Toronto 101 Yorkville | 18.9m | 4s | First Capital | NEUF

AlbertC

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It'll be interesting to see what this application is for. 101 Yorkville is a pretty well known retail building within the area.

http://app.toronto.ca/DevelopmentAp...4299339&isCofASearch=false&isTlabSearch=false

101 YORKVILLE AVE
Ward 27 - Tor & E.York District

Site Plan Control application to redevelop the site with a new 4-storey retail commercial building (4,507.15 square metres).

https://goo.gl/maps/j6mVWvbuKwn

yorkville.JPG
 

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It will entail redevelopment of that entire structure (the one probably most known for housing Over the Rainbow and Summer's Ice Cream).

It's actually quite a large site, and expect a new mid-block connection from Yorkville to Cumberand here.
 
There is office space in there as well; an optometrist office among other businesses.
 
So much change in the neighborhood for the better I believe.

Any renderings of the replacement? This terraced building is no landmark, but it's quite pleasant in the streetscape. It provides direct and inviting access to two levels of retail space right from the sidewalk. The unusual massing is quite visually engaging. Look at how people are lingering on the steps in the street view shot. They find it pleasant enough to want to stop there and rest. One hopes that any replacement will build on its strengths.
 
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Any renderings of the replacement? This terraced building is no landmark, but it's quite pleasant in the streetscape. It provides direct and inviting access to two levels of retail space right from the sidewalk. The unusual massing is quite visually engaging. Look at how people are lingering on the steps in the street view shot. They find it pleasant enough to what to stop there and rest. One hopes that any replacement will build on its strengths.

I'm worried about losing exactly that -- this is essentially the lone public gathering place on Yorkville (Cumberland has the rock and the cafe-style seating); on summer evenings, the steps outside Summer's are packed with people, there's usually a musician, and the street is just alive. Unless we're pleasantly surprised by the design here, that vibrancy will be lost and the neighbourhood will be worse for it.
 
There's a very quintessential feeling about this building that captures the pedestrian essence of the area. As described above by others, the exterior steps and multi-leveled retail create a very welcoming experience for activity. This along with Old York Lane are what comes to mind for me when setting an image of Yorkville.
 
There's a very quintessential feeling about this building that captures the pedestrian essence of the area. As described above by others, the exterior steps and multi-leveled retail create a very welcoming experience for activity. This along with Old York Lane are what comes to mind for me when setting an image of Yorkville.

Very true, it's too bad these esthetics don't translate into a profitable commercial option. People are increasingly older, fatter and unwilling to expend minimal effort to explore a shop involves stairs.

btw is the auto-correct on steroids? Any sort of correction pulls me into some morass of cascading errors.
 
Pedestrian Mews is good. This retail does not appear as fine grained as I would have liked for Yorkville though. And those giant empty wall spaces are extremely boring.
 
The concept of half upstairs and half downstairs just isn't popular. Ive noticed other retail locations around town where retail spaces NOT at grade seem to struggle. This was a 70's concept that was at that time novel. It will be sad to loose the steps but keep in mind this is private space not public. There does seem to be a pattern where there are wide stairs in a busy 'public' space people are drawn to the stairs on a pleasant sunny day. This does not however make it necessarily a successful retail location.
 
Since Chanel, Louboutin, Brunello Cucinelli, Celine & Jimmy Choo are all rumoured to be forming a high-end retail colony on Yorkville, it looks like this property is being redeveloped to accommodate more and larger spaces for high-end brands. Sad to lose one of the more interesting buildings - but Rodeo Drive north seems to be the direction that whole area is going.
 
The concept of half upstairs and half downstairs just isn't popular. Ive noticed other retail locations around town where retail spaces NOT at grade seem to struggle. This was a 70's concept that was at that time novel. It will be sad to loose the steps but keep in mind this is private space not public. There does seem to be a pattern where there are wide stairs in a busy 'public' space people are drawn to the stairs on a pleasant sunny day. This does not however make it necessarily a successful retail location.

But you don't need to replicate the half-and-half approach here to make something that works at-grade; you just need to do better than what they've proposed here.

They need more than a couple fancy benches here, 'cause this looks brutal as it stands.
 

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