raptor

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Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments to facilitate development of the site with mixed-use building of 39 storeys together with an additional mixed use building of 15 storeys.502 residential units, 188.5 sq. m. of retail space, 10,298.2 sq. m of institutional space, 38,723.9 sq. m of residential area. See related folder 18-214952 STE 27 PAC

 
Currently the site of the Basilian Fathers (Congregation of St. Basil) building:

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See related folder 18-214952 STE 27 PAC

Huh. Anyone know what kind of application that is? Does that mean pre-application consultation, and if so has Planning formalized that process?

No files online yet. Curious to know who is running this application. Church/Fathers directly, or do they have a development partner?

I am not joking when I say this building should be considered for heritage potential. There is so much junk protected that shouldn't be, but this one to me is special. There's also what appears to be a chapel in the back of this building, on St. Basil Lane. Maybe a private chapel for the Fathers? Can't find anything about it online.

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In my opinion this should also show some due deference to Kelly Library next door at 113 St. Joseph, a brutalist beauty.

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Make no mistake; I believe this is an appropriate tower site. But the buildings and form at street level are special and merit some consideration.

Good find raptor.

The proposed 10,300 m2 of institutional space is probably for the Fathers to stay on site after completion.

Can't wait to see plans.
 
There are certain streets that just need to be left alone without seeing 30+ story generic blue window wall condos being plopped in, and this section of St.Joseph is certainly one of them. I cant even begin to stress how immensely popular this stretch of St.Joseph is for movie/tv shoots, and seeing some bland condo being developed here would be enough to ruin the aesthetic of this street.

We're beginning to tread and cross a very fine line in this city, developing historical buildings with bland proposals which just ruin the aesthetic of the surrounding area. When is enough, enough?
 
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Is the issue the amount of development (arguably inevitable in a city like Toronto in 2019) or is the issue the quality of the architecture and built form that replaces what was there before?

I don’t think there is an easy argument to make in favour of saving a building like this one. But one can certainly make the case that this street deserves something different than the prevailing condition that the planning department and local developers wish to see proliferate here.
 
^In this particular case, it's more about ruining the aesthetic and character of this street and the surrounding area. This proposal is completely inappropriate in its current form, irrespective of whatever architecture that may come out of it.
 
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Nothing I see above has me excited about this project. That looks like a rezoning exercise of the type you'd expect to see where a landowner not interested in developing just wanted to prepare the land to be flipped for maximum dollars. Nothing there is worthy of going up on U of T related land or even looks like a starting point for it.

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This is one of the most offensive, ridiculous, and inappropriate proposals that i've ever seen (way more inappropriate than that mega tower on Elm St which didn't even attempt to respect the surround neighborhood).

If I were U of T, I would fight tooth and nail to drag this non-sense out of the area completely because this is the exact project that would ruin the entire St.Joseph's streetscape. I wont even get into the proposed facendecomy, and huge tower plopped on top because it's not even worth my breath.

All in all, this is a disgusting proposal, one that can truly ruin the character of this section of U of T.
 
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If you have to fill up that block entirely, extending the laneway from 1000 Bay and lining it with townhomes isn't a bad move. That part looks strong.

Unfortunately, nothing else about this proposal strikes me as very positive. Sigh.
 
This is St. Mike's, no?

The sisters at Loretto at 70 St. Mary St went through this process and eventually got approval for 40 stories in 2014.

They've got lots of time here and I presume this is an exercise they are doing now so that if/when they need to cash out, this whole process will be done in advance.
 

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