Toronto 505 Parliament | 36.62m | 10s | Streetwise | RAW Design

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Northern Light

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This new to the AIC application covers 2 lots on the east side of Parliament in the heart of @Admiral Beez territory, aka Cabbagetown.

Site as is (From the Planning Rationale Report)

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The App:

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Development Applications

City Planning COA Application Information Center
app.toronto.ca

From the Docs:

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Ground Floor Plan:

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Comments: Overall height is fine w/me, but will likely get pushback here. But they need much better architecture. I question the value of saving the one facade here, its unremarkable to me, and I think a 3-storey streetwall would be more fitting.
 
Towered said:
Is the interior of that theatre notable?
Click to expand...

I don't believe so.

Looking through the Heritage Impact Assessment, the original theatre wasn't at all grand:

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Subsequently, the old auditorium has been partitioned in 1/2:

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As noted above, there are some bits of trim that are decent...........but overall, I would not consider this an important space.

The nicest thing visible from the inside is one of the original vestibule doors:

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But to me, it only makes sense to retain those if retaining the facade, which I'm not really set on.
 
Okay so the interior isn't much to look at and the dance theatre is already moving so I'm not going to be too upset about this. Hopefully we can see some better renders soon but the massing looks nice.
 
Adding to the watch-list...
 
While I suspect some others in the neighbourhood will push back on this, I like it. And while I agree the original facade isn't all that remarkable, it is inherently better than a 12-foot glass wall that we so often get with new builds. I'd keep the facade just to safeguard against that alone.
 
AlbertC said:
streetsoftoronto.com

Upscale Toronto nabe criticized for protest of 10-storey building plan

Cabbagetown is an area with a lot of history and is also known as one of the richest and lowest-density areas in the entire city
streetsoftoronto.com streetsoftoronto.com
Click to expand...

People love to pick on Cabbagetown but it's not even close to being either the richest nor the lowest density area in the city. Shameless hyperbole.
I am sympathetic to Cabbagetowners as, in a generally unlovely city riddled with eyesores, it is one of the only areas that has any architectural coherence or notable charm.... Located at the centre of the highest concentrations of public housing and homeless shelters in the entire city, it looks and feels the way it does is because its residents have maintained, cared for and sometimes fought for the preservation of its heritage buildings and streetscapes - for generation after generation. As such, all Torontonians get to enjoy it.

Maybe taller buildings on Parliament are appropriate - but please - let's not pretend that greenlighting 10 clunky storeys of entirely market-rate housing, designed in Sketch-Up, & breaking multiple zoning bylaws is responsible planning and/or will somehow magically solve the housing crisis in Toronto. It's just going to be more sh*tty condos for so-called "rich" people. So enough with the socioeconomic equity argument. The only equity issue addressed in this proposal is the profit incentive for the private equity managed by Streetwise Capital.
 
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