If the nearly $13M sale of the “bohemian property” asset is any indication, the area around the Drake Hotel is one to watch, according to Ashlar Urban broker Jeff Thomas. (We've set up a bunch of spy equipment in the area, so we're ready.)

In particular, with the intensification in the Queen West Triangle area that runs south of Queen and west of Dovercourt—2,500 residential units being developed there--there's increasingly great exposure for retail, he says. (It's a simple formula: if you have a new apartment you need to fill it with stuff.) The retail component of 1155 Queen St W sold for $7.7M (Jeff and Ashlar teammate Tim Kennedy completed the transaction on behalf of their client Baywood Developments and the Pemberton Group; Downing Street Group is the buyer). "It's its own little city over there," Jeff tells us. "The asset hasn't really seen the benefits of that area yet. As that area grows, there will be a big upside in appreciation." (Jeff is snapped with colleague Paul Smith.)

Downing also has retained Ashlar Urban to lease up the asset. The property features over 13k SF of street front residential at the base of a new residential condo project. Earlier, Ashlar and Cushman & Wakefield spearheaded the sale of 15k SF of office space to the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association for just over $4.5M. Typically, Jeff says you don't see that level of office scale on Queen St. W. Again, though, it's another story of urban intensification in a specific area of the city, and commercial development that follows where the population goes.