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AlbertC

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ng-room-closed-by-condo-build/article2088777/

China House dining room closed by condo build


KIM MACKRAEL
Globe and Mail Update
Published Wednesday, Jul. 06, 2011 4:08PM EDT


A popular Chinese restaurant known for its weekly jazz shows and vintage decor will shutter its dining room doors later this month to prepare for the construction of a new condo development.

Mr. Wise said he worked out a deal with the developers, BSAR Group of Companies, that will allow him to keep using the kitchen at the back of the building while a condo showroom is built in the dining area. But he doesn't know how long he'll be able to keep serving from his current location, since that will depend on the developers' timelines.

While Mr. Petroff said the restaurant will be missed, he added that most businesses nearby are looking forward to the influx of new customers that a condominium is likely to bring.

BSAR has not yet submitted a formal development application to the city, and the company said it can’t discuss details of the new building until its application is in. Councillor Joe Mihevc said the new building will likely be about nine stories tall and cover the area occupied by the restaurant and the public parking lot beside it. Underground public parking is also planned.

Councillor Mihevc said some residents have expressed concerns about the new condo building, and he’ll hold a community meeting once an application comes in from BSAR. But since the plans he saw don’t appear to contravene zoning rules, he said it’s likely the development will go ahead.
 
Memories:

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Dammit, I have to check it out before it closes - I'm still waiting hard for Lichee Gardens to re-open, but the location that they're supposed to go into on King has a condo proposal...

Any other good retro Canadianized Chinese restaurants downtown??
 
9 stories seems extremely short at a major intersection (bathurst and Eglinton) which will have a underground LRT station. Shouldnt the city be at least pushing for 15 floors? We should want more people at the intersection to increase ridership. Anyways thats my thought. There are several other spots along this part of Eglinton West that can be redeveloped. If 9 stories becomes the norm it would be extremely short considering St. Clair is building half a dozen 20 floor condos since the ROW opened. Back to this actual development though, I would have thought what ever happened here would take over both the chinese restaurant and the Pizza Pizza/Swiss chalet. Forinstance the parking lot in between them would become a base and over each existing building there would be a small tower. I guess more or less like a small 506 yonge proposal or "the station" proposal. Actually I think the station proposal is arround 14 floors so thats a good example what I thought would end up here. Thoughts?
 
9 stories seems extremely short at a major intersection (bathurst and Eglinton) which will have a underground LRT station. Shouldnt the city be at least pushing for 15 floors? We should want more people at the intersection to increase ridership. Anyways thats my thought. There are several other spots along this part of Eglinton West that can be redeveloped. If 9 stories becomes the norm it would be extremely short considering St. Clair is building half a dozen 20 floor condos since the ROW opened. Back to this actual development though, I would have thought what ever happened here would take over both the chinese restaurant and the Pizza Pizza/Swiss chalet. Forinstance the parking lot in between them would become a base and over each existing building there would be a small tower. I guess more or less like a small 506 yonge proposal or "the station" proposal. Actually I think the station proposal is arround 14 floors so thats a good example what I thought would end up here. Thoughts?

To be accurate, 925 Eglinton is not at the intersection of Eglinton and Bathurst but three blocks west. Also, if we're comparing apples-to-apples, the only section of St. Clair that should be used as a comparison to 925 Eglinton is that west of Vaughan, and I'm not aware of any 20-storey projects being contemplated (the Rushton is a terraced building of 10 floors). St. Clair also has a detailed Avenue Study, governing heights, set-backs and angular planes. Not sure if Eglinton is that far along, but a study will be needed prior to looking at any of these schemes.
 
Any other good retro Canadianized Chinese restaurants downtown??

I'm not sure there is such a thing actually ........... there's plenty of good Chinese Restaurants in Toronto .... but good Canadian Chinese Restaurants would suggest that places like Mandarin (buffet) is representation of good Chinese food with its fried chicken balls and spring rolls ??
 
For takeout, there's Rob Ford's longstanding family favourite, the Mayflower at Royal York Plaza...
 
To be accurate, 925 Eglinton is not at the intersection of Eglinton and Bathurst but three blocks west. Also, if we're comparing apples-to-apples, the only section of St. Clair that should be used as a comparison to 925 Eglinton is that west of Vaughan, and I'm not aware of any 20-storey projects being contemplated (the Rushton is a terraced building of 10 floors). St. Clair also has a detailed Avenue Study, governing heights, set-backs and angular planes. Not sure if Eglinton is that far along, but a study will be needed prior to looking at any of these schemes.

On the south east side of bathurst and St clair their is rumoured 20+ floor condo going up. Just east of that behind the LOBLAWS there are another couple 20+ condos going up. Finally inbetween bathurst and yonge on St. Clair there is a church that is being redeveloped with a condo component that is at least 20+ floors.

You are correct that this site isnt EXACTLY at the corner of Bathurst and Eglinton but its pretty dang close. Actually other then the north east sides small plaza that could be ripped down and the blockbuster building thats been vacant in a while, this is the best piece of land in this area to develop on.. As a result 14+ floors are kinda short. In response to the cities avenue plan. Wasnt that plan specifically meant to go with LRT technology which would need less ridership? If Eglinton doesnt add some density there wont be enough change to fix some of the seedy area. Also if you dont add some significant density there will be a big loss in pedestrian traffic since everyones heading underground for the subway/lrt. Since its underground they are going to need extra people in the neighbourhood to walk and shop on eglinton. Without this Eglinton could simply be copying the mistakes of what happened when they took off the streetcars on the danforth, added a subway, but denied any real intensification of people.
 
I take the Eglinton Bus to get to Yonge and Eglinton quite a bit and frequently the bus stops at Forest Hill Road. And its not stopping for Nannies. Often older rich people or youth who are too young to drive. Also I am sure that there are quite a bit of people who live at yonge and Eglinton who take the subway.. How much different would this be. I guess we have Baview station and Rosedale station which barely see much use. I guess it could go either way. But to not include more density at this intersection is a mistake for the surrounding retail which is already struggling.
 
Dammit, I have to check it out before it closes - I'm still waiting hard for Lichee Gardens to re-open, but the location that they're supposed to go into on King has a condo proposal...

Any other good retro Canadianized Chinese restaurants downtown??

House of Chan is just a block away.
 
I took the 32 EgWest bus (almost) everyday of my life for my 4 years of high school (few years ago). When travelling eastbound, the bus stops considerably less once you pass Eglinton West station. The only regular stops are at Bathurst, Forest Hill Road (there's a high school there, and a cluster of apartments), Spadina Road (apartment cluster and a transfer point), and Avenue Road (high school and major intersection). The China House isn't located exactly at the Eglinton/Bathurst intersection. It's only a couple blocks away but it's right back along the pure low-rise residential/retail strip. Any significant height here will inevitably be disputed. This development location is best compared with St. Clair Ave's "The Rushton". 8-9 storeys sounds like a decent height standard for future avenue redevelopment for mid-blocks/non major intersections. Taller buildings (20 storeys or so) can work at intersections like Eg/Bathurst but the height should scale down for mid-blocks. I wouldn't exactly call this retail strip struggling either. It's visible pedestrians traffic may be lacking but most established retail amenities have been here for a long time. "Forest Hill"/"The Eglinton Way" is no different from the other outer Toronto high end retail strips (Avenue Rd, Bayview, Mount Pleasant, etc.)
 
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In response to the cities avenue plan. Wasnt that plan specifically meant to go with LRT technology which would need less ridership?

No. The Official Plan identified various streets throughout the City and designated them "Avenues". Before applications can be approved, detailed Avenue studies have to be undertaken in order to determine heights, setbacks, etc. A number of these studies have already be done (i.e. St. Clair), but I'm not aware of anything for Eglinton. The City is rarely pro-active on these studies, which are usually triggered by development applications.

See Chapter 2.2.3 of the OP:

http://www.toronto.ca/planning/official_plan/pdf_chapter1-5/chapters1_5_oct2009.pdf

http://www.toronto.ca/planning/official_plan/pdf_chapter1-5/2_urb_str_oct2009.pdf
 
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925-935 Eglinton West (9s, Condo/Retail)

Site plan approval application for a new 9 storey multi use building with 3 levels of below grade parking. Proposed 94 residential units with 1000 sq m of retail space on ground floor. Existing 2 storey building to be demolished. Existing use is commercial and parking lot, includes properties 925-935 Eglinton Ave. W. See 11 260558 ZPR.
 

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