Toronto West Condos | 46.51m | 14s | Aspen Ridge | Core Architects

The Front Street extension idea will not fully die until something is built on the land where it would go.
 
With thanks to Richard Witt from Quadrangle for the tip, and some googling by yours truly, the developer is Jerudan Developments Limited which is based out of East York and owned by Alan Shimmerman. Bernard H. Watt Architect --he was the architect/developer behind The Church Lofts on Dovercourt Rd and the Swanick (Church conversion.) http://www.torontocorerealestate.com/toronto-lofts-reviews/featured-review-the-church-lofts/

I'm assuming he'll be responsible for the restoration of the Coffin Factory building itself, with another firm behind the modern towers to the south?
 
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It's nice to see these buildings are listed:

Address: 89-109 NIAGARA ST

Ward: 19
Status: Listed
List Date: Jul 19, 2005
Details: National Casket Company Factories; east end, 1884, William Wallace Blair Architect; directly west 1886; 2 westernmost buildings 1887l; adopted by City Council on June 14, 15, 16, 2005
Demolition Date:
Primary Address: 89 NIAGARA ST
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(btw I love it that heritage Toronto's inventory has an automatic entry for "Demolition Date".)

Thea architect also did the packing plant at Front and Frederick which is still standing: http://www.lostrivers.ca/points/daviestaylor.htm
 
Automation Gallery said:
Right-on scrappyTO, and thanks for the info.
Regarding traffic....the last i heard, is there not suppose to be a new road planned from Bathurst to Strachan just north of the tracks (and not the Front street extension)
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A new road wasn't mentioned at the meeting. In fact they mentioned the city is planning some development (which I also heard about from a contact at Build Toronto) for the eastern-most land right at Bathurst St.'s west side, just north of the tracks, currently a city yard and staging area for construction. The next piece of land to the west is directly south of the property line for the development in question, and the owner is trying to convince the city to turn this into a park at the foot of Techumseth. If successful, the developer said they would provide pedestrian access through their site, courtyard, and into the park. The townhouse/podium currently planned around the south side of the development would be modified accordingly to take best advantage of this parkland.

Further on the issue of roads, the developer is proposing that the city allow vehicles to exit the site using the laneway south of Niagara St., onto Bathurst St. This would reduce traffic volume from the site using Niagara St. Homeowners along that small stretch of Niagara were concerned that it was "right out my back door" however, this one owner exaggerates, as she has a yard and parking pad between her back door and the laneway. I thought this was a creative and productive suggestion to use the laneway.

Other notes... the restoration component will cost between $35 and $40 million, to be funded by the newly developed towers. The developer doesn't like the juxtaposition of modern and traditional, hence the plan for brick, and the styling of the new towers which I am having trouble classifying into one particular style.
 
Is the retention of these bldgs assured? Can anyone confirm?

Hearing conflicting reports on this. Is anyone able to confirm whether the buildings will be demolished or retained?

Thanks.
 
http://www.thegridto.com/city/local-news/life-in-the-coffin-factory/

Life in the coffin factory

A proposed development for 109 Niagara St. could spell eviction for the building's long-time—if technically illegal—residents.

BY: LIA GRAINGER
WED MAR 14, 2012



“It’s not like living in a normal building,” said Kate, a tenant at 109 Niagara St. last Monday evening, while entering the building’s freight elevator. A creaking metal contraption lined with rough-hewn boards, the elevator moved between the structure’s four storeys, opening into dusty hallway. On either side, the live-work spaces of photographers, musicians, artists, dancers and woodworkers were visible, many painstakingly renovated. There was a language school, a hairdresser’s salon, and tai chi, yoga and massage studios. Everyone seemed to know one another—and technically, all of them are living there illegally.

Kate is an architect who’s been living in what’s come to be known as the “coffin factory” for the past three years. She prefers not to use her full name, since she fears eviction, both due to her illegal tenancy—and because she and other tenants are steeling themselves for a possible showdown with the building’s owner, Alan Shimmerman of Shimcor Developments. Shimcor has filed a request with the city to re-develop land to the south of the lofts into two buildings, one 19 storeys and one 15 storeys. The project would see the Niagara Street building itself renovated and restored. But there are concerns that the project will mean eviction for the current residents, some of whom have lived here for 30 years—technically illegally, since they have commercial, rather than residential, leases.

Designed by Irish architect William Wallace Blair in 1884 as the headquarters of the National Casket Company, the building is one of the city’s last vestiges of the live-work loft culture common in the ’80s and ’90s, when artists and small-business owners took over derelict industrial structures for cheap workspaces.
 
89 Niagara.jpg

Rendering on Planning Application Board posted on site
 

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This looks similar to king west life or whatever, that unfortunate hulk under construction over in Liberty Village.
 
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