They've been talking about this since I was knee-high to a grasshopper but maybe now that Build Toronto has been formed we will finally see something here. With Canadian Tire set to move and the complete underutilization of the TTC yard there could be something exciting here. Mixed-use would be ideal.
 
I don't care much for this plan. It does little more than put some tall buildings at this intersection and as we all know, this doesn't always translate into more livable neighbourhood or even a more enlivened one. In my humble opinion, I would like that they make an effort to make Yonge more alive along this stretch, while also making a kind of pedestrian shopping area which meanders from Yonge street up to Eglinton, but which cuts up the massive plot of land and allows for more opportunity to penetrate these massive blocks.

Toronto buildings usually tend to focus on the front, but given the possibilities in this area, this kind of meandering pedestrian shopping street(s) could work.

p5
 
but: its already one of the most livable high density spots in the city imo. Its the dead empty space of the old bus station that kills the vibe now. That aerial view rendering looks fantastic to me! Its a major intersection and definitely requires height on all 4 corners to reinforce that fact. I'll bet that we'll be hearing from the usual nimby's before long though...
 
Does $30,000,000 still buy a 35-storey office building?

That might pay for excavation and foundations. I have no idea why they would mention such a figure.

This is all very preliminary, but nevertheless, good to see. The Eglinton bus bays have been just about the most under-utilized land in the city for years now.

Also, I wouldn't be holding my breath for the office portion of this to come about. The moveout of Canadian Tire would create a major jump in the vacancy rate at this corner.
 
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plan is light years ahead of the abandoned bus station and large parking garage


eglinton.jpg
 
I don't disagree that Eglinton is alive and well, however I was merely pitching the idea to expand on the sucess of the are and try something a little different. No doubt this plan is lightyears ahead of the busbays, but is it really that great? I still liken the idea of cutting into this massive block with pedestrian shopping streets..
 
Not sure if this is the appropriate thread but...

A final report the the city planning committee is due on Feb 4th that will comment on O.P. & Zb/l amendments as well as urban design guidelines in the Yonge & Eglinton area. Buildings heights will range from about 40 floors at Yonge & Eglinton and transition downwards into nearby communities. The report will also recommend that some of the TTC owned surplus lands in the area be dedicated for affordable housing.
 
Urban scrawl: The betrayal of Yonge and Eglinton
By Councillor Michael Walker
Commentary


yongeeg.jpg

You have to feel for the residents of the Yonge-Eglinton neighbourhood in midtown Toronto.

In 2002, a late night scheme cooked up in private by a number of Toronto city councillors, including David Miller, paved the way for the surprise approval of the 54- and 37-storey twin towers of the Minto Midtown development at 2195 Yonge St.

Easily the most controversial and vilified project in the history of North Toronto, the political shenanigans associated with it resulted in one councillor being turfed out of office. More importantly, it ushered in a profound local skepticism as to the fairness and propriety of the city’s last-minute planning processes.

In the same year, the new City of Toronto Official Plan was approved. It called for the creation of plans for new growth at the Yonge-Eglinton intersection, and a local working group, including some justifiably wary citizens, began work with the city on new land use regulations and design guidelines to manage future development in their neighbourhood.

One of the plums at stake in this exercise is the large parcel at the southwest corner of the Yonge-Eglinton intersection known as the TTC Bus Terminal lands. City-owned land that has been underutilized for years, and one of the most desirable pieces of redevelopment property in the country, it sits across the street from the Minto monsters, shouldering in their shadow the burden of suspicion and mistrust brought about by previous political hi-jinks.

Over many years, the working group did its job, agreeing to a 40-storey height limit for the land, and development design guidelines to protect the adjacent residential neighbourhoods. Included was the use of a “strata plan†–essentially a horizontal division of land and air rights that enables the city to sell or lease lands to a developer up to a certain height limit, and retain ownership of the air rights above. This tool, which has been used previously by the city, was the thumb in the development dyke that local residents were looking for, and it was agreed to by the working group and the local neighbourhood.

On Oct. 8 last year, Mayor Miller got involved in the neighbourhood again. In announcing the creation of Build Toronto, a city firm mandated to dispose of city-owned assets at their highest value, he cited the TTC Bus Terminal lands as a place where this firm might do its dealing. On Feb. 4, Mayor Miller’s hand-picked Planning and Growth Management Committee all but killed the working group’s pivotal strata plan idea, opening the door once again to uncertainty in future development, and slamming the door shut on citizen respect for the planning process.

As we have come to understand in recent years, the willingness of residents to become active partners with their local government and respected participants in the making of their communities is a very fragile thing. We say that we seek out citizen input because it creates strong communities that are engaged in their own collective well being; it results in better and more responsive decisions that have staying power; and it is democratically the right thing to do.

Today, at Yonge and Eglinton, those fine sentiments ring hollow. Toronto used to be a place where citizen input was genuinely encouraged and attention was paid to the things that mattered to local people. No more. All power is a trust, and this one has been harshly undermined.

As a consequence of last minute, top-down interference by the Mayor and some of his fellow travelers, it would surprise no one if residents threw up their hands in exasperation and walked away from civic engagement altogether, which may have been the back room intent in the first place.

• Michael Walker is Toronto city councillor for Ward 22 (St. Pauls)

Photo of Minto Towers looming over residential neighbourhood near Yonge and Eglinton by Tyler Anderson, National Post
 
Wait: it was never explained why we have to feel for the residents of Yonge Eglinton.

And to mention that Minto has been the most controversial and most vilified project in North Toronto, while not mentioning that it is only controversial to idiots and vilified by cretins, is to miss the point.

It's good to see that there's still hope for something spectacular on the Eglinton station bus terminal lands.

42
 
I agree, the article is extremely one sided, likely from someone from my area that doesn't like towers over 3 stories. Likely also someone who is retired or close to retirement, and wants no change. I find when people get older the more conservative they become with things like this.
 
Though "idiots" and "cretins" is a bit of an extreme way of putting it--and I'm one who's been prone to strong derogatory language in the past, so that's saying something.

Let's just say, they're the debased extreme wing of (wannabe?) Jane Jacobs toadys. Though they have one good fundamental point: that it needn't be all about super-highrise condo construction. Unfortunately, they're also the sorts who'd blanket-condemn all *existing* highrise construction in the neighbourhood as some kind of uniform abysmal architectural and urbanistic failure, even as a benign 40-year-old fait accompli...
 
http://www.thestar.com/article/642314

40-storey cap on midtown site

Yonge-Eglinton limit follows high-rise protest

May 29, 2009 04:30 AM
Vanessa Lu
city hall bureau chief

It's just a few words, but it should prevent another battle over building heights at Yonge and Eglinton, where residents fought two Minto condo towers and lost.

Councillor Michael Walker offered a small amendment this week to the transfer of the old TTC bus barns on that corner to the Build Toronto property agency, limiting anything built there to 120 metres.

That means any private developer who later purchases the long-unused site wouldn't be able to exceed 40 storeys.

"It's a win for neighbourhoods here, and we won't have another Minto," said Walker. Some residents feel 40 storeys is still too high, but Yonge-Eglinton is targeted for intensification because of its location along transit corridors.

A developer could still ask to go higher, but that would require planning and city council approvals. "We will get additional value at that point, and we don't get taken to the cleaners," Walker said.

The Minto towers on the east side of Yonge rise to 39 and 54 storeys. Local opposition to the project, in part, led to the defeat of former councillor Anne Johnston, who had backed it.
 
while not mentioning that it is only controversial to idiots and vilified by cretins

This statement was brought to you by Internet Anonymity™ :D
 
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That's good for this site because it will angle the height of Quantum with the shadows down to the residential area on the west side of Yonge.

I don't agree that all buildings in this area should be limited to this height, but regarding the TTC lands and the raised parking lot seen in the photo of a previous post, I definitely believe this is a good compromise. Anyone who opposes 40 stories is just looking for a useless time wasting fight.
 

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