Toronto Wellesley on the Park | 194.15m | 60s | Lanterra | KPMB

Thanks for the info.

I've wondered what would be going in this site. It is a massive lot fenced in by plywood (major eye-sore).

9-storeys seems small for a building so close to the subway but I'll reserve judgement until I see the renderings. I just hope that the street-level retail and setbacks are designed to enhance the street. Just the smallest amount of detail and planning could really benefit Wellesley and transform the street into a really great place to be. Hopefully this development will see this potential.
 
I hope the development includes something to enhance the lane at the east end of the site behind the stores along Yonge St. It is a great route all the way north to Bloor and the St. Joseph developments on the north side of Wellesley did a great job to enhance the pedestrain realm on the laneway.
 
Mike in TO said:
I hope the development includes something to enhance the lane at the east end of the site behind the stores along Yonge St. It is a great route all the way north to Bloor and the St. Joseph developments on the north side of Wellesley did a great job to enhance the pedestrain realm on the laneway.
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I like that laneway. However, it often smells like trash and the massive rats make for annoying walking buddies.
 
Yeah, it can be pretty grimey south of Wellesley. Between Wellesley and St. Joseph is really nice though. My girlfriend lives in one of the loft conversions on St. Nicholas and that whole section is quite clean and tidy. The one thing I'd like to see them implement (especially if they're going to be developing areas around the laneway further) is something to calm the traffic. Most people are considerate of the fact that there are no sidewalks but every now and then you'll get some jerk (usually a cabbie) fly through there at 50 or 60 clicks. I'm surprised they're only aiming for 9 floors though, that plot looks like it would support 50 or 60 stories easily.
 
Perhaps the density was used up on the Bay Street part of the project. Or the folks on the northside want their views protected.
 
I wonder if there will eventually be a phase 7 & 8 condo(s) or apartment highrise fronting onto Breadalbane St. between Yonge & Bay? That's a pretty big piece of ultra prime property there for only 9 storeys & retail facing Wellesley St.
 
318 units in a 9 storey building? That's 35 units per floor - 40 if the first floor is retail. 10-12 units per floor of a 29 storey building sounds more reasonable. Am I missing something?
 
The nine floors will align with the podium of the other two buildings. I'm actually happy not to see a point tower at this spot.
 
I think this is the location for what was originally planned to be a recreational centre for the towers on Bay Street (i.e., Aria, etc.). With the downtown YMCA literally next door, go figure!
 
jmacmillan said:
I think this is the location for what was originally planned to be a recreational centre for the towers on Bay Street (i.e., Aria, etc.). With the downtown YMCA literally next door, go figure!
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I bought into the Opera Place condos in 1996. As I recall the developer Goldlist had a master plan for 5 buildings on Bay and along Wellesley, townhomes on the north side of Breadalbane and two parkettes. The rec. centre for the complexes were to be in the final phase in the two buildings on Wellesley. In the end they developed two buildings (3 phases), one parkette along side & behind the YMCA and no facilities. The last building built on this property was Morguard's rental, "The Bay Club" 3 years ago.
 
The (unbuilt) Ballet Opera House

transferred from the Casa thread

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dt_toronto_geek said:
It's amazing how some threads can end up in the middle of page two in just a few short days!

Below, CASA & BSN from Breadalbane Street today

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androiduk said:
^ That empty lot is looking pretty sorry isn't it? The only thing missing is some tumbleweeed. Isn't it supposed to be a park?
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Filip said:
I think it was supposed to be an Opera House once upon a time.
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taal said:
Isn't that the proposal for rentals on Bay? Yea Opera I think, they actually have a sales center there I think ... or at least you can register online.
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dt_toronto_geek said:
Yes, this is between Breadalbane & Wellesley and was to be part of the Opera Place complex. It's been fenced off for several years now and I believe there is, or was a proposal for the site but I don't believe there is a sales office on site. This site is begging for intensification, perhaps during the next cycle something substantial will come of this location.
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taal said:
I could swear there was a proposal at one point ... at least something more then an empty plot of land.

Either way I recall it wasn't anything to write home about, I'd rather this lot (very large lot of land let me add) stay vacant until something worth it is proposed.
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Solaris said:
the topic is not really Casa related ... but this site originally formed phase 4+5 of the "Opera Place" development that would have consisted of 5 towers, a shared condo rec centre and a park, Goldlist was the developer who ended up building only the first 2 buildings (being 17s Opera Place and 27s Allegro @ Opera Place), the third tower was built by Morguard REIT as a 35s rental building (The Bay Club)

theres no sales office on this site, there is (or may have) been a presentation centre / rental office for the Bay Club on the ground floor of that building ... I'm not sure where the name 'Opera Place' came from, but am pretty sure no opera house was proposed here (maybe one was torn down here?) :confused:

There is a UT thread on 11 Wellesley St. W. (Morguard, 9s) which speaks to this site.

The last activity was Morguard REIT submitting a Site Plan Application for "NEW 9-STOREY MIXED-USE RESIDENTIAL-COMMERCIAL BUILDING WITH 318 DWELLING UNITS AND RETAIL USES AT GRADE FRONTING WELLESLEY" on this site in August 2007, but it has gone completely quiet since.
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Filip said:
Sorry to take this OT again.. but I'm surprised you aren't familiar with the old National Opera Ballet House proposal for this site. It fronted Bay (before those abominable things were built). It was a simply massive proposal by Moshe Safdie, so PoMo it makes the Louvre pyramid look tame.
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Thanks to sources from Filip :) ... I research more into this 'unbuilt' Ballet Opera House once proposed on these lands @ Bay + Wellesley ... would you look at that !

Canadian Architecture Collection
http://cac.mcgill.ca/safdie/searchengines/showrecord.php?id=95

World Architecture Community
http://www.worldarchitecture.org/world-buildings/world-buildings-detail.asp?position=detail&country=Canada&no=747

so this is what "could have" happened on these lands ~

Scaled Model
Ms097s01.jpg

Ms097s02.jpg
Ms097s03.jpg

Ms097s07.jpg
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Interior Model
Ms097s04.jpg
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Bay Street Elevation
Ms097d06.jpg



East-West Section
Ms097d04.jpg



Orchestra Level Floor Plan
Ms097d01.jpg
 
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