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

agreed ... i have similar sentiment as the above posters.

with so many 25-40s buildings within 1.5 square km of this site, i don't see why Morguard doesn't take advantage of the density and just build 1 taller tower with east economic boom.

i think the site could accomodate at least 4 more towers, 1 on each corner and leave the remaining areas as green spaces, either exclusively for tenants or public use.

ps. - are the proposed plans facing Wellesley?
from what i read, i understood it to be the site just east of Bay St. between Breadalane and Grovesnor, just north east of Murano.
 
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The plan was (years ago at least) to have a long slab along Wellesley, plus a another one lining the interior U-shaped driveway that connects to Bredalbane. Morguard not really giving up density here, as these buildings will pretty much fill the remainder of the site, instead of building point towers which would rise from smaller podiums.

I'm not a huge fan of slabs normally, and I am not a fan of the architecture of the existing Opera Place buildings, so to will be interesting to see renderings of what is proposed for these buildings...

...but if these are to be rentals like the last Opera Place component was, we may not end up seeing anything better than line elevations, and I'm not even sure that we will see those: I believe that Morguard has the zoning in place to go ahead with what they are proposing here. As rentals, and without a requirement yet to go before the Design Review Panel, Morguard may not spend an extra penny to pretty pictures before the buildings rise.

In any case, they may do it right! Who knows yet? I think it was Goldlist who were responsible for the first Opera Place buildings, so Morguard may have different architects involved, or may simply update the style. If they do it right, Wellesley west of Yonge may have a more European long and low feel to it. We just don't know yet.

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It was indeed Goldlist who had the property and masterplan to develop the two parcels of land between Grosvenor, Breadalbane and Wellesley Sts. I bought into phase 1 of Opera Place in '95 when it went on sale. I'll be down in my locker to examine flood damage in the next couple of days, I'll see if I can recover the plan for the sites and scan it if those materials survived. As I recall the buildings got higher as they approached Wellesley, much like what Morguard did with it's Bay Club rental building at the Bay & Wellesley corner and continued along Wellesley with a large public park north of Breadalbane.
 
A one storey LCBO would be better than the hoarding that is there now unless you actually believe this project will go ahead sometime during the next decade
 
Redroom Studios said:
there's only one thing missing from this project: a stand alone single storey LCBO location!:rolleyes:
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i know you're being sarcastic; but for those who don't know the area, there are LCBO's at Manulife @ Bay/Bloor, Hudson Bay Centre @ Yonge/Bloor, and Yonge/Wellesley.
 
ha ha, yes... and to acknowledge Maestro, I agree that it will be good to see the end of that empty lot asap. It just seems that here should have been something bigger and better.
 
I would like to see two 12 storey towers built

On street level a No Frills supermarket and an LCBO (close down the one at Yonge/Wellesley, it's too small) on the Wellesley side, and a parkette on the Breadalbane side.
 
I could see one at 12 storeys but, why not push for 20 for the one inbetween Bay Club and the eastern most. Of course, this whole step down approach is entirely unnecessary now that Yonge is slowly going highrise. Sainte-Catherines, watch out!
 
9s, 11s, 20s - all a waste of valuable highrise space next to a subway station between Yonge and Bay Sts. I'd rather it sit empty until Morguard sells it to another capable developer who has a bolder vision for this property.
 
Agreed that anything on the NE less than 40s is unconscionably wasteful due to subway and Yonge Street proximity. I'd also argue that the Wellesley streetscape of the development will probably be determinative of whether Opera Place is a success. If it's well done, it will be a real asset to the neighbourhood.
 
Solaris said:
wow ... looks like the abandoned lands east of Bay Club + Allegro are moving forward again! That's a good sign that the Opera Place development will finally be completed in the near future ~ :D

11 Wellesley St. W. (Morguard, 10 + 9s)
************

APARTMENT BUILDINGS, RETAIL, OFFICE
Proj: 1251884-18
Toronto, Metro Toronto Reg ON
PREPARING PLANS
The Opera Place, Phases 5 & 6, West Block, Bay St between Breadalbane and Grosvenor Sts, M5S
$30,000,000 est

Start: July, 2010

Complete: July, 2012

Note: Site plan and conceptual design have been completed by the Architect. Owner is seeking Municipal site plan and zoning approvals. Owner anticipates approvals will be finalized early 2010. Schedules for Working drawings, tender for Gen Cont and construction are undetermined pending approvals. Further update Spring, 2010.

Project: Phase five: nine storey, 19,000 m2 bldg, 170 units; Phase six: 10 storey, 11,000 m2 bldg, 120 units; with ground floor retail/commerical in each.

Scope: 30,000 m²; 10 storeys; 2 structures; 290 units

Development: New

Category: Apartment bldgs; Commercial offices; Retail, wholesale services

First report Thu Aug 24, 2000. Last report Mon Jun 01, 2009.
This report Mon Sep 21, 2009.

http://www.dailycommercialnews.com/cgi-bin/top10.pl?rm=show_top10_project&id=364ad63e5860f16ce31ffc7738ad34d3d5e3044f&projectid=1251884&region=ontario
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Bay St between Breadalbane and Grosvenor Sts is the YMCA, WTF? :confused:
 
The proposed heights really are a joke. I agree that anything less than 35-40 storeys here is an insult to intensification.
 
Towered said:
The proposed heights really are a joke. I agree that anything less than 35-40 storeys here is an insult to intensification.
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See my full explanation in post 47: as originally envisioned, these phases were planned to be street-wall creating slabs, which have similar densities to slender point towers sitting on low podiums. The DCN report above suggests that Morguard is following the old plan. I have been envisioning Wellesley completed as such for a long time now, and want to see how my vision compares with that potential very urban reality!

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What they are proposing is quite European in scale... I have no problems with that. The density will be there, just in another form.
 
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