Toronto City Councillor Josh Matlow is taking direct aim at the growing issue of vacant storefronts with a newly approved motion that could transform how commercial spaces are managed across the city’s neighbourhoods.
In an interview with 6ixRetail.com, Matlow outlined his vision for converting empty retail spaces into community assets rather than allowing them to remain vacant during extended development timelines.
“The success of our main streets is part and parcel of the success of our neighbourhoods,” explained Matlow, who represents Ward 12 Toronto-St. Paul’s. “When we have vibrant main streets with mom and pop shops, a diversity of options, and great places to meet up, that contributes to less isolation and creates a commons for our communities.”
Developer Holdings Create “Dead Space”
Matlow identified a key factor driving the retail vacancy problem: developers purchasing multiple adjacent properties and holding them empty, sometimes for years, while awaiting market improvements or development approvals.
“Over years, developers purchase building after building, whether in the Beaches, Queen Street, or St. Clair and Yonge, and they’ll just sit on it,” Matlow said. “Our communities end up with block after block of just dead space, boarded-up shops. It’s not good for the rest of the retailers who want to go there, and it’s not good for the community.”
The issue has intensified since interest rates climbed and development costs increased, leaving more properties in limbo as projects face delays.
Council Approves Three-Pronged Approach
Toronto City Council unanimously approved Matlow’s motion on March 27, directing staff to develop policy recommendations by Q4 2025. The initiative includes three strategic components:
- Exploring policy mechanisms to address long-term vacancies, particularly properties held by developers
- Reviewing enforcement of property standards for vacant buildings
- Creating partnerships with Business Improvement Areas to facilitate temporary activations
A key element is the potential tax reduction program for property owners who host pop-ups and art installations in otherwise vacant spaces.
“I brought a motion to look at creative ways to provide pop-up opportunities, to put public art in shop windows, bringing them back to life,” Matlow explained. “If you do that, it creates a beautiful, animated space for the community, but for the remaining retailers, it doesn’t look like some scary, desolate place that nobody wants to visit.”
Supporting Local Entrepreneurs
Beyond the vacant storefront initiative, Matlow highlighted the importance of preserving opportunities for local entrepreneurs through appropriate retail space sizing. He expressed concern about the trend of replacing multiple small storefronts with fewer, larger retail units during redevelopment.
“Currently, there are very few restrictions when a developer rebuilds a site where there’s 12 or 13 small local shops,” he noted. “They only have to come back with maybe two or three new spaces with much larger floor plates, typically banks, Shoppers Drug Marts, franchises.”
These larger floor plates often price out independent businesses and favor national chains, removing the distinct character that made neighborhoods attractive in the first place.
“I don’t want streets just full of generic franchises,” Matlow emphasized. “I want people to be entrepreneurs. I want people to have a chance at following their dreams and coming up with creative new ideas that then we all benefit from.”
Commercial Lease Challenges
The councillor also addressed the challenges entrepreneurs face with commercial leases in Ontario, which he described as “a Wild West” compared to residential rent regulations. Matlow has previously advocated for commercial rent control and standardized lease agreements to provide predictability for small business owners.
“When you start a business, it is a 25/8 kind of operation,” he said. “You are throwing your whole body, mind, soul, and finances into it without any certainty that it’s going to work out.”
The initiative builds on a 2020 council directive that explored implementing a vacant storefront tax but never resulted in concrete policy changes. For Toronto’s retail sector, which continues to adapt to changing market conditions and consumer habits, the initiative represents a potential turning point in how the city manages its commercial corridors.
City staff will report to the Economic and Community Development Committee with specific recommendations later this year. In the meantime, Matlow says he’s already engaging with stakeholders to build support for implementation.
“If you do it well, you can have your cake and eat it too,” Matlow concluded. “You can have great main streets with more housing and vibrant shopping, and all the services and infrastructure you need to have a great quality of life.”
Dustin Fuhs is the Editor-in-Chief of 6ix Retail. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of Retail Insider, Canada’s most-read retail trade publication. He has over 20 years of experience in the retail, marketing, entertainment and hospitality industries, including with The Walt Disney Company, The Hockey Hall of Fame, Starbucks and Blockbuster.
Dustin was named as a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert in 2024 and 2025.