Toronto 2150 Lake Shore | 215.75m | 67s | First Capital | Allies and Morrison

[Filip]

I wouldnt count on City Planning doing anything to be honest. They've had at least 5 years to figure out what to do with the neighborhood as it was developing, and at least 10 years to figure out what to with the neighborhood as a whole before condo galore was built along this strip. And they've done virtually nothing during all this time. Part of the reason is that they are handcuffed with the limited funding they are given by the city (although that really isnt an excuse in this case).

I wholeheartedly agree with you about WT, but it's already a case of being too little too late. Had Waterfront Toronto been in charge, Humber Bay wouldnt have turned into Liberty Village #2 as it would have been a responsibly planned neighborhood.

Thank bloody goodness for the parks. No matter what WT is building, they will never have the Humber Bay Parks, the promenades, trails, Mimico ravine, etc... It's also an interesting dichotomy between these pristine parks/nature areas and the towering glass condos all around. LV will always be an island of poorly designed slabs surrounded by rail lines and a highway, but they have the nice older warehouses so I guess there's a tradeoff).

With a diligently planned and executed development at Mr. Christie's (and I strongly believe this will turn out ok given all eyes really are on it), a GO Station, a new streetcar loop to permanently split the 501 at a rapid transit stop and transit hub (buses should be routed there) - it could really tie the whole thing together. Other things such as schools, and rental apartments should definitely be considered. All in - First Capital is a retail developer first and foremost and a big fan of big box stores. However, they can do something urban once in a while so the onus is on the community to make sure that's what we get. You also wouldn't need CPPIB involvement unless the scope and cost is large.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Schools and recreational facilities are also employment centres. Any developments will be looked at closely, but this time on the needed support infrastructure.

 

[maestro]

Well, as I just mentioned, they are behind the Humbertown Plaza redevelopment (which is only a 15 minute bike ride from here), and which has a substantial residential component, to be built by Tridel. Meanwhile, FCap have taken the lead on King HighLine (formerly Kingsclub when Urbancorp was on top), so they've been getting more involved in residential in recent years.

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True but, there is a difference between Tridel and Urbancorp which build to sell condos and CCP which is prone to invest in income generating real estate. Also, was it First Capital that initiated these mixed use developments or were they brought in later? They are real estate investors. I guess it makes sense they brought in the development partners.

 

[Filip]

I wonder what kind of conversations are being had at City Hall... Specifically around the vision for the transit hub. There are a compelling amount of routes that can logically be tied at a Park Lawn GO station providing a) a rational point to focus a lot of South Etobicoke's ridership (east/west) and b) provide the 40,000 people who will soon call HBS home a variety of options to move through and out of the neighourhood.

5-10 year vision:

Park Lawn GO with 15 min east/west service
- Garage for those who decide to leave the Gardiner in rush hour/high congestion and can easily get to the station via the offramp
- Covered platforms (another reason why Mimico GO is a POS)
- GO Bus platforms for easy bus/train integration in case of accidents on the Gardiner, etc. Since Park Lawn is right where the rail corridor crosses the Gardiner and where the really bad congestion usually hits (end of collector lanes), operationally it makes sense.

TTC loop/platforms directly south of the station with:
- Both the 66A/B terminating there
- 80 terminating
- 80A with through service
- 77 extended and terminating
- 76B extended through Mystic Point* (all those condos have no TTC next to them.. mind boggling) terminating .
- Possibly routing the 15 Evans here instead of Royal York.
- 501 Neville Park terminating
- 501 Long Branch originating
- Reinstated 508 Terminating (maybe one day to be replaced by a WWLRT).

Anyway, I'll leave this to the transit nerds to dissect, but I don't see why a route consolidation in that part of Toronto couldn't happen with a logical hub at Park Lawn GO. The land is there, the roads are there, the tracks are there.. I guess much of it hinges on fare integration and GO RER. Point is, there's a willing audience (FC and CPPIB) who will be more than glad to donate land and offset some of the development costs in order to build towering rentals.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Park Lawn & Lake Shore getting a new LCBO (pop-up). See link.

But what about a school, library, or recreation facilities? Guess we know where our priorities are. It's what makes us (government) money.

 

[interchange42]

The pop-up LCBO has nothing to do with the former Christie's bakery lands: it's going into Westlake Village across the street.

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[W. K. Lis]

The pop-up LCBO has nothing to do with the former Christie's bakery lands: it's going into Westlake Village across the street.

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Still in the neighbourhood.

 

[Filip]

The pop-up LCBO has nothing to do with the former Christie's bakery lands: it's going into Westlake Village across the street.

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I don't think it's a pop up. It's looking very permanent inside and outside.

Either that or they're wasting money on the pop up. I'm not complaining as this is stumble distance booze which was sorely lacking.

Pic from HBS group:

 

[Filip]

Park Lawn & Lake Shore getting a new LCBO (pop-up). See link.

But what about a school, library, or recreation facilities? Guess we know where our priorities are. It's what makes us (government) money.

Ask Mark Grimes.

He converts all S37 funds from the condos into cash in lieu and spends it elsewhere. In the last elections every park from Mimico to Long Branch got new playgrounds, none near the condos.

He's done though. There's a massive anti-Grimes campaign cooking here and we will have 2/3 of the votes in Ward 6 come 2018.

 

[Edward Skira]

Still in the neighbourhood.

Yes but in the wrong thread.

 

[interchange42]

I don't think it's a pop up. It's looking very permanent inside and outside.

Either that or they're wasting money on the pop up. I'm not complaining as this is stumble distance booze which was sorely lacking.

When the LCBO store went in at 125 The Queensway (Sobeys Plaza) it was originally considered a pop-up too. It did very well and expanded, without them ever spending much of anything on it. It doesn't have the fancy signs, that's for sure. Anyway, I am betting that the Westlake Village store will do just fine…

well enough in fact that I'll bet that they need a larger one pretty soon, and I wouldn't be surprised if it moves to larger premises in a few years, maybe at Eau du Soleil, or maybe in ten years on the Kraft Bakery site, when @W. K. Lis's post in this thread might suddenly be on-topic?!

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[Midtown Urbanist]

It should be a no-brainer that an LCBO in this area would do very well, given its catchment area for customers.

Thanks for the pictures guys, this is an area of the city that fascinates me greatly but is difficult to get down to without a car from Midtown. I will have to dedicate a day to biking over here sometime this summer.

 

[Edward Skira]

Thanks for the pictures guys, this is an area of the city that fascinates me greatly but is difficult to get down to without a car from Midtown

Subway and a ride on the Queen streetcar. Not such a difficult place to get to.

 

[W. K. Lis]

For some strange reason, the TTC and City Council removed the proposed Park Lawn streetcar loop, because of budget concerns. They say that there will be improvements, such as a right-of-way from the Humber Loop to at least past Park Lawn might be in the works. See link.

• The City has recently initiated a separate study – the Park Lawn/Lake Shore Area Transportation Master Plan Study (TMP)

• The Study Area includes the Humber Bay Shores Area, the Mr. Christie’s site, and the Humber Loop

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[interchange42]

The stated reason for removing the Park Lawn Loop from future improvement plans for the streetcar through here is that the turnaround would be too early, and that the loop should go in somewhere near Legion Road instead (taking the streetcars to at least Beyond The Sea). That though will presumably look at much more than just where a new loop should go though.

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