canarob
Senior Member
Thanks, Wylie! This is going to be dense! It's too bad the office projects are all basically the same design.
Toronto Ïce Condominiums at York Centre | 234.07m | 67s | Lanterra | a—A
- Thread starter AlvinofDiaspar
- Start date
Fad225
Active Member
wow thanks Wylie! The slender tallest tower is really intriguing.. not too sure about the huge box to the north of the two towers..
Ziggy
Active Member
I Agree, but I'd say it's "not enough office" rather than "too much residential". In other words, I'd prefer they add more office density, rather than remove residential.
I think the city should mandate a minimum amount of office space that they have to build, then let them add residential on top of that if they want to. There's no benefit in forcing them to reduce the amount of residential without adding any office space. The area can handle high density, especially if it's mixed office and residential which are complementary uses.
MisterF
Senior Member
Some interesting bits of the report:
Staff reported that this area may continue to feel pressure to permit increasing residential
development on sites that have been designated for commercial office development.
While each proposal would be reviewed separately, and on its own merits, the potential
approval of the relatively unique Block 5 proposal, given its unique relationship to the
Air Canada Centre, should not be seen as creating a precedent for other such
developments in this Precinct.
Over the last year, City staff have had pre-application discussions with the applicant. City
staff have consistently expressed the need to protect this property for primarily
commercial office development.
-
In light of the precedent setting nature of the proposal to substitute residential for
commercial office permission in this part of the Railway Lands East, the entire Railway
Lands East Secondary Plan may need re-evaluation. Such a substantial departure from the
Staff report for action – Preliminary Report - 16 York Street 11
vision for these lands, as clearly articulated in the Secondary Plan, may not be
appropriate to consider on a site-specific basis and may not be supportable.
-
Given the Official Plan's objectives for City beautification, and achieving high quality
design and the prominent location of the site near Union Station, a peer review process
would seem appropriate for this application. Staff will be recommending this for all
development applications in the Union Station District. Some developers are now
voluntarily deciding to use a peer review process to facilitate high quality design.
This is going to go through some serious review before it's approved. This report deals with the OP and zoning, and the site plan is a separate application. We could see a design review similar to Aura, which would hopefully beef up the podium. IMO, the slope of the podium should go the other way - from the height of MLS on the east side down to the height of Infinity to the west. I'm not concerned about lack of retail - the whole Bremner and York St frontages are lined with retail, with the exception of the elevator lobby at the corner. Even Lakeshore Blvd has retail on it.
Staff reported that this area may continue to feel pressure to permit increasing residential
development on sites that have been designated for commercial office development.
While each proposal would be reviewed separately, and on its own merits, the potential
approval of the relatively unique Block 5 proposal, given its unique relationship to the
Air Canada Centre, should not be seen as creating a precedent for other such
developments in this Precinct.
Over the last year, City staff have had pre-application discussions with the applicant. City
staff have consistently expressed the need to protect this property for primarily
commercial office development.
-
In light of the precedent setting nature of the proposal to substitute residential for
commercial office permission in this part of the Railway Lands East, the entire Railway
Lands East Secondary Plan may need re-evaluation. Such a substantial departure from the
Staff report for action – Preliminary Report - 16 York Street 11
vision for these lands, as clearly articulated in the Secondary Plan, may not be
appropriate to consider on a site-specific basis and may not be supportable.
-
Given the Official Plan's objectives for City beautification, and achieving high quality
design and the prominent location of the site near Union Station, a peer review process
would seem appropriate for this application. Staff will be recommending this for all
development applications in the Union Station District. Some developers are now
voluntarily deciding to use a peer review process to facilitate high quality design.
This is going to go through some serious review before it's approved. This report deals with the OP and zoning, and the site plan is a separate application. We could see a design review similar to Aura, which would hopefully beef up the podium. IMO, the slope of the podium should go the other way - from the height of MLS on the east side down to the height of Infinity to the west. I'm not concerned about lack of retail - the whole Bremner and York St frontages are lined with retail, with the exception of the elevator lobby at the corner. Even Lakeshore Blvd has retail on it.
scarberiankhatru
Senior Member
Cool rendering, wylie - it's guaranteed to be more honest and useful than whatever picturesque watercolour is later revealed to be the official rendering.
syn
Senior Member
Nice work wylie. Those aren't bad looking towers at all. They could really detract from the Maple Leaf Square towers.
Blixtein
Active Member
Those are kick ass renderings, and yes, gotta love that density. I can't wait to see what Maldive will come up with.
HiRiser
Active Member
Great drawings Wylie, thanks for that. This is great news. I always thought this spot was going to be a MLS 2? It doesn't seem to be the same developers/players on this one. Nonetheless great project and hopefully a much improved podium. Something that could mirror the retail of MLS would be kinda neat
H
Hydrogen
Guest
Nice renders.
As it stands, the podium design sucks presently.
As it stands, the podium design sucks presently.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
I disagree. I think that the tilted effect mixed with a sort of Citicorp (Stubbins) exposed base will be quite powerful. That said, its far too short to fully achieve the dramatic effect it seeks. Perhaps 3-4 more floors (heck, do 10 to match MLS across the street) would help it out here, but as it stands one is just too small.
buildup
Senior Member
That's a great rendering, thank you.
One small point, wouldn't the taller Maple Leaf Garden Tower at 55 floors be equal in height to the shorter of the two new propsed ones also 55 floors?
One small point, wouldn't the taller Maple Leaf Garden Tower at 55 floors be equal in height to the shorter of the two new propsed ones also 55 floors?
Canuck
Active Member
Yes, they're both 610 ft.
marcus_a_j
Senior Member
Actually, I believe it is the same as MLS (Cadillac Fairview and Lanterra). The applicant listed on the fact sheet of the application is the agent/lawyer representing CF and Lanterra. On the site there has been a billboard up since at least the summer saying "another great partnership", or something like that with CF and Lanterra's logos on it.
junctionist
Senior Member
It's so good to hear of a peer review process, as I agree, a larger podium is needed. With all this new height, the list of tallest buildings in the city is really going to change and diversify in the next decade. Maybe in the next real estate boom, they'll be building one supertall instead of two smaller towers. With all these multiple tower projects, I guess land values aren't high enough to justify such projects or there's a lot of land to develop.
Andrew3D
Active Member
Wyliepoon, this render is amazing. Hard to believe what the area might look like and how it used to look 3 years ago. I think the developer will need to increase the podium height regardless. Good luck selling units below the level of the expressway.
