Toronto MuseumHouse | 71.01m | 19s | Yorkville Group | P + S / IBI

vatche said:
Actually I think it's beautiful. It's a small boutique style condo building. Simple, green. The ground level though I'm not too fond of.
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Yup, I think the city would be a more beautiful place if it had more skinny, deep condo buildings like this. Of course, the economics of building and fitting units on narrow sites like this, plus the fact that only buildings on corner lots (or next to an alley) allow for windows, makes skinny narrow buildings kind of difficult unless they're sold at a really high price point (which I guess this one was).
 
A pity the Redeemer didn't inspire this building instead of a Dentist's office.

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It looks a little flimsy and the spandrel on the west facade is unacceptable, but overall, I don't mind this one. The planters on the balconies are especially nice.
 
Nothing wrong with the street wall in that picture above, as far as I can see. I like the way the upper levels step back. Not a work of art, to be sure, but it fits in reasonably well. Most people would be looking across the street anyway!
 
I agree Roy. And why a dentist?? A cafe, a boutique, a bookstore, anything.... But a dentist? Right across from a major museum? On the other side of Louis Vuitton? Could be a major location for a major retail store. I'm baffled.
 
For condos that must be $1,000,000 plus, I think this building is underwhelming. I agree you would think it could be a prime space for high end retail as Bloor retail stretches further west. However, the space may not be big enough for major retail. I think this is one of the major problems of current condo developments. What goes in at street level seems to be an after thought - we'll have retail space -and that's about as a far as it goes. There doesn't seem to be really any thought about how the retail fits in with the rest of community, the other stores on the street and what would be appealing to retailers. So we get dentist offices and dry cleaners and or if we're lucky (yet another) Starbucks. Personally, if I were a condo owner in this building I would have preferred doing away with the retail and just have a grand lobby. But developers' have to maximize profits.
 
The owner of the retail space is looking to maximize their rental income. They don't care ultimately about who the client is. Why should they care that its a dentist across from the ROM?
 
Ed007Toronto said:
The owner of the retail space is looking to maximize their rental income. They don't care ultimately about who the client is. Why should they care that its a dentist across from the ROM?
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High end retail west of Avenue Road is simply non-existent. For better or worse, expensive boutiques are just not a part of this city's fabric. Torontonians are just too sensible. Plow it all into the house and mortgage payments and what remains goes to Tim Horton's & Winners.

This would have a perfect spot for a art gallery. I don't fault the developer for maximizing his profits here- I fault planning and city staff for not coming up with a mechanism to insist on better quality uses for this location and marrying it to the site.
 
I'm sure 'better' retail would set up shop here if they considered it a good location for retail. It obviously isn't, yet. Brooks Bros. is definitely a move in the right direction, in terms of retail west of Avenue Road, but they are definitely the pioneers in this direction and it's too soon tell what the outcome will be.
 
We can make all sorts of excuses....but at the end of the day it's just sad....that's all!
 
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