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Corktown

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/in-the-east-end-a-hot-pocket/article1198082/

The 2015 games would be sweet for Corktown & the rest of downtown east. The author also mentions he thought Corktown would gentrify like Cabbagetown 30 years ago. I've noticed some hipsters moving in, that must be a sign, no?

In the east end, a hot pocket: Parliament/Queen area has 15,000 new units booked and prices are rising with demand


Terrence Belford

If you are one of those people always on the lookout for the next big thing, then as far as new condos go it will likely be that area of the city bound by Jarvis to Parliament Streets and from Queen Street south of the Esplanade, give or take a couple of blocks.

Once characterized by its proliferating used furniture and book stores, rooming houses and small pockets of light industry, there were also a handful of mews streets of wonderful turn-of-the-century row houses but not much else to recommend the area to home buyers.

But as more desirable areas such as downtown west started to fill with condos and rents started to rise for commercial enterprises, canny developers started moving east drawn by relatively inexpensive land prices and great public transit.

“It was a bit of a dead zone,” says Brad Lamb, of Brad J. Lamb Realty Inc., who is developing projects of his own in the area. “But now it is definitely an area to watch.”

One indicator of strong demand is the area's rapid rise in price for square footage, says Jane Renwick, executive vice-president of Urbanation Inc., which tracks the GTA housing market. She says the average for all condos sold to date is about $449 a square foot, while unsold inventory now commands $531 a square foot. What is more, there are nine new condo projects currently under way, plus seven more in the planning stages.

That, however, is only a very tiny tip to the downtown east iceberg. If you include the adjacent west Docklands and waterfront lands, Ms. Renwick says there are 15,597 new condo units in various stages of approval.

“It is the largest area of Toronto for future new development, and because of the city's commitment to the Docklands and waterfront it is certain to include terrific new parks and great public transit,” she says.

If Toronto wins its bid for the 2015 Pan American Games, then the area will really heat up, says John Berman, a partner in the redevelopment of the Distillery District at Mill Street and Parliament Street.

“One of the first things to be built will be 6,000 residential suites to house the athletes,” he says. “That will go up right next to the Distillery District.

“We already have a streetcar loop to Cherry Street going in. This area is really taking off.”

None too soon frankly. In 1980 I bought a 19th century row house on Wascana Avenue, one block north of Queen, running west off River Street. The hope was that the area would soon follow in the path of Cabbagetown. My timing was about 30 years premature.

What the area needed was a new focal point, something so unique that it would draw traffic and interest east.

Eight years ago, Mr. Berman and his partners in Cityscape Development Corp., provided that when they bought the five hectares of land and 45 buildings that ounce housed the Gooderham & Worts distillery.

Today the area boasts 325,000 square feet of commercial space, a quartet of completed condominiums with another two under way. Its restaurants, cafes, theatre and dance companies, boutiques and specialty stores draw in tourists and locals alike. No other neighbourhood in the city looks and feels quite like it.

“There is no question that what we have done had provided a draw for redevelopment,” says Mr. Berman. “We supplied that solid eastern anchor the area needed.”

Besides, he says, it is a lot easier to get in and out of this neighbourhood than downtown west. The Bayview extension is five minutes away, a quick route to St. Clair or Eglinton. The King and Queen Street streetcars are close by and Lakeshore Boulevard is a 9-iron shot to the south.

Buyers in this neighbourhood also don't have to put up with the noise and traffic congestion common in downtown west as there are fewer clubs and nightspots. Another appealing feature, says Ms. Renwick, is that, on average, new condos in the southern chunk of downtown east are more like boutique structures – offering smaller and more affordable suites in smaller projects. The average number of suites per building is just 232, she says. “They also tend to pop up in small pockets and usually spark an overall gentrification of the immediate neighbourhood.” And unlike many other areas of the city, these projects continue to sell, says Mr. Berman. “In the first week of June we sold 10 suites in the two we have on sale now.”
 
With some intensive Googling, I found some articles about then-proposesd urban renewal plans for Trefann Court (Corktown north of Queen) as reported by Pro Tem, a U of T student pub.

The best line? A photo quote: "Crumbling streets, traversed onty by drunks." I love my neighbourhood.

Nov 21 1968, Page 6 - "Trefann Court residents are caught between poverty and manipulating bureaucracy" http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/protem/article/view/16120/15023

March 6, 1969 Page 3 - "Urban Renewal in South City - some answers for Trefann Court" https://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/protem/article/view/16128/15031

Nov 9 1969, Page 4 - "John Sewell: Ward 7..."
https://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/protem/article/view/2265/1473
 
Nice find!

I wish I could take a time machine and see what used to be between Queen and Gerrard.
 

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Sorry to butt in a bit late... but man, this neighborhood is prime cerloin for redevelopment!


"Under siege"? Those strong words are usually reserved for neighbourhoods that are under attack from negative forces: chronic poverty, white flight, drug epidemics, crime waves. In this case, the "attacker" is a brownfield development of an urban, mixed income neighbourhood on what was once toxic land. This is not a siege.

Come on man, a stench of gentrification can be smelled a mile away. This may very well develop into a completely different neighborhood with a completely different population.




[developer]You see, the neighborhood is going to be improved by the displacement of these annoying people who are not as well off as the new people. We're doing the people and the city a favor, by changing the neighborhood. It's not just one small change, but the first step in a process of complete transformation. [/developer]

[tycoon]Who cares for preservation. We are out to make the biggest turn over that our dollars can get, and we fully deserve to do that. We have full backing of the city who is a whore to our interests. The city does what the money wants, and the money wants to make more money.[/tycoon]

[yuppie]How can one say no to all these plans. I mean come on, the neighborhood is gonna be improved, imagine how nice it would look? I want to slurp my nice starbucks latte and not have to look at who was once here.[/yuppie]

[billionaire's thoughts]Hm, yes, lets get the yuppies to move in. In due time we will displace them as well, when we supergentrify the gentrified neighborhood. Oh, what would we ever do without them. We must nto forget, that getting them on our side by convincing them that what is good for us is good for all is only half the battle in this process. We must continue manufacturing consent and condemning/displacing all opposition. [/billionaire's thoughts]
 
Sorry to butt in a bit late... but man, this neighborhood is prime cerloin for redevelopment!
.....
Come on man, a stench of gentrification can be smelled a mile away. This may very well develop into a completely different neighborhood with a completely different population.

...because there were tons to soon to be displaced folks staying on the toxic, contaminated wasteland that they are developing....right. Have you seen the site?

With each post here, you are starting to show that you know less and less about Toronto and about the goals, hopes and desires of its residents. Please keep your class war rhetoric south of the border, where it belongs. We don't want any of that here. We're happy to build up mixed use mixed income transit-friendly communities in Toronto. You can call it what you will.
 
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I, too, am curious about the dig at King and Parliament. I pass it every weekday and check on their progress. I'm no expert, but I assume the brickwork being unearthed are remains of the St. Lawrence Foundry, also known as William Hamilton & Son.

Nothing much has happened there for months. I see a hole with some stone/brick exposed, marked with many flags. Are these the archaeological finds? I stuck my camera through the fencing around the dig on the south-west corner of King East and Parliament and took these shots.
 

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...because there were tons to soon to be displaced folks staying on the toxic, contaminated wasteland that they are developing....right. Have you seen the site?

With each post here, you are starting to show that you know less and less about Toronto and about the goals, hopes and desires of its residents. Please keep your class war rhetoric south of the border, where it belongs. We don't want any of that here. We're happy to build up mixed use mixed income transit-friendly communities in Toronto. You can call it what you will.

I have already explained what a joke mixed income communities are for the former population, as they comprise between 5 and 10 percent of the new mixed income community... closer to 5 than 10.



I did not say that this place is being gentrified. I said it is ripe for gentrification. You clearly do never heard of "new build gentrification". You see, gentrification has mutated, to include stuff such as this new build category, as well as other such as suburban gentrification, studentification and supergentrification. New build gentrification does not displace anyone... it may be on brownfields... but how is it then gentrification you might ask... because the effects on communities alongside this may vary. Sometimes it helps in displacing them. I did not say it will, I just feel the potential for this.

Now before you get pissed off again, take a big breath of air. If that does not help, then do not post while mad. Cheers.
 
I have already explained what a joke mixed income communities are for the former population, as they comprise between 5 and 10 percent of the new mixed income community... closer to 5 than 10.

You quoted an American generic stat. Find one for Toronto and your credibility might improve.


I did not say that this place is being gentrified. I said it is ripe for gentrification. You clearly do never heard of "new build gentrification". You see, gentrification has mutated, to include stuff such as this new build category, as well as other such as suburban gentrification, studentification and supergentrification. New build gentrification does not displace anyone... it may be on brownfields... but how is it then gentrification you might ask... because the effects on communities alongside this may vary. Sometimes it helps in displacing them. I did not say it will, I just feel the potential for this.

And if the effects are to be positive, why should we care?
 
Nothing much has happened there for months. I see a hole with some stone/brick exposed, marked with many flags. Are these the archaeological finds? I stuck my camera through the fencing around the dig on the south-west corner of King East and Parliament and took these shots.

This is the supposed site for the Porsche dealer who is now on Front at Berkeley. The Ontario Realty Corp bought the Front/Berkeley site about 3 years ago because it is part of the historic First Parliament site and Dr Porsche got the site at Front/Eastern/Trinity (where the Infiniti dealership now is) plus the site at King/Parliament (part of which he has leased from the TTC). He already owned the southern section of that block, on the NW corner of Front/Parliament.

At present the Porsche dealership is leasing the Front/Berkeley site from the Ontario Heritage Foundation (who were given it by ORC) and the lease expires December 31, 2009. With the present economic situation I bet Dr Porsche is in no hurry to build (he was also very slow to build the Infiniti dealership, in much better economic times.)

Dr Porsche got permission, from the Committee of Adjustment, to build a 2 storey dealership on the whole block from King to Front and between Parliament and the Staples store. It will be interesting to see whether the Ontario Heritage Foundation renews his lease, again, or whether he gets on with the new building. I think he was forced to have an archaeologist investigate to see what was underground before the City issued an excavation permit but that was MONTHS ago.

PS As this site is west of Parliament it is not really in Corktown but ...:)
 
This is the supposed site for the Porsche dealer who is now on Front at Berkeley. The Ontario Realty Corp bought the Front/Berkeley site about 3 years ago because it is part of the historic First Parliament site and Dr Porsche got the site at Front/Eastern/Trinity (where the Infiniti dealership now is) plus the site at King/Parliament (part of which he has leased from the TTC). He already owned the southern section of that block, on the NW corner of Front/Parliament.

At present the Porsche dealership is leasing the Front/Berkeley site from the Ontario Heritage Foundation (who were given it by ORC) and the lease expires December 31, 2009. With the present economic situation I bet Dr Porsche is in no hurry to build (he was also very slow to build the Infiniti dealership, in much better economic times.)

Dr Porsche got permission, from the Committee of Adjustment, to build a 2 storey dealership on the whole block from King to Front and between Parliament and the Staples store. It will be interesting to see whether the Ontario Heritage Foundation renews his lease, again, or whether he gets on with the new building. I think he was forced to have an archaeologist investigate to see what was underground before the City issued an excavation permit but that was MONTHS ago.

PS As this site is west of Parliament it is not really in Corktown but ...:)

Thanks for the info.

I think Corktown includes Parliament over to Berkeley, per most fo the definitions I've seen.

I don't like this doctor guy.
 
re: King & Parliament Dig

PukeGreen,

Thanks for posting those photos! I should have taken some myself, and it now appears to be too late, as they've covered over the remains with a geomembrane or something.

I speculated earlier that they might be remains of the St. Lawrence Foundry, but after further research I now believe they may be of previous occupants; specifically, the Toronto Lime-Kiln Works, and possibly part of the original Copland's East Toronto Brewery. The oval-shaped structure (on the Parliament side of the dig) with the white chalky residue in the middle certainly looks as though it might be the bottom end of a lime kiln.

Attached is an image from the 1858 Boulton & Boulton Atlas, extracted from the Toronto Public Library's Digital Collection. Info on the Lime Kiln was obtained from the 1856 and 1861 City Directories, also at TPLDC.
 

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