2 Tecumseh – TAS provided a full reveal of their vision on April 29 at their third and last conversation with the neighbourhood, prior to its submission to the City in May for a rezoning to the site. The rezoning application will seek to address the issue of height and usage laid out for this site by the South Niagara Plan and pave the way for TAS to create the development they feel best addresses their vision of offering a mix of commercial, residential and social spaces, with, at its heart a building a tower higher than that currently permitted.
Conversing with nearby residents and discovering their priorities has allowed the TAS team to make several design decisions that offer many instances for neighbours to feel relieved. The maintenance of the laneway that runs behind the Niagara row, for instance, as well as the maintenance of the heritage stack. The establishment of a garden and pavilion entrance way to the site on Niagara means that the street will not only provide purpose (a pedestrian entrance way), but will be aesthetically pleasing. The historic building on the east side – appreciated for its past and massive interior, repurposed and built up and leased for commercial mix of market-priced commercial spaces as well as maker spaces/studios will also play host to growing opportunities for food (a decision that not only reflects past usage of the site, but also the company’s philosophy on the importance of local food production.) The tower – 30 storeys and clad in Toronto’s iconic red brick– will offer a mix of affordable and higher-priced units. The second residence and third structure will be built where the barns now stand, with follow the other two buildings and will be on pedestals to allow sightlines through to Fort York.
There will be bike lanes and pedestrian walkways. And yes, it will, on completion, in say 8 years, bring a new vibrancy and increased foot, bike, and dare we say, auto traffic, to the neighbourhood. The scope of the vision may alarm many who have enjoyed the neighbourhood’s once snooze, but there were no naysayers at yesterday’s meeting regarding the “vision”. Used to seeing the same old being built in and around our heritage neighbourhood, it was as if many understood that this is a development built for tomorrow, that will, if it lives up to its promise, honor the neighbourhood and its past in several different ways while presenting something vibrant and new. Developer: TAS. Architect: KPMB. Landscape: Public Works.
