Toronto Fashion House | ?m | 12s | Freed | Core Architects

[CDL.TO]

There are hundreds of unknown contaminated sites throughout the city from before they tracked these things or understood the ramifications of it. For example, small tanneries once dotted the city, and the accepted method of disposing of the tanning chemicals was to just toss them out the back door.

You're taking a chance each time you buy property.

 

[investor]

There are hundreds of unknown contaminated sites throughout the city from before they tracked these things or understood the ramifications of it. For example, small tanneries once dotted the city, and the accepted method of disposing of the tanning chemicals was to just toss them out the back door.

You're taking a chance each time you buy property.

That's a valid point on which I would agree.

 

[MetroMan]

I doubt they could close down Century Room. It's run by a very powerful group of men who also run Atelier, Blowfish, KiWe Kitchen, Lily Lounge and more (not to mention the weekly fixtures include plenty of Toronto's elite who would run Vaughan in to the ground should he remove their posh hangout).

A bunch of other upscale clubs are in the area like Brant House and Cheval, not to mention the strip club across the street. People moving in here should know where they're moving into.

 

[voxpopulicosmicum]

There are hundreds of unknown contaminated sites throughout the city from before they tracked these things or understood the ramifications of it. For example, small tanneries once dotted the city, and the accepted method of disposing of the tanning chemicals was to just toss them out the back door.

You're taking a chance each time you buy property.

^So true. And these contaminants migrate, so the site doesn't necessarily have to be a former industrial site, it just has to be downhill from one.

Still, there are risks and there are risks. I'll take a remediated former gas station site over Lake Ontario waterfrontage any day of the week. Note the recent disclosures that residents of Pickering and Port Hope, respectively, have high incidences of rare cancers. This has been the subject of speculation, accusation and denial for years. People raised families in these communities because they were told that government testing had demonstrated no health risk.

 

[Urban Shocker]

The first owner - in 1908 - of the house attached to my semi worked for a druggist. When my former neighbours had the back of their house dug up in 1993 so that the pest control people could pump in gallons of friendly chemicals to keep the termites at bay, they found quite a few small glass bottles with the name of the chemist the first owner worked for moulded into the glass.

There's no telling the extent of toxic build-up in the soil of such typical old residential properties, or the effect that the emanations and vapours given off by said evil sludge may have had on anyone visiting my house recently. Half the UT forum could turn into the Toxic Avenger any day now ...

 

[JasonParis]

When purchasing property, it often makes sense to get your lawyer to send a letter to the Ministry of Enviroment as they can (usually within a few months) give you a report about any toxic events (or otherwise) that happened on your property.

 

[Hydrogen]

I think people know what they are moving into. It's an issue that those who frequent the area and those who have establishments in the area understand that people are moving in. There are ever more businesses being set up that neighbourhood that cater more readily to the local crowd rather than clubbers.

This area has changed and will obviously continue changing.

 

[unimaginative2]

A couple more (colour) renderings:

 

[Hydrogen]

Slight difference between the two renderings (b&w and colour). Anyone know which one is the final version?

 

[MetroMan]

The blocky entrance is gone in this rendering. It makes no sense to keep it considering it's basically just three brick walls and a flat roof that would need to be modified to work as the main entrance.

Removing that section however, leaves the property with a "front yard" and interrupts the streetwall.

 

[cabeman]

I can't believe they're proposing to keep that single-storey protrusion on the front of the heritage building. Was restoration out of the question?

As for the rest of it... what an unsightly blob of condominium!

Agreed! This thing looms over that heritage building like....well....something that looms over a heritage building I guess...


I'm at a loss for words - this thing, including the single story 'heritage awning' at the front is a sight for sore eyes. It could even be Worse than most of the junk which is currently residing on this land. What I can't understand is where does the city find these firms? Moreover, where do the firms find such second-rate attemptitechs while other cities (predominantly European I will admit) push for more innovative designs. Theres the essence of your 'Toronto Style' - crappy buildings attached to slightly older crappy buildings ...sigh

I can't figure out how you two interpreted the information in the Staff Report as indicating that the addition on the front of the building would remain. And Project End ... it seems we have a very different understanding of the phrase "a sight for sore eyes".

See the third sentence below (from page 3 of the report):

And further on in attachment number 3 of the report where they're explaining the reasons for designation:

My understanding was that the majority of the single story addition at the front was being removed, the main entrance restored and that the City was excited about the restoration of the original features of the building (the three windows at the top of the south elevation and the steeple).

^That's how I read the report as well.

It's a small picture, but yes, the box front seems to be staying. You can see, however, that there are modifications to it in the plan. What those will look like ultimately is hard to say. 42

The historic photo included in the Staff Report shows a small gabled entrance to the building, I think maybe what we're seeing in the architect drawing (west elevation) is the reconstruction and/or enlargement of the entrance (distinguished in the drawing by a darker shade of grey).

In regards to the townhouses running up towards Adelaide: check the West Elevation plan included in Cabeman's post again and you will see that they are surmounted by another seven or eight floors of flats, and that the blank west wall of 455 Adelaide will indeed be hidden away. The City just don't allow plans for projects like this without thinking of things like that these days. 42

That's my understanding of the west elevation drawing as well. The west side of 455 Adelaide will likely be entirely obscured by north end of the 570 King development.

 

[Hydrogen]

Removing that section however, leaves the property with a "front yard" and interrupts the streetwall.

Perfect for the outdoor tables of the swank restaurant or cafe that will, no doubt, pop up into this building.

 

[BobBob]

^ There are other indentations like this along this stretch, like just to the east of Zoe's Cafe. It's not really a big interruption and sort of adds interest to the walk.

 

[grey]

I think that's a good idea. Environmental conditions should be seriously considered.

My grandparents lived on a house on the Queensway in Mississauga near Mavis Road, down the hill from Dundas, and a bit before the credit valley. Up at the corner of Dundas and Mavis used to be a large brick factory, where tonnes of ash was buried in the ground. At some point in the 1960s (after the factory had been torn down), my grandmother and a number of her neighbours across the street developed aggressive cancer. I'm casually making a connection here, and no official links were ever made, but everyone drank well water from their backyards at the time, and the north side of the street used to be marshy wetlands before houses were built in the '50s, so it's not difficult to believe that carcinogenic buried ash had seeped downhill into the streams.

While I'm confident that soil testing and remediation techniques as well as related legislation have improved by leaps and bounds, I'm still damn careful about where I choose to live.

 

[voxpopulicosmicum]

When purchasing property, it often makes sense to get your lawyer to send a letter to the Ministry of Enviroment as they can (usually within a few months) give you a report about any toxic events (or otherwise) that happened on your property.

I think you're referring to an Environmental Bill of Rights / FOIA search, which will only tell you about events that were reported and documented. While such a search is a good idea because it will tell you of major/recent events, it isn't very comprehensive. The above examples (chemist's former residence, backyard tanneries) probabably wouldn't have any records with the MoE.