It's been over a decade since the Matador closed. At the time, it was known as Toronto's most raucous and popular after hours joint.

Owned and operated by Ann Dunn from 1964 until its closure, the country music club had been graced by musical legends like Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, and Leonard Cohen (who's song "Closing Time" is said to be about the venue).

In the months following the closure, it looked like it might be razed for a parking lot. Ultimately it was spared that fate, which left the early 20th century building available for an enterprising buyer who could inject new life into it. 

Cue Paul McCaughey, who along with his brother purchased the building with designs on opening a wellness centre in the space back in 2010. Those plans were ultimately ditched in favour of something more exciting: an upscale event space and music venue that would honour the venue's early roots as a ballroom.

The intention was to open in 2015, but since then it's been a very bumpy road toward getting the necessary approvals and permits from the city. Now, in the wake of a slew of venue closings, McCaughey tells the Star that he might give up on the idea altogether. 

"The Matador will be the next headline if we do not get serious movement within the next two months," he told the paper. “I will sell it to a condo developer and they will have a Shoppers Drug Mart in the bottom of it, OK?”

There have been host of problems, though the venue did eventually receive a liquor license despite significant opposition last year. Still, it remains in limbo as key zoning and permit issues remain unresolved.

McCaughey recently penned an open letter to Mayor John Tory and Councillor Josh Colle in response to a press release in which they promised to address the spat of venue closings. It it, he rings some major alarm bells for the state of the city's live music scene.

"This venue crisis is not a recent issue," he explains. "In 2015, Canadian Music Week had 85 venues, in 2016 they had 50 and this year in 2017 there are only 39, representing a 54% drop in venues in just two years - that is a substantial loss of this city's soul."

The Toronto Music Advisory Council met today to discuss the challenges facing local venues. Recommendations are expected to follow.

Toronto and condos pretty much go hand-in-hand. We've been talking about the condo boom for quite some time now, and as cranes continue to dominate our skyline, it doesn't look like it's going to cool down substantially anytime soon.

But some areas are hotter than others. BuzzBuzzHome released a report looking at new the current market and new residential construction, titled Toronto New Home Outlook 2017, and it features a section that looks at the most promising neighbourhoods for condo developments in the city.

BuzzBuzzHome identified five key areas: St. Lawrence, the Entertainment District, the Garden District, the Fashion District and Church Wellesley Village. 

Sully Dawood from the research team explained the methodology for pinpointing these spots. “We ranked the neighbourhoods by the number of units currently that are currently in registration,” he told us.

“So we kind of took that as a proxy of stuff that’ll be cool in 2017 because it’s in registration right now.”

Here's how BuzzBuzzHome crunched the numbers on these neighbourhoods. Pending units refers to suites in buildings that are still in the planning stages, while registration units are in developments that are already approved and underway.

The Entertainment District

• 24 current developments
• 3,094 pending units
• 3,712 registration units
• 4,431 selling units
• $919: average price per square foot

Church Wellesley Village

• 17 current developments
• 2,073 pending units
• 1,103 registration units
• 4,404 selling units
• $871: average price per square foot

St. Lawrence

• 15 current developments
• 1,144 pending units
• 4,106 registration units
• 1,909 selling units
• $730: average price per square foot

Garden District

• 15 current developments
• 533 pending units
• 2,494 registration units
• 2,752 selling units
• $650: average price per square foot

Fashion District

• 17 current developments
• 552 pending units
• 2,015 registration units
• 1,942 selling units
• $650: average price per square foot

Today in Toronto it's easy to celebrate Valentine's Day with dinners, love and anti-love-filled events. But don't worry, if V Day's not your thing, we've got you covered too.

Toronto's King Street might not be going car-free anytime soon, but at a public meeting yesterday, the city of Toronto sought feedback on three different design proposals for this busy transit corridor.

Each one prioritizes pedestrians or streetcars and all leave some room for vehicular traffic.

In the separated lanes option, there would be a dedicated streetcar lane, but the sidewalk wouldn't be expanded to increase space for pedestrians. This one would allow for one lane of through traffic.

Option B, or alternating loops, is chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat's preferred plan, according to CBC News, because it provides better access for both pedestrians and public transit.

Each alternating block would be reserved for local traffic, while the next would include full public access.

The third option would be the most pedestrian friendly as the sidewalk would be expanded on both sides of the street.

The scope of this project isn't limited to King Street West, instead, it'll stretch all the way from Bathurst until Jarvis, or even Parliament.

Yesterday's meeting brought hundreds out to learn more about these plans and the city got feedback on how to proceed as it implements its King Street pilot project.

After the preferred pilot is selected, work could begin on implementing the project by fall.

Renderings for the interior of Hotel X, at Toronto's Exhibition Place, certainly look impressive. But the 30-storey hotel has been mired in delays, thanks in part to the discovery of contaminated soil beneath it.

However, according to the Toronto Star, now Hotel X could open as early as May - nearly two years later than planned.

The project switched construction management companies - from Multiplex Construction Canada Limited to McKay-Cocker - which contributed to the delays. And there are still at least five certified liens of the property, reports the Star.

However, McKay-Cocker told the Star that it's working to resolve them as it continues construction on the building.

Hotel X, by the upscale Library Hotel Collection, was first approved in 2009. It was originally supposed to be completed by 2015, a date that was later pushed back to summer 2016.

This year, we might finally see it open its doors.

Earlier this morning, office workers at Yonge and St. Clair started posting photos of smoke unfurling from the building at 25 St. Clair East. It quickly became clear that this was a major fire as crews continued to be dispatched to the site.

A post shared by Jim Gorham (@jimmie1964) on Feb 14, 2017 at 7:13am PST

Toronto Fire Service continues to battle the now 5-alarm blaze reportedly at the Badminton & Racquet Club of Toronto. The police have shut down the intersection at Yonge and St. Clair for public safety.

While parts of the building have collapsed and crews characterize this as a complicated blaze, no major injuries have been reported.

Here's a glimpse of the dramatic scene this morning.

Toronto might be a little slushy this Family Day long weekend. That's because temperatures are slated to rise into the double digits, melting all of the remaining snow from last Sunday's storm.

According to an Environment Canada forecast, it's going to be 11 C and sunny in Toronto on Saturday. It'll remain warm throughout the weekend, with highs of 9 C on both Sunday and Monday.

It's going to be fairly chilly leading up the weekend, but as you freeze your way through the week, remember there's lots of bright sunshine at the end of the tunnel.

Toronto Raptors fans went wild today after the team pulled the trigger on a major deal for Orlando power forward Serge Ibaka. Terrence Ross and a first rounder went the other way, but that didn't diminish the excitement at the prospect of the team finally being able to put a big three on the floor. 

The trade comes after a poor January in which the Raps went 8-9 and dropped from second to fourth in the Eastern Conference. Ibaka provides a much need defensive presence (he led the league in blocks between 2010-2014) as well as another offensive weapon beyond Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.

After the news broke Toronto Raptors fans took to Twitter to express their excitement. Take a look.

When Ryan Alexander needed a big piece of art for his new Toronto condo, he decided to get creative instead of shelling out big bucks. 

That's how he got into a type of pixel art called Rubikscubism, a medium that emerged in the 1980s when Rubik's cubes started becoming popular.

Until 2015, when Ryan started making art, he tells us, he hadn't really played around with Rubik's-style cubes before. But now he reconfigures hundreds of them to create portraits.

“I tend to do faces," he says. "I think most people do with pixel art because the human mind recognizes it pretty well. It’s like you’re defaulted, you’re hardwired to recognize face shapes in everything.”

Since many assume he takes the coloured stickers off of the cubes, his partner Melissa suggested he film his process while working on new commission.

In the video, which has 13,000 views on Facebook, he takes six hours (and no bathroom breaks) to turn 320 Rubik's-style cubes into a facsimile of Farrah Fawcett.

After posting this clip, he received a couple more commissions, including one from a restaurant. He currently prices his pieces at $10 a cube.

Midtown Toronto looked like a scene out of an apocalyptic movie today as thick smoke enveloped Yonge and St. Clair from a six alarm blaze at the Badminton and Racquet Club. More than 100 firefighters were called in to fight the fire, which ultimately consumed the historic building.

Smoke could be seen from throughout the city as fire crews battled for much of the day to get contain the blaze, which they eventually succeeded in doing shortly after 4 p.m. 

This is what today's terrifying scene looked like from above and below.

Around Halloween and Christmas, Karin Martin and her family decorate their house on Glen Lake Avenue to the nines - it's one of the most well-known holiday houses in the city.

Last week, Martin called the 3-1-1 help line because some city-owned trees by her property were damaged after last week's mini ice storm.

However, she says when a member of city's urban forestry staff arrived the next day, he told her to remove a swing from one the trees, a swing Martin says had been there for 20 years.

The following morning, as Martin recalls, the city staff came back and cut out the tree swing and also removed three Christmas lights from a different tree.

She tells us they didn't deal with the ice-related damage and claims the staff member who had been by the previous day threatened her with a fine if she ever put up Christmas lights in the tree again. 

“We have people that come here and they even offer us money, which we don’t take, towards hydro bills and all kinds of stuff, and I got this one guy who’s probably going to kibosh the entire thing because he has told us he will fine us if we put lights up,” she says.

Matthew Cutler, a spokesperson from the city's Parks, Forestry and Recreation department, confirms that city staff made two visits to the property on Glen Lake Avenue and removed the swing. 

He says in order to prevent damage, in general the city doesn't permit items such as swings and Christmas lights in city-owned trees. There are some special exception for Christmas, for instance if a BIA wants to put lights of street-side trees and assumes responsibility for any potential damage.

Further, he explains, "We can’t do repairs, or we can’t do pruning or maintenance on a tree with Christmas lights in it because it’s obviously a hazard to us having electrified Christmas lights in the tree and doing the work."

The city doesn't have the resources to regularly check up on each on every one of its trees - it only sees them on a rotation once every few years. 

When asked whether the city would check back on the Christmas light-filled tree on Glen Lake, Cutler says this would likely happen only if they received a complaint.

“We don’t keep a list of places to check back up on in that way, so this goes back into our regular rotation," he says.

"But if we had to go out to do maintenance again or we had a complaint, perhaps from a neighbour, or someone, that they felt the tree was potentially being injured, then we would inspect from there."

In a sea of overpriced Toronto houses, very few are deserving of the title unique. This dual home at 44 Bernard St. is a rare exception. Given that the property is composed of two self-contained residences, it won't appeal to all buyers, but it sure is fun to gawk at. 

At the front of the property, you have a semi-detached two bedroom townhomes, while at the rear you'll find one of the city's nicest coach houses, though that word seems like a misnomer given its luxuriousness.

This would be the prefect place for a rich but unhappy couple who needs to put on the appearance of living together but can't actually stand to sleep under the same roof. Look at me being all romantic on Valentine's Day.

More optimistically, this is a property ideally suited to a buyer who likes the idea of subsidizing his or her purchase with a deep-pocketed tenant. And, hey, at the $5,295,000 listing price, who wouldn't like a little help with the mortgage.

Specs

• Address: 44 Bernard Ave.
• Price: $5,295,000
• Lot Size: 30 x 144 feet
• Bedrooms: 3
• Bathrooms: 5
• Parking: 3
• Walk Score: 98
• Transit Score: 93
• Listing agent: Janice Fox, Hazelton Real Estate
• Listing ID: C3696145

Noteworthy Features

• 24 foot cathedral ceiling
• Double kitchens and master bedrooms
• Cedar closet
• Fireplace

Good For

Someone who needs two luxury houses right beside one another. This isn't going to work for everyone, but it's a novel set up that could be ideal for a rich buyer who hosts visiting guest on a regular basis and is only interested in offering the finest of accommodations.

Move On If

Beyond the obvious reason that you might not need two separate homes, the fact that there are only three total bedrooms on offer here could be a deal-breaker. At this price, the property is all about form over function.

Thanks to Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage for sponsoring our house of the week. All editorial written and selected by blogTO.

Today in Toronto is special thanks to two very important opening nights. The Rhubarb Festival kicks off at Buddies and it's also the first day of the Toronto Black Film Festival, which features some amazing and crucial movies at theatres all around the city. 

If you regularly use multiple transit services, such as the TTC and GO, to get around Toronto and the GTA, you'll be happy to note that Metrolinx is working away at integrating fares for GO and across the nine different transit agencies in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area.

As the Toronto Star reports, Metrolinx has been working on this integration project for a few years, and on Friday, it floated a new fare structure concept: fare by distance.

Metrolinx hasn't made any final decisions yet on how to integrate fares, but the new distance-based option could see customers paying per kilometre they travel. 

The Star notes that this might help make short GO transit trips within the city seem more attractive. It's unclear how this plan would effect the TTC, which currently lets riders pay a flat fee no matter how far they have to go on the subway, bus or streetcar.

For its part, the TTC has mulled the possibility of implementing peak and off-peak fares, though it won't do so until the PRESTO rollout has been completed. 

In order to implement a distance-based fare system, Metrolinx would also require that PRESTO be fully available across the entire transit system. 

Once a bustling hub of activity, this small neighbourhood in the heart of Toronto is now a ghost town as a developer prepares to build a new rental housing complex that will completely change its character. It's rare to see an entire area abandoned like Mirvish Village is right now, but there's something eerie and fascinating about how empty it is.

It won't be like this for long. Beyond the final farewell party planned for Honest Ed's, a steady stream of architects, planners, and construction workers will be on site in the coming weeks and months. But on a quiet weekday morning, it feels like a deserted movie set.

Here's what the ghost of Mirvish Village looks like right now. 

The best CrossFit gyms in Toronto offer intense training sessions, heavy lifting to challenge your strength and endurance and a variety of gruelling exercises to whip you into shape. Once a niche offering, CrossFit is now mainstream with gyms in neighbourhoods across the city.

Here are the best CrossFit gyms in Toronto.

Toronto's real estate market can be a pretty scary place. Prices continue to rise, making home ownership a pipe dream for many of those who live in the city. The same holds true for Hamilton, which has witnessed tremendous growth.

The Globe and Mail reports today that according to the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index, which tracks the changes in the residential housing prices over time, prices in Toronto saw a year-over-year increase of nearly 21 per cent. Hamilton was just behind with a 17.6 per cent price jump.

However, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association's latest report, the national market might be cooling even as the Toronto area's remains red hot. The national average price for homes sold in January 2017 was $470,253 according to the CREA, a number that grew just 0.2 per cent since January 2016.

Despite lower rates of growth in some national markets, the CREA index is still showing price increases of more than 20 per cent for Toronto. And, there's still a problem with supply and demand.

"The shortage of homes available for sale has become more severe in some cities, particularly in and around Toronto and in parts of BC," said Gregory Klump, the CREA's chief economist in this monthly report.

"Unless sales activity drops dramatically, the outlook for home prices remains strong in places that face a continuing supply shortage."

New condo projects are a dime a dozen in Toronto. But sometimes whole neighbourhoods undergo major transformations. We're about to see that play out in the area around the AGO and OCAD University. 

OCAD has big plans to make over its campus along McCaul St., but new developments on adjacent streets also signal big changes on the way. In addition to the one of the most interesting condo projects in Toronto at the corner of University and Dundas, now St. Patrick and Simcoe streets are set for an overhaul.

The Artists' Alley from Lanterra Developments (its name presumably stems from its proximity to OCAD) is getting ready to transform a block between Simcoe and St. Patrick - just south of Dundas - with three new condo towers.

As Urban Toronto reports, the city's Design Review Panel just voted in favour a revised design proposal by Hariri Pontarini Architects. The original proposal went before the panel last year.

The panel thought the project was too dense for the area, so the revamped version includes, according to Urban Toronto, one 39 storey tower with 393 units (down from 54 storeys), a 36 storey building with 310 units (up from 24 storeys) and a 17 storey stacked building with 201 units.

The new proposal also features a 1,000 square metre park, which wasn't included before.

While the panel approved this proposal, it wants the design team to work on some spatial issues, namely on inward units that face one another, potentially leading to a lack of privacy for eventual residents.

Toronto has been ranked one of the best cities in the world for students. Sure, we didn't quite crack the top 10, but we did tie with Hong Kong for 11th place.

However, before you get all upset about missing out on the podium, you should take a peek at the QS Best Student Cities 2017 report for Toronto.

"Toronto remains an extremely strong contender. In fact, it has the highest score of any city in the Desirability category of the index (one of the six areas assessed), reflecting both its all-round high quality of life and its status as an in-demand destination amongst students worldwide," its reads. 

Apparently Toronto's the most appealing city not only for its universities, but also for nightlife, cultural amenities and most notably, its diversity. Where it lost out was on metrics like affordability and student experience. Apparently U of T really is that stressful.

Overall, Montreal took the top spot, followed by Paris and London, respectively. Vancouver came in 10th.

Toronto's modernist architecture just can't get any respect. There's a long and troubling history of tearing down mid-century buildings in this city, and the trend doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon.

Joining the ill-fated McLaughlin Planetarium is Davisville Public School, a true gem of modern design that is now slated for demolition.

It dates back to 1962 and it's one of a number of Toronto public schools that are architectural landmarks of the Space Age. Designed under the direction of the Toronto Board of Education's chief architect Frederick Etherington and primary design architect Peter Pennington, it's an important part of the city's cultural legacy.

A number of prominent architects have campaigned to save the building over the last few years, but the calls for preservation have fallen on deaf ears at the Toronto District School Board, who plans to build a new school and community hub on the site. 

The TDSB told the Globe and Mail last year that the building is "inherently not suited to the current [student] needs" and cites huge repair costs to get the building up to contemporary standards as justifications for its plans to tear Davisville down.

There's certainly some truth to this reasoning. Plenty of work would need to be done to make it a viable place of learning for decades to come, but there are also other alternatives. Some have suggested using it to house the community centre that's on the way.

The underlining idea is that where there's a will, there's a way. There just doesn't seem to be any will on the part of the TDSB, despite the fact that the Toronto Preservation Board recommended the building be designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.

But, as Alex Bozikovic writes, "though the TDSB is funded by the government of Ontario, which oversees architectural heritage and has a strict heritage-review process for its own buildings, the board has no mandate to protect its buildings and has no strategy to do so."

The architects rallying to save the building have gone so far as to draw up site plans that illustrate how a new school and the existing one could co-exist on the large property near Davisville and Yonge Streets, but that's unlikely to sway the TDSB in the absence of more widespread support for preservation.

As is often the case with buildings from this era, there just doesn't seem to be far reaching agreement that saving the school is a must. For all its architectural flare, it's just not old enough to meet some people's idea of a heritage property. 

The stakes are high when it comes to educational buildings, though. What kind of message does it send to students when their own school board shows so little regard for its history?