The Globe and Mail article is really informative. 1000 rental units is awesome. Never stepped foot in Honest Eds, but would likely come pay a visit if this is built. A pedestrian street is great. No condo pre-sales to contend with. This is what more developers should be doing and get out of the condo game. Should make for a quicker start to construction and appeal to hipsters. Can we makeover Kensington market like this?
 
NBGtect said:
The Globe and Mail article is really informative. 1000 rental units is awesome. Never stepped foot in Honest Eds, but would likely come pay a visit if this is built. A pedestrian street is great. No condo pre-sales to contend with. This is what more developers should be doing and get out of the condo game. Should make for a quicker start to construction and appeal to hipsters. Can we makeover Kensington market like this?
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No thanks, we don't need to make over Kensington just for the sake of it.

AoD
 
It's funny how we all see things vastly differently. We don't see this as being Asian inspired or even remotely get an Asian vibe from the proposal. Looks very NA with aspects from the Flatiron District in NYC. For such a rundown block this is a huge improvement.
 
It has a bit of "New York New York" from Vegas about it. Fun, but could go either sketch or Yorkville, depending on the mix of renters and retail that colonize it.
 
A little sketchy yes. Just looking at B Streets condos one can already see how that's going to go downhill.

This will be our version of Hess Village with lots of drunken frat boy party types renting here. The larger the units the more drunken frat boy party types can live in one space. But this isn't Yorkville, now is it?
 
Yonge Street should be like this!
It's very busy and chaotic, but I think it will be toned down so that it's easier on the eyes.
The pedestrian mall and public market is a great feature and I like how it's not another tower on a banal podium.
I'm sure the residents in the neighbourhood would be totally against this simply of the scale and the commercialized look of it. The Annex is not really ready for this.

The curved glass canopies over the entrances of Markham Street and Mirvish Village Market looks extremely dated but that's really minor and I'm sure it will change.
 
The amount of retail here is great. As well, it is good to see this much new rental apartments being built.
 
My first impression was "it's insane!" But, the more I look at it, the more I think this could be a refreshing change of pace from the usual tower/podium template. I wouldn't want to see this kind of thing everywhere but, for Bloor & Bathurst, this could really be a winner!
 
There were about 500 people at the Park Hyatt hotel for the consultation tonight. At the end of the presentation the proponents received prolonged applause.

Some people do think it is too big, isn't that always the case, and more softscaping in the plan was brought up by some milling about afterwards, but over all people seem to be loving what they saw.

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Unbelievable. Incredible. This is exactly what I’ve always dreamed of in terms of development. Narrow retail/buildings to create a diverse, vibrant pedestrian experience, amazingly solid, dense streetwall, moderately tall to match the fact that it's on subway and streetcar lines... This is so exciting. It shows how absurdly perfunctory and lifeless the more common block-long glass podium style that's so common lately is. And rental! And pedestrian street! And the list goes on forever, it seems. I hope this approach to development spreads; I wish all future development was like this.

And yeah, I’m also curious about the Honest Ed’s signage; it’s strange that there seems to be no mention of its retention.
 
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I am very impressed. It is quite tall and dense for the area, but it's the perfect place for it - right on the subway line. I also love that there will be 1000 rental units, which the city needs more of badly. I hope that the final version doesn't stray far from this vision for the site.
 
NBGtect said:
A little sketchy yes. Just looking at B Streets condos one can already see how that's going to go downhill.

This will be our version of Hess Village with lots of drunken frat boy party types renting here. The larger the units the more drunken frat boy party types can live in one space. But this isn't Yorkville, now is it?
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This is exactly what this project reminded me of when I saw the pictures. Anyone who doesn't know what Hess Village is, it's where most of Hamilton's bars/clubs are located but it's pretty historic with the old houses and cobblestone roads. Visually it looks very similar to these renderings.

I don't know about the "drunken frat boy party" stuff, but seeing as it's located fairly close to the strip where a lot of university students like to party, I wouldn't be surprised if something similar happened (that's only IF these types of establishment's opened within the market).
 
I'm a bit disappointed in the architecture, but the real story was always its interaction with the street, and it looks like they've got a winner here. It feels like a real community - not a project that caters only to those who happen to live or work within its walls, but a development that really speaks to its surroundings. The pedestrian promenade is just fantastic.
 
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