[Northern Light]

The City has long multi-month pre-meetings with Infrastructure Ontario, SvN, etc -- before these public documents are ever released.

City Planning has been in-the-loop for a long-time.

I am aware of that......but let's be clear, I.O. is the province, and does not require City permission to do anything. They can get an MZO, they can also be exempted from building permits. City planning is there as a courtesy and a reality check, but they are not the determiners here.

 

[HookInMouth]

I get the frustration with the site not necessarily being maximum density, but if we think about this whole area going from 2-3 stories to a mix of 5 - 30 stories across the Danforth, Gerrard east, Dundas etc. it seems like it would be great. The problem is we have waited so long to begin anything that a gradual ramp up to total midrise feels like too little too late I suppose. Either way, I don't hate this proposal, I do look forward to looking at how the final development looks in 20 years vs these first renders lol.

 

[flonicky]

 

[GabrielHurl]

 

[felix123]

If work on the TOD towers is a non-starter until the OL is near completion, I wonder what state the site will be in on opening day. It seems like it would be difficult to justify doing the landscape architecture that's been proposed, only to need to tear it up a couple years later.

 

[flonicky]

 

[flonicky]

I wish heritage preservation was more of a concern. The Danforth has the largest collection of EIFS-covered buildings in the city and we risk losing all that styrofoam with too many demolitions.

 

[Towered]

The loss of a whole block of narrow retail units along a vibrant main strip is unfortunate, but the buildings themselves are not impressive in any way (saw them just last week as I was in the area and just shrugged to myself over their impending demise).

 

[christiesplits]

View attachment 550954View attachment 550955

I just caught a sliver of last night's virtual open house, but a planner confirmed @Northern Light's comments that there is insufficient space for two towers.

 

[Northern Light]

I wish heritage preservation was more of a concern. The Danforth has the largest collection of EIFS-covered buildings in the city and we risk losing all that styrofoam with too many demolitions.

I had to pull this out in case others miss it in the pics.

 

[christiesplits]

I wish heritage preservation was more of a concern. The Danforth has the largest collection of EIFS-covered buildings in the city and we risk losing all that styrofoam with too many demolitions

I had to pull this out in case others miss it in the pics.

St. Clair West: "Hold my espresso."

Source

 

[therockiesman]

I just caught a sliver of last night's virtual open house, but a planner confirmed @Northern Light's comments that there is insufficient space for two towers.

Thanks!

I had made a note of this meeting but couldn't find time yesterday to attend it. Did anyone else here attend the meeting and gather anything interesting?

 

[GabrielHurl]

There's a pretty long detailed twitter thread here

https://twitter.com/x/status/1775283543096066319

 

[therockiesman]

There's a pretty long detailed twitter thread here

https://twitter.com/x/status/1775283543096066319

Thanks for sharing this! It's unfortunate that IO has proposed only 29-storeys and 6-storeys next to an upcoming interchange station. This is a generational opportunity to bring much needed housing to Greektown, especially where people will have all kinds of amenities.

Toronto is North America's fourth largest city! Why don't we act like it?

Here's what I think: Either IO is too scared of local opposition, or they are leaving lot of money on the table for potential development partners who will likely go for resubmission and significantly higher density.

 

[Northern Light]

Thanks for sharing this! It's unfortunate that IO has proposed only 29-storeys and 6-storeys next to an upcoming interchange station. This is a generational opportunity to bring much needed housing to Greektown, especially where people will have all kinds of amenities.

Height for its own sake is not the answer. There's nothing wrong w/29 storeys here, but the IO proposal does underwhelm, as the majority of their proposals do.

Toronto is North America's fourth largest city! Why don't we act like it?

As compared to Mexico City or Los Angeles both of which have far few towers than Toronto....., and LA with much lower population density and transit ridership?

Not sure you want to run w/that analogy.

Here's what I think: Either IO is too scared of local opposition, or they are leaving lot of money on the table for potential development partners who will likely go for resubmission and significantly higher density.

The issue with IO's proposals is:

1) They are only dealing w/land Metrolinx has acquired for projects and deemed surplus upon their completion. So they are not buying any additional land even if that would allow a much better massed, and possibly taller proposal.

2) In the same vein, Metrolinx is generally not permitting development directly over its 'head house' or station entrances, they are in some cases, but mostly, they are avoiding it) this further limits the way in which buildings can be massed and sites optimized.

3) Because they are not buying additional land, they are not buying out poorly conceived adjacent proposals that would improve if consolidated to the IO sites. (see 656 Danforth)

They are also not mitigating the issue of transition to adjacent SFH properties.

4) They are not getting the province, in conjunction w/the City to use MZOs to shape the future look of the area in a clear way, and so have to plan for buildings the area can support now if nothing else changes.

5) They are not contributing to any upgraded infrastructure to allow their sites to support greater density (other than the transit, obviously) (that could be mean sewer/water, or schools, or roads or parks etc.)

In summation, there's no conspiracy here, nor are I.O. stupid; what they are is working with a very unambitious mandate and insufficient funding to maximize potential.