Toronto 1 Eglinton Square | 158.8m | 46s | KingSett Capital | BDP Quadrangle

Undead said:
They doubled the unit count for the resubmission, that's crazy.

Parking ratio should be under .5
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Previous submission had the mall retained, and everything built around it.

New submission, the mall is gone.

That's a big chunk of the difference.

The proposal only includes ~30,000ft2 of retail, so far as I can discern.

That's pretty tiny.

****

I may have missed it, but I didn't see a plan to replace the library....
 
Went from 1,702 units to 3,618 units.

From 1,471,899 GFA to 3,373,372 GFA in the new proposal.

Retail GFA has been cut in half from ~60,000 GFA to ~30,000 GFA.

Also they have removed all above-grade parking. It will now be contained entirely below-grade.
 
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Undead said:
They doubled the unit count for the resubmission, that's crazy.

Parking ratio should be under .5

I wonder if it would have been better to close the western bit of Eglinton Square road and connect that area with the parkette. Leave the N-S road in the middle as the primary access to the site from Eglinton.

@Northern Light

Quick mock-up:

View attachment 328551
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That block of Eglinton Square will be closed and added to the Park, once the new O'Connor Drive is open.

That is dependent, in part, on the developer of the Metro lands.
 
You're going to need a lot of residential parking spots if you entirely remove food shopping from this area. People of means won't walk far or take public transit for major grocery shopping trips. Not really much forward thinking here. With proposed density keep a major food retailer on site please.
 
^Sure, but this won't be an area of means. Likely middle class people struggling to get in the property market and investor owned rentals.
 
The Preservationist said:
You're going to need a lot of residential parking spots if you entirely remove food shopping from this area. People of means won't walk far or take public transit for major grocery shopping trips. Not really much forward thinking here. With proposed density keep a major food retailer on site please.
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Choice REIT owns the site across the street (UT Thread). Perhaps they are betting on a large Loblaws coming in to the site across the street?
 
The Preservationist said:
You're going to need a lot of residential parking spots if you entirely remove food shopping from this area. People of means won't walk far or take public transit for major grocery shopping trips. Not really much forward thinking here. With proposed density keep a major food retailer on site please.
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WislaHD said:
Choice REIT owns the site across the street (UT Thread). Perhaps they are betting on a large Loblaws coming in to the site across the street?
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- The Choice Properties site across the street currently has a 'No Frills'. The proposal, for that site, as it stands has a full supermarket on site.

- The last iteration of the proposed development of the Pipe plant on the east side of Pharmacy also had a supermarket (I'm not sure about the current iteration)

- This development does NOT demolish the Metro which is on a separate parcel of land; that will be up to the developers of that parcel.

- Walmart in the area also sells groceries, as does Adonis one block further over. The area is currently served by 4 supermarkets from Victoria Park to Warden. (and a 5th just to the east)

- There is also an independent supermarket on Victoria Park Avenue, to the immediate south of this site.

I made a quick map, each green and orange star is a supermarket in the area. I just used 2 colours for visual ease when they overlap.

1623889819152.png



Three stores (other than Metro) are within 500M of the site.

Should one be built on the east side of Pharmacy, it would be as well.
 
Looking at the renderings this development is visually attractive, beside a LRT line and will be priced out accordingly, as a place for people of reasonable means, not your typical Victoria Park rental crowd (including myself many years ago). While I totally agree there are a number of other shopping areas available the development of the East Eglinton area represents a massive unique opportunity. I'm hoping the area will have much greater urban integration, shopping, schools etc. Things which get great scrutiny in the downtown area but previously not so much in the suburbs. The fact that this proposal has less than 1% non residential does not support urban integration, rather it's 1970s suburbia in vertical form albeit close to public transportation, nor does this proposal give anything significant back to the city. Thanks for the feedback, helped me clarify my concerns.
 
The Preservationist said:
Northern Light,
I thought although not currently sought, the final intent is to demolish the Metro based on your 5:34 pm post yesterday?
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That is indicated in the phasing plan; but to my understanding, is presumptive, based on a development application not yet submitted.

This application, does not cover the land on which Metro sits, which has a different owner, than this application, so far as I understand.

Certainly, the existing store is all but required to be removed, at some point, because it lies within the proposed Right-of-Way of a future street.

Its also classed as a 'B' or store by Metro (at most). I feel certain though that Metro would want to replace it, the only question being if that would be on the lands their store currently occupies or elsewhere nearby.

Also whether it will be Metro or Food Basics.

For further clarity, Metro is on the parcel of land shown in Yellow below. This parcel is NOT part the application discussed in this thread:

1623930948833.png
 
Eglinton Square is pretty run down in comparison to other malls, but it is a hub for local residents. The food court is a year round, daily meeting place for 100's. The mall is also open before shopping hours for senior walks and community gathering. I don't see anything in the revised plan that replaces these essential services. What a shame! With over 2100 under ground parking spots, no commercial space and little retail, this area is going to become a vertical suburb, where people get into their cars, go about their day and return to 500 sq.ft. bungalow in the sky.
 
Bluffers416 said:
Eglinton Square is pretty run down in comparison to other malls, but it is a hub for local residents. The food court is a year round, daily meeting place for 100's. The mall is also open before shopping hours for senior walks and community gathering. I don't see anything in the revised plan that replaces these essential services. What a shame! With over 2100 under ground parking spots, no commercial space and little retail, this area is going to become a vertical suburb, where people get into their cars, go about their day and return to 500 sq.ft. bungalow in the sky.
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The reality is that the mall is very much dated. It was suitable in the 1950s and 1960s but once the STC opened up things went downhill fast. I can tell you from first hand experience that alot of their clientele is seniors and that the locals really do not attend there other than for Metro.

Seniors frequently go there in the morning to get coffee and socialize in the food court before it opens.

Honestly, I know it is a local landmark BUT a mall that focuses on seniors is destined for failure. You cannot focus on seniors and hope the mall will survive. The younger crowd around my age (I am 33) don't go here. The last time I was at Eglinton Square was years ago and that was because I needed something from shoppers and I was in the area.

They need something new, they need to get away from the mall your grandmother worked at when she was in High School. Back in 2005 when I was in Grade 12 English my then teacher Paul Vincent at Birchmount Park told me how he worked there in his teens back in the early 1960s.
 
innsertnamehere said:
5dq53e.jpg
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Of course, its actually possible to address the concerns w/seniors, and build the proposal at a scale/form similar to what is now on the table.

The issue is obviously, primarily, one of indoor gathering space; and perhaps, some indoor walking space (though nice outdoor walks are better).

Including a replacement library, with extended hours would meet some of the gathering place function. The contemplated parks already do that outdoors.

There could, otherwise, be some additional retail as well.

Indoor walking would surely mean a Community Centre. There is one near to here now (O'Connor) but it's a very small facility. Replacement might seem reasonable.

Making outdoor walking a bit more pleasant in winter through hydronic snowmelt systems, or a small retail mews with partial canopy coverage like 'The Well' might also help.

None of that precludes building lots of new housing.
 
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It's a meme - it obviously simplifies the issue a bit. The project could probably use some more retail and you are right that some form of community space needs to be provided here given the scale of the development, but the idea that the mall shouldn't be demolished so that a few seniors can drink some cheap coffee and go for walks indoors is ridiculous.
 
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