Sure is. The 30 Lambton bus mystifyingly has a pathetic 30 minute frequency.

There's not much to be mystified about. Most people want to go the subway and prefer to take one of the many closely spaced north-south routes rather than the Lambton bus which only goes parallel to the subway on a route that lacks major trip generators. The Queensway bus has the same situation.
 
This was at the Design Review Panel yesterday. It was received well, but also got a lot of advice, not all of it consistent with where the Planning Department is pushing this application. One DRP member in particular had a damn-the-rules attitude that was encouraging the developer and architect to go slimmer and taller and make the podium more low-slung. With its location fairly far from an single family homes, and with extensive views over the Humber Valley parkland and golf course lands, this panel member was suggesting that a more soaring beacon should be built here and that the 60s cool vibe that he can see in Rudy Wallman's design should get pushed even further.

A lot of the talk centred around trying to make the best of an oddly shaped piece of land, making the best of less desirable neighbouring land uses (a gas station), making the best of recommendations from the Transportation Department as to the location of new streets, making the best of courtyards and privately owned publicly accessible space on the site… with everyone acknowledging that Wallman has done a good job so far trying to sort out the competing requirements.

All that said, who knows where this is going next. Here are some of the slides that were shown yesterday:

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Great update 42!

Btw, are these design review panels streamed online or do you attend them in person?
 
This and Tridel's Humbertown project will really infuse some much needed modern class into central Etobicoke.
 
It's about 20 mins to walk to Royal York Station or 5 to walk to the 73 Royal York bus.

The Dundas/Royal York intersection is hardly pedestrian-friendly. The Lambton bus is pretty bad, but the demand is headed mostly down to the subway, rather than east-west along Dundas.

I'd rather see a return of Route 66 Prince Edward north to Dundas Street, which was cut in 1996 as part of a large Harris-era slashing of transit service.
 
There was a public consultation for this last night at Etobicoke Collegiate. This was not the statutory meeting, which is still to come, but a volunteered meeting in advance of that. Not sure why though: other than one hour of questions about traffic and 5 minutes of talk on shadows, there's very little to work out about the project at this stage before a final submission.

That said, it has changed quite a bit again since its Design Review Panel appearance in July, and mostly in response to the DRP member who said it should be taller and with a smaller floor plate to be more elegant. Toronto Planning seems to have come around on that, now favouring a 21 storey tower at the east end of the site, just back from the rim of the Humber valley. So, on with the show:

First off, two slides showing the original application, when there was a 24 storey tower in the north middle, a 10-storey slab by the Humber, and an 8 storey commercial and residential building on Dundas.

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That met with resistance from the Planning Department and locals, so the team revised the plans and showed up with those at the DRP in July (as per post 17 above). That changed the tower to 19 storeys and, but as I said, got the DRP calling for taller and more elegant.

Now, here's the more elegant version, with the 21 storey tower, and the 8 storey mixed commercial/residential on Dundas, plus townhouses.

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The internal street plan now has a looping configuration, and there's now parkland off to the west to better connect into the hydro corridor. It will become greenspace; it's currently the lumber yard for the Rona on the site. (That land is owned publicly.)

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The new proposal, as you can see below, is significantly less dense than the original. (The DRP version is omitted from the stats.)

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While a couple of residents are decrying 21 storeys here as being out of keeping with the neighbourhood (Councillor DiCiano from the south side of Dundas agrees that's an issue), the 45° angular plane diagrams rising from the closest single family home lot lines to the north and to the south in the following pics, show that there's nothing lose to what could be described as skyline crowding in this proposal. Councillor Campbell, whose ward this is in, agrees.

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One hour's worth of discussion was spent by the residents grilling the Transportation Planner from the BA Group, essentially not believing these stats.

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So, what will it look like now? Here's an aerial view looking eat, with the tower in the rear middle ground, left.

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It's a mini version of Tableau, all in white.

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Here's the mixed-use building facing Dundas. Cleaner and less G+C-ish than the previous version.

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Here's the look on the internal street.

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Condos seem a tough sell on this stretch. How many times was a condo launched on the Epicurian site across the street again? And still nothing built due to an extreme lack of sales. This isn't pretty Royal York; it's Dundas and kinda sad looking. But backing onto the Humber Valley may aid sales here. We'll see...
 
There are a number of other condominiums nearby which have all sold. The Epicurean was mentioned in conversation last night: the local who brought it up considered it to have been overpriced.

Before Monarch's the Epicurean, a project on the site was marketed as Kingsway Terrace, and before that as The Strand. No recollection as to who the developers were of the earlier ventures.

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Thanks for the list! I was trying hard to think of where these nearby condos that have sold well are located. I know the St. James Club, but that's on pretty Royal York and not ugly Dundas. Tridel built a retirement rental residence but that doesn't count (and I've always felt bad for seniors living in this location how far removed it is from anything they'd need without a car!).

Time will tell, it's just that this site doesn't have any appeal to it like the Humbertown redevelopment which has a great location. With all the infrastructure around it and the Dundas overpass and ramps, this location seems so far away from anything nice; other than the Humber River. To each his/her own. Hopefully it's cheap as it's going to be a tough sell IMO. If I were a potential purchaser, I'd wait until Humbertown were in sales and snatch up one there, not here.
 
There are a number of other condominiums nearby which have all sold. The Epicurean was mentioned in conversation last night: the local who brought it up considered it to have been overpriced.

Before Monarch's the Epicurean, a project on the site was marketed as Kingsway Terrace, and before that as The Strand. No recollection as to who the developers were of the earlier ventures.

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Who is the current owner of the Epicurean site?
 
This is quite a decent proposal, especially given how heavily the neighbourhood leans towards faux historic. I hope it get built as is. I also hope that this entire stretch of Dundas will go mid-rise, replacing all the awful car-oriented plazas with a pretty, walkable retail strip.

A pedestrian/cycling bridge over the tracks to connect this part of Dundas with Humbertown is also badly needed.
 
Thanks for the list! I was trying hard to think of where these nearby condos that have sold well are located. I know the St. James Club, but that's on pretty Royal York and not ugly Dundas. Tridel built a retirement rental residence but that doesn't count (and I've always felt bad for seniors living in this location how far removed it is from anything they'd need without a car!).

Time will tell, it's just that this site doesn't have any appeal to it like the Humbertown redevelopment which has a great location. With all the infrastructure around it and the Dundas overpass and ramps, this location seems so far away from anything nice; other than the Humber River. To each his/her own. Hopefully it's cheap as it's going to be a tough sell IMO. If I were a potential purchaser, I'd wait until Humbertown were in sales and snatch up one there, not here.
The other two are just to the east, one to the north beside the Deltera building, and one on the south side of Dundas. Can't remember their names.

This complex will appeal to those who will appreciate the greenery around it, including the river and new parkland where the lumber yard is now. The plaza with Bruno's isn't pretty, but it's not horrible either, and that store itself is a very nice one with great food, albeit priced for the well-heeled.

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