Toronto Fortune at Fort York | 78.94m | 24s | Onni Group | Arcadis

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Towered said:
And with that, the Fort York area is fully built out. Hard to believe that when I was a kid, this land was the site of a cement factory and a shitty brewery.
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Puzzled by the comment 'shitty brewery'. The Molson Fleet Street Brewery was, for a piece of Toronto's waterfront industrial heritage, a much more attractive building than the Bathurst Street silos, which are now revered as part of the City's heritage. The red brick building, if it still existed, would be considered to be a refreshing change from the glass facades now almost universal in downtown Toronto condominium buildings - evidenced by the amount of praise in these forums for any building which incorporates brick, even if only on the podium levels.

Would there be a reason or justification for characterizing the former Molson Fleet Street building as a 'shitty brewery'?
 
AHK said:
Puzzled by the comment 'shitty brewery'. The Molson Fleet Street Brewery was, for a piece of Toronto's waterfront industrial heritage, a much more attractive building than the Bathurst Street silos, which are now revered as part of the City's heritage. The red brick building, if it still existed, would be considered to be a refreshing change from the glass facades now almost universal in downtown Toronto condominium buildings - evidenced by the amount of praise in these forums for any building which incorporates brick, even if only on the podium levels.

Would there be a reason or justification for characterizing the former Molson Fleet Street building as a 'shitty brewery'?
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I should have clarified - I meant the beer, not the building!
 
Is it my imagination or does every building on this street have a terrible street presence? The whole street is a deadzone because of it. (and ugly on top of it). Instead of a nice tree lined residential street with eyes on the street, or a quaint retail strip with small cafes etc, you get neither.
 
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alklay said:
Is it my imagination or does every building on this street have a terrible street presence? The whole street is deadzone because of it. (and ugly on top of it). Instead of a nice tree lined residential street with eyes on the street, or a quaint retail strip with small cafes etc, you get neither.
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Agreed - a needless and easily avoided failure.
 
alklay said:
Is it my imagination or does every building on this street have a terrible street presence? The whole street is a deadzone because of it. (and ugly on top of it). Instead of a nice tree lined residential street with eyes on the street, or a quaint retail strip with small cafes etc, you get neither.
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It's really unfortunate. And with almost everything in this area being a monolithic large development there will be hardly any capacity for the neighbourhood to change and adapt over time like areas with smaller lots and more variety of buildings have.
 
That's my concern, too. It'll be hard for the area to evolve over time when all the buildings are large scale, and it isn't exactly perfect. City planning needs to hold districts like this one to a higher standard in planning because of how permanent the built form will likely be.

Perhaps the land will become so valuable that developers will try to buy out all the units in smaller buildings and redevelop for bigger buildings, but that always proves difficult. Over time, you get people who bought when prices were lower and don't have anywhere to go unless you pay them a lot of money.

You might also see ground-floor units turned into retail, offices, or live/work spaces. Outdoor markets could add vital retail. The public realm could evolve to have bigger pedestrian spaces and better finishes. If the condo boards and the city are flexible in terms of uses, interesting changes could happen to preserve and enhance the area's vitality (if so desired by local residents). But it requires thinking outside the box when the buildings themselves are large-scale and unlikely to be replaced.
 
alklay said:
Is it my imagination or does every building on this street have a terrible street presence? The whole street is a deadzone because of it. (and ugly on top of it). Instead of a nice tree lined residential street with eyes on the street, or a quaint retail strip with small cafes etc, you get neither.
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Sadly, developers would rather sell residential units at the street level than offer commercial / retail units. Retail would have added such a nice element to the pocket.
 
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