Toronto 799 Brimley | 50.13m | 14s | Brimley Place | Studio JCI

[Northern Light]

This new to the AIC proposal seeks to redevelop an older strip plaza on Brimley just south of Lawrence with a 14s residential building.

Site as is:

Aerial pic:

Development Applications

City Planning COA Application Information Center

app.toronto.ca

Site Plan:

Ground Floor Plan:

Comments: While I think the scale here is probably reasonable and is supported by an MTSA for Lawrence East Station on the SSE, this will get pushback both from Urban Design and from the neighbours.

Studio JCI continues to deliver above-average outward facing designs; but the average unit size is tiny for the studios and 1bdrms in particular. I find it odd for that particular location which I expect would be more likely to serve couples/families than young singles/uni students etc.

Some concern over loss of community retail/services, with replacement being limited to a couple of units facing Brimley.

 

[junctionist]

The exterior architecture looks dull and austere. It also looks like there will be a net loss of retail space, which isn't acceptable given that there's isn't much retail within walking distance in the area. Ironically, this higher-density project could make the area less walkable as it reduces the amount of retail spaces.

Plus, retail at the base of new buildings tends to fetch a premium, which will make it unlikely that a mom and pop business in the current plaza will move into one of the new retail spaces.

 

[ben.thebean1]

The exterior architecture looks dull and austere. It also looks like there will be a net loss of retail space, which isn't acceptable given that there's isn't much retail within walking distance in the area. Ironically, this higher-density project could make the area less walkable as it reduces the amount of retail spaces.

Plus, retail at the base of new buildings tends to fetch a premium, which will make it unlikely that a mom and pop business in the current plaza will move into one of the new retail spaces.

I appreciate that they've taken into consideration the micro sized retail in the immediate area, but any business small enough to fit in one of those micro spaces is not going to be able to afford it considering the premium costs that will inevitably come from said net loss of retail space.

 

[JBR]

I do like the courtyard style rear of the building vs the overused and ugly 45 degree stepbacks all these mid rises use.
This style of building works in other cities globally but for some reason there are very few in Toronto

 

[WislaHD]

Pretty dense project. The typical floors for this one include lots of smaller units.

 

[Northern Light]

Pretty dense project. The typical floors for this one include lots of smaller units.

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First, off, nice to see you here again, happens too rarely these days!

Second, I think this is a hallmark of Studio JCI projects, they often contain a number of large units, but offset that with vast numbers of studios. They do an above-average job on their exterior architecture and massing as a firm; but they do tend to create a lot of units that I think of as unbelievably small.

Clearly that has a great deal to do w/their clients, nonetheless it does seem to be a go-to in their designs.