Slate Asset Management L.P., a Toronto-based real estate company, has big plans to revitalize the Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue intersection. Earlier this year, the firm acquired 1 St. Clair Ave. E., the latest piece of an office-tower portfolio that gives the firm ownership of all four corners of the midtown Toronto intersection.
“We always had this theory that this intersection and neighbourhood has been overlooked. High fashion used to be located here. Restaurants come and go, so we’re committed here long-term … and we’re focusing a lot of capital at the corners,” said Lucas Manuel, a managing director with Slate.
The company came to the neighbourhood in 2013 after purchasing a larger real estate portfolio from GE Capital. It included five properties at Yonge and St. Clair, which Manuel called “the jewel of that portfolio.” They later acquired 40 St. Clair Ave. W. and 1 St. Clair Ave. W. in 2015.
Local councillor Josh Matlow has welcomed the kinds of changes Slate has proposed thus far.
“Most people will admit that Yonge and St. Clair has become tired. Many businesses have not been very successful, even the facades of some of the existing buildings could use an upgrade and there isn’t an active business improvement area,” he said.
Coun. Matlow said the company’s control of the intersection presents a unique opportunity for a “holistic perspective” toward public realm improvements.
“Rarely do you have a situation where an entire intersection and other properties are owned by the same entity. Therefore there’s room for creativity as far as how the built form can work with each other and what kind of public realm you can achieve and how it interacts with the street,” he added.
Some of what the company has planned is already underway. Construction has begun on the northeast corner to modernize the retail concourse and facade of the TD building. The firm also plans to renovate the Scotiabank branch across the street, and tear down the two-storey facade of the former CFRB building on the northwest corner to introduce a multi-level restaurant.
Slate’s vice-president Conor McBroom said the firm aims to bring better amenities to the area.
“It’s about the office tenants and also about the neighbourhood around it. You’re essentially at the nexus of Moore Park, Rosedale, and Forest Hill at Yonge and St. Clair. That’s equally on our minds, as all of this concept has come together,” he said
Sustainable retail is one part of the plan, and the firm intends to introduce other restaurants and cafés — such as JJ Bean from B.C. — to the neighbourhood.
Stephen Cameron Smith, local resident and member of the Deer Park Residents Group, has watched many businesses leave the area over the years and said Yonge and St. Clair is in need of an overhaul.
“It’s long overdue, the intersection is terrible and anything would be an improvement in my mind.”
This summer, the Sustainable Thinking & Expression on Public Space (STEPS) initiative, an award-winning public arts organization, will partner with London-based street artist Phlegm to bring a massive mural to the side of the building at 1 St. Clair Ave. W. The project, commissioned by Slate, will be the first of many changes meant to beautify the intersection.
