Toronto Minto Yorkville Park Condos | 75.89m | 25s | Minto Group | IBI Group

This is a professional building like Medical Arts. Some residents have been in the building 20 years or more serving the community. It is a vibrant building
and provides many services to the area that will not be replaced. Similar to the Medcal Arts Building where the practitioners moved away from the area , a substantial resource will be lost. At least Medical Arts went to U of T. This will also be the beginning of the loss of medium rise buildings in Yorkville, If this occurs the character of Yorkville as we know it will start to change and the quaint boutiques, shops and services of the area will start to disappear. It's got to stop now.
 
The existing building is a blight at ground level and overpowers both Cumberland and Bellair. A new building with a smaller floorplate rising out of its podium could actually be an improvement in terms of built form and its impact on the area.

Agreed on the loss of the commercial space, but that's partly being replaced with the new St. Thomas development.
 
whatever said:
The existing building is a blight at ground level and overpowers both Cumberland and Bellair. A new building with a smaller floorplate rising out of its podium could actually be an improvement in terms of built form and its impact on the area.

Agreed on the loss of the commercial space, but that's partly being replaced with the new St. Thomas development.
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Lettieri always has people in it, and the exterior seating is perfect for people watching. That's hardly a blight. I don't think a smaller floorplate here is going to make a difference.
 
M.Bayliss said:
If this occurs the character of Yorkville as we know it will start to change and the quaint boutiques, shops and services of the area will start to disappear. It's got to stop now.
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I don't find Yorkville's boutiques and shops to be quaint at all. For the most part, I think they're quite shabby, especially for an area that aspires to be Canada's Rodeo Drive. Most of my out-of-town guests are incredulous that Yorkville is the chi-chi shopping district of Toronto. Hopefully, this development will continue to raise the bar on the neighbourhood, like The Hazelton Hotel and 100 Yorkville before it.
 
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condovo said:
I don't find Yorkville's boutiques and shops to be quaint at all. For the most part, I think they're quite shabby, especially for an area that aspires to be Canada's Rodeo Drive. Most of my out-of-town guests are incredulous that Yorkville is the chi-chi shopping district of Toronto. Hopefully, this development will continue to raise the bar on the neighbourhood, like the Hazelton Hotel and 100 Yorkville before it.
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wow, whatever your vision of the future of yorkville is I want no part of it ... I love the so called 'shabbyness' - Keep all the upscale international retails on Bloor / Bay / Avenue.
 
^^ According to a number of international rankings, Toronto now is about the tenth most important city in the world. Shabby doesn't cut it anymore and neither does Yorkville (the commercial/retail part, not the residential part).
 
condovo said:
I don't find Yorkville's boutiques and shops to be quaint at all. For the most part, I think they're quite shabby, especially for an area that aspires to be Canada's Rodeo Drive. Most of my out-of-town guests are incredulous that Yorkville is the chi-chi shopping district of Toronto. Hopefully, this development will continue to raise the bar on the neighbourhood, like The Hazelton Hotel and 100 Yorkville before it.
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100 Yorkville? Bahaha... that thing didn't raise the bar for anything in this city. It's hideous. I've had several people point it out as such to me when walking past it (I ignore it at this point) and the ground floor podium with retail is about as uninspiring as it can get. (Which is good because it's at least not quite as offensive as the cheap looking tower above it.)

As for the small side streets in Yorkville... everyone seems to agree that they are quaint. Yes it is slightly behind the times or shabby in some respects, but that doesn't mean it needs to be replaced by larger projects. Just small detail work would fix the problem.

Replacing those quaint little side streets and all of those little cottages and shops with larger buildings would be a big mistake. Go to Bloor Street if you want that in Yorkville.
 
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^^ The shabbiness is most apparent on Cumberland, Yorkville Ave, and Bellair. With few exceptions, the so-called 'cottages' lost all their charm and integrity back in the 80s. Time for them to go.
 
condovo said:
^^ According to a number of international rankings, Toronto now is about the tenth most important city in the world. Shabby doesn't cut it anymore and neither does Yorkville (the commercial/retail part, not the residential part).
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Shabby was your choice of words :) ... anyway, the top 9 cities most likely have very similar high end strips - this is what sets Toronto apart to a certain degree ... why ruin it. Ideally all I'd like to see is the side walks re clad and some plantings.
 
^^ Aside from Yorkville Park, there's almost nothing left to ruin. It's time for Yorkville to match Toronto's global aspirations. We're not a provincial backwater anymore. Re-clad sidewalks and some plantings aren't good enough. The long-abused 'cottages' have got to go too.
 
condovo said:
^^ Aside from Yorkville Park, there's almost nothing left to ruin. It's time for Yorkville to match Toronto's global aspirations. We're not a provincial backwater anymore. Re-clad sidewalks and some plantings aren't good enough. The long-abused 'cottages' have got to go too.
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To be honest, I find your spin on "global aspirations" to be born out of a naive misunderstanding that's, well...provincial and backwaterish. Sort of like, the harder that Leisure Suit Larry tries, the more he remains Leisure Suit Larry.

That said, I'm hovering upon indifference re 94 Cumberland. True, it's a functional entity full of doctor's offices and all, and the usual "embodied energy" arguments can be invoked on the building's behalf. But architecturally speaking, it's no Medical Arts. (Though note that I said "indifference", rather than "get rid of it, it's a dismal dated eyesore".)
 
condovo said:
ons. We're not a provincial backwater anymore. Re-clad sidewalks and some plantings aren't good enough. The long-abused 'cottages' have got to go too.
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Should we also spank your ass and call you Robert Moses?

PS. I don't like your idea of what a major international city is. At all. I'll take "back water" please. (Your words, not mine.)
 
I don't see why the arbitrary number-crunching of some folks to produce "Most Important Rankings" - entirely meaningless from a statistical point of view, BTW - should have any effect on the built form of our city. Yorkville's over-the-top, chintzy and faded glamour is part of its charm. I like it *because* it looks like some old campy biddy in a worn out Chanel suit.

As for 94 Cumberland - I'm fine with seeing it go.
 
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