Toronto 1799 St Clair West | 150.5m | 45s | Sequoia Grove Homes | IBI Group

The St. Clair frontage looks overbearing and generic. But what's really concerning is how phase 2 basically ignores the Davenport Road extension. The building doesn't align with the future street.

They just filled out the extra space they were left with with parkland in a rather uninspired manner. Davenport will be the street that residents use to get to the GO/Smart Track station. It can't be treated as an afterthought.

The park is not well served by the layout either.
A lose-lose choice in site organization.

There's also a minuscule park proposed on the site to the immediate south.
A preposterous outcome, 2 park dedications, over 3 parcels, all of which are irremediably, and non-functionally small.

Better, buy (or have the City expropriate and the developers reimburse them, at least 4 of the homes fronting Old Weston.
Add that to a combined dedication in the interior of the site and you have something useful!

Better still, flatten the row of homes on Old Weston, that would allow for a nicely streetscaped edge, and additional developable parcel and truly functional and larger park.
 
Weird, docs and app are gone. Only the one for subdivision remains...

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Literally transit city lite, minus all the thing that make transit city a decent set of towers
This looks 10x worse than those Transit City towers, and would never even come close to that quality. For starters, the green glass wall and the grey spandrel already ruin it.
 
Front page story up here.

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The look of the buildings being proposed here is depressing and just shocking. With so much architecture, old, new or simply innovative, to be inspired by, this is such a disappointment for the west end - or for anywhere really. This neighbourhood already has an industrial feel, paying an homage to this with one detail would be nice for example, but adding multi-coloured (army green included) monstrosities that remind of some sort of radiator heater/electrical wiring that is 30+ years old will not lift this area or inspire the already stressed out/wired commuters. This will be one of the first things one sees coming out of the proposed go station and around the area. Instead of having an inspiring, tranquil buildings to offset the look and feel of the area (hint: history of stockyards) the city developers are adding something out of a horror movie that will mark the area and its visitors forever. Why? I understand the need to squeeze in as many condos, hence buildings that will stick out like a sore thumb, ok - i won't even try to argue with this. But I really hope they reconsider this design - or at the very least the colours.
 
The look of the buildings being proposed here is depressing and just shocking. With so much architecture, old, new or simply innovative, to be inspired by, this is such a disappointment for the west end - or for anywhere really. This neighbourhood already has an industrial feel, paying an homage to this with one detail would be nice for example, but adding multi-coloured (army green included) monstrosities that remind of some sort of radiator heater/electrical wiring that is 30+ years old will not lift this area or inspire the already stressed out/wired commuters. This will be one of the first things one sees coming out of the proposed go station and around the area. Instead of having an inspiring, tranquil buildings to offset the look and feel of the area (hint: history of stockyards) the city developers are adding something out of a horror movie that will mark the area and its visitors forever. Why? I understand the need to squeeze in as many condos, hence buildings that will stick out like a sore thumb, ok - i won't even try to argue with this. But I really hope they reconsider this design - or at the very least the colours.
Still better than Delta Bingo!
 
The look of the buildings being proposed here is depressing and just shocking. With so much architecture, old, new or simply innovative, to be inspired by, this is such a disappointment for the west end - or for anywhere really. This neighbourhood already has an industrial feel, paying an homage to this with one detail would be nice for example, but adding multi-coloured (army green included) monstrosities that remind of some sort of radiator heater/electrical wiring that is 30+ years old will not lift this area or inspire the already stressed out/wired commuters. This will be one of the first things one sees coming out of the proposed go station and around the area. Instead of having an inspiring, tranquil buildings to offset the look and feel of the area (hint: history of stockyards) the city developers are adding something out of a horror movie that will mark the area and its visitors forever. Why? I understand the need to squeeze in as many condos, hence buildings that will stick out like a sore thumb, ok - i won't even try to argue with this. But I really hope they reconsider this design - or at the very least the colours.

I actually don't mind the towers. But the renders show a street-level that will be glib and do little to animate the streetscape, especially on a stretch that has a great "bones" but needs more life pronto.
 
I actually don't mind the towers. But the renders show a street-level that will be glib and do little to animate the streetscape, especially on a stretch that has a great "bones" but needs more life pronto.
That too - everything about this particular project looks and feels sloppy and irresponsible to me, yet it will be, by default, the focal point of this area. I will search out where I send proper feedback and advise further.
 

Sequioa Grove buys 1799 St. Clair West, plans 3-tower redev.


Nov 8, 2021

Sequoia Grove Homes’ $75-million acquisition of a former bingo hall on Toronto’s St. Clair Avenue West closed on Sept. 29, but its redevelopment plans for the property have been in motion for months.

Delta Bingo and Gaming gave Sequoia Grove permission to submit an official plan amendment, a rezoning application and a subdivision application to the city in August, while it was still the official owner. The plan proposes development of 30-, 40- and 45-storey condominium towers containing a total of 1,151 units.

“We felt that the area of growth was high-rise and we’re always interested in doing something near a transit hub,” Sequoia Grove owner and principal Giulio Bianchi told RENX. “So when this came in and it was within close proximity to the proposed Metrolinx line, we figured it was the right one for us.”

Colliers began marketing the 3.76-acre property at 1799 St. Clair Ave. W. in the summer of 2020 while the Delta bingo hall was closed due to government-imposed COVID-19 safety precautions, according to Colliers senior vice-president and sales representative Ryan Thomson.

“That area has been gentrifying for many years. There have been a multitude of planning policy reviews and transportation reviews, all of which were laying the groundwork for a higher and better use for the site,” Thomson said.

“That was certainly part of the rationale for the decision to sell.”

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Plans for the new acquisition

IBI Group is the planning consultant and architect for the project. The first submission calls for 508 one-bedroom, 482 two-bedroom and 161 three-plus-bedroom units, with 100 of the units designated as affordable ownership.

Sequoia Grove’s proposed development would replace the existing two-storey building.

It would have a total gross floor area of approximately 1.16 million square feet and include: more than 100,000 square feet of office space; more than 15,000 square feet of retail space; a 15,700-square-foot privately owned, publicly accessible block along an extension of Davenport Road; 778 below-grade parking spots on three levels; and storage space for 1,213 bicycles.

“That’s very preliminary,” said Bianchi. “We just started discussions with the city and we’re trying to understand what their vision for the area is. We obviously want to make sure that they’re happy in terms of bringing additional employment and some retail and good, affordable, quality residential.”

Sequoia Grove is considering building smaller condo office units of approximately 1,200 square feet that can be purchased by professionals such as accountants, doctors, dentists and lawyers instead of leasing the space.

Boutique and convenience retail, which would likely include a restaurant and/or coffee shop, will be prime candidates for the project.

Bianchi believes young families and first-time buyers will be a major target demographic.

With a proposed new transit line stop very close to the site, Bianchi said it should take just 12 minutes to reach Union Station downtown.

By the time the project receives all approvals and goes through the construction process, Bianchi anticipates first occupancy to take place in seven years.

 

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