Jared Lindzon – National Post

Once a shining triumph of art-deco design, the decaying building that sits at the corner of Bathurst Street and Lake Shore Boulevard West has been abandoned for more than a decade.

But the recent appearance of scaffolding is among the early indications that the building’s owners have begun renovations. Coming soon to the site: a Loblaws store and office space that preserves the historic façade.

It’s good news for area residents who had grown accustomed to what appeared to be a massive, forgotten space.

Edmond Lynch, who works in the shipping department of a building across the street, said he began to notice the scaffolding last week. This week, some of the older, blackened, plywood panels were removed from the more damaged windows, he said.

A remnant of early 20th-century industrial development along the waterfront, the site was once the home of a Loblaws warehouse, with packaging and manufacturing facilities. The building, erected in 1928, is now home only to the pigeons that have found room to nest between the broken window panels.

A sign on the outer walls of the building spells out the plans. “An application to amend the zoning bylaw has been made by Loblaw Properties Ltd. to preserve the heritage façades and permit the development of retail floor space including a Loblaws food store and office uses.”

Loblaw declined to comment on the project, but at least one developer familiar with heritage preservation is enthusiastic about the plans.

“I think that’s what heritage preservation is all about. It’s adaptive reuse: breathing a new life into old buildings and spaces,” said Paul Oberman, president and CEO of Woodcliffe Landmark Properties, which was behind such restoration projects as King James Place and the LCBO at the North Toronto Station.

“Cities, urban spaces, they have a rhythm and a texture to them, and I don’t think that we want neighbourhoods that are exclusively high-rise or exclusively low-rise. It’s about weaving an interesting and appropriate urban fabric.”

Mr. Oberman commends Loblaw for its initiative, saying it is always more expensive and difficult to preserve than to demolish.

“The city and heritage [defenders] believe that it’s important. For whatever reasons they’ve designated it, and I think what Loblaws is doing is great,” he said. “They’re adaptively reusing a building that probably has very few other potential uses.”

The building, which is partly hidden beneath the Gardiner Expressway, was originally designed by the firm of Sparling, Martin and Forbes.

After being abandoned by Loblaw it was occupied by the Daily Bread Food Bank free of rent until 2000. The site was designated a heritage property in February 2001, according to Heritage Toronto. In 2004 Loblaw unsuccessfully applied to have it demolished.

George Weston Ltd., which owns Loblaw, is in the midst of converting Maple Leaf Gardens, in conjunction with Ryerson University, into a student athletic centre and grocery store. Construction began late last year.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960

Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
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