Toronto The College Condominium | 52.73m | 15s | Tribute | Core Architects

urbandreamer said:
Did anyone else attend? I could've but forgot all about it.:(

Here's what http://twitter.com/#!/symmetrydevelop just tweeted, sounds intriguing.



re: 219 Bathurst:





Sounds like a total pos, just like those Carr St stucco nightmare townhouses built several years ago.:(
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RE: 219 Bathurst
I support the height, don't mind the lack of parking...but the architecture is the reason the DRP exists. & the 8' ceiling height is poor form.

RE: 297 College

Reminded me of a taller Garment Factory with a more animated podium. Interesting elements included a 4s green wall and colored panels on the west elevation of the podium.
Podium has dark brick, tower (if you can call it that) is glass and concrete. Intention, according to Core, is to mimic a warehouse building with a modern addition.
Render showed ground floor retail but Tribute may revise that to 2s of retail space. Around 220 units, 2 levels of u/g parking. As of right is 16m, proposed is 15s.
 
urbandreamer said:
Did anyone else attend? I could've but forgot all about it.:(

Here's what http://twitter.com/#!/symmetrydevelop just tweeted, sounds intriguing.



re: 219 Bathurst:





Sounds like a total pos, just like those Carr St stucco nightmare townhouses built several years ago.:(
Click to expand...

does this project include 221 so its the block bound by Carr/Bathurst/Eden Place/laneway ?

that whole area should be demo'd and redone properly with brick/glass/metal mid-rises and no more stucco crap.
leave that for places like Hamilton, but they probably have better taste than that
 
The rendering from http://twitter.com/#!/BlacktowerTV

8moel.jpg


Looks fantastic!

Shockingly enough, the 219 Bathurst St rendering doesn't look that appalling, given the reviews from a week ago....

scaled.php
 
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dt_toronto_geek said:
These two stretches are loaded with buildings full of charactor, though some could use some TLC. Why is it so many interesting areas (and very well traveled by foot) be "ripe for redevelopment"? Keep redeveloping Liberty Village, keep that crap and barren sidewalks over there.
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What, i think thats a cheap shot at Liberty Village... which at the moment has a lot more vibrancy going on for it than this shit hole full of low budget computer shops.
Anyways, here is the latest crap planned for this location.

297 COLLEGE ST
Site Plan Approval 11 267882 STE 20 SA Ward 20
- Tor & E.York Sep 1, 2011

Site Plan Approval application to permit the redevelopment of the lands for the pruposes of a new mixed use building, 15 storeys in height , 2 stories for commercial purposes complete w 234 resdiential units above and 136 parking spaces in a three level below grade parking facility , the first two levels being for commercial parking purposes.
 
Automation Gallery said:
What, i think thats a cheap shot at Liberty Village... which at the moment has a lot more vibrancy going on for it than this shit hole full of low budget computer shops.
Anyways, here is the latest crap planned for this location.

297 COLLEGE ST
Site Plan Approval 11 267882 STE 20 SA Ward 20
- Tor & E.York Sep 1, 2011

Site Plan Approval application to permit the redevelopment of the lands for the pruposes of a new mixed use building, 15 storeys in height , 2 stories for commercial purposes complete w 234 resdiential units above and 136 parking spaces in a three level below grade parking facility , the first two levels being for commercial parking purposes.
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I bet you hate Yonge between Gerrard and Bloor as well, and would rather a sterile Cityplace type development replace everything in the area? Liberty Village has been marred by bleak, suburban minded development. Its only saving grace is the remaining industrial warehouses and a handful of decent restaurants. Calling College St. a shit hole is completely off base, and suggests you've never explored it beyond Google's Streetview.
 
egotrippin said:
I bet you hate Yonge between Gerrard and Bloor as well, and would rather a sterile Cityplace type development replace everything in the area? Liberty Village has been marred by bleak, suburban minded development. Its only saving grace is the remaining industrial warehouses and a handful of decent restaurants. Calling College St. a shit hole is completely off base, and suggests you've never explored it beyond Google's Streetview.
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If that...
 
Perhaps, and for that I apologize (and this definitely isn't the place for prolonged conversation), but I think the reason why many on UT are often at odds with your positions is that you speak of having grown up in the city, yet seem to detest all that it stands for. I don't mean to be insulting, but it is interesting that you often demonstrate what many would regard as an anti-city attitude on a message board which is, if not wholly, then at least stridently, pro-city.
 
Meeting Notice:
Community Consultation Meeting about Proposed Developments at
297 College and 245 College

Date: Monday December 5, 2011
Location: Lillian Smith Library, 239 College St (at Huron), Lower Level Auditorium
Time: 297 College St - 6:30-7:15pm, 245 College St - 7:15-8:15pm

City Planning is hosting a Community Consultation Meeting about two proposed developments near College and Spadina.

297 College St is located on the south side of College Street, at Robert Street, at a site that is currently home to the Zen Buddhist Temple. A 15-storey building with two levels of retail at grade is proposed.

245 College St is located on the south side of College Street, between Spadina and Huron. An application was filed for a 42-storey academic residence building. A revised application has been filed, for a 24-storey academic residence.
 
http://www.thegridto.com/city/local-news/temple-of-boom/

Temple of boom?

The new owners of The Zen Buddhist Temple at 297 College Street want to redevelop the site into a 15-storey condo and 20,000 sq. ft. retail space. Naturally, neighbouring Kensington Market residents and retailers aren't too keen on the idea.

BY: STEVE KUPFERMAN
MON DEC 5, 2011
LOCAL NEWS


The Zen Buddhist Temple at 297 College Street, situated on Kensington’s northern border, was owned by monks until May. Now it’s in the hands of Tribute Communities, a developer. The company is proposing a 15-storey condo tower for the site, with approximately 20,000 square feet of retail space, subject to City approval. The rumour currently circulating in the neighbourhood is that Loblaws is in negotiations for the location. Tribute spokespeople say it’s still too early to say who the retail tenant might be.
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“We’ve been talking to a whole bunch of different potential retailers to see what would be the best fit for the site,†said Steve Deveaux, vice president of land development for Tribute. “We think a grocery retailer would be a good tenant. Or it could be a drug store, something of that ilk.â€
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Martin Zimmerman, whose Freshmart is currently the closest thing Kensington has to a supermarket, is, like other neighbourhood business owners, nervous. “People who come to Kensington Market know that the market pretty much closes based on sunlight hours,†he said. “The larger grocery chains are open until 11, sometimes 12 [midnight] and, if you’re a student, or if you’re working somewhere, you become trained that you don’t have to rush to Kensington Market.†Business, he worries, would flow to the supermarket, leaving the neighbourhood’s independent grocers to suffer. Freshmart would be in an especially precarious position, because it carries Loblaws’ products. “The larger corporations can afford to do the huge loss leaders,†Zimmerman added. “I think it would be detrimental to the Market.†Even neighbouring Chinatown could be affected.
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Yvonne Bambrick, coordinator of the Kensington Market Business Improvement Area, has similar reservations. “I don’t want to see a Loblaws there,†she said. “I think that is extremely bad news for the neighbourhood. I don’t even want to see it being discussed.†The fear is that competition from a large corporate food store would cause Kensington’s small grocers to close down and be replaced by restaurants and bars, turning the eclectic area into yet another party scene reminiscent of Little Italy, to the west.
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A second major development project is gestating on Kensington’s western border, where RioCan, a shopping-centre developer, has assembled a large plot of land around—and including—the current site of Kromer Radio, at 420 Bathurst.

The area surrounding Kensington has long been ripe for development of one kind or another. It’s a low-rise strip in an increasingly high-rise city, as Neil Rodgers, vice president of acquisitions at Tribute, is quick to point out. “It really represented a location where there wasn’t a lot of competition,†he said. He compared the area to Quee West before its development boom. “We saw College as having similar up-and-coming qualities.â€
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Interesting how small business owners can position convenience as detrimental. I for one arrive and depart work in the dark, and rarely have the luxury of wandering Kensington by day. From my perspective, I would say a full service grocery store in walking distance is a requirement when choosing a place to live. While I'm not totally surprised at local resistance (because Kensington is so NOT about late nights at work LOL) I'd say city planners would have a hard time opposing a 15 story tower with retail amenity, especially as it will replace a barren parking lot inconsistent with the College street wall.
 
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While I am not against the development as a whole, the formulaic grocery store + bank + drug store in my mind = banal, anti-kensington, anti-culture, anti-urban.

This site is perfect for densification, but the retail should retain the small street level presence of the rest of College, adding interesting independent retailers into the mix, rather than trying to get a single large corporate occupant.

I know developers are loathe to do this because the above formula produces profits, it just doesn't work here at College and Spadina, and it would be cultural death.

On the other hand, I don't know why Kensington DOES shut down at night. It should encourage more mixed use all day stores within its boundaries to increase the diversity of culture there. The existing grocery store could stay open, especially with the rise of development in its fringes.

The redevelopment is inexorable: Alexandra park's revitalization will bring thousands to the derelict south end of the market, so a rethink by the community of how to deal with all the development should be initiated immediately.
 
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