There's nothing like a good development rumour on a snowy day to warm the cockles of an UrbanToronto member's heart, so we wanted to share a rumour in the vague hope that talking about something enough might actually make it come true. We have been waiting a while for Oxford Properties to officially announce the start of work on the redevelopment of Cumberland Terrace, three stories of subway-connected retail purgatory that has been begging for some attention for a couple of decades now. The most recent announcement came in August of 2008 and put a smile on many members faces here.

Why the smiles? Well, this is what we have now: a disgracefully aging concrete and glass bunker that sucks the life off of Cumberland Street by bringing everyone into the parallel mall instead of giving direct access to lively storefronts.

A piece of the Soviet Bloc in Yorkville.

For a while, we thought we were getting this makeover for the site:

A rendering for Cumberland by Turner Fleischer Architects.

It was the first sign that improvements were finally coming, but was it what we really wanted? The plan by Turner Fleischer Architects addressed the street at least, but did it look a little-too ski-country resort-chalet-ish? Well, in August of 2008 Oxford Properties unveiled a design by Patrick Fejer of Bregman + Hamann Architects that elicited considerably more interest from UT members at the time. This design also brings retail to the street, widens the sidewalks, adds landscaping, brings us two new residential rental towers to add to the city's burgeoning uptown skyline, and more, all in a snazzy modernist package.

Bregman + Hamann's rendering.

Now an insider rumour tells us that the project, which has been working its way through the city's planning process over the last two years, will be "heating up" this spring. If heating up means firing up a bulldozer and driving it into the current complex, UT wants to be at the wheel. UrbanToronto will keep you up to date on the new Cumberland Terrace.