Disraeli said:
Leslieville has the same height restrictions as Inglewood (20 meters). I for one think 20 meters is a good height for Inglewood and allows for large mid-rise projects like Southbank and Avli while maintaining a pedestrian scaled neighbourhood.
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Not necessarily arguing against a 20m height restrict, but for the record Leslieville has at least one 12-storey building and several in the range of 8-12 storeys. There are also a handful of mid-century highrise apartment blocks just on the outskirts of the neighbourhood.

My thoughts on RNDSQR Block are the same as the Chinatown project. I think this particular building will improve the neighbourhood. However, I also get the fear among residents that it will set a precedent that threatens the human-scaled character of the neighbourhood. There are lots of run-down, non-historic one or two-storey buildings along 9th ave that contribute to the character of the street in their own small way that would be ripe for getting replaced by a 12-storey condo clad in aluminum or hardie board with an RBC occupying all the retail space.
 
My two main concerns of the project are: height (I think eight or nine stories is more appropriate) and the other being the concern the final product might not match the original design when done.
The Rendering looks great, but it almost looks a bit impractical. I hope the implemented design doesn’t change much.
 
Beazley66 said:
Ok. I would tend to agree, but requalify, the above critique of constituent commentary as "misguided", and that is not necessarily their fault. I was hoping that some of the commentary here would maybe be more constructive criticism. I'm getting a little pissed about members being disparaging towards a community that is not necessarily development adverse at all. I would point to MODA's Hive project, which I think KICKS **s, and is more scale appropriate. There's not much opposition there at all. We just need to keep in mind that the general public is maybe just not as informed as any of us profess to be regarding this subject. There is nothing hilarious about that.
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It is ridiculous for people to take the time to comment or criticize a proposed development IF they have not done there own due diligence and do not live in the community itself. I would be curious to know how many people in that petition actually live in Inglewood. Almost 22,000 signed on, so obviously the majority don't live there. Many are just piling on the 'heritage and history' argument without knowing what they are talking about.
Most of us on this forum would agree that introducing height (over 6 stories) to that part of Main St changes things dramatically, and there probably should be some compromise between the developer and the community in order to resolve things. Personally, when I am walking at ground level, I am not thinking of the height of buildings. It could be 4 stories or 42 stories, it makes no difference to me. It is the how things at ground level are designed and integrated from building to building, providing engagement to those walking by, that interests me.
 
JonnyCanuck said:
It is ridiculous for people to take the time to comment or criticize a proposed development IF they have not done there own due diligence and do not live in the community itself. I would be curious to know how many people in that petition actually live in Inglewood. Almost 22,000 signed on, so obviously the majority don't live there. Many are just piling on the 'heritage and history' argument without knowing what they are talking about.
Most of us on this forum would agree that introducing height (over 6 stories) to that part of Main St changes things dramatically, and there probably should be some compromise between the developer and the community in order to resolve things. Personally, when I am walking at ground level, I am not thinking of the height of buildings. It could be 4 stories or 42 stories, it makes no difference to me. It is the how things at ground level are designed and integrated from building to building, providing engagement to those walking by, that interests me.
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Myself, I do prefer main streets or retail streets to have lower scaled buildings with higher buildings in the background. I'd like to see this at 8 floors max, and have 8-12 floor buildings a block south of 9th ave toward the tracks. Build up the density there.

I agree about the petition, with only 4K residents in Inglewood and 22K signatures, this petition is about something different . Many of those who signed it probably visit Inglewood once a year to walk up and down the sidewalk taking selfies with their cutsie mittens and a latte from Starbucks.
 
I really don't understand the fear people have about the height of this building. The Alt Hotel in East Village is ten stories and I still feel it has a human scale when walking around the area. I can't see another two stories dramatically changing that. This proposal will be a 2 minute walk from the future Green Line station and replaces a used car lot on a prominent corner. If any site in Inglewood is worthy of a taller development to boost density it is this one.
 
JonnyCanuck said:
It is ridiculous for people to take the time to comment or criticize a proposed development IF they have not done there own due diligence and do not live in the community itself. I would be curious to know how many people in that petition actually live in Inglewood. Almost 22,000 signed on, so obviously the majority don't live there. Many are just piling on the 'heritage and history' argument without knowing what they are talking about.
Most of us on this forum would agree that introducing height (over 6 stories) to that part of Main St changes things dramatically, and there probably should be some compromise between the developer and the community in order to resolve things. Personally, when I am walking at ground level, I am not thinking of the height of buildings. It could be 4 stories or 42 stories, it makes no difference to me. It is the how things at ground level are designed and integrated from building to building, providing engagement to those walking by, that interests me.
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I see no harm or reason to restrict this to people within the community. Interest in future growth is always better than indifference. Cooler thoughts almost always prevail by working with each other . It's what we do on here Skyrise Calgary. We don't restrict commentary to our own communities. No disrespect, it's also no less ignorant than the stereotypical NIMBYs fears to say 4 or 42 storeys makes no difference to them. How?
 
This isn’t about saving the Tide building or any particular building. It is well documented that higher density zoning impacts heritage buildings. It is also well documented that it forces out independent business, and raises the cost of housing/rents in the area. This is a pro-development forum (obviously) but people are being naive if they don’t think that large scale residential projects don’t have negative repercussions in neighborhoods like Inglewood.
 
Disraeli said:
This isn’t about saving the Tide building or any particular building. It is well documented that higher density zoning impacts heritage buildings. It is also well documented that it forces out independent business, and raises the cost of housing/rents in the area. This is a pro-development forum (obviously) but people are being naive if they don’t think that large scale residential projects don’t have negative repercussions in neighborhoods like Inglewood.
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But wouldn't restricting building heights as the community wants also have large negative impacts in neighbourhoods like Inglewood? The BIA prepared a report that points to the three new six story buildings on the west end of 9th as the desired outcome versus a 12 story point tower. Yet AVLI sits on a large lot and the other two buildings essentially take up entire blocks.

I have a friend who develops infill midrise projects in the 4-6 story range and the first thing he looks to do is assemble multiple adjoining parcels to get the largest footprint possible to make the economics of mid-rise work. The economics of a small lot with a 12 story point tower works, that same lot with a six story concrete mid-rise does not. So we end up with cheap wood buildings like Torode or quality large footprint mid-rises like we see in Bridgeland and Kensington.

Personally I think limiting development to 6 stories in Inglewood dramatically increases the threat to the heritage buildings and the feel to the street as developers will work hard to assemble multiple parcels and tear down existing buildings so they can make the economics of mid-rise work better.
 
outoftheice said:
But wouldn't restricting building heights as the community wants also have large negative impacts in neighbourhoods like Inglewood? The BIA prepared a report that points to the three new six story buildings on the west end of 9th as the desired outcome versus a 12 story point tower. Yet AVLI sits on a large lot and the other two buildings essentially take up entire blocks.

I have a friend who develops infill midrise projects in the 4-6 story range and the first thing he looks to do is assemble multiple adjoining parcels to get the largest footprint possible to make the economics of mid-rise work. The economics of a small lot with a 12 story point tower works, that same lot with a six story concrete mid-rise does not. So we end up with cheap wood buildings like Torode or quality large footprint mid-rises like we see in Bridgeland and Kensington.

Personally I think limiting development to 6 stories in Inglewood dramatically increases the threat to the heritage buildings and the feel to the street as developers will work hard to assemble multiple parcels and tear down existing buildings so they can make the economics of mid-rise work better.
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I don’t think so mainly because higher density isn’t going to disincentivize a developer from assembling more lots anyways. It might even have the opposite effect especially if the market is down like it is right now. Keep in mind a lot zoned for six stories is not going to cost as much as one zoned for twelve. It also doesn’t cost as much to build.
 
Disraeli said:
I don’t think so mainly because higher density isn’t going to disincentivize a developer from assembling more lots anyways. It might even have the opposite effect especially if the market is down like it is right now. Keep in mind a lot zoned for six stories is not going to cost as much as one zoned for twelve. It also doesn’t cost as much to build.
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My only counter to this is that the cheaper the lots, the easier it is for a single person/company to acquire multiple properties and assemble them into one large parcel for redevelopment. The higher the lot price, the higher the barrier to entry for redevelopment. We'll probably have to wait ten years or so before we know which one of our perspectives is the correct one.
 
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