HighRiser said:
Another sterile glass ground floor. I do not understand how the City is still making this mistake. It's become the norm and it is killing the street presence of the city. This pattern should have been rectified years ago, instead the city seems to be doubling down on it. It hurts my soul each time I see it.
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blitzraj1 said:
I agree. A glass podium just feels out of place here. In a historic area like St. Lawrence and the Distillery District, the podium should really reflect the brick and heritage aesthetic instead of looking overly modern.

A brick-oriented design would blend way better with the police station across the street and even the theatre a block away. It would make the whole stretch feel more cohesive.
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I agree w/the sentiments, but don't just get down about it; change it.

This is the time.

Truly, email (or phone) the planner on the file and discuss that. Regrettably, this site is not in a Heritage Conservation District which leaves the Planner one less level on the issue, but they can still be persuasive.

So can the architect. Email DSAI about the project, be nice overall if you want to get the time of day; but ask if they/the client wouldn't consider a more solid, heritage-leaning base that fit with the vernacular of the Distillery District or St. Lawrence areas.

Here's DSAI's basic contact info:

1763732333037.png


Don Schmitt actually made the presentation, so you could reach out to him directly if you're comfortable; but I won't put his contact out publicly. You could just call the office and ask for him.

I'll see if I can dig up who's helming this one for the City right now. But this is absolutely the time to make changes and this is not a big ask. I think you can sell the proponent on it.

Throw in the danger of window film with too much glazing.
 
Northern Light said:
I agree w/the sentiments, but don't just get down about it; change it.

This is the time.

Truly, email (or phone) the planner on the file and discuss that. Regrettably, this site is not in a Heritage Conservation District which leaves the Planner one less level on the issue, but they can still be persuasive.

So can the architect. Email DSAI about the project, be nice overall if you want to get the time of day; but ask if they/the client wouldn't consider a more solid, heritage-leaning base that fit with the vernacular of the Distillery District or St. Lawrence areas.

Here's DSAI's basic contact info:

View attachment 697305

Don Schmitt actually made the presentation, so you could reach out to him directly if you're comfortable; but I won't put his contact out publicly. You could just call the office and ask for him.

I'll see if I can dig up who's helming this one for the City right now. But this is absolutely the time to make changes and this is not a big ask. I think you can sell the proponent on it.

Throw in the danger of window film with too much glazing.
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Thanks! I fired off an email to DSAI. If you can figure out who the planner is on the file at the City I'll contact them too! I tried to find a contact, but can't find any information on the City's website or anywhere for that matter.
 
HighRiser said:
Thanks! I fired off an email to DSAI. If you can figure out who the planner is on the file at the City I'll contact them too! I tried to find a contact, but can't find any information on the City's website or anywhere for that matter.
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You could write to the Community Planning Manager for Ward 13 at

Oren.Tamir@toronto.ca

He could pass it to the specific planner.
 
DSCToronto said:
Was there a response?
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Likely not. I have written government officials multiple times over the decades, and one seldom receives the basic common courtesy of even a form response. When David Miller was in office, I wrote him a small handful of times, about what I don't recall, and I never failed to hear back from an aide of his. I believe I also heard back once or twice from McGuinty's office back in the day, and even once from DoFo's transport minister about a decade ago. (That person responded, to his credit, but the response was laughably derelict: "We do not clean up litter along the freeway unless it is a hazard." Really? You must be shitting me!)
But I have written Chow, Saxe, and Colle once each in the past year, and crickets. The very least one can expect of elected officials is that they set up an email auto-response saying the message has been received and will be read, but may well not be answered because of time and staffing limitations. I would find that less insulting than being summarily ignored.
 
blitzraj1 said:
I was being a tad facetious earlier. The argument is that data centers are being built so fast that it's upticking the electricity usage which means we all pay more when more expensive methods are used for generation or they need to expand capacity.
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The data centre is not going forward: it's marked as cancelled in the attached Database file box at the top of every page in this thread. A residential complex is now planned.

42
 
blitzraj1 said:
YouTube - Electricity bills and data centers

I was being a tad facetious earlier. The argument is that data centers are being built so fast that it's upticking the electricity usage which means we all pay more when more expensive methods are used for generation or they need to expand capacity.
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It is correct that Data Centres - especially the newest generation of them - have extraordinarily bad effects on surrounding communities, from massive electricity and water usage to irreversible ecological and riparian damage. Fortunately, Toronto is very judicious about allowing their construction and only one large scale project has gone forward (https://urbantoronto.ca/database/projects/48-lowes-place.47515). Existing centres (151 Front, 905 King West, 45 Parliament Street, etc.) and proposed ones (https://urbantoronto.ca/database/projects/leaside-data-centre.34672) are much smaller in scale than the apocalyptical behemoths going up in the States.
 
Microsoft is building two in the GTA - one at 48 Lowes, and one in Markham off Highway 7 at the 404.

The highway 7 one is about twice the size of the Lowes one from my understanding, with two buildings proposed, but neither have moved beyond site grading yet.

There is lots of pressure for new data centres in Canada and the GTA. I know many industrial landowners are getting a lot of interest in would-be tenants for them.. The main problem and limiter is the required power hookups. The Province is carefully metering hookups and has a specific Data Centre hookup program to release power capacity for them.

New Requirements for Data Centres Seeking to Connect to the Electricity Grid in Ontario | Environmental Registry of Ontario

The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) introduced amendments to the Electricity Act, 1998 as part of Bill 40. If passed, the government is proposing to set out in regulation a process that will allow the Minister of Energy and Mines to prioritize and approve connection requests from data centre...
ero.ontario.ca ero.ontario.ca

Even then, Data Centres are anticipated to account for only 13% of new electricity demand in the province. A lot of what's driving electricity demand growth is industrialization and new greenhouses in rural areas (most concentrated in Leamington) which are massive power hogs.
 
innsertnamehere said:
Microsoft is building two in the GTA - one at 48 Lowes, and one in Markham off Highway 7 at the 404.

The highway 7 one is about twice the size of the Lowes one from my understanding, with two buildings proposed, but neither have moved beyond site grading yet.

There is lots of pressure for new data centres in Canada and the GTA. I know many industrial landowners are getting a lot of interest in would-be tenants for them.. The main problem and limiter is the required power hookups. The Province is carefully metering hookups and has a specific Data Centre hookup program to release power capacity for them.
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Yep, I was speaking specifically to Toronto's stock. I pray Doug doesn't get a fat cheque from someone to reverse this policy - if anything, it should be even stricter.
 
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