[Meikkhaell]

Kinda disappointed really, there not only could be more floors, but there SHOULD be more floors.
The little bit that's under the flyover or whatever, that can stay 2. But there should be something taller there. Even just a low-income apartment or something, it's beside the drop-in centre anyways.
Glad the space is being filled, sad it's a bit of a missed opportunity.

 

[darwink]

Bronco's company is used to replacing buildings as market demand changes. I think it is great that it isn't further concentrating social services in the area.

 

[maestro]

This would likely be a temporary thing if he's only looking at 2 storeys. Being right beside the drop in, I can see this food court overrun with homeless and drug addicts though...

The article mentions the building can have only two floors because of the flyover.

 

[Mountain Man]

Unless there are some setback requirements from the flyover, they could easily have more than 2 storey on the 2/3 of the site that's not under the flyover itself.

 

[MichaelS]

How high could you go before casting a shadow on the river pathway?

 

[The Familia]

Not sure why everyone is in a tizzy over the height of this new proposal. Perhaps maybe it could have been 3 stories, but being along the river walk and sandwiched between the flyovers, I don’t think a tall building would look good there. This might be the perfect development for that weird parcel.

 

[Social Justice]

Not sure why everyone is in a tizzy over the height of this new proposal. Perhaps maybe it could have been 3 stories, but being along the river walk and sandwiched between the flyovers, I don’t think a tall building would look good there. This might be the perfect development for that weird parcel.

Agreed! I find lots of people have a boner for height and density. Design and scale matter too

 

[Cowtown]

I'm ambivalent about tall towers unless they're something that standout in the skyline, and am more concerned about the first 2-3 floors, but I too wonder why they didn't at least go a couple more floors? At 2 floors, I'm still happy with it, and think this is a great addition to the area.

 

[Mountain Man]

Not sure why everyone is in a tizzy over the height of this new proposal. Perhaps maybe it could have been 3 stories, but being along the river walk and sandwiched between the flyovers, I don’t think a tall building would look good there. This might be the perfect development for that weird parcel.

Just seems to be a touch under utilized to me is all. There are going to be lots of tall buildings in the area though, and its always good to have a bit of variety in terms of height.

 

[maestro]

I don't think anyone has mentioned towers here. A few more floors would be more consistent with the urban built form of the East Village and block the flyover from view

 

[Surrealplaces]

I'm happy with the two floors, but if it were me as the developer I probably would have gone for say 4 or 5 floors....even one more floor, just to have something level with the flyover would have been kinda cool. It could be an issue relating to the number of parking stalls.

 

[gsunnyg]

IMO.Heres my biggest problem with this proposal by the ex mayor, Its suppose to essentially serve the east village and east end downtown, now it was released last month that the Verve was suppose to have 3 floors of commercial space but was replaced with extra units. Basically, if we have a massive food court next to this flyover, what the heck are we going to have in the Riff? The Riff was the most promising part of the east village for me but if you were going to be build a food court anyway, why not stick that food court into what was suppose to make part of the riff space, the Verve. You would already begin having significantly increased pedestrian traffic into the area. I feel like due to the economy, the exciting parts of East Village are being either underbuilt or totally bailed out on y developers. im going to be patient and give it another 5 years or so before I give up on the hype of East village and hopefully hop on the Victoria park bandwagon if the master plan is promising. East village has dramtically changed and looks beautiful but theres no charisma to it, the concept plan videos looked so promising, hopefully im rushing it because its only half completed but I feel like I'm already seeing the beginning of the train wreck. Hopefully im dead wrong. Plus I agree, if they were gonna build the Food court, it should have been ateast 3-4 storeys that way you're flanked by the building when driving on the flyover and also it would atleast look like something legit was added to the east village skyline.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

It's been well known for years that Verve's podium was originally proposed as offices. That wasn't a recent release.

Also, the FoodCourt proposal is right across from the river, whereas neither the Verve block or any of the remaining central blocks of the EV have river views. Also, that is just not how developments work. Verve was proposed like 5 years ago, it is now virtually complete, while the foodcourt has just been proposed. They're not going to just fully reformat Verve's podium after the fact to accommodate this.

 

[gsunnyg]

It's been well known for years that Verve's podium was originally proposed as offices. That wasn't a recent release.

Also, the FoodCourt proposal is right across from the river, whereas neither the Verve block or any of the remaining central blocks of the EV have river views. Also, that is just not how developments work. Verve was proposed like 5 years ago, it is now virtually complete, while the foodcourt has just been proposed. They're not going to just fully reformat Verve's podium after the fact to accommodate this.

Thats not what im implying, im just saying when u have a bigger vision set out for a planned area these are the little things you consider as a developer as to how you will contribute to part of that vision like the riff. Apparently in the news I heard that Dave wanted this foodcourt to happen a while back too. Plus as far as the river scenery goes, i'd take a vibrant pedestrian street like 8th ave any day over a river view with a homeless shelter right behind me (no offence). Only thing I'm trying to do is make a point so we can learn for Victoria park and that is don't cheap out on a idea due to economic factors because then the whole vision starts missing important pieces, secondly, developers need to consider their responsibility as to how they will contribute to a greater vision of an area. I'm all happy for a foodcourt because the upside is more jobs for the public, but 20 years from now when more people MAY possibly grab a lunch bite from a 2 storey foodcourt with more choices rather than a pedestrian street like the Riff, it'll make you think of what if's. Just my opinion on master plans, in no way do I wanna sound like a NIMBY nutjob lol, I'm happy for everyone involved including the CMLC for getting rid of some more land, but im just a little anxious and irritated over East Villages overall future, thats all.

 

[outoftheice]

I think my biggest concern with the way East Village has been progressing is the loss of the commercial space in the podium of Verve and the apparent transition of the entire Q block to residential. My understanding was that the two shorter buildings on the block were originally meant to be office buildings. One has now become Vibe and the other has been sold back to CMLC.

I've explored many East Village style redevelopment neighbourhoods around the UK and Ireland and I find the ones that have successful ground level retail and restaurant spaces all have a healthy amount of office space included in them. Areas that are primarily residential hollow out during the day as everyone heads in to work and there are no office workers heading into the neighbourhood to replace them. This means that the retail and restaurant spaces only have evenings and weekends to make their money and as a result a lot of the businesses fail and the spaces sit empty.

Will this happen in East Village and leave the Riff as a failed concept? I'd like to think not but I do feel that the loss of the commercial office space from the original neighbourhood plan has brought us closer to this possibility than we otherwise would have been. What might help save the day is if the CBE moves forward soon on redeveloping their parcel into some sort of educational campus that draws people in during the day.

For what it's worth, from my understanding the ground floor retail spaces in Verve have so far been leased out to a Good Earth Cafe, a Panago Pizza and a Barbershop so not exactly a trendy 'go to' vibe taking shape along the Riff anyways.