Toronto U Condominiums | 183.79m | 56s | Pemberton | a—A

If I see one more unimaginative aA point tower I'm going to puke!
 
I'm not too fond of this either. What's wrong with keeping this block as green space - especially since it already has the ambiance with the old St. Mike's buildings and historic wall around the park. Is St. Mike's selling out because it needs the money?
 
Is St. Mike's selling out because it needs the money?
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Yes, and instead of going for permanent rents like Victoria, they're selling out for one big cash hoard that they'll burn through in a couple of years.
 
The loss of green space is pretty stupid. Everything else doesn't bother me that much, not even the six-storey townhouse idea.
 
The loss of green space is pretty stupid.
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Especially stupid since there's a surface parking lot across the street on the southwest corner of Bay and St. Joseph (although I'm sure that land is owned by someone else).

Build on the green and leave the grey...stupid indeed.

(love the fact that the applicant's name is Rattling Chain Investments though...lol)
 
"Yes, and instead of going for permanent rents like Victoria, they're selling out for one big cash hoard that they'll burn through in a couple of years."

It seems they've already started! For one thing, Elmsley Place has magically been transformed into a cobblestoned laneway.

Maybe if St. Mike's built, say, another residence and some other facilities and invested money in ways that made students happy, they'd give back as alumni. It's not just green space, it's university space that's gone.
 
Honestly if you were to place all of the AA proposals side by side, I dont think anyone could identify which one is which. They are abox with a mechanical box plopped on top. The configuration of this project seems like a mess.
 
It's hard to tell whether this will be an attractive building or not from a simple line drawing, but the towers aren't unreasonable in form or size for the area. But I do wish Aa would build outside the box once in while- their condos are indeed starting to look very generic. The lowrise residential also seem inappropriate for Bay street, and building over green parkspace should never be done without careful consideration. I hope they rethink this one.
 
That green space WON'T get built on - it will never be allowed - not even the OMB would say yes to that. The proposed 37 storey tower on that space is either a hugely cynical attempt to get that space transfered to other parts of the site, or otherwise a bluff to make the developer look like public-minded philanthopists when they suddenly withdraw that part of the application, hoping to get everything else approved wihtout further challenges.

Rattling Chain indeed: it's the public's corporate chain they're rattling with a few shameless pulls here.

flummoxed 42
 
Okay, as a St Mike's alumnus, I'd like to weigh in on this one.

First, I don't mind seeing the parking lot at the corner of Bay and St Mary's built on. Good riddance to a parking lot that is a bloody waste of space in downtown Toronto and that adds nothing to street life or the college.

Second, that being said, I would rather see St Mike's use this space to expand. As it stands, the college's campus is poorly laid out south of St Joseph. This land could be used to refocus the campus around Brennan Hall, which itself deserves a major renovation.

Third, I am steadfastly opposed to them building on the parkette at Bay and St Joseph. I lived in the area for seven years, and I had a dog for the last four of those seven years. That green space is the most accessible for the condo denizens along Bay Street, and it's an important element of the community (I admit that I use the term loosely in this context).

Fourth, I don't understand the opposition to the 'townhouses' on this forum. Maybe I'm not reading the renderings correctly, but it looks to me like they are creating an almost continuous street wall along Bay and St Mary. It's not quite a podium, but it's that the built form that we're always promoting on this forum?
 
Green Space

I'm not so sure this space won't get built on. There was a nice green space at Bay & Dundas and Ryerson built on top of that.
 
Re: Green Space

"That green space WON'T get built on - it will never be allowed - not even the OMB would say yes to that."

Well that is good to hear if that's the case. The 'townhouses' seem fine and are in form with the towers. However I would rather see street level retail than residential walkouts onto Bay street.
 
Re: Green Space

I'm not so sure this space won't get built on. There was a nice green space at Bay & Dundas and Ryerson built on top of that.
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Before that green space went in, the City zoned it for high density non-residential uses. There was no expectation that the green space at Bay and Dundas was anything but a place holder. Didn't it used to be one of the Eaton's warehouses?

As for St. Mike's, there is a principle that if a municipality wants green space, it should be prepared to acquire it. It should not fall on the landowner to provide a community with green space. So, to keep that area green, the City would have to demonstrate that a building on the so-called grey area only represents good planning if the remainder remains green.
 
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