First, let me concur w/the collective wisdom above........'Ugh'.
Saving the heritage storefronts is fine, indeed desirable........but this building is too overbearing with too much overhang for that to bring the desired effect.
The proposed floor plate here is 833m2, well above guideline, and with no compelling reason why the rules should be bent for the applicant. If anything, given the site constraints, I would expect a floor plate a bit under the guideline of 750m2.
The proposed balconies running the length the facade, particularly on the east elevation add to the issues of over-bearingness as they make the thing appear as one un-broken , unarticulated, ugly, blob.
Before we talk materials and/or style..........nix all balconies on the east elevation, and push the building back at least 1M further, and cut its N-S axis by 1M too while we're at it.
Now we can talk about looks. Nothing about the tower form works here.
I see three possible takes in the broadest terms.
1) Try to relate it to the traditional architecture of the Village. (so we're either traditional masonry to the top, or really good veneer, in traditional red/yellow brick tones)
2) Try to relate it to the apartment district to the west, so I'm looking for white glazed brick or something that would fit nicely with that.
3) Go modern and breakaway but make it artsy and fit it in w/the village's vibe in terms of going loud. I don't mean the whole building needs to be a giant rainbow..........but is there a better candidate site for purple brick? Maybe w/burgandy window frames?
Just sayin..
