Developer: Intentional Capital
  
Address: 147-151 Liberty St, Toronto
Category: Residential (Unspecified), Commercial (Office)
Status: Pre-ConstructionCompletion: TBD
Height: 589 ft / 179.62 mStoreys: 55 storeys
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Toronto 147 Liberty Street | 179.62m | 55s | Intentional Capital | Sweeny &Co

Northern Light

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New to the AIC is this application for a 55s, primarily residential tower, located at the south-west corner of Fraser and Liberty in Liberty Village.

Modest Employment uses would be retained. Buildings are designated heritage.

The addresses are 147-151 Liberty Street and and 54-68 Fraser.

Site as-is, per Streetview:

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The App:


From the above:

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Site Plan:

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Elevators: Six - * but 3 only reach the 25th floor. Overall ratio 1 elevator to 122 units.

@Paclo

@HousingNowTO will wish to note that this site which bills itself mixed use is functionally an employment lands conversion, using MTSA as a basis and seeking height w/o area precedent, while currently proposing no affordable housing.

Comments:

The height ask here is very aggressive. While it would not be be completely out of keeping with proposals further east in Liberty Village, nothing built, under construction, approved or proposed nearby comes even remotely close in height. The upper precedent is 19s.

The proponent is asking to alter designated heritage, add residential permissions to an Employment Site, and seeks height w/o nearby precedent, all with no affordable housing.... and renders about as sexy as plain white wall paper.

This one should get a rough ride until they come back with a serious proposal.
 
This piece of property is actually a great piece to get redeveloped. I hope they are thoughtful on how it could add to the third space in liberty village.
Yes could this development set the norm for more buildings to be built at this height in this area? Hummmmm!
 
An animator friend of mine lived in this building for several years in the late 80s. Back then it was a very affordable area for bands and artists (and speakeasies).... personally I see no effort to join the two architectural styles here - not even a cursory nod to the history of the area and the very building it's proposed to spring from. Ugh.
 
Damn that's a shame... Liberty village is pretty ugly to begin with but thankfully the new condos haven't touched the historic buildings... now they're going to ruin the few nice remaining buildings in the area
 
Damn that's a shame... Liberty village is pretty ugly to begin with but thankfully the new condos haven't touched the historic buildings... now they're going to ruin the few nice remaining buildings in the area

Don't let that happen. Make sure to involve yourself in the process. Write to the area Councillor, to the Planner on the file, and to staff at Heritage preservation.

Let's be clear, it's unlikely, to me, that these buildings will be preserved entirely as is, in-situ, over the longer term. But any new build here can be more thoughtful in scale, massing and materiality than this proposal is.
 
Last I checked it was de-prioritized by City Hall - considering it was supposed to be built by 2021 and there are no shovels in the ground in 2025, I wouldn't hold my breath on that one...

Preparatory works for the station are ongoing, while the province and the City talk...
 
Don't let that happen. Make sure to involve yourself in the process. Write to the area Councillor, to the Planner on the file, and to staff at Heritage preservation.

Lets be clear, its unlikely, to me, that these buildings will be preserved entirely as is, in-situ, over the longer term. But any new build here can be more thoughtful in scale, massing and materiality than this proposal is.
Liberty Village is such a squandered opportunity to build something great, but not having a solid urban plan. I can't help but compare this time and again to the way Atlanta treated their historical area renovation, namely Ponce City and Krog District (since I go there for work quite a lot). These areas showed plenty of respects to their heritage, and are planned to be a very livable space for local as well as an attraction for visitors. And if you look online, these areas are shown as masterpiece for urban planning and revival.

If you are interested, here they are:
- https://poncecitymarket.com/
- https://www.thekrogdistrict.com/

Lived in LV for a while when I first move to Toronto, the area just doesn't feel alive while the old structures are screaming for something more with all those characters. And lately when I visited it felt a bit worse with the some pretty bad space setups and overly crowded towers.

Anyways, I think there are still ways to salvage LV since some older buildings are still left intact, and to @Northern Light's point, we prolly have to be diligent about holding the city accountable for this piece of land.
 
One of the few times I'm not excited about a building proposal with this height. This building shouldn't be touched IMO outside of any restoration efforts.
 
Liberty Village is such a squandered opportunity to build something great, but not having a solid urban plan. I can't help but compare this time and again to the way Atlanta treated their historical area renovation, namely Ponce City and Krog District (since I go there for work quite a lot). These areas showed plenty of respects to their heritage, and are planned to be a very livable space for local as well as an attraction for visitors. And if you look online, these areas are shown as masterpiece for urban planning and revival.

If you are interested, here they are:
- https://poncecitymarket.com/
- https://www.thekrogdistrict.com/

Lived in LV for a while when I first move to Toronto, the area just doesn't feel alive while the old structures are screaming for something more with all those characters. And lately when I visited it felt a bit worse with the some pretty bad space setups and overly crowded towers.

Anyways, I think there are still ways to salvage LV since some older buildings are still left intact, and to @Northern Light's point, we prolly have to be diligent about holding the city accountable for this piece of land.
Walking around LV, I've always thought it could have felt like a larger Distillery District if done right. There are interesting pockets, but it all seems a bit disjointed. Somehow, it's both crowded and spread out at the same time.

As for this building, it doesn't seem to be in a particularly activated corner of LV. The height doesn't really bother me, as nearly any height would destroy sight lines and ruin the character anyway. That said, I'd hope we could maintain as much of the heritage pieces as possible & maintain/improve the retail too.
 
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