Toronto’s Market Street boasts five cheerful restaurants, a bustling coffee emporium and a specialty food store. Its 150-year-old buildings are accented by outdoor patios, the entire street repaved with brick.
It’s a stunning transformation for a historic street along the west side of St. Lawrence Market that for years had been all but abandoned and considered expendable as a wave of redevelopment swept in from all sides. Continue reading
Eve Lewis stands on Market St. which will be dedicated to her late husband, Paul Oberman, who was instrumental in the revitalization of the buildings and the plans to make it more pedestrian friendly.
Eve Lewis is sitting in one of the new restaurants on historic Market St. when the beautiful green and white bouquet of flowers she has sent to the owner arrives.
Tom Antonosakis peers at the greeting card curiously to see who is congratulating him on the opening day of his restaurant, Market Street Catch, one of seven new eateries that line the street .
Councilior, Ward 28 City Hall, 2’“1 Fioor Tel: 416 392-7916 Toronto Centre-Rosedale 100 Queen St. West Fax: 416 392-7296 – City of Toronto Toronto. Ontario TTY: 416 392-1239
February 25, 2014
To: Toronto and East York Community Council Re: New Business- Ceremonial Dedication of Market Street between Front Street East and the Esplanade as “Paul Oberman Walk”
Summary
I am submitting a motion to Community Council to ceremonially dedicate a portion of Market Street, between Front Street East and The Esplanade, as “Paul Oberman Walk”. Continue reading
Eve Lewis, owner of Woodcliffe Landmark Properties, is seen here along Market Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Monday Feb. 3, 2014, which is undergoing a dramatic transformation.
Paul Oberman gained fame buying, restoring and leasing out historic buildings such as the Summerhill train station that is now an LCBO.
Paul Oberman
About 20 years ago Mr. Oberman hired Eve Lewis, owner of Urbanation and Market Vision Real Estate, to help him sell condos. The two fell in love, pooled their kids (his three and her three, ranging from two to eight years old) and married.
“Before I met Paul I thought I was an incredible risk-taker,” says Ms. Lewis now. “Then when he came along, I figured one of us would need to have a steady income.” Continue reading
After 2006, when the massive job of refurbishing, modernizing and outfitting their 17,500-square-foot Georgian house in Rosedale was behind them, Toronto developer Paul Oberman and marketing executive Eve Lewis, his wife, used to talk about their next step. The six small children who had moved into the nine-bedroom home with them in 1995 were growing up, after all, so the couple naturally found themselves thinking of the time when they would be rattling around inside a house that had become too big. Continue reading
Developer Clayton Smith says the workmanship that went into the Dineen Building just isn’t seen any more.
Once an icon of Renaissance Revival style, the withered heritage building at the corner of Yonge and Temperance Streets has seen better days. Now, a local developer vows it will see them once again.
“You look at old photos of it and it just looks beautiful,” says Clayton Smith, president of Commercial Realty Group. “I’ve wanted to restore it so badly for years. So one day I was bored and said, ‘What the hell, I’ll give the owners the $7-million they want for it.’ ” Continue reading
Upon my first perusal of the 2012 PUG nominees for Toronto architecture, I can’t escape a feeling of déjà vu. Despite the presence of some excellent buildings, taken as a whole, the crop from 2011 seems much like it did the year before: a bit underwhelming. While there are some significant projects — namely the restoredShops of Summerhill, the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, and perhaps the understated but elegant Ritz Carlton — I’d once again make the argument that the list lacks a real superstar. Continue reading
Plans to update and improve Market Street — the thoroughfare that connects Front and The Esplanade on the south side of the St. Lawrence Market — continue to trudge on, though it sounds like a year-round pedestrian-only space isn’t in the cards. Continue reading
Award to be presented posthumously to Paul Oberman
Heritage Toronto is pleased to announce the 2011 Heritage Toronto Special Achievement Award Recipient, which will be presented Tuesday, October 4th at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Koerner Hall. The Award will be given to the late Paul Oberman, a developer and friend to the heritage community who had a passion for restoring and managing heritage properties.
Mr. Oberman was active in Canada’s real estate industry for almost three decades. A visionary with a passion for architecture, urban design and business, he owned and operated Equifund Corporation from 1983 to 1996, and subsequently was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Woodcliffe Landmark Properties until his passing in March of 2011. Under his direction and commitment, these companies became recognized as industry leaders in the areas of architectural merit and heritage preservation. Continue reading
The Flatiron Building in the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood in Toronto
The Flatiron building has sold for $15.3 million to the Toronto-based Commercial Realty Group. “I’m eager to preserve [the Flatiron’s] beautiful, historic warmth and to blend it with all the modern comforts and amenities,” said Commercial Realty Group head Clayton Smith in a Wednesday release. The building will be the “flagship” of the group’s “portfolio of heritage buildings,” added the release.
The final price for the red brick five-storey averaged out to $797 per square foot.
Built in 1892 by distillery tycoon George Gooderham the Flatiron is reportedly being one of the most photographed buildings in Toronto — and one of the most expensive in which to rent space. Empty except for a pub, Commercial Realty Group will be touring prospective tenants through the building in January, with offers due by Feb. 8. Continue reading
