Toronto Humbertown Redevelopment | ?m | 21s | First Capital | Kirkor Architects

SixPoints

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I read in the Snap Bloor West/Etobicoke real estate guide that First Capital, the owners of the Humbertown Shopping Centre, will submit a formal application to the city for redevopment of the property (mixed use). New stores will be extended to the sidewalk of Royal York Road.

The article says the surface parking will be eliminated and there will be a 1,300-car underground parking garage. The residential component will have 7 condominium buildings, the largest being 21 storeys. Redevelopment would take place in four phases.

This will no doubt be met with fierce opposition from the surrounding community. I could not find much info on this other than a couple of community websites opposed to the planned redevelopment.
 
If you're going to pick a spot for suburban intensification, malls are definitely among the top spots. IIRC Humbertown is also on a couple of bus lines, so I'm sure if done well this'll get green-lit.

Over the fury of many a nimby of course.
 
Given neighbourhood demos and all, I can see the Humbertown plot as perfect for hardcore GiannonePetricone-ification--a west end version of Don Mills Centre, maybe with a touch of Port Credit for good measure. (If there's any shame to it all, it's that Humbertown as it stands still has a laid-back 50s charm that the former Don Mills centre sacrificed through enclosure--I'd almost encourage Giannone Petricone to retain its semi-enclosed south end as a heritage keynote element.)
 
Humbertown has amazing similarities to the Don Mills Centre, as adma points out. I am a bit more optimistic than some as to the likely fate of this proposal. Nimbys there may be, in this district of upper-middle-class houses, but the immediate neighbourhood also has heavy representation of good-quality apartments, so some more of these might not be out of order. In addition, the shopping centre is beginning to show its age in terms of its somewhat "dated" design (although well maintained), and would definitely benefit from a revamp.

As for a Bulk Barn, I agree that it might be unlikely to survive a major reno, but we may find that a Whole Foods outlet would do well. If it can work at Square One, why not here?
 
I'm assuming that the lots containing the LCBO and the Bulk Barn (recently a Blockbuster) are also part of this?
 
270 THE KINGSWAY
Ward 04
- Etob. York OPA / Rezoning 12 111249 WET 04 OZ Jan 24, 2012 Jan 30, 2012
Proposed amendments to the Etobicoke Zoning Code to permit a mixed-use development comprising five (5) buildings with commercial uses (21,837 sq. m) in the podium (ground floor and second floor), five (5) towers containing 654 residential units with overall heights ranging from 11 storeys to 21 storeys, and 28 townhouses.
 
Growing up in this area and being an HVV kid, this used to be my neighbourhood shopping plaza. It's the kind of place where you find middle-class teenagers smoking up and listening to music in the parking lot at 2am on a Friday night. Even though I rarely find myself in the area any more, I'm going to miss it, but the new mixed use development looks good.

More details here: https://sites.google.com/site/humbe...townshoppingcentreslatedformajorredevelopment
Models here: https://sites.google.com/site/humbervalleyvilliage/gallery
 
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Wow, that looks so much more promising than I had anticipated. Such a nice design with a large public plaza in the middle, like an actual town square. The surface parking is gone, the spacing of the condo towers is good, and no sign of any faux!! Someone pinch me, because I'm having trouble believing such a proposal is happening in this suburban area.
 
Went to the first community meeting tonight. As I anticipated, the crowd of 200-300 was about 97% Wasps over the age of 50, who predictably did nothing but whine and complain. I thought the plan looked brilliant in the application document, and upon seeing some great renders during the presentation (sorry, no pics), that opinion has only been strengthened. Some points that were discussed:

- The podiums will all be 2 storeys, with both floors dedicated to retail on all sides, and built right to the property line. Even the new Loblaws and LCBO will be enlarged 2 floor stores.
- There will be a big gym (hopefully Goodlife!)
- There will be a daycare facility.
- Two new streets will be created in order to make shorter blocks.
- Sidewalks will be widened to allow for large patio spaces for cafes and restaurants.
- All, or virtually all, parking will go underground in the nicest looking underground parking I've seen.
- All the podiums will have green roofs and the buildings will be LEED certified.
- The centre will become a versatile, programmable space - a type of town square.
- The loading area at the back of the shops on the west side will be hidden from view.
- Townhomes will line Lambert Street (where the ugly ass end of the plaza is now).
- The most interesting feature is something they dubbed the "Humberline" - a landscaped pedestrian walkway beginning at the western corner of the property with an intimate public plaza travelling eastward along the second floor of the podium, where stairs and an elevator will take you back down to grade at the Kingsway and then continue east along a beautifully landscaped pedestrian promenade to Royal York Road.
- The lady representing First Capital, who own the land, stated that they really wanted to develop a sophisticated, modern design that is built as pedestrian and cyclist oriented as possible. I was surprised by how strongly they emphasized how urban this plan is, and essentially dismissed any concessions to cars, which seemed to shock and annoy many people in the crowd.
- Perhaps the biggest news is that Tridel is the developer. They had representatives there as well, but they did not speak.
- The local city councillor, Gloria Lindsay Luby, was also there, and she once again confirmed why I dislike her politics. She's the type of slimy politician that will say whatever people want to hear in order to cement votes. She was asked directly whether she supported the project and she postured angrily how she thought it was out of scale and out of character for the neighbourhood, too much this, too much that, blah blah blah BS to roaring applause. I do admire her political savvy - she knows exactly how to work a gullible crowd by expressing her outrage even though she has no power to influence or stop this proposal from going through, and essentially admitted as much when directly confronted about it.
- As for the concerns voiced by the "citizens", they were pathetic, myopic, and selfish to say the least. I can't wait for this to be built.
 
Thanks for that report Towered, lots of good in there. To me however, the Tridel discovery indicates a spandrely disaster in the making.
 
I can see how that might be a concern PE - though Tridel's recent downtown projects have had an increase in the quality of architecture, out in the suburbs they clearly don't try nearly as hard. That being said however, the renderings shown at the meeting looked promising, and not just at street level - a few shots included the tallest proposed tower, which is to be oval shaped and had random red (brick?) accents all the way to the top. It didn't look particularly sprandrely.
 
And I can also surmise that the reported success (I guess) of Don Mills Centre might be used as a design benchmark...
 
Went to the first community meeting tonight. As I anticipated, the crowd of 200-300 was about 97% Wasps over the age of 50, who predictably did nothing but whine and complain.

Predictable opposition to development is exactly why Toronto goes no where quickly.
 

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