Distillery District

[Skeezix]

Okay, Lucy used the wrong term, but we all understood what she was asking. Does Mill Street still do any brewing on site?

 

[PinkLucy]

You're right, brew vs distill, although I was thinking of beer . I haven't been for a while ... Is all that apparatus for show? Or do they just do a bit to say they are a brewery?

 

[CityPainter]

Oh sorry I wasn't trying to be a jerk, I thought maybe she was asking if they made anything other than beer. I believe they do use those on-site tanks to brew small batch specialty beers, they're not for show. But the vast majority of the popular beers that you see distributed all over the GTA are brewed in larger facilities in Scarborough.

 

[Skeezix]

Fair enough. Nobody thought you were a jerk. I was mostly focused on seeing whether anyone knew the answer to Lucy's question as to whether they still brew a bit of beer on site. Sounds like they do.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

Is sake distilled? Because there is that sake place, which I think makes their own sake?

 

[adHominem]

I think sake is brewed.

That said, I think the Mill Street Brewpub actually does distill bierschnaps (a clear spirit made from distilling beer) from time to time, so there you go.

 

[jxmith_]

So, at the moment, the Distillery is looking at possibly getting a 34 storey Gansevoort Hotel/Residences on the North end, then to be walled in from the South by a 57-storey condo, and a 47-storey condo. Sure, the heritage study is still out, most of these have yet to hit council or OMB, but are developers even thinking anymore?

The area has yet to see what will complete the West Don Lands, and unless I'm wrong, Waterfront Toronto hasn't said anything about the land south of Lakeshore/Gardiner between Parliament and Cherry Streets (Haven't heard a thing about that 'Whiskey Beach' project in forever).

I have read that there's to be a proposed school to the East of the Cherry St. Streetcar loop, and a Native centre just south of the Canary Diner, but nothing concrete.

My point is - will the city/residents/developers get their acts together to make this a complete neighbourhood? It's been on the right track for the most part, but I don't think that height and the density that comes with it is going to help. I think the area needs more non-tourist-retail, and office space to balance things out, keep Distillery residents from having to get in their cars and head elsewhere to spend/make money.

 

[CityPainter]

My point is - will the city/residents/developers get their acts together to make this a complete neighbourhood? It's been on the right track for the most part, but I don't think that height and the density that comes with it is going to help. I think the area needs more non-tourist-retail, and office space to balance things out, keep Distillery residents from having to get in their cars and head elsewhere to spend/make money.

I walk through/past the Distillery several times a week, and now regularly through the Canary District as well. I agree that despite the unfortunately large remaining gaps, the area is on the right track. The opening of the 514 Cherry line was momentous. I hope momentum continues now that the Pan Am Games are in the past.

All the new retail in the Canary District is non-touristy: the YMCA, the Running Room, the Gears cycle shop, a couple decent restaurants, a coffee shop, and so on. I highly doubt that any of these would ever survive directly within the Distillery, as it is a tourist destination and will remain so for the foreseeable future. But residents can visit businesses in the surrounding neighbourhoods and both realms can coexist.

I've been to the Meatpacking district in NYC and stayed near at the Gansevoort : it's a very hip, high-end hotel that would bring a younger demographic of visitors into the area, and up the "cool" quotient of the Distillery which currently seems to attract a bit of an older/stodgier tourist demographic. And yes, the Gansevoort is not cheap, so guests there will have money to spend. This would be a boon to the Distillery and inject money into the surrounding businesses that we could all benefit from.

But I respectfully disagree that height or density would harm the area: in fact, that's exactly what it needs. Right now the only thing missing in the Canary District is people. Frankly, it remains a bit of a ghost town. We need many more people to create life on the streets, in the shops, and to encourage private development to fill those remaining gaps. Density/height is the way to do this while keeping the streetscape active. I see no reason to shy away from density in what is essentially part of the downtown core of Canada's biggest city.

 

[jxmith_]

In terms of the height/density for residential, I think you're adding a large amount of people into an area that is already underserved in some key categories, and would be nearing a breaking point in some of the community services available.

I have no problem with the hotel, because I think its as necessary as the new bus line to Union Station was, and will diversify the people traffic.

I'm glad that the retail in Canary District is less touristy, and was worried at first about the "health oriented" theme that ran through the early announcements narrowing the scope - the butcher and bakery excite me more than the restaurants though. I think the George Brown students should be making an impact on the area, as they're far less likely to shop at expensive furniture stores, tourist locales and pricey restaurants, or to have the means to drive 20min to buy groceries. If they have a sizeable impact, the student body will have more of a positive effect on the livability of the immediate area than anything else I think.

I think my general frustrations though stem from living in the neighbourhood for the last 4 years and observing the following: 1. That a good chunk of the people who live in the Distillery condos enjoy having the odd dinner and drinks among the cobblestones, but drive away for everything else, and 2. There have been countless times in the last 4 years I've realized that I've needed to buy one thing or another at all times of the day, and had to really think out where I was going to go for it. I've lived previously in a suburb, and thats the way it was there, I never thought it would be that same way downtown.

 

[DSC]

Now that the Power Line Plus electrical work on Mill is finishing the City is going to start laying the new water main on Mill Street from Cherry to Parliament. This work will finish in late November.

In spring 2017 (March?) the City will start rebuilding and making streetscape improvements to Mill Street (mainly Trinity to Parliament) with new and wider sidewalks, trees etc

 

[jxmith_]

In spring 2017 (March?) the City will start rebuilding and making streetscape improvements to Mill Street (mainly Trinity to Parliament) with new and wider sidewalks, trees etc

Do you know if that means that the parking lot beside the Data Centre is finally going to get converted to the parkette that was promised?

 

[DSC]

Do you know if that means that the parking lot beside the Data Centre is finally going to get converted to the parkette that was promised?

I do not think so; turning the parking lot into a park is a separate project - and not I think a City one. However, I think they MAY do something along the Parliament Street end of it so that the Parliament Street sidewalk can be widened.

 

[grey]

The new Arvo Coffee shop on Gristmill Lane opened last week and it's really good.

 

[christiesplits]

While there are still some areas for improvement in the Distillery and Canary Districts, I think they are by far more successful than their western counterpart, Liberty Village.

 

[GeneralGrievance]

Stopped by Arvo Coffee yesterday (thanks @grey). Great little addition to the area.