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Moss Park / Queen & Sherbourne

Skeezix said:
I'd love to see how that would be possible with preserving the same number and GFA of RGI units, about double the amount of market units, reconnecting the old street grid, while maintaining largely the same amount of green space at grade (give or take). I'm not saying it's impossible, in fact I'd hope it is possible, I just think it's more challenging than "there's lots of room".
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I thought the point is to reduce the RGI units. Those apartment buildings need to be demolished. No area should have so many homeless shelters AND so many public housing.
 
Skeezix said:
No. The goal is to create a mixed-income development by adding market units, not by reducing the RGI units. In Regent Park, the number and GFA of the RGI units was maintained.
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the truth is downtown is not particularly dense and to maintain the same number of RGI units doesn't mean those people have to live in the exactly same area in those 3 or 4 apartment buildings. They can spread out a bit to the north or east, or to west of Yonge st, with equally great public transit and stuff. It means they don't have to always live in Moss Park bound by Queen, Shutter, Sherbourne and Parliament -which is too small an area for so many public housing. Why do we need to set on the idea those residents can't live more than 10 minutes from Queen/Sherbourne? Let's be honest, those three huge apartment buildings make Queen East pretty much a dead zone and that's not even good for the Moss Park residents.
 
Doesn't matter. Whether the RGI units are on this site or in the larger neighbourhood - the number and overall GFA will need to be replaced. The cost of land acquisition will significantly up the number of market units needed on the site to make the numbers work. Given the politics of the other TCHC redevelopments, any other sites would need to be close. Not sure how many sites there are in the area that would easily accommodate RGI units (physically and politically) without a prohibitive purchase price. I think of the Spacing series on why the City has such problems acquiring land for parks (even though it has the money to do so), and those reasons would make it equally difficult to acquire land in this area to spread out the RGI units. The fundamental reason these TCHC developments work is because TCHC already has the land and the land is underdeveloped. Doubt it would work if they had to go out and buy more land.
 
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Skeezix said:
I'd love to see how that would be possible with preserving the same number and GFA of RGI units, about double the amount of market units, reconnecting the old street grid, while maintaining largely the same amount of green space at grade (give or take). I'm not saying it's impossible, in fact I'd hope it is possible, I just think it's more challenging than "there's lots of room".
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Look at all the surface parking that could go.

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Edward Skira said:
Look at all the surface parking that could go.
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Yeah, as I've noted at least a couple of times in the past few months. And we're just talking in circles now, but I still don't think that it's obvious that the site can accommodate a replacement of all the RGI GFA, all the market units necessary to pay for the redevelopment, the same amount of green space, the road extensions and lanes, all while achieving the tower-separation distances, setbacks and stepbacks, and the mix of low, medium and high rise development that the City will want. Some extra height, over what exists today, would likely be achievable, but not that much. I've never said it's not do-able, just that it will be a challenge compared to the other TCHC revitalization projects (at least on this issue - the other projects had their own significant challenges), and I suspect it will be harder to make the numbers work. As I have said a few times now, I hope it does get redeveloped and hope it can be made to work. I just don't understand the "there's so much room"-type comments. There isn't that much room given what they will undoubtedly need to do.
 
slicecom said:
Can't wait to see them redeveloped... it's been a (perhaps irrational) dream of mine to have Seaton, Ontario and Berkeley reconnected.
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I have a similar dream.

Edward Skira said:
There's lots of room between Queen, Shuter, Sherbourne and Parliament for additional density. And rebuilding the street grids here would be a massive improvement. And I'd put retail back on Queen where a small park currently is.
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I'd have to look in person, but I wonder if there's enough room to reconnect the streets now, even without the removal of the "giant M" buildings.
 

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The 3 story building just west of McDermott motors has been for rent for at least 5 years or so (google maps here). A Pharmasave is now open on the second floor?! How many pharmacies is that for the area? On Parliament at Queen (and a small one on the south side of Queen just west of Parliament), Dundas, Gerrard, Carlton, and now Shuter. It boggles the mind. That and the second floor of this building is a bizzare location for retail. The rent must be almost nothing.
 
There's some hubbub in the local community paper because of the planned gay-positive community centre planned at Sherbourne and Queen, and it's apparent connection to changes to Seaton House and the overall gentrification of the area.
 
The empty place where the Montreal Bistro used to be (Sherbourne & Adelaide) has signs up indicating it has been leased . . . I wonder what type of business will be moving in? There was a furniture store there for a while but it's been empty for months.
 
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