Jarrek
Active Member
Not sure who's looking after Etobicoke, but any new project that we get it's such a mishmash of either good, bad or just downright ugly.
Toronto IQ Condos Phase 1 & Park Towers Phase 2 | 83.51m | 24s | Remington Group | Richmond Architects
- Thread starter Jarrek
- Start date
Not sure who's looking after Etobicoke, but any new project that we get it's such a mishmash of either good, bad or just downright ugly.
adma
Superstar
I was walking (yes a pedestrian lol) along the Queensway between Royal York and Islington a few weeks ago--I'd never been along the strip before--and was struck by the potential for the strip to become a trendy art gallery district. There's a few posh gourmet food shops and the rest is blahness. There's this (late 80's?) hideous strip mall with welfare offices etc that are totally out of place. And all these little post war homes--how much do those homes sell for nowadays? (You get a huge lawn and a tiny home. A better deal than a Queensway condo, eh?)
My point: those c.1950 retail strips are rather nice and need some artists willing to live way out there. Who wants to volunteer?
Said "strip mall" is actually a co-op w/shops below; I can't say that it's demolishably out of place--this was acceptable "intensification" back then. (And across the street, all those little Cape Cods are actually part of Avon Park, one of Toronto's three true Victory Housing developments from WWII.)
And if you want "arts district" incentive, here it is: a few blocks north on Royal York is Etobicoke School of the Arts, i.e. a breeding ground for a lot of that Broken Social Scene scene.
OTOH there's the matter of Queensway *east* of Royal York; perhaps it's in how House of Lancaster's defined the neighbourhood, but it just seems to me that everything there is either a rub'n'tug or a shop that serves strippers and rub'n'tug employees. I guess this is where the 80s/90s spirit of the Motel Strip migrated to...
adma
Superstar
I guess, then, that IP Frehley would have been a better name for the condos...
GonaSovereign
New Member
I rode past and noticed it's at Islington and the Queensway.
Smart!
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Towered
Senior Member
It's not right at Islington and Queensway, but about a block to the west, on the south side of the Queensway, between Zorra street and St. Lawrence avenue.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
Still no render on this sucker? Thats a huge lot - I've looked each time I pass since I was about ten!
So, like for the last 3 years or so then?
Kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Geez.
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Kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Geez.
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MimiCombo
New Member
Hi, all. It's my first post here - I hope I'm playing by the rules!
Found this thread by doing a search for the new "IQ" condos. I live in a house two blocks from the site, and saw the billboard pictured above this weekend. I was being nosy and toured a few open houses in the Loggia condos (also pictured above), this weekend. (Tiny!!!)
In addition to the new IQ buildings, it is my understanding that the Kipling/Queensway mall is being torn in the next few years and will be redeveloped with even more condos. That is a HUGE parcel of land.
Our area is already reeling from the addition of many different condo and townhouse developments in the last five years or so (not to mention the giant Cineplex and the three restaurants out front, as well as Costco and Ikea). The schools are becoming overcrowded; traffic is crazy; vandalism and graffiti are becoming very common, all in what used to be a very quiet neighbourhood.
I suppose that the only thing politicians see is potential tax dollars from each unit that they manage to cram in. They don't seem to think about infrastructure, schools, grocery stores, traffic, etc.
I know what has happened in the area in the past five years, and I'm scared to see what will happen in the next five with these further additions.
Thanks for letting me get that out.
Found this thread by doing a search for the new "IQ" condos. I live in a house two blocks from the site, and saw the billboard pictured above this weekend. I was being nosy and toured a few open houses in the Loggia condos (also pictured above), this weekend. (Tiny!!!)
In addition to the new IQ buildings, it is my understanding that the Kipling/Queensway mall is being torn in the next few years and will be redeveloped with even more condos. That is a HUGE parcel of land.
Our area is already reeling from the addition of many different condo and townhouse developments in the last five years or so (not to mention the giant Cineplex and the three restaurants out front, as well as Costco and Ikea). The schools are becoming overcrowded; traffic is crazy; vandalism and graffiti are becoming very common, all in what used to be a very quiet neighbourhood.
I suppose that the only thing politicians see is potential tax dollars from each unit that they manage to cram in. They don't seem to think about infrastructure, schools, grocery stores, traffic, etc.
I know what has happened in the area in the past five years, and I'm scared to see what will happen in the next five with these further additions.
Thanks for letting me get that out.
urbandreamer
recession proof
Don't be scared of change: embrace it! And why are the sidewalks completely dead in that area? Until I feel threatened that I could possibly get crushed on the sidewalk from so many pedestrians, I'm not going to be frightened of new development. The Queensway is crying for at least 50,000 more people living along it imho! Get the architecture right, (back lane driveways is what I have in mind), figure out the demos, then improved schools can be built, etc.
The area is a dump in its current state. Even the old schools look like huge pos!
The area is a dump in its current state. Even the old schools look like huge pos!
Mimi is right about infrastructure though -
I wouldn't worry about a lack of grocery stores. I cannot imagine that Sobey's would entirely leave the area if Kipling-Queensway mall were to be redeveloped. You can bet that a grocery store, and likely others from the existing mall, would be included in a redevelopment.
Queensway will be crying out for an extension of the Queen and/or Waterfront West streetcar/LRT though. That's definitely the kind of thing that has to go on the table when a lot of density are=rives in the area.
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I wouldn't worry about a lack of grocery stores. I cannot imagine that Sobey's would entirely leave the area if Kipling-Queensway mall were to be redeveloped. You can bet that a grocery store, and likely others from the existing mall, would be included in a redevelopment.
Queensway will be crying out for an extension of the Queen and/or Waterfront West streetcar/LRT though. That's definitely the kind of thing that has to go on the table when a lot of density are=rives in the area.
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adma
Superstar
Though how much would the Food Terminal Sobeys render the Kipling/Queensway Sobeys redundant?
Towered
Senior Member
Where did you hear that? If it happens sometime soon I'd be ecstatic! That's one of the ugliest plazas I can think of - I went in there just a few months ago, and I could swear I stepped into 1975. It's not as dead as Honeydale Mall, but nevertheless obviously hasn't seen any kind of investment in decades - even the Swiss Chalet hasn't been renovated like their other locations, and the Sportchek is woefully dumpy. The tenants all seem to be anticipating the end...and it can't come soon enough!
MimiCombo
New Member
Word of the demise of the Kipling/Queensway mall has been the talk of the area for several years now. I haven't read anything "official", but the store owners and employees are very aware of it. You're probably right about that being the reason that Swiss Chalet, etc., haven't done any renovations in years.
It's definitely a dumpy plaza, but it provides much-needed services to the area, especially to the large population of seniors.
The Food Terminal Soby's went in several years ago (I've lost track of time!), and I don't think the Kipling/Queensway Soby's has suffered much because of it. (Next time I'm in, I'll ask.) I don't think it's redundant at all. There is definitely a need for it in that area.
The FT Soby's services all the condos in the Lakeshore/Park Lawn area. I go by it every day on the train, and that parking lot always seems to be full -- even at 8:15 am!
interchange42 is right about transportation. At the very least, the TTC needs to take a good look at the Queensway bus service. When I used to take it, it ran every 30+ minutes in rush hour (and we considered ourselves lucky if it came every 30 minutes!)
It's definitely a dumpy plaza, but it provides much-needed services to the area, especially to the large population of seniors.
The Food Terminal Soby's went in several years ago (I've lost track of time!), and I don't think the Kipling/Queensway Soby's has suffered much because of it. (Next time I'm in, I'll ask.) I don't think it's redundant at all. There is definitely a need for it in that area.
The FT Soby's services all the condos in the Lakeshore/Park Lawn area. I go by it every day on the train, and that parking lot always seems to be full -- even at 8:15 am!
interchange42 is right about transportation. At the very least, the TTC needs to take a good look at the Queensway bus service. When I used to take it, it ran every 30+ minutes in rush hour (and we considered ourselves lucky if it came every 30 minutes!)
They have coexisted for a few years now... and both are open 24 hours a day. I thought at least that might have changed when the Food Terminal location opened, but they must both have enough drawing power...
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