Northern Light

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Big application into the AIC for this street at Don Mills, just south of Eglinton. Three Towers, 30s, 41s and 46s proposed.

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Link: http://app.toronto.ca/AIC/index.do?folderRsn=Sre6gtmGaPWeR6syXL14tg==

Streetview:

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Aerial Pic:

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Site Size: ~1.47ha/3.7ac

My commentary:

Lots of rental displacement here! That would seem a real concern, and no small matter for the landlord.

Lower income area, challenged by relatively little un-encumbered, tableland (non-valley) park space. There may be pressure for an on-site parkland dedication. This should probably be resisted in favour of a more useful addition to a current or proposed park.

Large amount of TCHC housing stock nearby in need of renewal, that could be an s.37 benefit here.
 
*Docs are Up*

Architect is Diamond Schmitt though what passes for a render looks more Kirkor to me!



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Don Mills & Eg on its way to becoming the future Yonge & Eg? 🤔
The Eglinton LRT will be up and running within a years time and with the new addition of the Ontario Line by the end of the decade this area is ripe for development and it will inevitably become a Yonge and Eglinton type area. Just a matter a time more of the Flemington Park properties get redeveloped and gentrified. The land is simply to valuable with DM/EG becoming a major transit hub!
 
The Eglinton LRT will be up and running within a years time and with the new addition of the Ontario Line by the end of the decade this area is ripe for development and it will inevitably become a Yonge and Eglinton type area. Just a matter a time more of the Flemington Park properties get redeveloped and gentrified. The land is simply to valuable with DM/EG becoming a major transit hub!

Yonge and Eg density yes; Yonge and Eg vibe, no.

There isn't any old architecture here. You're dealing largely with what comes from the 1960s through early 70s; and then current replacements.

You can't really replicate the requisite flavour.

That's not a knock on the hood. Should be a happening place as suburban vibing places go.............

But it won't be what Yonge and Eligible was............

Nor what Yonge and dejected Nimby is today!

*****

I hasten to add the natural valley parkland in this area is a considerable asset than Yonge and Eg lacks. But it also has the effect of limiting broader neighbourhood fabric, as does the DVP.
 
Yonge and Eg density yes; Yonge and Eg vibe, no.

There isn't any old architecture here. You're dealing largely with what comes from the 1960s through early 70s; and then current replacements.

You can't really replicate the requisite flavour.

That's not a knock on the hood. Should be a happening place as suburban vibing places go.............

But it won't be what Yonge and Eligible was............

Nor what Yonge and dejected Nimby is today!

*****

I hasten to add the natural valley parkland in this area is a considerable asset than Yonge and Eg lacks. But it also has the effect of limiting broader neighbourhood fabric, as does the DVP.

Absolutely won't have the Yonge / EG vibes however many residents will be displaced in the coming years as gentrification occurs. Prices will shoot up (Crosstown Community is already at $1400 p/sqf) so I can only imagine what future phases/developments will be at. This area will really transform itself and make its own identity and create its own vibe. It will not happen overnight that I can tell you but it will discover its identity in the coming years / decade. I am very excited for this area and can't wait to see how it ends up.
 
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What is the definition of "high quality housing" in this context? I don't disagree that replacement rental is positive (notwithstanding the hardship to tenants in the interim) but quality is not a word that comes to mind looking at these posted application materials.
 
What is the definition of "high quality housing" in this context? I don't disagree that replacement rental is positive (notwithstanding the hardship to tenants in the interim) but quality is not a word that comes to mind looking at these posted application materials.
Im talking about new housing that meets current code, green standards, indoor and outdoor amenity requirements, accessibility requirements, even parking garage dimension requirements, bike parking, laundry in every suite, new appliances, etc etc etc. The architect is Diamond Schmitt. It will be competent. You are conflating whether you like the preliminary massing design with the actual quality of the housing for the thousands (!) of people who will live there in housing that will completely outshine the 50 year old apartment blocks all around it. That includes tenants who come back to the replacement housing. There’s merit in new, high quality housing.
 
Im talking about new housing that meets current code, green standards, indoor and outdoor amenity requirements, accessibility requirements, even parking garage dimension requirements, bike parking, laundry in every suite, new appliances, etc etc etc. The architect is Diamond Schmitt. It will be competent. You are conflating whether you like the preliminary massing design with the actual quality of the housing for the thousands (!) of people who will live there in housing that will completely outshine the 50 year old apartment blocks all around it. That includes tenants who come back to the replacement housing. There’s merit in new, high quality housing.

Given the proximity to new transit I think the overall approach is valid for this site. I am skeptical of these kinds of arguments in favour of rental replacement because most of these shortcomings can be addressed through thoughtful adaptive re-use (i.e. tower renewal) rather than wholesale demolition and replacement. It is also paternalistic to assume that existing tenants will prefer the new housing -- other than simply being new, these replacement units tend to be a relative downgrade in terms of size, layout, access to light, etc. Not a jibe at your comment at all, there is a careful balancing of competing priorities required in these situations.

However, the true travesty here is that instead of providing greater animation and an improved street edge along Don Mills Road, the west building has been set back at a silly angle to preserve a "protected upper level view corridor" as if there is anything significant whatsoever about the butchered Foresters Building, which itself will probably get redeveloped in the not-so-distant future.
 
Given the proximity to new transit I think the overall approach is valid for this site. I am skeptical of these kinds of arguments in favour of rental replacement because most of these shortcomings can be addressed through thoughtful adaptive re-use (i.e. tower renewal) rather than wholesale demolition and replacement. It is also paternalistic to assume that existing tenants will prefer the new housing -- other than simply being new, these replacement units tend to be a relative downgrade in terms of size, layout, access to light, etc. Not a jibe at your comment at all, there is a careful balancing of competing priorities required in these situations.

However, the true travesty here is that instead of providing greater animation and an improved street edge along Don Mills Road, the west building has been set back at a silly angle to preserve a "protected upper level view corridor" as if there is anything significant whatsoever about the butchered Foresters Building, which itself will probably get redeveloped in the not-so-distant future.
I completely agree on several points.

I do not think this is a good proposal because of the rental replacement. I think it's good despite the rental replacement. It's the huge increase in housing provision, new park, etc. near transit. If this were a 1 for 1 rental replacement with no new housing, no new park, etc. (which would never make commercial sense) then it would be an unacceptable tradeoff.

And I completely agree that the "protected upper level view corridor" is absolute nonsense that deserves no place in planning for new housing near transit.
 
Correct. You'll need to have a company like Extreme Measures come in and do measured drawings of every unit in the building proposed to be demolished. Then you need to work with SIPA (who takes this stuff *very* seriously) to ensure the replacement units are as large or larger than the ones being replaced. You and @interchange42 are correct in that layouts and light often do suffer, but that's because we've piled on hundreds of additional studies and guidelines since the mid-century slabs were constructed.
 
Irving Grossman designed these, along with basically the whole neighbourhood, which is one of the most intact Modernist masterplanned projects in the country. But of course, nobody cares.
 

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