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Star of Downtown, The (Willowfield/Norstar, 12s, Kirkor) COMPLETE

It's a building that has been unfairly maligned, and another case where the actual product looks better than the rendering. Thank god they built it right to the curb, so that the retail has a good chance of thriving.
 
I agree that it has been unfairly maligned. Granted that the design is a bit dodgeoir, but I love how it is built to the sidewalk and that the retail units are of the traditional narrow deep variety.
 
And I didn't wait 30 years for anything. It took 30 years for market conditions to arise and for a developer to be interested in making a building there. I'm surprised and pleased that it occurred at all.

Only a real negative nelly could complain about something finally being built in that spot. At least no one is claiming that it's at an "important" intersection, etc. etc.
 
When this development was chugging its way through the bureaucratic approval process design review wasn't in place. It still isn't, despite a few high profile pilot projects that have shown promise - such as the one that tidied up the Aura condo design. But once it is, we have a right to expect that all locations will be considered equally important, and that the bar will raised aesthetically all across town. I think we can do better than be grateful when something has finally been built somewhere. So, onwards and upwards!
 
August 15, 2008

stofd1.jpg


Townhome detail:
stofdth.jpg
 
I don't recall any renderings for these townhomes. Hopefully they'll turn out decent and fill in that empty area nicely.
 
I am hoping to purchase a unit in this building. Anyone know if pets are allowed (I have a cat) and whether a bike room is available for use?
 
The building allows pets. We do not have a bike room.
Each unit has a storage locker where it can be kept.

I was hoping we could vote for bike racks somewhere in the garage once we have a board established.
 
Thanks! Any idea how accessible the lockers are? I use my bike to go to work every day...
 
jaborandi said:
I agree that it has been unfairly maligned. Granted that the design is a bit dodgeoir, but I love how it is built to the sidewalk and that the retail units are of the traditional narrow deep variety.
Click to expand...

What's the opposite to the Cheapening?

It has been unfairly maligned. It's urban in spirit, and doing away with beige-yellow stucco and the over-the-top stucco ornamentation has made it turn out better than I expected. I did say earlier in this thread that the street level was a nice surprise. With brick or good precast, this could have been a great building, as it stands now, it's satisfactory. The marketing name was still easily mockable.
 
Khuffie said:
Thanks! Any idea how accessible the lockers are? I use my bike to go to work every day...
Click to expand...

Their rooms in the garage that you have a key to enter. The other option is use the balcony for the bike. Some people use their parking space for their bikes.
 
Well obviously it has been surgically enhanced - the addition of a few decorative elements here and there that are intended to distract the eye and make it appear more than it really is - a dumpy and inelegant box that looks like the architectural equivalent of a deboned chicken that spills all the way out to the edges of the plate. So far, the only claims that have been made for it are that, finally, something ( perilously close to anything in my book ) has been built on the site, and that it isn't as bad as it looked in the rendering.
 
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