Toronto Life Square
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| Toronto Life Square | |
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| Facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Opening date | 2007 (phased) |
| Developer | PenEquity |
| Management | PenEquity |
| Owner | PenEquity |
| No. of stores and services | N/A |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4+ |
| Total retail floor area | 360,000 ft² (33,444 m²) |
| Parking | N/A |
| No. of floors | 13 (10 above ground & 3 concourses) (Shopping levels to be located on Levels 1 to 4 and Concourse Level 1) (Levels 5 to 10 office space only) |
| Website | www.torontolifesquare.com |
Toronto Life Square (formerly Metropolis) is a retail, office and entertainment complex development on the north-east corner of the intersection of Yonge Street and Dundas Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The project was originally delayed several times, and sits on a large parcel of prime land in the city's commercial core, on the north side of Yonge-Dundas Square.
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[edit] History
The project was approved in 1998 with the opening originally planned for 2000. The land was expropriated by the City of Toronto immideately afterwards,[1] and while construction boarding soon went up, the project suffered shutdowns and major delays.
Under the control of developers PenEquity, construction finally began in 2003. A phased opening started in late 2007. The AMC Yonge & Dundas 24 (which in the early planning stages had been a 30-plex) opened on March 28, 2008, with a free small popcorn offer for every guest until April 24th, and twenty-four digital auditoriums. As per the original agreement, some cinemas are used in the morning as classrooms of Ryerson University.
[edit] Architecture
The project was built in an L-configuration around a number of existing buildings, including a parking garage belonging to the adjacent Ryerson University; in exchange for the air rights to build over its land, Ryerson gained use of the AMC theatres as classrooms during daytime hours.[citation needed]
The exterior facing Dundas Square is primarily covered with giant video screens and static billboard advertisements of various sizes. The Yonge Street facade is made up of curtainwall store fronts with a glass and steel canopy overhanging the sidewalk.
The opening of Toronto Life Square attracted little attention. However, Toronto Star architecture critic Christopher Hume wrote a lengthy piece in the newspaper entitled We don't deserve this horrorchitecture,[1] which decried the building as a "nasty dark grey bunker."
[edit] Effect on local economy and tourism
Analysts believe Toronto Life Square will likely stir new commercial and tourist growth in the Toronto downtown area.[citation needed] The growth of commercial prosperity in other more mature commercial districts such as New York City's Times Square, London's Piccadilly Circus and Tokyo's Shibuya have served as the basis for these projections.[citation needed]
Downtown Toronto already has major shopping districts, particularly in the nearby indoor Toronto Eaton Centre shopping complex, the Yorkville area, and parts of Queen Street West. The intention of Toronto Life Square, however, was to attempt to stir development of a different type of shopping area; one that is dominated by billboards and video screens as well as high density buildings in an outdoor shopping area similar to Times Square in New York City.
[edit] Retail
[edit] Anchors
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
All tenants are subject to change as the complex has only partially opened. DisneyQuest, The Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and Virgin Megastore were originally anchor tenants, but later withdrew from the project.
- Adidas Sport Performance Store: Adidas will open its store directly on the corner of Yonge & Dundas. The store will feature Adidas products such as footwear and accessories relating to sports. (Opening May 2nd 2008)
- AMC Theatres: AMC will anchor the entertainment portion of Toronto Life Square with a 24 screen theatre. The grand opening for the Yonge & Dundas location was March 28th, 2008. It is also the only location to feature their own AMC website
- Future Shop:Future Shop has already opened its most up-to-date and technologically advanced store,[citation needed]
- Shoppers Drug Mart: The Shoppers Drug Mart will be located below street level and will operate in an 11,300 square foot store. ( Opened in April 2008)
- Starbucks: Now open for business.
- Extreme Fitness is open for business but under construction with very limited facilities and expected to be completed by fall 2008.
