Not sure how the city could not approve Giraffe and be fine with this junk.

You know it's bad when they had to make the render greyscale so it looks more appealing.

We should really demand better when it comes to major intersections.
 

...since they struck out again 4th time up to the bat, they should just leave the building as is and open it up as a bar and grill or something. Oh, the giraffe spots probably need a new coat of paint though.
 
Did this this colorless render strike out yet?

The recent summary article pictures capture the unbelievable decline in form over the last 10+ years of discussion on this site. It would be a massive gut punch to see this last design built on what will be one of the most important intersections for the city in years to come.

I sure wish this developer would strike a deal with Gairloch so we could get something classy like junction point or the buildings near Sorauren...
 
Truly an amazing indictment of a myriad of issues here.
I can't believe I was an original purchaser of Giraffe over 10 years ago (can't even remember when it was...maybe 2008?) and here we are in 2021, numerous proposals later, each of them worse than the last, and the blighted corner of Bloor and Dundas is still all we have to show for it.
 
The latest design is disgraceful. Start over. This whole intersection needs a major intervention. The City should take over and combine this site with a redevelopment over top of Dundas West station. They could include office space and consolidate some city agencies scattered around the area and include a Service Ontario and Service Canada office. Would also be a great place to include some medical offices for clinics that will be displaced by the Loblaws redevelopment at 2234 Dundas W. Obviously you would include condos/apartments on the upper floors and fine grain retail at street level. Public realm and pedestrian access to the subway station must be prioritized in the design. Bus and Streetcar loop entrance and exit should be relocated to minimize conflict with pedestrian flow (expanding the loop footprint to the parking lot just west of the current loop would be the best option).

Bloor and Dundas West is the centre of the West End, at the intersection of Bloor West Village, The Junction, Roncesvalles and Bloordale. It's a major transit hub with the subway, GO Train, UP Express and multiple streetcar lines. We need buildings and public realm that reflect that.
 
Definitely seems like if the City and the councillor and the neighbourhood was realistic about the fact that this major transit hub intersection would and should be high density eventually and then responsibly and realistically worked proactively with developers to facilitate the best outcome for the site instead of resisting at every step of the way that we'd be in a much better position now.
 
The proposal in and of itself is extremely underwhelming. However, given its surroundings, it feels like a Gehry.
Cough! Nope, even given its surroundings, this feels more like a Burka for Neudorfer.

42
 
I just got notice that the July 2021 hearing has been adjourned till January 10, 2022.

Any speculations on why this would be?
A merciful God?

Or, often the parties to an LPAT hearing will request a rescheduling because…
  • one of them won't be ready to present in time
  • they cannot book their experts at the previously scheduled time
  • the developer and the City are negotiating and believe they can have a settlement by X date
  • etc
If it's the targeted settlement reason, then what would have been a one or two-week-long hearing can be replaced by a day, with the parties presenting docs to show that everything's agreed to. That frees up LPAT time for the cases that aren't settled, and there are enough of them…

42
 
Truly an amazing indictment of a myriad of issues here.
I can't believe I was an original purchaser of Giraffe over 10 years ago (can't even remember when it was...maybe 2008?) and here we are in 2021, numerous proposals later, each of them worse than the last, and the blighted corner of Bloor and Dundas is still all we have to show for it.
I don't believe there have been many proposals since Giraffe. After the Giraffe proposal (sadly, IMO) failed, the owner/developer sat on the site for a number of years before selling it. IIRC, this is the third proposal for this site.
 
I don't believe there have been many proposals since Giraffe. After the Giraffe proposal (sadly, IMO) failed, the owner/developer sat on the site for a number of years before selling it. IIRC, this is the third proposal for this site.
This is the third submission by the second owner of the site.

42
 
I literally did not think this proposal could get any worse than the last iteration, but Trinity has lowered the bar yet again! From the upcoming Toronto & East York Community Council agenda:

Screen Shot 2021-10-01 at 8.15.00 AM.png
 

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