wow. Thanks wyliepoon. That helps put it in perspective. That make the towers look pretty absurd.
 
“The application in its current form is not supportable,” planning staff wrote in a preliminary report that was presented to the Toronto and East York Community Council on Tuesday.

“Of considerable concern to staff is the appropriateness of the proposed land use redesignation, along with the proposal’s significant scale, density, massing and transition towards the existing adjacent neighbourhoods … as well as the provision of open space.”

I appreciate the comments about the role of planners, but these particular comments sound discouraging and the G&M article by Bentley Mays said the project had been "cold-shouldered". I will never understand how large scale projects sitting close to 2 subway stations and Toronto's major boulevard is too dense. Maybe the C37 funds (or whatever they were called) should go towards expanding the subway stations andbuying more carriages.
 
buildup said:
“The application in its current form is not supportable,†planning staff wrote in a preliminary report that was presented to the Toronto and East York Community Council on Tuesday.

“Of considerable concern to staff is the appropriateness of the proposed land use redesignation, along with the proposal’s significant scale, density, massing and transition towards the existing adjacent neighbourhoods … as well as the provision of open space.â€

I appreciate the comments about the role of planners, but these particular comments sound discouraging and the G&M article by Bentley Mays said the project had been "cold-shouldered". I will never understand how large scale projects sitting close to 2 subway stations and Toronto's major boulevard is too dense. Maybe the C37 funds (or whatever they were called) should go towards expanding the subway stations andbuying more carriages.
Click to expand...

Subways whats that, if your not talking LRTs nowadays your not in the groove..lol:rolleyes: This project by the looks of it is going to have a hard time flying...the way i see it right now Toronto is in great shape and on a wild building boom, obviously if this was in Buffalo or Detroit they would probably take this project in a flash, whereas here in this city the planning dept. have so much on the go that they can go out there and pretty well bitch about anything regarding a development...Hey im starting to think that in that industry they are the closest thing to God.:eek:
 
I'm anxious to read the staff report if anyone can find it. I liked this proposal a lot, I think it's appropriately located and would do wonders in moving forward to continue revitalizing this part of town.
 
^ Second link.

Solaris said:
To be considered by Toronto & East York Community Council on January 18, 2011:

http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2011.TE3.25
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-34478.pdf

Addresses
6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 Glen Road
4, 6, 58, 60, 62, 64, 76 and 100 Howard Street
603, 605, 607, 609 and 611 Sherbourne Street

Proposal
Block 1 / West: 50 storeys (bldg 1A), 5 levels underground parking
Block 2 / Middle: 5 storeys (bldg 2A)
Block 3 / East: 56 (bldg 3B) + 46 (bldg 3C) + 53 (bldg 3D) storeys, 5 levels underground parking
Click to expand...
 
Just what we need: more generic and soul destroying glass towers that are far too large for the area and completely out of context with their surroundings. Indeed, no attempt has been here to have these towers relate to any nearby buildings or to the lovely ravine across the street. I really think this city needs at least a ten year moratorium on glass boxes of which aA are the worst offenders. The city would be wise to terminate this particular proposal and hope that the OMB refuses an appeal.

A better proposal would be more of an Avenues approach: a continuous stone or brick building, max 12 stories, and terraced to match the contours of the ravine below.

Apologies for being so negative on what appears to be a popular project, but it really irks me --I find it to be wrong on so many levels.
 
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I sympathize with your view, Monk. I agree that the Avenues approach is almost always preferrable to point towers. These won't do much the the neighbourhood - they won't do much for the street. But the neighbourhood is already a bit of a lost cause IMHO, so I can't say I really care too much.
 
It would be nice if this development could be linked into St. Jamestown tower renewal. Maybe use some of the new units as rental replacements so that an older building or two could be knocked down, creating space for new rental replacements that could in turn allow for other buildings to get redone. Even establishing some reasonable cross streets through the area would do a lot to help, and then maybe the consolidation of some of the greenspace into a larger, more worthwhile central park
 
Curious thing is, there *could* be an Micallef-ite argument that towers-from-the-ravines is some kind of positive Toronto visual archetype...
 
I recently lived at Bleecker & Howard for a year and then nearby on Isabella and Huntley for another. While many think anything in this neighbourhood would help, the sketchiness of the area really only emerges at night, particularly in the park along Bleecker (West St. Jamestown Park) and around the Sherbourne and Howard intersection. During the day the area is lively and very Filipino. There is, in fact, a real community spirit which emerges at daytime, particularly in the the various internet cafes and laundromats along Howard, and in the park, which converts from a drug-trade shop to a place for parents and schoolchildren to meander. The physical infrastructure is amongst the worst in the city, though, particularly in the older low-rise building just north of the major St. Jamestown high-rises. The No Frills down on Sherbourne is at capacity, or worse, as well, so a new grocery store -- perhaps a Food Basics -- would be needed if these things went up.

Re: subway, the Sherbourne stop is to my mind essentially at capacity and in need of serious upgrades (the Glen Road exit, which most St. Jamestown residents use, is very run-down). By contrast, Castle Frank -- and I assume a lot of people in the eastern towers in this complex might choose to go there if there was a westerly exit -- is the least used subway stop I've encountered on the Bloor-Danforth line (I now live out at Pape, so I go by it twice a day). Incorporating Castle Frank into this new complex would, if I were in charge somewhere, be a priority.
 
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