Toronto Artists' Alley | 121.91m | 39s | Lanterra | Hariri Pontarini

[alienhenny]

This is exciting. It's one of the best looking proposals I've seen in a while.

 

[christiesplits]

The Cheapening™, keep your hands off her!

 

[Edward Skira]

Lanterra does good work when it comes to design. The cheese grater at the top of ICE wasn't absolutely necessary and certainly wasn't cheap but they still built it.

 

[Momin]

UT's latest update:

It's hard to believe that one year has already passed since [URL='http://urbantoronto.ca/database/profiles/lanterra-developments']Lanterra Developments

made a splash at Toronto's Design Review Panel with their proposal for Artists' Alley, a mixed-use three-tower development on a block of land between St. Patrick and Simcoe Streets, just south of Dundas. Late last year, it was revealed that changes had been made to the original proposal by Hariri Pontarini Architects, and it was this slightly scaled down version that made a second pass in front of the Panel last week.

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[jje1000]

Definitely agree with what they have to say about the mid-block retail- don't think there's enough pedestrian traffic to draw people into the site, and the site is too far removed from major streets to be a convenient shortcut for people to take.

The question then raised is what you would put into the space so it doesn't feel dead. Some carefully curated destination retail (i.e. galleries, pop-up retail), a daycare or some community space might work. The space could also be more heavily planted so that it becomes more of a pocket garden than a pedestrian throughway.

On the other hand, I don't think the 15 meter tower separation is as much of a livability issue as mentioned- people all around the world (even in Europe) routinely live in far tighter conditions.

 

[stjames2queenwest]

I get their concern about retail but it is not going to be warranted. There is a university right next door! As long as they put in food or trendy retail they will be fine.

 

[am29]

Well reducing the office portion definitely won't help pedestrians traffic levels.

 

[jje1000]

I get their concern about retail but it is not going to be warranted. There is a university right next door! As long as they put in food or trendy retail they will be fine.

That's an interesting notion- a more upscale Village on the Grange-style cafes and restaurants? It could attract those working along the University Ave corridor + spillover from OCAD.

That being said, the student population is not exactly the wealthiest market, so retail will need to be some sort of trendy/cheap combination- hence maybe a popup retail program might work.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

That's an interesting notion- a more upscale Village on the Grange-style cafes and restaurants? It could attract those working along the University Ave corridor + spillover from OCAD.
That being said, the student population is not exactly the wealthiest market, so retail will need to be some sort of trendy/cheap combination- hence maybe a popup retail program might work.

A Tiger store would definitely be good:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelwmil...of-your-dreams?utm_term=.byPWGE362#.lvEZR4xn7

AoD

 

[GenerationLee]

A Tiger store would definitely be good:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelwmil...of-your-dreams?utm_term=.byPWGE362#.lvEZR4xn7

AoD

At first I thought you meant Giant Tiger XD

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

At first I thought you meant Giant Tiger XD

Har har, nope!

AoD

 

[Skeezix]

Har har, nope!

AoD

That's not how we'll all remember it.

"Do you remember that time back in 2017 when AoD kept going on about wanting a Giant Tiger downtown?"

"Yeah, that was weird."​

 

[Christopher Brown]

This is exciting. It's one of the best looking proposals I've seen in a while.

It's the execution of their designs that's a problem and the quality of M&E infrastructure and materials installed. Maple Leaf Square is an prime example. The problems never end.

 

[DonValleyRainbow]

Building 1 of this development has been added to The 120m List.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Minutes from the Feb 9 DRP: http://www1.toronto.ca/City Of Toronto/City Planning/Urban Design/Files/pdf/DRP/DRP 2017/FINAL MINUTES Feb9 2017.pdf

Additional Images:

Updated docs are also posted on the Dev App site
http://app.toronto.ca/DevelopmentAp...ion=init&folderRsn=3819690&isCofASearch=false

From Architectural Plans:

AoD