23 BUCKINGHAM ST
Ward 06 - Etob. York District

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This application proposed to amend the Zoning By-laws to permit a phased mixed-use development consisting of two residential apartment buildings (24 and 39-storeys) and a mid-rise building (12-storeys), connected by a 4-storey podium. The development would have a total of 55,137 m2 of gross floor area, of which 5,052 m2 would be for non-residential uses. The development would contain approximately 724 residential units and a total of 551 vehicular parking spaces.

Proposed Use --- # of Storeys --- # of Units ---

Applications:
Type Number Date Submitted Status
Rezoning 17 258569 WET 06 OZ Nov 6, 2017 Under Review

Developer is VANDYK Group, architect is Kohn Partnership Architects:
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We were just informed that rising (mostly) Halifax and (partly) Toronto-based star Omar Gandhi is part of the design team behind this development. We've added that info to the database file, and you'll find a front page story here with details about what is easily Vandyk's most ambitious project yet.

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Two OMB hearings are scheduled: the first is April 11, 2018 and the second is June 11, 2018.
 
How does this get proposed in Mimico of all places, and yet downtown Toronto continues to receive its onslaught of G+C, P+S, Kirkor, aA and friends?
 
WislaHD said:
How does this get proposed in Mimico of all places, and yet downtown Toronto continues to receive its onslaught of G+C, P+S, Kirkor, aA and friends?
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Because it likely won't get built - this is a zoning exercise in a severely NIMBY area.
 
Filip said:
Because it likely won't get built - this is a zoning exercise in a severely NIMBY area.
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Well the design seems easily scaleable to whatever height and density that does end up getting approved. It would be more of a question of how the change in density impacts the developer's pro forma, unless of course they sell to another developer.
 
This is not just a zoning exercise (although I doubt it will get approved at this size), but there is actual design thought in this. This isn't just Kohn Partnership (who are doing a good enough job for Vandyk at Backyard Condos at the moment), but they've also hired Omar Gandhi as design lead here. That's a big deal, and this project could be a real looker if the concept design persists in the final plan.

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ProjectEnd said:
Telling that you'd include aA in your list...
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I included aA due to general boredom. If I wake up in the morning and see that aA is designing a new building on urbantoronto, I can already picture in my head how it is going to look like and not be too far off the mark. This is why I chose the wording onslaught rather than something more judgmental like 'dire'. I can appreciate that they deliver a higher standard of work than the others mentioned and that is obvious when considering their projects as standalone buildings, but the casual observer in me has to yawn when considering new proposals in context of what else has been built in the surrounding area (often times, built in the surrounding area designed by them!).

The above, and that it seems that aA projects tend to go through heavy amount of Toronto cheapening of materials for whatever reason. That part is the fault of the developer more so than the architect I suppose.
 
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Thanks @WislaHD, I appreciate the fleshing out. I guess I chafe when people make lists such as those because they conflate firms which might have a boring building or two (aA), with ones who don't have a single good building in their oeuvre (Kirkor, G+C) (P+S / IBI being somewhere in the lower middle).
 
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