Toronto CampusOne Student Residence (was University Place) | 79.85m | 25s | Knightstone | Diamond Schmitt

24 stories is tall, but not unreasonable in this neighbourhood. In particular, it is beside a rather tall 6 storey commercial building and across the street from the CAMH block with 12(?) commercial floors. It should also be mentioned that the building has a setback above the 15th floor, so it won't loom over College street.
 
I think 24 is about right for the spot. Between Spadina and University, there should be density. Perhaps I would prefer a lot that allowed more horizontal density and less vertical so as to preserve the surrounding neighbourhoods, though. I would hate to see tall buildings in Kensington or on College west of Spadina - or in the residential neighbourhood to the south for that matter.
 
It still is completely out scale for the neighbourhood, but I think I'm okay with that. If the project develops the way I think it will, it will end being an interesting skyline object from many angles, and maybe it will set a precedent for higher density development of the actual corners of the College/Spadina intersection. That intersection is right up there with Queen/Bathurst in the 'crappy nexus surrounded by great stuff' category.

Burger King/Popeye's - the wrecking ball of my mind is aimed at you.
 
agoraflaneur said:
I think 24 is about right for the spot. Between Spadina and University, there should be density. Perhaps I would prefer a lot that allowed more horizontal density and less vertical so as to preserve the surrounding neighbourhoods, though. I would hate to see tall buildings in Kensington or on College west of Spadina - or in the residential neighbourhood to the south for that matter.
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The neighbourhood to the south would be a lot better off if it were redeveloped, save for the baldwin street restaurant area.
So many of those formerly beautiful houses have been gutted and filled with tons of cramped apartments at high rent, all so that greedy landlords can make a ton of profit. Many of them have even paved their front and back yards completely so that they don't have to do any lawn or garden maintenance. I have a feeling that a lot of the "community opposition" to the taller proposal was because these greedy landlords were worried their renters would head to the new building.
Like it or not, over the next several decades I have a feeling that the area inbetween queen to college and university to spadina will get a whole lot denser.

bengaijin said:
It still is completely out scale for the neighbourhood, but I think I'm okay with that. If the project develops the way I think it will, it will end being an interesting skyline object from many angles, and maybe it will set a precedent for higher density development of the actual corners of the College/Spadina intersection. That intersection is right up there with Queen/Bathurst in the 'crappy nexus surrounded by great stuff' category.

Burger King/Popeye's - the wrecking ball of my mind is aimed at you.
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there's a heck of a lot worse around there than the burger king / popeye's building.
 
Student99 said:
there's a heck of a lot worse around there than the burger king / popeye's building.
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All the more so given that you can still sense what it once was: one of those picturesque A. Bruce Etherington TD Banks from the 50s/60s...
 
So many of those formerly beautiful houses have been gutted and filled with tons of cramped apartments at high rent, all so that greedy landlords can make a ton of profit.
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Yeah I know, I lived in one when I went to grad school. They should be bought by rich people in my opinion, and left undeveloped but restored. There are some buildings that could come down, but many many nice ones that would be disastrous to lose. It would be more than a shame. And the Baldwin village has some of the worst buildings, actually. Low rise townhomes or condos a la Dundas West are all that should move in here.
 
I wonder if they knew that 24s would be too shocking so they asked for an even more ridiculous number initially just to soften the blow when they lowered it to the 24 they always planned for?
 
Student99 said:
The neighbourhood to the south would be a lot better off if it were redeveloped, save for the baldwin street restaurant area.
So many of those formerly beautiful houses have been gutted and filled with tons of cramped apartments at high rent, all so that greedy landlords can make a ton of profit. Many of them have even paved their front and back yards completely so that they don't have to do any lawn or garden maintenance. I have a feeling that a lot of the "community opposition" to the taller proposal was because these greedy landlords were worried their renters would head to the new building.
Like it or not, over the next several decades I have a feeling that the area inbetween queen to college and university to spadina will get a whole lot denser.
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Even in their present state, the houses in that neighbourhood are restorable. Density is good and that area will get denser, but does that mean it will lose its character and be filled with high-rise buildings? Not necessarily. 24 stories is still too high for the area. At 12 stories, the CAMH tower doesn't fit in at all. Maybe U of T staff and students should accept that their campus is going to have to become denser, rather than pushing it all off to just outside the campus. Will it mean high-rises? I hope not, but there are a lot of parking lots on campus waiting for midrise buildings and underutilized sites like the athletics centre that could accommodate more density. U of T will probably have to build new academic buildings with several floors of student housing on top or in a wing.
 
junctionist said:
Even in their present state, the houses in that neighbourhood are restorable. Density is good and that area will get denser, but does that mean it will lose its character and be filled with high-rise buildings? Not necessarily. 24 stories is still too high for the area. At 12 stories, the CAMH tower doesn't fit in at all. Maybe U of T staff and students should accept that their campus is going to have to become denser, rather than pushing it all off to just outside the campus. Will it mean high-rises? I hope not, but there are a lot of parking lots on campus waiting for midrise buildings and underutilized sites like the athletics centre that could accommodate more density. U of T will probably have to build new academic buildings with several floors of student housing on top or in a wing.
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I believe I read somewhere that the land under U of T is technically zoned commercial so thus city requires that they maintain a certain amount of parking on campus. There are lots of sites as you said, but they would have to put that parking somewhere else. I think they should dig out the field at King's College Circle, drop in a massive underground lot there and then have the majority of their parking needs taken care of.

Back on topic, I agree with s99 that the area south of the U of T to Spadina is going to undergo some huge development pressure in the next decades. We'll see demolition by neglect. And, when you look at how wide Spadina is, you can imagine tall buildings lining each side. This development at 12 stories would hopefully set a standard for mid-rise in the area, kind of like King-Spadina.
 
Well I heard today that the parking arrangements at the back of the property are for about 14 months (or so) so I am betting this is not the last we have heard of the density of this intersection being pushed higher...
 
As an alum; and someone who still walks the area regularly; I really like the lower rise character around Baldwin and don't want to see that tampered with.

I think the mature trees and the cafe's make for lovely walks and a great place to sit on a patio.

To me 24s at that particular site is still pretty heavy; I'm not the least bit hi-rise adverse, but this just isn't the spot.

The U of T is not as short of resident space as one might believe.

The number of undergrads at St. George is basically stable.

In the last number of years, they've added :

- 1 new UC residence
- 1 New College Residence
- 1 new/expanded Innis College Residence
- 1 new St. Mike's Residence
- 1 new Victoria College Residence (older,but still, last 20 years)
- 1 new Grad Student Residence
- 1 new Woodsworth Residence
- 1 major off-campus residence (Chestnut behind City Hall)

They've just decided they WANT to take more residents in; which is fine, but let's not suggest its dire.

As for where new res. space should go, if more must be built.....

My suggestion would be Bloor. You have the hideousness of OISE, the former Rochdale (now seniors res.) and another concrete bunker + the CFRA space as well.

As I'd bet that seniors residence is not up today's standards for supportive living and such...

I'd probably be inclined to move it to the CFRA site and/or somewhere else nearby; then take the former Rochdale site and put it back to being a student residence (either new build or renovate/remodel)

Lots of sites there where 20s would be entirely reasonable.

After that......Cresford could build them a nice residence.....they could call it 1000 Bay Street! ;)
 
Meeting Notice:
Community Consultation Meeting about Proposed Developments at
297 College and 245 College

Date: Monday December 5, 2011
Location: Lillian Smith Library, 239 College St (at Huron), Lower Level Auditorium
Time: 297 College St - 6:30-7:15pm, 245 College St - 7:15-8:15pm

City Planning is hosting a Community Consultation Meeting about two proposed developments near College and Spadina.

297 College St is located on the south side of College Street, at Robert Street, at a site that is currently home to the Zen Buddhist Temple. A 15-storey building with two levels of retail at grade is proposed.

245 College St is located on the south side of College Street, between Spadina and Huron. An application was filed for a 42-storey academic residence building. A revised application has been filed, for a 24-storey academic residence.
 
Another meeting. When looking at the actual height in meters (80m) on this, it's a bit bigger than the Tribute site proposal just on the other side of Spadina, which is at about 57m I think. I wonder where these will end up?

245 College Street: Public Meeting

Date: Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Time: 6:30 - 8:00pm
Location: Lillian H. Smith Library, 239 College St (at Huron), Lower Level Auditorium

Councillor Vaughan and City Planning invite you to a public meeting about the development proposal at 245 College St. This is a proposed student residence building.

The original proposal for this site was for a 42-storey building. A revised proposal for a 24-storey building has been submitted.

Join Councillor Vaughan and City Planning staff to hear about the revised plans and provide your feedback.
 
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