By Dr. Maurice Yeates and Dr. Tony Hernandez

The Yonge St. strip in downtown Toronto has a long and somewhat chequered history. In this CSCA Research Insight (CRI) we focus our analysis on the recent development boom that has been taking place along downtown segments of the Yonge St strip. We divide the strip into three segments from: (i) Bloor St. to College/Carlton St.; (ii) College/Carlton St. to Queen St.; and, (iii) Queen St. to Front St. Using a combination of data from the CSCA GTA Store Database and information from desk-research on development projects we examine the differing commercial structure and development activities within each of the three segments. Our analysis highlights heightened development activity between Queen St and Bloor St. – driven by a shift in the downtown demographic and an associated pro-intensification planning environment. We identify 25 projects at different stages of development and discuss the potential impact of these developments on the commercial function and form of Yonge St. strip.