 790 Queen St East. Following from the success of the Leslieville Arts Market, market owner operator Daniel Cohen scoped out the perfect space to open his third Toronto Arts Market location (second location in the east end), right here in Riverside. On any given day you will find Daniel working hard to renovate the new space to house 50+ artists. He says the renovated space will be accessible to strollers and wheelchairs (upon request), and will have a public washroom and other useful space available downstairs. While Daniel already has most of the 50+ spots filled, he welcomes folks to get in touch.
Just west you’ll find the shiny new Dollarama, which opened up on Dec 5th, to much excitement from the neighbourhood (likely over the free Dollarama-branded mug that you’d get with your purchase as a gift). From the outside it looks like a little shop but is actually an expansive space when you walk down to the sales level.
The Peasant Table opened up in late December in 782 Queen St E (formerly Table 17). It brings ‘old world dishes into a modern setting with a focus on Italian fare’ and is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, plus brunch on weekends, and a three-course, prix-fixe, bring your own wine Sunday dinner!
Across the street, and right next door to the Riverside BIA office at 761 Queen E, you’ll see that The Artists’ Network now has its own storefront again. As usual you can visit them by chance or by appointment 😉
Right next to them, the Lan Vietnamese Restaurant is still on its way in at 755 Queen St East.
Green Jar quietly opened at 753A Queen St East (formerly Ambiance Chocolat) back in early December.
Also back in December, I’ll be Seeing You, opened up at 747 Queen Street East by two ‘sisters with a dollar and dream’. Read on for more of the story behind this beautiful space and be sure to stop by soon!
At 729 Queen E the new bakery is still rolling into the neighbourhood: Sugar Loaf Bakery and Cafe promises non-traditional artisanal bakery (and possibly liquor as it’s applying for a license!). The inside is looking beautiful – can’t wait to see what’s in store!
Hair Code at 743 Queen St East opened its new renovated space in December, with a warm vintage look you’ll love.
Vintage Vibes has moved on (we’ll miss you Debbie!) and another hair salon is moving into the ‘hood at 717 Queen St E. Renovations are now underway.
The transformation of the Broadview Hotel at Queen and Broadview continues. Streetcar Developments is still working hard to turn the space into a boutique hotel and restaurants – which requires restoration, stabilizing, and rebuilding from the bottom up and then the top down. Most of the new windows are in and height is being added with the back top glass cube addition currently being built up. Fingers still crossed for a spring 2016 opening!
Next door, Oso Viejo Imports, which had launched at 700 Queen St East in September 2015, looked to be moved out at the end of 2015 – we wish them luck wherever they’ve gone! This beautiful space looks again to be up for grabs …
Take a peek across the street and you’ll see the new graffiti art mural on the west-facing wall of 687 Queen St E. It was installed on December 17th by Home Base Toronto – here’s the full scoop on how it came to be.
Continuing along the north side, the space at 682 Queen Street East (former Darkhorse location) continues its renovations into new bar/restaurant KT’s – looks like work has progressed but their liquor license seems to be still pending.
Darkhorse’s new #RiversideTO location also now serves up wine, cocktails and beer, try some their delicious Dark Horse APA or one of their signature cocktails!
Rumour still has it that a ping pong lounge is coming to 672 Queen E (formerly Quad East). There is a liquor license application still up and renovations still going on inside. We’re keeping our eyes peeled for news…
Across the street, the story of Riverside Square continues to unfold – it’s planned to be a 4-acre site bounded by Queen on the north, Eastern on south, Don Roadway on west, and the condos on the east. Here are highlights of updates shared by Ward 30 Councillor Paula Fletcher in a December 2015 community newsletter: the application maintains a 6-storey height limit on Queen Street East; increases animation on Queen Street by moving the car dealership to the industrialized portion of the site (along East Don Roadway); features a 780-square meter urban park/public space on Queen at the new street leading into the development; includes a new dog off-leash area at the south end of the development; adds the first Woonerf east of the Don River; includes family-friendly unit sizes; has small scale retail space on Queen, including a grocery store; injects $5 million for the construction of affordable housing in the neighbourhood; adds up to 400 new skilled jobs with car dealerships and repair. There is also an update about potential air quality impacts. Needless to say we’re pretty excited about the improved street dynamic and added foot traffic this could bring to Riverside businesses.
Standing at the site itself, you can already see some demolition work happening (at the south end). There is also now a sign at the site advertising a 24-hour construction hotline (416.686.9199 x 411) and email (construction@streetcar.ca). As always, change is in the air in Riverside!
(With all these changes lately, here are the few spaces that still seem to be available at the moment in Riverside:
- 762 Queen St E (former ‘Hardware Interiors’ store)
- 768 Queen St E (formerly Little Peeps) housed a pop-up shop for a month during the holiday season, but is available again
- 711 Queen E right near Broadview and Queen (formerly BMO location) looks to be still up for grabs
- 700 Queen St E (formerly Oso Viejo) now looks to be vacant/ available (but no For Lease sign up yet)
- 653 Queen St E (formerly Kalamkaar) has been vacant for some time
