CityPlaceN1 said:
Yonge is a mess already. Making the ring roads a mess would make things even worse. Need more side streets that are accessible to Yonge and to Sheppard and Finch.
Click to expand...

Its really a question of condos vs residential houses neigbourhoods. When the old City of North York originally designed the Ring Roads (Beecroft & Doris),.... one purpose was to encircle the high density condos and offices and keep those traffic out of the residential houses neighbourhoods that surrounds them,.... otherwise there would have been even more opposition to these condos!

We already have lots of side streets,... but nobody uses them. Why? Too many stop signs,.... Imagine if those so called "feeder streets" (not main streets like Yonge, Sheppard, Finch) but streets like Avondale, Tradewind, Florence, ParkHome, Empress, etc,... were to have no stop signs. Let me clarify, currently at the intersection of these feeder streets and small streets there's usually a 4 way stop sign system. Get rid of that! Only have the traffic on the small street face stop sign. But feeder street never have stop sign,... end result, less stop and go traffic on feeder streets and more traffic will use feeder street as a way to avoid already congested arteries like Yonge, Sheppard, Finch. The main problem of course, would be the neighbours on the feeder streets opposing more cars on their street.
 
January 19/2013. They are above ground. The core is about 2 floors now, while forming is in place for much of the ground level.

EMERALD-PARK-19-01-2013-1.jpg


EMERALD-PARK-19-01-2013-2.jpg


EMERALD-PARK-19-01-2013-3.jpg
 
Thanks for the update c4u!! Good to see this finally above ground. Still nervous about how they are going to execute the green glass but happy regardless.
 
West tower and podium are at or above ground,.... east tower is still below ground,.... mostly at P1 & P2 level. Meanwhile Tridel Hullmark Centre south tower is almost done!
 
The cladding will either make or break this project. This will prove out whether or not Bazis' other projects will be as impressive as their renders (Exhibit, E), or as disappointing as Crystal Blue. Time will tell...
On a different note: I had a dream last night that these towers ended up nothing like the renders and were completed as boxes with the typical green glass found throughout the city. However to save face, Bazis inserted random chunks of emerald coloured stone in the podium in order to avoid any "material change" claims from pissed off purchasers. ;)
 
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Don't worry too much about your nightmare,... err, I mean dream.

Bazis or whatever they're calling themselves now,... is actually under contract with the city to produce EmeraldPark exactly as shown in their renderings. The "locals" (local homeowners association & local councillor) knew about the fast one Bazis pulled with regards to CrystalBlue,... so before they gave their seal of approval on this project, Bazis had to agree in contract not to deviate from the renderings,.... they also can NOT sell the property to another developer to have something else built (a la another Bazis project,.... 1 Bloor East,... even though that was more of a forced sale),.... Thus, it's basically EmeraldPark as per rendering or nothing.

Problem is Bazis wasn't given a firm deadline on when to finish this project,... maybe that's why they're so slow,...

BTW,... shouldn't Bazis be tearing down the church next door already,... and putting up the new church with community centre? I mean,... with the rate it take Bazis to build something,... the sooner they start the better.
 
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^^ Why isn't that done with ALL developments in Toronto, knowing how often developers do the bait and switch. Consumers need more protections, so if what you wrote is true, I'm quite happy to hear that.
 
Developers bait and switch because they can,.... its all about greed.

But in this case, the developer (Bazis) needed a piece of city property that runs right through the middle of the EmeraldPark project,... it was a city laneway. The West Lansing Homeowners Association and the city placed criteria on the sale of this city laneway to Bazis for the EmeraldPark project,... that the developer can NOT do a bait and switch project and that they must build EmeraldPark exactly as rendered,.... NOT a la CrystalBlue! This is one of the few cases where the city had the upper hand on negotiation with a developer,.... BTW, this property was almost the site of a bait and switch decades ago,... the locals learned from that experience,... it was supposed to be office buildings,.. then got switched to condo. The city has been burned too many times with developers doing the bait and switch,... so they've learned to get everything in contract whenever possible and to close all loopholes whenever possible,...

The EmeraldPark project is quite complex in terms of all the conditions placed on the developer,.... the land transfer from the church, ensuring the developer pays for the rebuilding of the new church and community centre (that probably was one of the reasons why EmeraldPark was late in getting their permits!), transfer of city laneway property to developer, transfer of some EmeraldPark property at south-east and south-west corner to align widen Poyntz with Annedale extension at Yonge and for a more rounded corner at Poyntz & Beecroft for better traffic flow, subway entrance, etc,....

Oh,.. and Bazis also needed another city laneway property for their 1 Bloor East project,.... hmmm,... I wonder hows that's going? ;P

And with Bazis's reputation or lack thereof,.... the city had to ensure every single "i" was dotted and "t" was crossed,.... BTW, the city really hates working with Bazis,... well, at least that's the opinion of the city reps that I've talked to.


The following is copied from the West Lansing Homeowner's Association's website:

"2. Emerald Park (NW of Yonge St & Poyntz Ave)

Status: Approved

This application by Bazis calls for two towers, 39 and 30 storeys on a 3 storey commercial podium. It will consist of 565 residential units and over 13,000 sq. m. of non-residential space.

WLHA was prepared to support the application provided the developer was obligated to build what was in their application. Councillor Filion shared the WLHA's concern that the developer could potentially acquire the critical City owned real estate needed to complete the development block, and simply flip the property to another developer who could apply to build something totally different and likely less desirable. An innovative agreement to structure this safeguard was put in place by the city. The development was conditional on the sale of a city-owned laneway to the developer. The developer was able to purchase the laneway from the city on the condition that it will build exactly what it planned to build. As part of the development proposal, the community will benefit from a new community centre paid for by the developer, to be built as part of a new Lansing United Church on the site of the current church. As of Aug 26, 2011 the City was still reviewing the application. Although building permits have NOT been issued, excavation permits were issued and much work has been done. Councillor Filion did confirm the developer has paid the City for development work on Lansing United Church as agreed in exchange for density rights, and has met it's financial commitments required by the City to transfer title of the laneway. WLHA will continue to closely monitor the Church and Emerald Park construction projects. "

http://www.westlansing.ca/Development-Updates.aspx
 
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Much thanks sunnyray for the very informative background on this project! Great news, as this will be a very unique project in the city and the version of this built in Kazakhstan looks incredible. Is nice, I am so excite!:cool:
 
sunnyray, have you actually read any legal document supporting your claim that the building will be built to the exact specifications provided in the architectural drawings? If so, what is the leveraging mechanism to ensure the compliance? Did Bazis pay some substantial deposit (at least a few million dollars) to secure the compliance? If your source of information is John Filion, he is not the most reliable (or honest) source of information, as my own experience dealing with him suggests.
 
Imagine what would happen if Bazis did not build EmeraldPark as planned or as rendered or did a bait and switch,.... under the contract the sale of the city laneway to Bazis for EmeraldPark,.... would become null and void. This city laneway runs north-south basically right though middle of the property,... well, not quite the middle, more like a third closer to Yonge,... Anyways, if the city got the laneway back and it had to be returned to its original state, Bazis podium and maybe part of their east tower would have a laneway through it,... but more importantly, the 6 level of undergound parking would have a huge thick wall running directly under the laneway! And they wouldn't have adequate parking space to house all the condo residents,... so the condo tower height would have to get chopped,...
 
I've dealt with councillor John Filion,... and found him to be honest, reliable,... and quite resourceful. But let's make it clear,... councillor John Filion is NOT the city source that I'm referring to with regard to the opinion on dealing with Bazis.

There likely are deposits and penalties,.. the amount, I've never been informed of. This Bazis EmeraldPark project is so complex,.... the amount of legal documents must be mind boggling! In addition, you also have to keep in mind that Bazis is also developing and hoping to continue to develop other projects in Toronto,.... they tend to like developing near subway/LRT interchanges,.... if they screw over city planning department,... they really end up screwing themselves.

With regards to cladding,... we're probably about 9 months away from seeing any cladding on EmeraldPark,.... and with Bazis reputation from CrystalBlue,... it'll be an anxious 9 month wait!,.... now it's like a pregnancy!
 
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It is almost impossible to reach any compliance AFTER the building permit issued, so the city will be in the endless litigation if there is no compliance and Bazis would not care. I recall a few years ago you mentioned that there is no way Emerald Park will go ahead as the location is zoned for commercial and that the city has the laneway, which it will not sell unless a commercial project is submitted. Well, you were wrong. Re John Filion--read my story in Builidng, Architure, and Urban Design on topic of OMB, http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthread.php/18461-City-Councils-Vote-to-Boot-Out-OMB!/page4. John is a hypocrit and a liar, that's what my expereince tells me.
 
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Great to see it rise past the street. Fingers crossed that they are going with great cladding. Please not the crap they used for Crystal Blu.
 
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