Oakville Rain and Senses Condominiums | 72.84m | 21s | Empire | Graziani + Corazza

Mike in TO

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The OMB recently approved an interim settlement between Empire Communities and Oakville with respect to Empire’s appeal for OPA & zb/la's at 521-549 Kerr Street. The settlement approves development of 2 towers, 10s & 14s, with a total of 320 units, down from a previous proposal for three towers with 536 units. The OMB settlement notes that Empire can reopen the appeals to seek additional height, density and unit permissions once the Kerr Village Revitalization Study is complete and the town approves a new residential unit cap for the area.
 
Kerr and Speers is a great location for height and density in Oakville - not far from the GO station/highway access and a safe distance from the more established low-rise residential neighbourhoods to the south. I hope Empire goes for more and gets it...
 
Update:

Empire Communities has submitted OPA & ZBL amendments to increase the density of the proposal for two towers of 19 & 21 storeys on a 3-storey podium with a total of 533 units and 420 square meters of commercial space. A public meeting will be held on June 21. The OMB had previously approved a settlement between Empire and Oakville for a 10 & 14 floor project with 320 units as noted in previous posts - that settlement allowed for Empire to apply for increased density pending Oakville's new Official Plan.

Mods: Can the thread be updated with the project name? "Rain" or "Rain Condominiums'
 
Update:

Two years after Empire and the Town of Oakville reached a tentative settlement the OMB has finally approved the proposal. The original application included three towers and 536 units. A subsequent settlement included only two towers and 320 units. However once the new Oakville OP was approved there was a clause in the previous settlement that allowed Empire to reopen the OMB appeal (The new OP is more intensification friendly as it must conform to the PPS and provincial growth plan).

The November 2nd OMB decision allows for two towers (19 and 21 floors) including 533 units. The fits in the with new OP vision for the Kerr Village area to grow by 5,000 residents over the next 20 years. Sales centre should be built soon.
 
Elevations etc: http://www.oakville.ca/Media_Files/planning10/da-z161650-welev.pdf

http://www.oakville.ca/da-oldoak-empire.htm

And the rendering: blah! Not surprising given the architects: http://www.gc-architects.com/ Graziani + Corazza Architects

http://www.oakville.ca/Media_Files/planning10/da-z161650-conceptimage.pdf

rainrendering.jpg
 
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Looks neat, and much improved from the old render. The tower massing/design and podium is pretty good considering its location

RainCondoByEmpire.jpg
 
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Wow! For Oakville that's pretty much Absolute!
The location is good for these types of projects.. Not the greatest neighbourhood of Oakville at the moment, but you can tell they're trying to beautify it a bit, and this will really help.
 
It went from cheap to exciting. I like details like the vertical balcony framing, the podium green roofs, and the glazed penthouses at the top. There isn't an ugly mechanical box cheapening these towers. I'd really like to see the day when poorly-integrated mechanical structures are a thing of the past. The podiums are rather unimaginative, though.
 
These towers don't need mechanical boxes to cheapen them.... the apartment buildings across the street will do that just fine! It is too bad they can't be made invisible like in the rendering above. I hope I am wrong, but I think prospective buyers are going to have a tough time with the neighbouring real estate.
 
What happen to the historial houses on this land?

A few years ago I shot some photos of the houses that were to be moved either to another part of this project or else where, but been a year or so since I have been there.
 
These towers don't need mechanical boxes to cheapen them.... the apartment buildings across the street will do that just fine! It is too bad they can't be made invisible like in the rendering above. I hope I am wrong, but I think prospective buyers are going to have a tough time with the neighbouring real estate.

Fortunately, the new Modernist style we're seeing right now is essentially a progression from those apartment buildings. They'll merely be a plain background for these new, (potentially) more sophisticated buildings. With the construction of these condos, owners of the apartment buildings may actually improve maintenance. With details like this apartment tower's unique entrance canopy across the street, they can be interesting too.
 
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