Toronto Haven On The Bluffs Condos | 38.71m | 10s | VHL Developments | Master Building
- Thread starter AlbertC
- Start date
AlbertC
Superstar
Render
WiddleBittyKitty
Felis catus
That looks like quite the craptastic new addition to Kingston Road, circa 1988. An auspicious year maybe? Too bad it's 2011. It will likely be 2015 before we see these dogs rise I suppose. Maybe in the meantime they could ask an architect to have a look at their plans.
whatever
Senior Member
Actually, that looks perfect for the area. This is replacing a basically dead plaza, it looks like it goes right out to the street with retail at grade and parking behind, and the brick at grade is a nice touch. This could be a real shot in the arm for Cliffside, and hopefully it spurs some more development along that stretch.
AlbertC
Superstar
urbandreamer
recession proof
Looks a lot better!
Granny
Active Member
Still a real tire biter.
But in this nabe I guess it's a start.
But in this nabe I guess it's a start.
dahusbandofbath
Active Member
Here's a link to the final report for the future planning guidelines for this stretch of Kingston Rd. Basically, it envisages a complete redevelopment of the south side of Kingston with approx. 11-storey buildings built up to the sidewalk, some shorter redevelopment on the north side of the street, and a realignement of the the junction of Kingston Road and Danforth Avenue. http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/sc/bgrd/backgroundfile-24629.pdf
Granny
Active Member
My old sceptic spidey sense is kicking in hard here.
A very quick read over of the planning guideline actually leaves me uncomfortable, when what it actually should be doing is filling me with excitement and new hope for the future.
When did the new urbanization concept start as little little more than some pre packaged franchise.
All of the same old stuff here.
It starts here on the map and ends over here. Shove the buildings up close to the road, throw in a wide sidewalk. Don't forget the bike lane. Got to have one of those. Trees. We need trees. Lots and lots of trees. Just stick them in those cute concrete containers. What about all these older structures around. They are kind of in the way. Tread carefully here boys. We don't want give the impression we are unfeeling uncaring ogres when it comes to this old crap. Throw in a mention that we will do our darn best to 'integrate' those things as we go along. Wink wink. What about that Cenotaph War Memorial thing. That's gotta go. Get the local legion involved and make it look like we are consulting them. Go real slow on this one. Who cares how long it's been there. If we're careful and pull all the right strings and use the right buzz words we can that thing out of there. Play the safety issue hard here. No other alternatives etc.
Remember. This is Scarborough. They knocked down that historic half way house Inn and built that ludicrous red brick thing that has spent more time over the years deserted than occupied. ..And they painted that gorgeous mural of the on the side of the wall beside it as if to salve their guilt. Have you seen the condition of that mural lately? Consider it good as gone.
Shoving this through should be like a walk in the park. It's Scarborogh for crying out loud!
Once last thing to complete this package. Pictures. We need lots of pretty illustrations and concept drawings showing lots of happy happy people walking around under those pretty trees.
A very quick read over of the planning guideline actually leaves me uncomfortable, when what it actually should be doing is filling me with excitement and new hope for the future.
When did the new urbanization concept start as little little more than some pre packaged franchise.
All of the same old stuff here.
It starts here on the map and ends over here. Shove the buildings up close to the road, throw in a wide sidewalk. Don't forget the bike lane. Got to have one of those. Trees. We need trees. Lots and lots of trees. Just stick them in those cute concrete containers. What about all these older structures around. They are kind of in the way. Tread carefully here boys. We don't want give the impression we are unfeeling uncaring ogres when it comes to this old crap. Throw in a mention that we will do our darn best to 'integrate' those things as we go along. Wink wink. What about that Cenotaph War Memorial thing. That's gotta go. Get the local legion involved and make it look like we are consulting them. Go real slow on this one. Who cares how long it's been there. If we're careful and pull all the right strings and use the right buzz words we can that thing out of there. Play the safety issue hard here. No other alternatives etc.
Remember. This is Scarborough. They knocked down that historic half way house Inn and built that ludicrous red brick thing that has spent more time over the years deserted than occupied. ..And they painted that gorgeous mural of the on the side of the wall beside it as if to salve their guilt. Have you seen the condition of that mural lately? Consider it good as gone.
Shoving this through should be like a walk in the park. It's Scarborogh for crying out loud!
Once last thing to complete this package. Pictures. We need lots of pretty illustrations and concept drawings showing lots of happy happy people walking around under those pretty trees.
whatever
Senior Member
They've fenced in the lot on this one. Sales centre and/or demolition coming soon? It's also way bigger than I had thought (I thought it was just the old Beer Store, but it actually also seems to include the long-empty restaurant and Andrew's Motel). Now I'm wondering if it might actually be too big. It's going to stand out like a sore thumb, at least until there's some more change in the area
Eug
Senior Member
Apparently signs have gone up there now, although i havent seen them myself.
Nobody wants to be there as it is now, and it has to change. The zoning change is a good start and I am happy to finally see something substantial coming out of it.
As for the height, there were some that advocated keeping thing at six floors or less but most of us just didn't think that made much sense for that extremely deep space. No, we didn't necessarily want 25 story towers, but 11+1 stories seems quite reasonable for that space. I live near there, and I welcome it's urbanization. I very much look forward to this development and ones to come later.
BTW, note that because most of the south side is very deep, and owned in large chunks by a relatively few number of people, I'd expect the south side to be developed more quickly. The north side is harder since the lots are shallower with some of the units in the strip being individually owned, which would make consolidation of lots for big projects that much harder. Also, because they're shallower, the buildings would be shorter, at 8 stories.
Disclosure: I was one of the members from the community on that committee. I will say right from that outset that while I agree a large building like that will stand out initially, I think that's in some ways a good thing. That strip is extremely depressing, an urban wasteland of old 2-story strip malls with sketchy stuff on the second floor and old tired single one to two story no-character stores, with ginormous empty parking lots. There is a sidewalk there, but with those ugly parking lots on one side and 60 kmh (sub-)highway on the other.
Nobody wants to be there as it is now, and it has to change. The zoning change is a good start and I am happy to finally see something substantial coming out of it.
As for the height, there were some that advocated keeping thing at six floors or less but most of us just didn't think that made much sense for that extremely deep space. No, we didn't necessarily want 25 story towers, but 11+1 stories seems quite reasonable for that space. I live near there, and I welcome it's urbanization. I very much look forward to this development and ones to come later.
BTW, note that because most of the south side is very deep, and owned in large chunks by a relatively few number of people, I'd expect the south side to be developed more quickly. The north side is harder since the lots are shallower with some of the units in the strip being individually owned, which would make consolidation of lots for big projects that much harder. Also, because they're shallower, the buildings would be shorter, at 8 stories.
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Merche
New Member
I agree with you. I used to live here from 1979-1996 and I am planning to move back to the area 
I must say, I am excited for this project as something needs to be done on Kingston Road. I dont believe it will be big for the area but NICE!! Kingston Rd needs to attract more people to build up the area. I feel that Cliffside is under valued compared to other neighbourhoods. I have signed up to get notification regarding the condos. I am seriously thinking of buying a unit. Thanks for sharing the info
I must say, I am excited for this project as something needs to be done on Kingston Road. I dont believe it will be big for the area but NICE!! Kingston Rd needs to attract more people to build up the area. I feel that Cliffside is under valued compared to other neighbourhoods. I have signed up to get notification regarding the condos. I am seriously thinking of buying a unit. Thanks for sharing the info Eug
Senior Member
CondosOnTheBluffs.com
No useful info there. It's just a registration page for info to come later.
I don't know anything about VHL Developments but their slogan is "Invest In Value" and it seems they do inner 'burb condos. I was going to say non-luxury, but I note their 2150 Condos project at Birchmount and Lawrence has 9' ceilings, granite counters, and stainless steel appliances. They also have FTTS internet access, and Cat 5 to all rooms.
So, more like lower cost non-luxury but with upgraded finishes. Not low end, but mid-end, at lower cost because of the area. If Haven On The Bluffs is similar, I think that's reasonable for the area. I don't want to see low end, but that lot doesn't support high end, so mid-end like 2150 is a perfect fit.
No useful info there. It's just a registration page for info to come later.
I don't know anything about VHL Developments but their slogan is "Invest In Value" and it seems they do inner 'burb condos. I was going to say non-luxury, but I note their 2150 Condos project at Birchmount and Lawrence has 9' ceilings, granite counters, and stainless steel appliances. They also have FTTS internet access, and Cat 5 to all rooms.
So, more like lower cost non-luxury but with upgraded finishes. Not low end, but mid-end, at lower cost because of the area. If Haven On The Bluffs is similar, I think that's reasonable for the area. I don't want to see low end, but that lot doesn't support high end, so mid-end like 2150 is a perfect fit.
We did a front page story and an interview a couple of months ago on VHL in relation to the 2150 project on Lawrence. Check out our dataBase entry for 2150 Condos - you'll find links to the stories. What VHL told us is that their modus operandi is locating undervalued sites which they can buy inexpensively, and then delivering units that are bound to appreciate in value because the new building itself raises the bar (and values) by reinvigorating the neighbourhood. It means that VHL projects won't likely be located in hot neighbourhoods, but purchasers will therefore get a bigger, better equipped unit for the money. So Eug, your "mid-end" characterization would probably be embraced by them.
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Eug
Senior Member
Thanks for the heads up. Yeah, it's not exactly a hot location, as this is what the current spot looks like. It's a closed Andrews Motel and Hasty Mart.
However, south of Kingston Road is very nice with lots of park land, and this is likely the first development of several if successful. I think it will be successful, because the pricing now is low, and since it's on a hill, those units should have good view of the lake. It's also close to the core, at least if you have a car.
However, south of Kingston Road is very nice with lots of park land, and this is likely the first development of several if successful. I think it will be successful, because the pricing now is low, and since it's on a hill, those units should have good view of the lake. It's also close to the core, at least if you have a car.