Empress Walk

Empress Walk is a large condominium and retail complex at the intersection of Yonge Street and Empress Avenue in the North York Centre area of North York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was developed by Canadian-developers Menkes Developments Ltd. Phase 1 was completed in 1997 and Phase 2 was completed in 2000. It became an important indoor mall in North York following its construction.

Empress Walk
General information
Typecondominium and retail complex
LocationYonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
Construction started1995
CompletedPhase 1 - 1997
Phase 2 - 2000
Technical details
Floor count34
Design and construction
DeveloperMenkes Developments Ltd.

The podium of the complex is a three-storey retail mall covering 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2) topped with a 95 feet (29 m) dome, the highlight being the longest unsupported escalator in North America to give access to the movie theatre from the ground floor. There is a 3035-seat Cineplex Cinemas movie multiplex featuring an state of the art IMAX Theatre. The lowest level has underground access to the North York Centre subway station.

Above are two 34-storey residential towers, known as the Pinnacle and Royal Pinnacle, with a total of 745 units between them. Major retail anchors inside Empress Walk include Loblaws, LCBO, Shoppers Drug Mart, Cineplex Cinemas, PetSmart, and Best Buy.

History

Since the 1970s, local politician Mel Lastman wanted to turn central North York, until 1998 a separate city from Toronto with the regional government of Metropolitan Toronto, into a new downtown for Toronto. He began a wave of development proposals that eventually led to a large number of high-rise and government buildings being constructed along Yonge Street, leading to the creation of North York Centre within the larger existing neighbourhood of Willowdale.

Menkes Developments Ltd. which is a company that built many condominiums in North York Centre including, Gibson Square, Ultima, Broadway the company first announced proposals to construct the development in the early 1990s, Toronto Centre for the Arts and other developments were already underway in North York at the time. In the mid-1990s, Menkes put forward a proposal for a mall and residential complex in the center of North York Centre. This move coincided with the 1998 Toronto amalgamation where a number of outlying cities and townships became part of the City of Toronto. While controversial, many districts such as North York prospered in the years following the move.[1]

Empress Walk was built as part of Mel Lastman's bid to create a downtown in North York to rival the old city of Toronto. Empress Walk remains a hub of activity, while also spurring on new condominium projects being built north and south of it today. Its residential building, which was completed at the same time as the retail complex, was for decades one of the tallest buildings in North York until being surpassed by newer developments such as the Hullmark Centre.

Empress Walk and other major developments in the nearby area meant North York Centre became a major central business district for the City of Toronto from the 1990s onwards. The plans for Empress Walk meant that the North York Centre station could be integrated with the new mall, giving residents of the towers access to the Toronto subway system.

Nearby
Empress Walk LCBO (formerly part of Indigo)

Behind the Empress Walk complex on its east side is Princess Park, commemorating the original sites of the first municipal building and fire hall of North York. It features the façade of the former Township of North York Municipal Offices from the 1940s, while the bell/clock tower from the fire hall has been reconstructed and serves as the centrepiece for the park.

Across the street, and connected via the TTC tunnel, are Mel Lastman Square, the North York Civic Centre, the North York City Centre office tower and Novotel. Next door, and connected via a passageway is the 5075 Yonge Street tower, with Scotiabank and Upper Madison College.

In 2000, the property was acquired by RioCan REIT, a Canadian real estate investment trust.

Tenants

Anchor Tenants
  • Cineplex Cinemas (originally Famous Players SilverCity & Empire Theatres) (Cineplex had merged with Famous Players in the 1990s and sold off their Empress Walk location as they had a nearby Cineplex Sheppard Grande theatre at Sheppard Avenue and Yonge Street. In 2013, when Empire Theatres exited the Ontario market, Cineplex reacquired and renovated the Empress Walk location, while the Cineplex Sheppard Grande was demolished in 2016 as part of a major redevelopment Yonge Sheppard Centre.[2]
  • LCBO (formerly part of Indigo Books and Music then converted into a multi level retail space, now a one level LCBO)
  • Loblaws Empress Market (this is the first time Loblaws operated an underground store)
Empress Walk Cineplex Cinemas (formerly Empire Theatres, prior to that SilverCity).

List of current tenants

References
  1. Farooqui, Salmaan (January 1, 2017). "19 years ago, Toronto's six boroughs amalgamated". Toronto Star.
  2. Howell, Peter (22 March 2013). "Empress Walk 10 Cinemas suddenly close, 20-25 jobs affected". Toronto Star.
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