Entertainment District.

[toto]

This image of the entertainment district really helps me understand where the current proposals sit within the area. Thanks Craig White!

I now see why Automation Gallery would like a few more plus 200M towers in the area.

[Mongo]

Images from the UT news report on 401-415 King West:







If all of these projects are built (and I have no reason to doubt that they will be) then there will be some amazing density in the ED. The term "Manhattanization" has been used, and I think that it is appropriate in this case. Also, keep in mind that only those projects that had a publicly known envelope were included in these images, while I am sure that many more projects are on the way, but yet to be revealed.

[Mongo]

May as well add this map I did a while ago. It's already out of date, but it does give an idea of just how much development is planned for this area. The numbers are the buildings' heights in metres, grey indicates completed building, orange are under construction (as of the time this map was made) and green are known proposals. Some of the heights are estimates based on the number of floors. This map only includes residential buildings, not office buildings.

[innsertnamehere]

my model of all the proposed buildings here;

[urbandreamer]

You're missing Greenpark's 324 Richmond St W which is to the right of Picasso. Also Langston Hall 1 & 2, 12 Degrees on Beverly and several more.

[Automation Gallery]

Amazing work innsertnamehere...cant wait to see the rendering of the Signature towers.
It should add some nice height to that area of the city.

[carpediem]

That GoogleMaps of all the buildings (proposed, completed, etc) and their height is pretty cool. Definitely seems to suit the term "Manhattanization".

[TrickyRicky]

Pretty impressive actually. It remains to me seen to what degree the "Entertainment District" label will in the future become ironic. But it's great for commercial strips and street retail in the surrounding area and downtown neighbourhoods.

[CanadianNational]

Thanks for all that, insertnamehere.

In light of all that, I think it's time to start casting about new names for the area.

If all these new towers are in the same mold, however, I think it'll be a lost opportunity. With all these new towers coming up in one place, this would be a really good opportunity to see some of them opened up to design competitions, or have unexpected firms hired to do them, who might produce something agreeable but enlivening. So far, I think Jack Diamond's work here looks great, and I'm looking forward to the Aa buildings. But I'd like to see if we could surpass and outdo those accepted modes of building as well. Especially for an area that purports to be - at least for the time being - about fun.

[Automation Gallery]

Nightmare on Adelaide... coming to the hood this summer.

City to reveal construction projects for summer
Adelaide St. from University to Spadina for waterman and sewer reconstruction
http://www.680news.com/news/local/ar...cts-for-summer

[urbandreamer]

It's already begun. It is a nightmare, but with all these new highrise condos everywhere, I expect they need updated watermain & sewers to function.

263 Adelaide St W by Neilas--gearing up for a launch perhaps but it will never get built (by Neilas)?

[drum118]

There was a presentation made at March TTC meeting showing how bad King St is for TTC from Thursday night to Sunday night between 8pm to 1am where the 504 can take 20 minutes to go from York St to Spadina. That is even worse than peak time.

The presenter was calling for no parking in this area during the stated time so both traffic and transit can get through the area.

Given the fact that there are a few building under construction and a fair number plan on King St itself, let alone within a block of King, King will become nightmare alley 7 days a week with on street parking.

I know there been attempts in the past to remove some on street parking and was beaten down, but this will go over like a lead balloon, if it happens 7 days a week. It should happen.

[freshcutgrass]

There was a presentation made at March TTC meeting showing how bad King St is for TTC from Thursday night to Sunday night between 8pm to 1am where the 504 can take 20 minutes to go from York St to Spadina. That is even worse than peak time.

I can confirm this, as I've been on the 504 at midnight going through this section. I think Spadina to Bathurst is just as bad, if not worse.

The presenter was calling for no parking in this area during the stated time so both traffic and transit can get through the area.

Given the fact that there are a few building under construction and a fair number plan on King St itself, let alone within a block of King, King will become nightmare alley 7 days a week with on street parking.

I know there been attempts in the past to remove some on street parking and was beaten down, but this will go over like a lead balloon, if it happens 7 days a week. It should happen.

Ignoring the fact that the 504 is going to have to get a ROW one way or another on King can't last. It's gonna have to happen no matter how much kicking and screaming there is.

[TheKingEast]

There was a presentation made at March TTC meeting showing how bad King St is for TTC from Thursday night to Sunday night between 8pm to 1am where the 504 can take 20 minutes to go from York St to Spadina. That is even worse than peak time.

The presenter was calling for no parking in this area during the stated time so both traffic and transit can get through the area.

Given the fact that there are a few building under construction and a fair number plan on King St itself, let alone within a block of King, King will become nightmare alley 7 days a week with on street parking.

I know there been attempts in the past to remove some on street parking and was beaten down, but this will go over like a lead balloon, if it happens 7 days a week. It should happen.

The King streetcar is a nightmare just coming home from work (5PM). Way too much congestion. Streetcars need to have their own dedicated paths like on Spadina.

[unimaginative2]

Wow...we used to have a warehouse district. Adam Vaughan pretends to be an acolyte of Jane Jacobs, but anyone who's ever read Death and Life knows that this goes against anything that she's ever written.

When people say Manhattanization, they're really only talking about the rather dull neighbourhoods in Midtown and the Financial District. This is nothing like the rest of the city.

There's nothing wrong with some towers, especially on the fringes like south of Wellington. But this really is completely demolishing the neighbourhood and replacing it with uniform glass condo towers. Though some of the towers are better designed than others, the effect remains the same. Without adaptable older buildings, the neighbourhood will be chain drug stores and fast food places like all of our other condo neighbourhoods. Maybe we'll be blessed with some hotel restaurants in some places. But I think it's a sad loss from what we had and, more importantly, what we could have had.

Great rendering, though, insertname here. I'm a bit confused by the first image in Mongo's post. It seems to show a building on the southwest corner of Wellington and Peter, and on the northeast corner of Front and Spadina. I don't think I've seen any actual proposals there yet. On the other hand, it doesn't include Fly, which is already under construction.