Toronto Yonge City Square Residences | 117.09m | 32s | Gupta | Arcadis

Much taller than everything around it. It will stick out badly. Worst if it is 900 feet tall
Good. It is right beside a subway station and a GO bus terminal. It is also well served by major roads. About time this sleepy area started to intensify properly.
 
I'll skip over the obvious aesthetic issues for the moment.

Instead I'll stick to my green-interests.

Forest restoration plan gets an A from me. Very good overall. In fact I only have one question mark which is the spec'ing of a Speckled Alder. While this tree is native to Toronto, is almost impossible to get your hands on.

Nurseries who claim to sell it often have Black/European alder (non-native invasive) or sometimes Green Alder (native to Northern Ontario). I would tend to leave it off the list unless one is personally collecting and growing seed.

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On parking/transit etc. There's lots to like. Direct connection to York Mills Stn underground; lots of bike parking, and 9 carshare spaces.

Overall, I find the residual amount of parking excessive, notwithstanding that is below the by-law requirements.

I think the key way to address that, given the existing of pay-by-the-hour parking on site, is to ensure a ground-level supermarket tenant.

That would reduce the proportion of driving trips, cars for the residential portion of the building.

The report notes extreme costs to go below the 3rd underground level (5 proposed); I would take it that's because of going below the water table.

Best to eliminate that if possible.
 
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^From the article: “It’s a lot of excessive density done in an ad hoc way,” she said. High density on top of a subway station, cry me a goddamn river :rolleyes:
I am really curious how this is going to play with the province's push to intensify along all major transit lines (notwithstanding TO Planning's ongoing attempt to nerf it by batch heritage listing, etc.)
 
Commentary from councillor Jaye Robinson and locals:


The objections around height are silly.

But Planning did have some legit concerns about the way in which the proposal related to the street.

There were also a few other legit issues at play.

Whether those are resolvable if you remove the sillyness around height is question I can't answer.

Though, I can't say Mr. Gupta has a development track record than enamours.
 
The 21-storey tower would have a floor plate of over 1,000 square metres. Good place for density, but there's no need for that excessive bulk.
The 21storey tower is a HOTEL, so it has different standards than an apartment or condo building. I think they are treated as Commercial deign like Office-Buildings.

Generally, I am OK with bigger floor-plates... especially for hotels (eg. I love the Sheraton Centre near City Hall).

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