Background The early 1970s construction of the shopping centre and residential complex (that would be named Hazelton Lanes) was initiated and partly financed by the Toronto-based
stockbroker-turned-real-estate-developer Ian Richard Wookey (1928–2014) who had been purchasing Yorkville properties (mostly empty lots and single family homes) since the mid-1960s. Born in
İzmir to English immigrants in
Turkey, Wookey attended a
Jesuit school in the city of his birth followed by a
boarding school in
England before, at the age of 17, joining the
Royal Navy that stationed him in post-
World War II Athens,
Greece. By 1951, he immigrated to Canada: settling in Toronto and pursuing a career in
finance. The first property Wookey re-developed in Yorkville was the cluster of
Victorian homes he had purchased in 1966 on the Avenue-Yorkville north side, one of which had housed the Purple Onion until its 1965 closure. A proponent of adaptive reuse, Wookey hired architects
Jack Diamond and
Barton Myers for a project that saw the houses' interiors gutted while new Victorian-style archways and windows were added to the exterior, thus transforming the space into a new retail complex named York Square that opened in mid-1968.
Hazelton Lanes In 1973, having already purchased a row of houses along Avenue Rd. north of York Square, Wookey began work on a new retail and residential complex that would partly be financed by French-American businessman
Gérard Louis-Dreyfus whom Wookey brought in as a partner. Emphasizing the complex's posh reputation, in a write-up about the opening of the retail part of Hazelton Lanes, the
Globe and Mail's reporter observed that most of the shoppers "dressed up to walk the stores" before stating that some of the shop owners clad in "
cashmere and costly boots, look like they would eat you alive if you wandered in wearing old trousers". reasoning that had it opened after the more centrally located Eaton Centre, it likely wouldn't have been able to secure as many of them. Hazelton Lanes began to experience difficult times in the early 1990s with the
recession that gripped Toronto and much of Canada. Many of the upscale stores in Hazelton Lanes closed their doors, with some moving to the nearby
Mink Mile along
Bloor Street. With brick-work on parts of the complex's exterior falling into disrepair, as well as continual complaints over the interior's unusual configuration by contemporary mall standards featuring low ceilings and inconveniently-located entrances, Hazelton Lanes—though still considered upscale—became more of a neighbourhood shopping centre. The corporation spent to redevelop Yorkville Village. The redevelopment added to the existing of space and replaced all mechanical systems. The rebuild has added an
Equinox Fitness as its second anchor, which opened its doors on February 3, 2016. The mall continues to be anchored by
Whole Foods Market, which has remained throughout the renovation project. Along the Avenue Road frontage, a new double-height glass facade was added. The mall also added an entrance from Yorkville Avenue.
Controversy First Capital's renovation of Hazelton Lanes led to conflict and lawsuits with the condominium corporation that runs the residential units. In one instance when First Capital needed to shut down electricity for renovations, several residents started a sit-in protest at the construction office which forced First Capital to back down, which was known in the community as the “Yom Kippur Rebellion”. ==References==