Toronto 45 The Esplanade | 128.85m | 39s | Republic | Arcadis

Echoing the comments from @Ward8; the ground floor is critical, and the recipe on this proposal is all wrong. A successful ground floor treatment will have a consistent tight rhythm, some detail and (for aesthetic as well as practical reasons) usually masonry. This has none of the above.

The Ryrie building on Yonge (which originally had many storefronts) is an example. A big building doesn’t need to pretend to be many buildings; it just needs to have some articulation.

75 the Esplanade, right next-door to this one, does pretty well.

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evandyk said:
Thanks for contributing and listening! The north side of the Esplanade there is pretty delightful to walk along, and the south side is absolutely not, so hopefully some lessons can be drawn.
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AlexBozikovic said:
Echoing the comments from @Ward8; the ground floor is critical, and the recipe on this proposal is all wrong. A successful ground floor treatment will have a consistent tight rhythm, some detail and (for aesthetic as well as practical reasons) usually masonry. This has none of the above.

The Ryrie building on Yonge (which originally had many storefronts) is an example. A big building doesn’t need to pretend to be many buildings; it just needs to have some articulation.

75 the Esplanade, right next-door to this one, does pretty well.

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AlexBozikovic said:
Echoing the comments from @Ward8; the ground floor is critical, and the recipe on this proposal is all wrong. A successful ground floor treatment will have a consistent tight rhythm, some detail and (for aesthetic as well as practical reasons) usually masonry. This has none of the above.

The Ryrie building on Yonge (which originally had many storefronts) is an example. A big building doesn’t need to pretend to be many buildings; it just needs to have some articulation.

75 the Esplanade, right next-door to this one, does pretty well.

View attachment 376611
View attachment 376610
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I wish they could keep the existing building as a podium or ground floor…it’s loved by many in the neighborhood
 
evandyk said:
If so, we're not really hearing the love in this thread. The current Novotel ground floor is terrible.
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So many movies and commercials have been filmed with it in the background…this is the nicest building on the Esplanade...even the inside of the hotel is very nice architecturally
 
Northern Light said:
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The facade will likely have a big hotel entrance sign in the middle, flanked by signs for the 2 retail units (possibly hotel-related restaurants). The residential lobbies are off to outside of the Esplanade frontage and there's a skinny retail unit around the corner. All of the entrances will activate the frontage. It would never work as an intimate retail frontage because it's punctuated by a wide hotel entrance and condo entrances. If the street allows it, I would expect a pick-up and drop-off zone in front.
 
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evandyk said:
If so, we're not really hearing the love in this thread. The current Novotel ground floor is terrible.
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The reason you're not hearing the love is because the neighbourhood is in flux. With 75 just occupied and the current residents of 45 making residents feel quite under siege. The cafe nicole was quite the place for locals, at Christmas and Thanksgiving you could get a nice meal. We've lost Frans, too. I also know that locals used the facilities to add to their physio routine, the staff were lovely. If you don't remember around the time of the G8 conference there was a long-standing labour dispute, they marched the same time as the crackpots and got mixed up with the police.
This scheme makes me so angry I could spit. No consultation about the hostel. Sidewalks taken away for years (for which the city gets money which they used for decorations!). Now that we get some breathing space they want to deconstruct this place, every carpet square, every pipe, every door knob, drop it in a dump truck drag it thru the neighbourhood(here's looking at you "Seniors Safety Zone" sign!) out onto the highway and off to the landfill - doesn't that just meet our critieria for sustainable city?! Never mind that we will have to wait 5-10 years for long term/respite beds in the downtown core. Never mind that the hospitals are choked with people not quite ready for release but there are no options. This building could be useful within the year. But no, the marketing team is king, let's come up with a clever name and website and forget the fact that this crap has an impact on living breathing people.
Why just why? This is the best you could come up with?
They've got a 95 storey being marketed up at Dundas/Yonge and are calling it Landmark. What sort of bloody Landmark is a fleeting marketing con that inflicts itself on the community for decades to come? HUH? HUH?
What happened to the danged reset? I want a reset!
Thank you very for making me angry now I have to go lie down arraahahaahgafgahghhahraaaaa!
 
I love the rendering of this unique looking development! BUT YOU CAN REALLY HERE THE CONTROVERSY on not to destroy this building or at least keep the facade!! IT'S A SAD SITUATION for some people !
 
The building looks like it has been inspired by Trump tower with all the gold & black accents and looks just about as garish. The current layout of the southern side of Esplanade at least follows a similar motif and while current Novotel building is not old, it certainly has an older look character. In addition to embroiling the entire area in dust, noise and construction, the resulting traffic jam, in a street clearly not designed for this density will surely be a disaster.

While sadly, I am sure city will approve this monstrosity, perhaps in part due to some back-end deal that allowed them to misuse the hotel as a shelter despite all the ignored objections by community, as a long time resident of the area I vigorously object to this proposal, at least in its current form.
 
johnpro said:
The building looks like it has been inspired by Trump tower with all the gold & black accents and looks just about as garish. The current layout of the southern side of Esplanade at least follows a similar motif and while current Novotel building is not old, it certainly has an older look character. In addition to embroiling the entire area in dust, noise and construction, the resulting traffic jam, in a street clearly not designed for this density will surely be a disaster.

While sadly, I am sure city will approve this monstrosity, perhaps in part due to some back-end deal that allowed them to misuse the hotel as a shelter despite all the ignored objections by community, as a long time resident of the area I vigorously object to this proposal, at least in its current form.
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Not sure that it is fair to anyone to suggest that permission for the development has anything to do with a hotel/shelter (underhand) deal. Due to covid MANY hotel operators had no guests and the City had more people to house - it seems like a fair match - though I certainly agree that exchanging hotel guests for the ex-homeless as one's neighbours is not going to be easy. The plans have not yet been evaluated by the City and if you do not like them you will have a chance to voice your views at the mandatory public meeting.
 
Since seeing Toronto for the first time in 1973 I never thought a pair of buildings up to 36 stories would look so insignificant on the skyline.
 
I am writing a proposal for alternative uses for 45 The Esplanade. We don't need another condo we need services. Things won't change if we keep rolling over for this nonsense.
 
Rufus8 said:
I am writing a proposal for alternative uses for 45 The Esplanade. We don't need another condo we need services. Things won't change if we keep rolling over for this nonsense.
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You're suggesting the City purchase it?

Or that Republic and Silver just voluntarily accept a public-sector lease of the site?
 
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