Toronto Spectra at Concord CityPlace | 123.13m | 39s | Concord Adex | RAW Design

neubilder said:
Throwing out the 'hater' nonsense is not meaningful discussion. My personal interest is in trying to understand how built form effects community as well as individual experiences. There are many things to like about city place but there are many things it does not do well. By design, it will never have an organic community feel. The scale is too large and homogeneous. And there is no possibility to change that. There are no spaces where a small business could renovate and create a cool little cafe, or gallery, or clothing store. There will be foot traffic by those coming and going as well as by park users and people just going for strolls. This will create some street life but not in the urban sense. It will never be the Danforth or Queen West. It will never evolve into anything other than what it was designed to be, which is a bedroom community with a few amenities.
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Actually, you'd be surprised how innovative people can be with small spaces. Have you seen the small stores at pacific malls? They're tiny cubby holes, but owners manage to stuff everything into it. Of course, walking spaces are a bit tight.
 
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So where are these spaces that can be adapted and re-purposed? From what I have seen most of the buildings are comprised of large podiums (almost 1/2 a city block), that in some cases are exclusively residential; townhouses with condos above. There are a few exceptions like near Spadina where commercial uses have been incorporated, like the bank, sobey's, and the pub, as well as the future library on the other end.
As far as I can tell there is no other potential for alternative uses in the residential podiums of the residential buildings.
 
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neubilder said:
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So where are these spaces that can be adapted and re-purposed? From what I have seen most of the buildings are comprised of large podiums (almost 1/2 a city block), that in some cases are exclusively residential; townhouses with condos above. There are a few exceptions like near Spadina where commercial uses have been incorporated, like the bank, sobey's, and the pub, as well as the future library on the other end.
As far as I can tell there is no other potential for alternative uses in the residential podiums of the residential buildings.
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Those townhomes are the spaces. They are not just residential, they are live-work units. In the case of the art gallery, the owner lives upstairs and the gallery is on the ground level. One of the offices that has opened up uses both levels as office space, and no one lives in the unit. The nail place/spa is also just a business.
 
That base looks very familiar. Does anyone remember Brad Lamb's Leslieville Lofts?

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The random strip of colour that goes up the side of this tower from the podium is awkward and looks like a complete afterthought. Ugly, IMO.

I don't mind Quartz at all, (no colour) and I really like how they incorporated colour into M5V Life condos, but this is a fail, if it turns out like the renderings.
 
I attended the meeting tonight and was happy with the plan for this block, as well as the Amsterdam block. Dan Leckie Way, Fort York Boulevard, and Bathurst Street will all be lined with retail, and Concord will be selecting who gets to lease the spaces. (Criteria will be strict, and the corner of Fort York and Dan Leckie is reserved for a restaurant). These spaces will be exclusively for retail, and all building entrances will be in the centre of the blocks and not on the streets. There will also be live-work units in the spaces between the buildings/blocks.
 
Heard yesterday from a friend that invested into this, that this development is pretty well sold out...i wonder if Concord Adex as usual will do one dig for both projects (Quartz and Spectra)
 
Automation Gallery said:
Heard yesterday from a friend that invested into this, that this development is pretty well sold out...i wonder if Concord Adex as usual will do one dig for both projects (Quartz and Spectra)
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Well, the entire project has yet to be approved, meaning Quartz can't be built until it is approved. Both Quartz and Spectra are expected to be approved at the same time though. Quartz is already being excavated and will probably just start building without waiting for Spectra to catch up.
 
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