You're contradicting yourself. On the one hand you say: "It's hard for a developer to put in a ton of money in such a terrible area" while on the other you say: "I live on this block and it really isn't that bad". So which is it?
In my opinion, you're giving developers too much of a pass here. If the area/location is good, or even half-decent, a developer can easily afford to put in more money towards developing a high quality build, and in this particular area there is really no excuse not to do so asides from being just a cheap profit-maxing corporation that couldnt care less of the quality of their product. This area's proximity to various post-secondary institutions, rapid transit, retail, etc should be enough of a selling point to put money into any necessary funding into their builds. Regent Park which was once considered to be a "terrible area", was able to gain quality builds (for the most part) simply because the developers chose to invest in quality material selection. If it can happen in Regent Park, there is definitely no excuse for builds like this regardless of the location.
My original comment was from a pure aesthetic point of view. I've been around this neighbourhood very frequently and I am quite familiar with what's around there. The recent builds we've been seeing are not inspiring in the least and are visually dull and depressing (with the exception of the new Ryerson building), and I will stand by that.