Toronto 506 Church | 159.25m | 48s | Graywood | Diamond Schmitt

Would the plan include saving crews & tango and maintaining the venue? Or is biting the dust?
Previously the developer have said they intend for Crews to reoccupy the heritage building after the project is done. Now that was mostly due to the massive backlash they got from the local community when this project was announced. That said, even if they return to this site, Crews will be losing the back dance floor, and the patio. I'm also unsure of where they're supposed to relocate during construction.
 
Not sure why they couldn't do that whole planned building in that red brick style...

(...and where we all going to party during Pride Week when they do put that building there? >.< )
D+S was inspired by HPA who was in turn "inspired by the AIDS quilt" when they built an addition to Casey House.

:rolleyes:

It will also make a good home for a billboard
 
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Still waiting for the official website but appears like this is being marketed as "Maison Wellesley Condos":



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I like the scale. As for the rest of it, it's hard to overlook the parade of flaws on display here.
The parking garage entrance on the site of the former Boutique bar, for starters. Really? With a perfectly fine alleyway running behind this thing, they do this? This little strip is arguably the centre of the village, and every inch of fine-grained retail counts.
What might be a passable door on some other street may look like an outsize blunder here, pedestrian-wise.

I'm not a fan of the current state of the building housing Crews/Tango which has been in need of a sympathetic renovation for some time. However, this looks like a straight-up facadectomy behind which (noises about retaining Crews/Tango aside) the rents are also not likely to remain sympathetic. "Sure you can move back in - but the rates have gone up."

Setbacks? Sure, OK. None too subtly done, though. Plus, let's face it, the whole composition is exceedingly lumpy.

Perhaps the biggest problem is that north-facing wall. Neither a great simplicity nor an appealingly variegated piece of design, it already looks like the side wall of a 70's block that has been cheaply renovated a couple times. It's depressing to see new projects taking cues from rote utilitarian architectural accretions, cynically banking on their ubiquity, thinking people won't care or don't know any better.
I guess they're not putting windows there due to the possibility of something going up on that narrow lot behind O'Grady's? I suppose anything's possible, but damn, that would be one thin apartment. Giving the grisly insanity of the housing market, I suppose a building could be fashioned there that would sell 10' wide apartments for the price of rubies. It's too bad, though, that this project didn't wait to get ahold of the lot, and create a full structure that would turn the corner properly. Then again, looking at the fate of Crews/Tango, maybe it's better they didn't. Whatever the case, I fear we're going to be looking at that EIFS-by-way-of-Aluminum-Siding sidewall for some time.
 
I guess this is what the street level will be like. the renders seem to show a large condo lobby facing church st. I certainly hope that’s not the case. That would kill the village‘s vibrancy
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Don't hold you breath for the retail here, likely going to be chain stores or Shoppers Drug mart coming in. Same for Crews and Tangos, rents are not going to be sustainable and much less space to operate in. I wouldn't rule out residents complaining about the noise from O'grady in the future as well leading them and Crews and tangos (if they move in) to leave.
 
I'm really glad to see there's no parking garage entrance facing Church St in this last render. This entirely pedestrian-accessible front is a huge improvement.
I don't see how Crews/Tango will survive. I can't imagine a financing deal in place that will pay for the deep renovation/rebuild of that old building, to be paid for by beer and cocktails. Not to mention reserving the space for their return after the couple years it will take to build this thing. Lets just hope whatever goes in here is a benefit, a genuine asset, and not just another goddamn pharmacy.
 

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