Oakville SmartCentres Oakville North | 98m | 31s | SmartCentres | Turner Fleischer

artyboy123

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" SmartCentres Oakville North is a 52-acre property in Oakville’s uptown core, with close proximity to the QEW, Highway 403, Highway 407 and the Oakville GO station. SmartLiving, on behalf of Metrontario and the Penguin Group of Companies, has proposed the development of two residential towers on the vacant lands at the northwest corner of the property. The towers are 29 and 28 storeys respectively, atop a 5-story podium."
 
For the love of God, why do these REITs keep turning to Turner Fleischer? Do they want all of their projects to look like unmitigated disasters.

On the bright side, at least Oakville is finally catching up on the development scene.
 
I think TF do a lot of work on retail buildings, and many of the REITs have large retail components, so maybe they are just used to working with them?
 
Why bother with a better / more expensive architect if the only point is value increase?
Isnt that what 90% of condo developments are in this city, just a value increasing exercise? I dont get the point you're making here.

I think TF do a lot of work on retail buildings, and many of the REITs have large retail components, so maybe they are just used to working with them?
Which would mean in turn, SmartCentres is proud of the drab that TF continues to produce for them. Honestly I dont even think they look long and hard for an architect firm for their developments, they probably just choose whomever is dirt cheap and could provide the quickest design work.
 
Isnt that what 90% of condo developments are in this city, just a value increasing exercise? I dont get the point you're making here.
All good, you correctly made it yourself right here:
Which would mean in turn, SmartCentres is proud of the drab that TF continues to produce for them. Honestly I dont even think they look long and hard for an architect firm for their developments, they probably just choose whomever is dirt cheap and could provide the quickest design work.
They're relatively inexpensive, they're quick and they get things done. If aesthetics aren't your concern, TF ticks all the boxes.
 
^Jeez i might as well start my own architecture firm if developers like SmartCentres are thinking this way. Just provide them with the quickest turnaround time, use the cheapest and ugliest materials, know how to BS pretty good, then bam you've got the contract!

No wonder firms like G+C and Turner Fleischer continue to thrive while producing dreadful and embarrassing results, but somehow call themselves "architecture" firms. Companies like SmartCentres and RioCan continue to run to them to produce junk just to get to the market as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
 
If it is just a rezoning exercise, they have no need to hire a more prominent architect.

The design vision or architect may change by the time the project is submitted for Site Plan Approval, or SmartCentres may decide to sell it off to another developer who will likely redesign the project and hire their own architects. So why spend more money on a more expensive architect in the interim when a G+C or Turner Fleischer is very adept at providing the design work necessary for development approvals?

(You may also note that many of the projects with nicer designs provided by the "better" architect firms, still retain a firm like Turner Fleischer as the architect of record. It is a niche that is probably needed and they excel at)
 
New docs dated February 2022

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A recent article on this project highlighting NIMBY behaviour from neighbours and a local councillor. Note that the Town of Oakville's own report stated that increases in noise pollution and traffic from the towers are negligible and the current water and waste infrastructure should be able to adequately handle the added demand from the condos.

 
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lol they have a positive staff report and Oakville council is *still* trying to oppose it? How come I'm not surprised? Good luck at the OLT if you can't call your own planning staff to testify against the project..
 
lol they have a positive staff report and Oakville council is *still* trying to oppose it? How come I'm not surprised? Good luck at the OLT if you can't call your own planning staff to testify against the project..
I always wonder who, exactly, these complaining neighbours are. The closest homes to the proposed site are already condos and stacked townhouses; when they were being built and sold, developers and the city were quite transparent about the future high density designation for the area around Trafalgar and Dundas. It was a main selling point! In fact, these plans had been made public back in the 1990‘s! The quarter-circle, Toronto-Style townhouses with garage lanes which is iconic for the neighbourhood, were constructed as an experimental project in the late 1990‘s to encourage a more urban, walkable, and, dare I say, DENSE neighbourhood.
 

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