Great idea. Sobey's & McDonalds, by far the busiest, most in-demand businesses on that block :rolleyes:
 
DtTO said:
If anything, the developer should've been encouraged to buy the low rise houses on Yonge, place the tower right against the Yonge/Wellesley intersection with nice streetwall, thus allowing for at least half of the Yonge frontage to become parkland along with the rest of the lot. This park should also be a "shadowphobe" free zone to allow the nearby blocks (especially along Yonge) to develop. I'd like to see at least one park in Toronto, outside of Yorkville, that is surrounded by highrises.
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Sim City and the real world are rather different places. Land assembly is very complex, expensive and difficult in tight urban environments.
 
Pshaw! Probably only have about 14 different owners to deal with on this stretch. And if I'm understanding DtTO correctly, they could buy out those 14 properties (at a cost of what? $20 to 40 mil?) to build the same size building they could build on the lot that they already bought, but then provide more parkland.

I'm sure Lanterra are all over that.
 
fedplanner said:
From a construction point of view, it doesn't work that way. More expensive concrete and building materials must be used at certain height points. I don't recall exactly what these points are, but the first one is at 5 stories. Building a building above 5 stories resulted results in a significant jump in the cost per sqft of construction for the entire building. I want to say the next price points are in the ballpark of 25 stories, 60 stories and 80 stories. A some point, it's not economical to build any taller.

Again, this is not my strong point, but if someone is knowledgeable about this subject, please correct me. It's an interesting subject area.
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Perhaps there are cost vs height considerations, but if that is the case then there is no valid argument for Lanterra to leave the two tower design - the city is simply wasting everyone's time.
 
Wow...talk about censorship. I've had at least 2 comments deleted for absolutely no reason in 24 hours. How was my response to Mike in TO inappropriate? Ridiculous...
 
What should have happened:

Canada_park_toronto.jpg


Sometimes a city needs to just say 'not this time' and do what's right for the long term benefit of the city. The city could have done an asset swap with the province to make up the cash shortfall between what it had and what Lanterra paid.

Those Vics have served Toronto well for 100 years, but they'd do far more good elsewhere so that the needs of a growing modern Toronto can be properly met. Bathurst? Ossington? Even stretches of Bloor in Koreatown. There are thousands of better spots for them than here.

We move buildings like these all the time so it's quite do-able.
 
isaidso said:
What should have happened:
...

Those Vics have served Toronto well for 100 years, but they'd do far more good elsewhere so that the needs of a growing modern Toronto can be properly met. Bathurst? Ossington? Even stretches of Bloor in Koreatown. There are thousands of better spots for them than here.

We move buildings like these all the time so it's quite do-able.
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You want to move an entire block of century-old buildings clear across town to make room for a marginally larger park? Well, that's certainly ambitious, I'll give you that.

I think there's plenty of room on this site for worthwhile-sized park and a condo tower, even without incorporating the lots on Yonge. And I still really like the idea of closing part of Breadalbane to join up with the existing park on the other side.
 
^^That's Bryant Park right? What's the scale?

I like how you talked about an asset swap with the province but ignored the cost of expropriating the 14 properties on Yonge. And to think we're having trouble coming up with the money to keep an ice rink in a park just south of here named after a figure skater.
 
How helpful.

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urbandreamer said:
What they should do: bulldoze that hideous YMCA and put a park there. Put the new YMCA with a rooftop "garden" in the podium of a 3-tower 11 Wellesley development.
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The YMCA has natural light streaming in from the roof windows along what is easily my favourite stairway in the city. It goes to show that public space doesn't need to be open stretches of greenery. Parks such as the Trinity Church path at Eaton's Centre or the Aids Memorial component of Cawthra Park are clever and pleasant uses of open space, and I'd be happy if Lanterra and the city designed it from that approach.
 
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