Sale Of The Yale Faces Challenges

The fact that the legendary Yale Hotel still has not been sold raises interesting questions about the state of the market, according to CBRE SVP Mario Negris. (It's like seeing cows huddle together and realizing it probably means rain.)

When we wrote on the story back in January, Mario, who is marketing the property, told us then a lot of interested parties were coming forward. No deal yet, though, and they have dropped the price on the legendary blues bar on Granville Street from $4.4M to $3.9M. (Maybe throw in a couple of BB King CDs to sweeten the deal.) In Toronto, there’s a similar development playing out—the iconic El Mocambo bar is about to be sold, and it looks like the new owner is going to keep it the way it has been for decades—a live music venue. That’s a bit of surprise, sources tell us, because the entertainment district in Toronto has shifted south, away from midtown. Location was thought to be an issue there in keeping it a licensed music venue. The Yale Hotel also faces challenges in where it's located.

The Yale has been closed since November 2012 for renovations to the plumbing and heating. “The market for vacant strata retail is not at the same pace as the majority of other asset classes,” Mario tells us. He also says that the number of prospective users for a liquor establishment on Granville is limited—the Granville market has become very competitive and buyers/tenants are cautious, Mario says. So you live and learn.