Ramako said:
I'm not sure if this is the grund floor or the first underground floor: http://www.retailataura.com//pdf/p1 plan Apr 26.10.pdf
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This rendering is of the first underground floor -- all condo units individually owned. It will have a food court and other business/professional offices.

Podium is another matter. From the condo documets, it appears that the podium will be owned by a separate condo corporation. Don't know who will own it.

From the published information, one full floor will be occupied by Bed and Bath; another floor will be occupied by BMO. Somewhere there will also be an upscale 'Health club'/ facilities -- free use by unit owners and by paid membership for the general public. Renderings on the website indicate that there will be an upscale restaurant(s) on the top floor on the interior side with open spaces toward the Yonge/Gerrard sides. There will be other tennants in the podium not yet announced.

There will be an entrance to the complex/subway from Gerrard Street. I am sure there will be entrance to the stores from the pathway.There should not be Shoppers type concrete walls at the street level. Whether stores at the 1st floor will have direct entrance from Yonge/Gerrard streets itself is not known.
 
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aurajly26.jpg
 
Looking at the basement retail level - first off - it's amazing how many stores are going to be in it.

I think the next interesting thing is the "future PATH connection" in the upper right corner. Anyone else see future planning for underground walkways all the way from Aura to The Atrium On Bay?

I also can't help but think that that corner would have been a great place for secondary College Park Station subway platform access.
 
KA1 said:
There will be an entrance to the complex/subway from Gerrard Street. I am sure there will be entrance to the stores from the pathway.There should not be Shoppers type concrete walls at the street level. Whether stores at the 1st floor will have direct entrance from Yonge/Gerrard streets itself is not known.
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That basement retail leasing map shows a set of stairs leading up to the Hayster St. allowance, and a set of escalators leading up toward Yonge St. Nothing there at all to suggest a Gerrard St. entrance tho, other than what looks like a fire escape.
 
whatever said:
That basement retail leasing map shows a set of stairs leading up to the Hayster St. allowance, and a set of escalators leading up toward Yonge St. Nothing there at all to suggest a Gerrard St. entrance tho, other than what looks like a fire escape.
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Whatever, you are correct that there is no entrance to the comples from Gerrard St. I was going by what I had heard, I think, in the sales centre once upon a time. Sorry for that.

CanadianNational, I have placed a link to AURA website www.collegeparkcondos.com showing the future expansion of PATH system.

If you click on the 'retail' tab on the home page, you will see a short video of retail planned for the basement, and, perhaps, grade level as well. I hope that retail attracts the 'chicks' shown on this demo video.

One can sit on a bench all day and evenings and watch all of them go by;)


http://www.collegeparkcondos.com/pages/neighbourhood.html
 
From Bay & College July 26

aura072611.jpg
 
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CanadianNational said:
I also can't help but think that that corner would have been a great place for secondary College Park Station subway platform access.
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It was considered and options were reviewed by the city during the approvals process - however the College station box is actually situated quite a bit further north of the property, therefore access was deemed to be problematic and plans never proceeded beyond initial discussions/reviews.
 
Mike in TO,

Are you familiar with Aura's application (#11 228208 ZPR 00 ZR ) for 3 additional floors? The application status on the city's website still lists this as "Not Started". Does this simply mean the city hasn’t begun analyzing the request yet? How long do these types of applications normally take for approval/disapproval?

If the city does approve, would the developers then apply for additional building height or is this included in the request for extra floors?

Many thanks!
 
CanadianNational said:
I think the next interesting thing is the "future PATH connection" in the upper right corner. Anyone else see future planning for underground walkways all the way from Aura to The Atrium On Bay?
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Wouldn't surprise me. That stretch of Yonge between Gerrard and Dundas is going to be redeveloped like mad in the next decade or so. Makes sense to plan for a connection now. It's a lot easier to save a bit of extra space for it now than to squeeze one in later.
 
The retail plan seems to follow the Asian mall concept given the large number of stores and seemingly small square footage per store. I just wonder about the quality of the retailers -- obviously will be independents given the condo-ownership format -- and about the viability. Will they be able to fill all those spaces and how long will they last after the initial euphoria of the opening of the complex.
 
I havent been following this thread very closely, so apologies if this has already been brought up... I find it less than ideal that the footprint of this thing is being built right out to the street. The renders made it feel like it was set back a bit and the sidewalks were wider. I would have liked to see something more along the lines of 1 Bloor's podium where it steps back away from the corner and gives a bit of space for people to move or have a seat. It just strikes me as very over bearing at the moment but I guess we'll see when its complete what the final impact will be.
 
Redroom Studios said:
I havent been following this thread very closely, so apologies if this has already been brought up... I find it less than ideal that the footprint of this thing is being built right out to the street. The renders made it feel like it was set back a bit and the sidewalks were wider. I would have liked to see something more along the lines of 1 Bloor's podium where it steps back away from the corner and gives a bit of space for people to move or have a seat. It just strikes me as very over bearing at the moment but I guess we'll see when its complete what the final impact will be.
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I definitely see what you mean. Hopefully when the hoarding comes down it'll make it feel a bit more open. It has a way of making the street feel really clausterphobic.
 
Necessary Evil said:
The retail plan seems to follow the Asian mall concept given the large number of stores and seemingly small square footage per store. I just wonder about the quality of the retailers -- obviously will be independents given the condo-ownership format -- and about the viability. Will they be able to fill all those spaces and how long will they last after the initial euphoria of the opening of the complex.
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A part of the retail will be devoted to food court. For that, you don't need a big unit. For the type of retail anticipated by Canderel, click on the link below and then click on the tab 'retail' on the right hand side.

http://www.collegeparkcondos.com/
 
There's a bit of a sheltered notch right at the corner of Yonge/Gerrard, so there's some relief there, and I don't think the sidewalks are as narrow as you're expecting. There's also a much larger space between Aura and College Park than I was expecting. Plus, if the city closes down the right turn lane on Yonge the sidewalks would be more than ample.
 
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