Toronto 2221 Yonge Condos | 192.62m | 58s | Tower Hill | Pei Partnership

balenciaga said:
not that I like this building, but why do developers replace a functioning midrise, instead of buying some low rise properties on the side streets nearby (Soudan Ave, Hillsdale ave for example), demolish them and erecting a tower? Won't it be cheaper? I am sure for the right price, some owners will be willing to sell.
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I had to Google the area, but good question. My guess is that current planning policies would support intensification on a main avenue like Eglinton while preserving the abutting single-family residential neighborhoods.

http://goo.gl/maps/BLNfE

Are the single-family homes worth saving in this neighborhood? I'm mixed. There is still so much land out there for redevelopment.
 
balenciaga said:
not that I like this building, but why do developers replace a functioning midrise, instead of buying some low rise properties on the side streets nearby (Soudan Ave, Hillsdale ave for example), demolish them and erecting a tower? Won't it be cheaper? I am sure for the right price, some owners will be willing to sell.
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Many homes on various streets in the surrounding areas have been bought by developers looking to redevelop. It is happening more so north of Eglinton in areas where the single family homes have become more the exception than the rule.

Building towers on predominantly low-rise streets, however, is easier said than done. Many people in those homes want to stay in their homes and do not want to be forever shadowed by a 56-storey tower next door, so they may very well not sell even if a neighbour has. The City is very slow to allow the building of high-rises in areas that it considers to be stable neighbourhoods.

On a main street, close to a major intersection, and more importantly, close to a subway station and surrounding by other tall buildings, a developer has far better prospects of being allowed to go tall.

That's why this is being proposed here, and not a block or two in on low-rise, single-family-home Soudan Ave.

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Towered said:
No loss at all.
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Actually, I find it a bit of a minor-50s-office-building sweetheart in its way--the windows are replacements, but it otherwise still "feels" nicely old-shoe lived-in with its red granite base and yellow brick walls--the latter which have a fascinating "lilting" effect at the angles (does any other brick building do this in Toronto?).

Now, I'm not making massive claims for it--in a way, better for it to be euthanized altogether than desecrated a la Scientology. Then again, "why euthanize", indeed. (And I actually find it less awkward than the provincial building that was sacrificed for Minto, perhaps because it's so unapologetically a streetfront-hugging "background building"--if there were a 50s-modern version of Haussmann's Paris, it'd consist of streets lined with edifices like this one.)
 
I feel like I must have photographed this over a week ago and got so busy that I never got around to posting it. Walked by again this afternoon, and here's what the development sign shows.

Do these renders make it seem like they might be looking to clad the podium with the existing buildings facade? Here's what it looks like in Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/IH9dN I think there's a similarity there; same number of floors as well.

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Xray_Crystal_Junkie said:
Welp, I give up.



If an international architect contributed to this we should revoke their visa.
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Yes, it's a box. A tall and slender box. If quality cladding is used, it would be nice.

(I will admit right here that I know nothing little about architecture. I'm more of a numbers guy. Is the project really that bad?)
 
fedplanner said:
Yes, it's a box. A tall and slender box. If quality cladding is used, it would be nice.

(I will admit right here that I know nothing little about architecture. I'm more of a numbers guy. Is the project really that bad?)
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Welp. Suddenly I understand all of your opinions so much more.
 
SP!RE said:
Welp. Suddenly I understand all of your opinions so much more.
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If I was design gifted, I would have went to school for architecture. I'm just speaking my mind and contributing where I can.

I wonder how the four seasons development in Yorkville was first received on this forum when it was just a 2D elevation of a box.
 
Time and time again we have seen elevations that barely hint at what the architecture will actually be like. It's too early to know!

That said, I agree this looks like nothing much out of the ordinary yet, but yes, there's an internationally renowned architect behind this proposal, so I remain hopeful that this building will have much more in store for us than this initial elevation reveals.

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fedplanner said:
If I was design gifted, I would have went to school for architecture. I'm just speaking my mind and contributing where I can.

I wonder how the four seasons development in Yorkville was first received on this forum when it was just a 2D elevation of a box.
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We weren't inundated with glass boxes at that point.
 
Looks like a pretty car-centric podium setup with the driveway and the podium on pilotis but obviously it's too early to make a judgment.

Thanks for sharing, ud!
 
So obviously Pei has decided to make it public now. Well, the dataBase page will be up soon.

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