Why only 33 storeys? This is on a streetcar line and practically next to a subway station. The area needs to grow up.

Also, the current building is hideous and the retail in the area is awful. Hopefully development will do some good.
 
Why can't Toronto create a decent midrise street?

Toronto has plenty of good midrises being developed. How about B.streets as an example?
 
A single building doesn't create a midrise street; which is what he was talking about.
 
How is that Starbucks any different than other locations?
Because of its awkwardly placed 'front lawn' and the disappointment I'd get from the walking upto an ugly building with an ugly retail front.
 
Survey time, raise your hand if you actually like the existing building ... raises hand !
 
Yea agreed, though I'm not sure there's enough office / retail space being proposed, only 25K, existing building is probably 40-50 from just guessing.
 
Apologies if I added fuel to the "why can't Toronto do X" fire. I get tired of all the constant complaints, and as I said I'm most often pro-height. I know all of the technical planning reasons why height results from our processes, as well as the financial reasons for developers. Obviously ROI will be maximized in most cases, which most often means maximizing height. And I recognize that we have a subway station at University, making this a good stretch for redevelopment, which is why I am in favour in principle.

But not many addressed my primary worry, which is the resulting built form. Do posters truly believe that an elegant solution to College across from the university is to have random 30s towers? Again, these towers are just going to be stranded amid a sea of mostly 4s and 3s buildings. Also the heritage buildings on the street are gems (especially between Beverley and Spadina). We don't have to be Haussman to enact smart urban policy that builds our city. Vancouver limits the height of all its tall buildings with view cone measures.

In general I am thoroughly enjoying our present building boom. I love the scale of development between Spadina and Bathurst from Queen to Front, or the downtown east in general. The emerging scale is great with Axiom and River City etc. I support height in the Entertainment District, especially with Mirvish or to add variety to the 157 metre plateau. And I wish we would have more height (but not necessarily more density) on sites like 1 Yonge. I just enjoy a bit of variety, and a transitional mid rise neighbourhood is right up my alley.

Innsert: strangely enough I took Kingston Rd to Rouge Park for the first time last week (as part of a free Panamania aboriginal bus tour) and was impressed by the development there. Lots of great projects in Leslieville too.

arvelomcquaig: I have read many of your posts and most often agree with you, so I would be interested in your height filled vision for the area: what would be your ideal way to develop this 'hood?
 
This is just down the street from where Knightstone first proposed a 42-storey version of the University Place student residence they are now building. It was eventually approved at 24 storeys. Closer to this, ShiuPong's Design Haus was first proposed at 19 storeys, and eventually got approval for 17. As it's a block closer, it's more of a precedent for this site, meaning that 33 storeys is about double what the City will consider appropriate on this corner.

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203-college-renderings.jpg


Parallax Investment Corporation with Page + Steele.
 
........... Wow. They didn't even try with that one.
 
Embarrassing. If you're going to have the chutzpah to propose a 33-storey building on College, at least have the decency to give it an iconic design...
 
In fairness, it couldn't have been easy for P+S to take their 43 Gerrard design and make it even uglier and less contextual.
 
........... Wow. They didn't even try with that one.
Maybe they're not trying yet, because they know there's no chance of getting 33 storeys here, and the real design won't arrive until they know what they are going to be approved for.

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