Platform 27 said:
I realize a lot of the tone of the initial neighbourhood concern about the site was fixated on height and height alone, but I can't help but wonder now that all this 16-19 storey slab is on offer if the community might feel the same number of units in a pair of 30 storey point towers might have been a lesser evil. It'll be taller than the tallest part of Rêve next door around the majority of the perimeter.
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I agree. the visual weight of this thing will be massive... much more imposing than a pair of point towers would be. It's going to look like a New York City block dumped into Wellington Place.
 
The "yuppies" are actually doing a pretty great job here.

I believe Wellington Place has historically described the elegant interior neighbourhood surrounding Victoria Park, but it's recently expanded to cover all of Wellington over to Spadina by the local neighbourhood association. They liaise with the local councillor and city staff in matters of heritage/culture and vision for the neighbourhood, such as the revitalization of Victoria Memorial Park (which is an 18th century military burial ground) and the grand boulevard beautification plans for Wellington St. The neighbourhood association commissioned studies and reports from planning firms for these improvements.

In an effort to differentiate themselves from King West, local businesses are trying to call the store-lined strip on Bathurst "NoLa" - NOrth of LAkeshore. I don't think they are associated with the neighbourhood association.
 
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grey said:
In an effort to differentiate themselves from King West, local businesses are trying to call the store-lined strip on Bathurst "NoLa" - NOrth of LAkeshore
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I got a kick out of that one, actually... isn't basically the entire city (aside from Queen's Quay) north of Lake Shore? ;)

It seemed from the Star piece on that that the "NoLa" term was cooked up by a pretty tiny handful of business owners, so it might be prematur to assume it'll have legs.
 
Yeah, it's dumb and I don't think it will stick. It's just idea to attract attention to the fact that there are some neat businesses on this part of Bathurst.
 
I hope our city doesn't get into the abbreviated two-word district nomenclature trend.
It's just too pretensious and cliché -- we're not New York.
 
Pic taken July 20, 2011


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Somewhere right now in Chicago there are people are having the exact same discussion.

We don't really need abbreviations because we already have well-established neighbourhood boundaries that are widely recognized. But I understand what they're trying to do here, being off the main strip of shops.
 
Platform 27 said:
I realize a lot of the tone of the initial neighbourhood concern about the site was fixated on height and height alone, but I can't help but wonder now that all this 16-19 storey slab is on offer if the community might feel the same number of units in a pair of 30 storey point towers might have been a lesser evil. It'll be taller than the tallest part of Rêve next door around the majority of the perimeter.
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In fact, from what I understand, the "community" has pushed hard to break up the slab-like quality originally most evident on Bathurst. The aim is to make the single building look like three or more structures - which is already a significant improvement to the Cityplace-junior plan that was originally proposed for the site. The height exceeds what is allowed in the secondary plan, and given that developer's lawyers and the OMB operate on precedent and not on sound planning principles, the concern is that every following proposal will request a minimum of 22 floor tower and move up from there.

It's the community (including Wellington Place - which Automation Gallery so disparages) and the councillor that have apparently pushed the developer and architect to produce something other than a cookie-cutter set of dull glass boxes.
 
grey said:
I believe Wellington Place has historically described the elegant interior neighbourhood surrounding Victoria Park, but it's recently expanded to cover all of Wellington over to Spadina by the local neighbourhood association.
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A super-minor quibble -- I don't think it's correct to suggest that it's a recent expansion by the local neighbourhood association. My understanding is that Wellington Place was the original name for Wellington Street, and covered the stretch bounded by Victoria Square on the west, and Clarence Square on the East (on the east side of Brock/Spadina).

For example, see the "Plan of the City of Toronto, Canada West, Fleming Ridout & Schreiber, 1857, Series 88, Item 13" via the archives. (Or the 1862 map at the same link)
 
Regarding this development, it's likely that they are trying to squeeze as much as possible onto this site in order to make up for the inflated price they paid for the land. It is for that reason that the developers are looking for a zoning amendment.
 
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