December 30th:

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No use crying over spilt milk, but...

I remain deeply puzzled over how this whole ROCP & Aura blight came to pass. The old Eaton building at College Park is as grand as any in Toronto. Add the fact there is a parkette in the centre of the block. With virtually an entire block to work with why did the City not demand an international contest? This is critical intersection. We turned a blind eye while a Canderel Stoneridge staff architect 'threw up' 180 floors. The funny part is there seems to be some Gothic accents in the Bay Street flying buttresses. It they had used the old Deco department store for context we could've had a masterpiece on par with Rockefeller centre. Toronto-for-ya, harass M/G but red carpet for C/S. Robert Stern could've done something special here he's strong on neo-Deco.

There should be an en-qui-ry.
 
Drp

buildup said:
No use crying over spilt milk, but...

I remain deeply puzzled over how this whole ROCP & Aura blight came to pass. The old Eaton building at College Park is as grand as any in Toronto. Add the fact there is a parkette in the centre of the block. With virtually an entire block to work with why did the City not demand an international contest? This is critical intersection. We turned a blind eye while a Canderel Stoneridge staff architect 'threw up' 180 floors. The funny part is there seems to be some Gothic accents in the Bay Street flying buttresses. It they had used the old Deco department store for context we could've had a masterpiece on par with Rockefeller centre. Toronto-for-ya, harass M/G but red carpet for C/S. Robert Stern could've done something special here he's strong on neo-Deco.

There should be an en-qui-ry.
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I like your idea , regarding Art Deco Style Structure , but , in any case , DRP had chosen this particular design...
 
I like the design overall, I just despise the cheap spandrel. The devil is in the detail.
Imagine this project with glass like Four Seasons or The Ritz.
 
In fairness to the earlier stages of the College Park development, RoCP I was a game-changer at the time. It started construction almost ten years ago, and at the time Bay/College was a ghost town after 8 on a weeknight. Remember that prior to its 52 storeys everything else nearby was like half the height. It's weird to think about, but when RoCP started there was no Murano, Burano, Met, or Lumiere. MaRS I was still under construction, the SickKids building on Bay wasn't even on anyone's radar, and even that raft of UofT projects were just finishing up. The city has changed in major ways since that development got approved, and the bar has been raised. It wouldn't have really occurred to anyone at the time to hold an international competition for that plot of land.

And Aura did get sent to the DRP, which is how we got the current design
 
I wouldn't give much credit to Canderel for their three disasters on this block. The other buildings would have come along just the same, and they are finer than anything parked here for the next hundred or so years. I tend to agree with buildup's previous post, a tremendous opportunity was lost here when building more residential around College Park and not pulling from a treasured and established success (the old Eaton's store). But that takes civic pride and money, heaven forbid this developer would spend extra money designing and putting up good looking buildings, not to suggest that they are exclusively the problem in this city.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
I wouldn't give much credit to Canderel for their three disasters on this block. The other buildings would have come along just the same, and they are finer than anything parked here for the next hundred or so years. I tend to agree with buildup's previous post, a tremendous opportunity was lost here when building more residential around College Park and not pulling from a treasured and established success (the old Eaton's store). But that takes civic pride and money, heaven forbid this developer would spend extra money designing and putting up good looking buildings, not to suggest that they are exclusively the problem in this city.
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And now they are planning to deposit more of their bargain basement design build garbage on the north side of College.

When will the city finally say enough is enough?

Any developer looking to build in the Yonge-Bay corridor needs to be held to the design and construction standards being set in the area by Great Gulf, Lanterra and MOD...full stop.
 
One last look on the last day of 2013

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thedeepend said:
And now they are planning to deposit more of their bargain basement design build garbage on the north side of College.

When will the city finally say enough is enough?

Any developer looking to build in the Yonge-Bay corridor needs to be held to the design and construction standards being set in the area by Great Gulf, Lanterra and MOD...full stop.
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City is too busy fighting M-G.
 
thedeepend said:
And now they are planning to deposit more of their bargain basement design build garbage on the north side of College.
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I originally included that in my post, with concern, but it wasn't directly related to the College Park block so I scratched it. I'm always half hoping for a market correction to slow down the pace of these cramped, poorly designed condos going up in favor of fewer with great design/materials and livable sized units, including family units. The up side is there's also some great stuff going up, albeit still with mostly small and cramped spaces.
 
DSC said:
There is, I think, a difference between an accident (falling trees) to what is probably a design defect (ice forming and crashing to the street). Closing streets is very expensive - directly and indirectly - to the City and to citizens (and those whose businesses are behind barriers.)
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This incident seems to be an act of nature, not a defect in the design of the building. But I am of the opinion that the city needs to levy incredibly heavy fines against building owners if a defect in the structure design causes glass panes or ice to fall off.
 
SP!RE said:
Dude. Can you please stop bringing Mirvish-Gehry and your related bitterness about Toronto city planners into every single thread? Seriously.
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Why should he? City hall is incompetent beyond belief. They fight like preschool children over M-G and the Fords (turning their seats? Really? They remind me of a little kid plugging his ears and screaming) while ignoring the bigger picture.
 
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