Toronto TeaHouse 501 Yonge Condominiums | 170.98m | 52s | Lanterra | a—A

CN Tower said:
I feel the same way when I see anything with Brad Lamb's name on it.

Seriously.
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I don't. Brad Lamb has been responsible for some of the most best projects in this city. His earlier mid-rise work; EAST, Glas, OneSixNine, Zen Lofts were all solid additions to their respective neighbourhoods. There's some good stuff under construction right now in the east side, and the developments currently on the market like King Charlotte and Theatre Park are a couple of the better looking projects right now.
 
Did the article posted a few days ago say only TWO retail areas? Fail. And that above-ground parking is ridiculous and ugly. This is not enhancing Yonge St, it's turning it into a Bay St: prettier; but, still a drive-through to somewhere else.
 
DTowner said:
Did the article posted a few days ago say only TWO retail areas? Fail. And that above-ground parking is ridiculous and ugly. This is not enhancing Yonge St, it's turning it into a Bay St: prettier; but, still a drive-through to somewhere else.
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I am not quite sure how anyone can call something a fail or ugly when a design has not been presented (or even executed).
 
Why release preliminary renders presenting a monolithic blank street wall? It hardly excites support. I can easily imagine a Stalinist military parade looking at home on Yonge street with this backdrop. I am in love with canyon vistas such as we have on Carlton, but Yonge calls for a lighter touch. Aura's setbacks were adjusted in design review - I trust Lanterra will be guided by similarly enlightened principles.
 
Ramako said:
What's this? Is Toronto actually building a downtown core with tall buildings? Next thing you know, all these tall towers and people living in the core will make Toronto as desolate a place as midtown Manhattan or Tokyo.
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Yes, indeed, all our streets will be as lively as Bay north of Queen or...better yet, St. Jamestown! Obviously Bremner is our liveliest and most dynamic street: it has the most high-rise condos! As everyone knows, La Défense is the liveliest neighbourhood of Paris, Canary Wharf is the most dynamic in London.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I have no problem with high-rises along Yonge Street. I'm just uncomfortable with the superblock style of development in general, especially in an already-developed area. I just hope this doesn't kill the street there like most high-rise condo superblocks. It's not a coincidence that the most dead part of Yonge Street is that stretch of superblocks around College and Gerrard.
 
College Park said:
Why release preliminary renders presenting a monolithic blank street wall? It hardly excites support. I can easily imagine a Stalinist military parade looking at home on Yonge street with this backdrop. I am in love with canyon vistas such as we have on Carlton, but Yonge calls for a lighter touch. Aura's setbacks were adjusted in design review - I trust Lanterra will be guided by similarly enlightened principles.
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Nobody has released preliminary renderings. The sketch-up model being presented on UrbanToronto was created by member CanadianNational (IIRC) and is based on the few details known so far, although a taller than 3 floor podium is pure speculation at this point.

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unimaginative2 said:
Yes, indeed, all our streets will be as lively as Bay north of Queen or...better yet, St. Jamestown! Obviously Bremner is our liveliest and most dynamic street: it has the most high-rise condos! As everyone knows, La Défense is the liveliest neighbourhood of Paris, Canary Wharf is the most dynamic in London.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I have no problem with high-rises along Yonge Street. I'm just uncomfortable with the superblock style of development in general, especially in an already-developed area. I just hope this doesn't kill the street there like most high-rise condo superblocks. It's not a coincidence that the most dead part of Yonge Street is that stretch of superblocks around College and Gerrard.
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Yes, all those areas that you mentioned, which are full of highrises, are dull, but I think it's incorrect to assume that those places are dull simply by virtue of height. We could spend all day coming up with examples of highrises areas that are either dull or vibrant. My fundamental point is that height, in and of itself, is not the determinant factor in whether a tower creates a positive or negative impact on the vibrancy of its surroundings.* What we should be far more concerned with is how the building is handled on street level (scale, size of retail units, etc.), and not how many storeys into the sky it goes. I would also be uncomfortable with a super-block MLS-style development on this stretch of Yonge (which is why I'm not a fan of Lanterra taking on this project), but those kinds of problems can ideally be solved with good design. This is the kind of situation where a 4 storey podium with towers set back from Yonge would be perfect. The height is no matter.

*I would argue that in all the examples you provided, the determinant factor was in fact that the towers were all generally built together within a relatively small span of time, creating a monotonous, almost master-planned feel. This 'Bremneritis' is not an issue on Yonge Street.
 
Hipster Duck said:
Oh man. A 3 story podium, with 2 of those levels being parking, is not exactly what great city streets are made of.
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Very true. One hopes they intend to hide the parking behind something interesting. For that matter, I think the lot is plenty deep enough to put the parking at the back of the podium with street-facing units in front of it, so maybe they'll do that.
 
interchange42 said:
Nobody has released preliminary renderings. The sketch-up model being presented on UrbanToronto was created by member CanadianNational (IIRC) and is based on the few details known so far, although a taller than 3 floor podium is pure speculation at this point.

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Ok, ok. I admit I was over-reacting. The sight of that blank wall in a render excited a defense mechanism independent of actual data. However, if Lanterra presents anything like this, an allergic reaction will be registered.
 
There is a similar situation a few blocks south at Carlton. Main floor retail and 3 or 4 levels of parking and I don't think most people even notice it. They did a good job at street level and I like the canopy.

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More info on this project from city planning.

501 YONGE ST

OPA / Rezoning 11 187996 STE 27 OZ Ward 27
- Tor & E.York May 5, 2011 Application Submitted May 5, 2011 Residential Apartments Henstock, Sarah
416-392-7196

An application to amend City of Toronto Zoning By-law No. 438-86 and Zoning By-law 1156-2010 to permit a mixed use development with two 58-storey towers containing 960 residential condominium units on a shared 7-storey podium. The podium would contain retail uses at grade and five storeys of above grade parking with 302 parking spaces for residents and 58 parking spaces for visitors. Above grade parking is required because the TTC subway tunnel runs the length of the property. The height of the towers would be 192 metres. Driveway access and servicing would be from Maitland Place. The lobbies for the residential condominiums would be on Alexander Street and Maitland Street.
 
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