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

concrete_and_light said:
While many of the buildings in this corridor are somewhat low-quality, to put it nicely, and I'm concerned by the loss of a fine-grained streetscape, I've embraced the Blade Runnerification of Yonge Street and am really looking forward to the transformation of this area into a dense, vertical urban space.
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You'll note however that Syd's imagined 2019 Los Angeles was far more fine-grained at grade than is even the current Yonge Street. It's intentionally intimate and claustrophobic. Tall towers are great but we're certainly not 'Blade Runnering' anything by erasing small, individual retail for block-long Shoppers'.

condovo said:
^^^There was no heritage value to that block. It was a blight. I'm glad Kathmandu is still around on Cumberland St.
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Who said heritage? The issue is that condo retail can't replicate the environment that makes Yonge a shabby delight to walk on.
 
ProjectEnd said:
Who said heritage? The issue is that condo retail can't replicate the environment that makes Yonge a shabby delight to walk on.
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I've lived in Toronto for two decades and to this day I'm dumbfounded by some Torontonians' nostalgic attachment to Yonge St.'s shabbiness. Maybe growing up with St. Catherine St. in Montreal spoiled me. Younge St. between Bloor and Dundas is neglected, ugly and unacceptable.
 
condovo said:
I've lived in Toronto for two decades and to this day I'm dumbfounded by some Torontonians' nostalgic attachment to Yonge St.'s shabbiness. Maybe growing up with St. Catherine St. in Montreal spoiled me. Younge St. between Bloor and Dundas is neglected, ugly and unacceptable.
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I guess you should have lived here in the 60's.
 
condovo said:
I've lived in Toronto for two decades and to this day I'm dumbfounded by some Torontonians' nostalgic attachment to Yonge St.'s shabbiness. Maybe growing up with St. Catherine St. in Montreal spoiled me. Younge St. between Bloor and Dundas is neglected, ugly and unacceptable.
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And the way to fix that is to tear everything down for capped-mullion, curtain wall-clad, bank branches? If the current state is 'unacceptable', I'd love to learn what you think is ideal.
 
ProjectEnd said:
And the way to fix that is to tear everything down for capped-mullion, curtain wall-clad, bank branches? If the current state is 'unacceptable', I'd love to learn what you think is ideal.
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A combination of restoration, where warranted, and demolition and replacement, where warranted. A global city's main street shouldn't be shabby.
 
Oh another Montreal know it all snob. LOL St Catherine is lovely for a few short blocks. Then it turns into a different urban environment as one goes further east. Other than Clude Cormier's installation it's just as 'blighty' as Yonge but with more petty crime .
 
Automation Gallery said:
Ugh, You miss this?o_O
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Ugh. Nothing more annoying than attempting an insightful reply on the redevelopment of Yonge and have it followed up by some juvenile reply. No. You're wrong. I did cover that this block was assembled long before Teahouse and inferred there was nothing worth preserving and has nothing to do with the direction taken by Lanterra here. I like the designs of the towers. The urban built form at street level is banal and commonplace.
 
As much as I prefer a fine-grained experience on Yonge, the status quo (if not decline) of the last decade isn't desirable - empty storefronts, payday loans and ephemeral retail isn't my idea of a healthy street/neighbourhood. Having said that, there is a balance between new build and old build to be had - and I am not entirely convinced some of the proposed projects handle it well.

AoD
 
Building around heritage instead of incorporating facades in half to full block development would have been more effective in provide a downtown experience instead of an anywhere experience.

Massey Tower which has a narrow heritage street frontage and is set mainly behind the heritage building is far more interesting than Tea House. Let me be clear. I'm not suggesting another Massey should have been built instead of Teahouse with some imported heritage building and the condo behind it demo'd to provide depth to the lot.
 
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maestro said:
Building around heritage instead of incorporating facades in half to full block development would have been more effective in provide a downtown experience instead of an anywhere experience.
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I don't think most of the sites are deep enough for that - besides, you can still maintain narrower storefronts after the rebuild - the city doesn't demand it however.

AoD
 
Take the 345 metre YSL proposal. I didn't see a purpose to building a taller glass podium over top the heritage buildings except for more density and ease of underground parking construction on an already very dense proposal. Other places Torontonians look up to would just build the tall tower beside the 3 storey, prewar retail buildings.
 
November 13 2018
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