The retail spaces also need to be at an affordable rate. 1000 sqft for $4,000 a month or something. Right now leases for retail is around 8K It's really hard for small businesses to keep up with such expenses on top of utilities, insurance, staff etc
22 floor towers does seem like a lot when the surrounding existing buildings are 6-7 floors high. I can understand the sentiment of "losing Streetsville charm" But this development is off to the side and the main Streetsville charm is on Queen Street.
I saw some new floorplans uploaded to House Sigma if you search Saigon. I cross reference them to previous exterior renderings and noticed that they all went up in price.