Toronto Forma | 308m | 84s | Great Gulf | Gehry Partners

[ushahid]

what is taking them so long? that is another delay of two more months and I am loosing my patience and my heart is sinking. why don't' they hurry up. this is so annoying and such a tease.

 

[verticalvillage]

I'm really surprised that the lecture hall for OCAD's Princess of Wales Centre for Visual Arts will actually be contained in the East Tower, by far the most slender of the three.

BTW these floorplans are from OCAD's site:
http://www.ocadu.ca/export/about_ocad/articles/stories/20130214_MirvishGehryNaming.htm

 

[buildup]

Last year it was decided that a few community meeting or consultations would occur, people were named. Have any happened? Seems like a quagmire.

 

[interchange42]

The decision was to create a working group to try to sort through the issues. Yes, the working group met. I don't believe that everything was sorted out to the City's satisfaction however, and the subsequent public consultation has not been called yet. Failing the City pursuing it further, the OMB hearing comes up in June I think.

Someone else may have more info though, and may want to correct or add to that.

42

 

[DSC]

There was a pre-hearing conference at OMB last week:

FUTURE HEARING DATES
[4] At the request of counsel and with their consent, the next prehearing conference
is scheduled for Friday, March 28, 2014 at 10 a.m.at:

See: http://www.omb.gov.on.ca/e-decisions/pl130629-Jan-14-2014.pdf

 

[fedplanner]

Keesmaat's legacy: cutting the Mirvish+Gehry towers down to size.

I jokingly once said that I wish Keesmaat was made Chief Planner for Scarborough and other suburban areas do to her love of mid-rise building and pedestrian-oriented communities. She's proven to be effective and could work wonders in the suburban parts of the city.

To be completely honest, I've lost all interest in the Mirvish-Gehry towers. There is no point in forcing it upon the city if no one at City Hall can see the merit of the towers. The historic preservation crowd is going to be so disappointed when a new developer comes along and proposes 3 Aura-esque buildings of 60 storeys in height, with token facadism of the historic structures that completely bastardizes their architectural merit. Even if the OMB saves the day and orders the approval of the buildings outright, it wouldn't feel right.

I'm disappointed that Adam Vaughan's working group could not find a way to say yes by the March 20 deadline. No public information has been released on what happening behind closed doors. Why does a zoning bylaw amendment need to be kept top secret and under what legal provincial planning authority are these secret negotiations based on? It stinks.

 

[greenleaf]

Keesmaat's legacy: cutting the Mirvish+Gehry towers down to size.

I'm disappointed that Adam Vaughan's working group could not find a way to say yes by the March 20 deadline. No public information has been released on what happening behind closed doors. Why does a zoning bylaw amendment need to be kept top secret and under what legal provincial planning authority are these secret negotiations based on? It stinks.

I working group did its job. There will be changes, which requires further negotiation with the city. This is a massive development. I'd rather they take the time and get it right than rush it.

 

[DSC]

As things are before OMB I doubt anyone can talk too much at the moment and the OMB hearing will go ahead unless the parties can agree on some sort of compromise before the actual hearing (June?). If they agree then I assume there will be additional public meetings etc etc. and the regular City approval process will continue. Because of the OMB appeal (by Mirvish) things are sort of frozen.

 

[Ramako]

If the OMB awards height based on the precedent set by nearby towers, then why would Mirvish want to go to the OMB at all? The tallest towers in the area are under 160 metres whereas the city was offering around 200 metres.

 

[fedplanner]

I working group did its job. There will be changes, which requires further negotiation with the city. This is a massive development. I'd rather they take the time and get it right than rush it.

How do you know this since there have been no public statements made. Do you have inside knowledge?

 

[fedplanner]

As things are before OMB I doubt anyone can talk too much at the moment and the OMB hearing will go ahead unless the parties can agree on some sort of compromise before the actual hearing (June?). If they agree then I assume there will be additional public meetings etc etc. and the regular City approval process will continue. Because of the OMB appeal (by Mirvish) things are sort of frozen.

There is nothing to prevent a public hearing while before the OMB. That was Adam Vaughan's plan originally since the panel was created after the OMB appeal. I'm amazed at the rush to defend the process when all we know that a promised public meeting prior to March 20 was suppose to take place but was cancelled with no official explanation.

 

[fedplanner]

If the OMB awards height based on the precedent set by nearby towers, then why would Mirvish want to go to the OMB at all? The tallest towers in the area are under 160 metres whereas the city was offering around 200 metres.

Great question. I doubt the OMB can approve this one. The approval has to come from the city.

 

[Big Daddy]

I too have trouble seeing the OMB approving this project. Not only that, but if City Hall is going to approve it, the better happen soon. Everything is already tied up with Tommy boy screwing things up at council, but now City Hall is mired in a months long mayoral race during which it is unlikely anyone will want to make any decisions.

I think timing is this projects biggest enemy. If Olivia Chow becomes mayor of Toronto, we may well have seen the last of our high-rises for sometime.

 

[gabe]

Once Keesmaat and her ilk kill the M&G proposal, they will probably add One Yonge St and the Oxford Place proposal on Front st to their chopping block.

 

[RyeJay]

I think timing is this projects biggest enemy. If Olivia Chow becomes mayor of Toronto, we may well have seen the last of our high-rises for sometime.

May you provide her quotations and policies that indicate she is anti-highrise, please. Highrise construction, when achieved via LEED standards, is an environmental asset. Olivia Chow is certainly not going to bring about proposals to increase sprawl.