![\"Canary](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Canary-District-Retail.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nEvery new retailer and service provider coming to the Canary District<\/a> is there for a reason. Earlier this spring, Dundee Kilmer <\/a>announced the first seven retailers that have signed on to be part of the new community that will rise out of the Athletes Village for the upcoming 2015 Pan Am\/Parapan Games.<\/p>\n LiveWorkLearnPlay, a real estate development and advisory firm, has partnered up with Dundee Kilmer<\/a>, using their expertise in master-planned communities and large-scale mixed-use projects to find the appropriate ground floor commercial mix for the new neighbourhood in Toronto’s downtown eastside.<\/p>\n That means Toronto favourites such as Dark Horse Espresso Bar and Pizza e Pazzi will be among the cafes and restaurants putting down roots in the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n LiveWorkLearnPlay’s\u00a0process for finding the right retailers and service-providers isn’t exactly business-as-usual.<\/p>\n “When it comes to retailing, the traditional approach is to put a sign in the window, wait for someone to give you a call and see how it works,” says Rob Spanier,\u00a0Partner and Principal at LiveWorkLearnPlay.<\/p>\n “Our process flips that upside down because we go out and target the best-in-class operators.”<\/p>\n That means that\u00a0anywhere between five and 20 operators are approached for any given space. The process is meant to not just see which business might be successful for each space, but to ensure that they’re in it for the long run. Among the key questions Spanier asks each would-be tenant is, “What is your financial capacity to not just open a new business, but to be here for the next 20 years?”<\/p>\n