Toronto Minto Westside | 68.88m | 20s | Minto Group | Wallman Architects

I don't quite blame the Neighbours for trying to block this. I've been on Niagara St around rush-hour, and despite speed-humps, ppl FLY down this (once) calm street!
Not to mention the increased density w/o increased public transit (ie: DRL) would cause more traffic chaos and packed streetcars, potentially leading to Queued-up streetcars (which as a Transit User is my biggest pet peeve re: Streetcars).

Not to get off topic, but all the development along Downtown Yonge is starting to irk me as the subway is already ridiculous during rush hours (sometimes having to wait 2 trains before getting on).

Hope the hood and developers can reach some sort of agreement as this lot definitely needs some Love; just not an orgy! lol
 
The red brick portion is very IJburg/contemporary Amsterdam.

However, I don't like the building that abuts Reve... it's not a nice transition and it looks very boring. Hopefully it's just a preliminary model for it.
 
Surprised that this thread isn't getting lots of attention now that we know what the project looks like... perhaps because it's not so tall? :p
 
SP!RE said:
Surprised that this thread isn't getting lots of attention now that we know what the project looks like... perhaps because it's not so tall? :p
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Yeah lol:D especially when it says Oppose Minto Freed Development that will have a disastrous impact on our City! all over it.

Actually i dont mind the height, you certainly have to be realistic and look around and consider what is being built just a couple hundred meters south in the rail lands...even thought this development is a bit taller than what is permited in the Wellington Place and Niagara Neighbourhood, i believe it should be considered a transition corner to the much taller southern neighbourhood and also future proposed west neighborhood.
The design will most likely get a tweak here and there, but Minto/Freed definitely are going in the right direction with the mix of residential and retail.
I'd Say this development will add much needed vibrancy to this lifeless intersection.:cool:
 
This for the most part is elegantly proportioned and is far more neighborhood friendly than the whale previously proposed - it's faces the street and will enhance that corner, no doubt. The tower on the corner reminds me of churches, where tall spires provide a visual anchor for what would otherwise be a bulky structure.
 
Stop Minto Freed said:
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There is a severe lack of diversity in units (only six 3 bedrooms out of 970 total units? C'mon...). So that won't fly with Councillor Vaughan. Good to see at least one bike space per unit will be incorporated. There will be a commercial parking lot added in the development, which is fine considering the Whole Foods will be here. I hope Whole Foods takes up most of the Front Street frontage and there will be a greater variety of retail along Bathurst.

Architecturally, the south face looking over the tracks is really mundane, as opposed to the westside along Bathurst which has a nice rhythm to it. Although, the lack of features of the east tower next to Reve will make Reve look all the better and more interesting.

Anyway, as far as height goes, I'm sure this one will be negotiated down a bit, unless the city decides this will be the landmark building of the neighbourhood.
 
I'm opposing it because its ugly. After viewing Reve in person this is a serious disappointment for its proposed neighbour. The tower directly beside Reve is utterly mudane and devoid of interest. The portion running along Bathurst fails miserably in its attempt to use different materials to simulate the effect of being several smaller buildings instead of the hideous monstrosity that it actually is. I really hope this gets sent back to the drawing board.
 
Out of scale with the area and banal design.

Compare this to one of the very first buildings to go up in this regeneration area: 20 Niagra. You get a sense of just how developers can't get enough of pushing heights up because they overpay for land.
 
Ugly and banal. 1000 units for this corner is crazy, but unfortunately it will get approved and they will get 1000 investors...rental building...
 
gristle said:
Out of scale with the area and banal design.

Compare this to one of the very first buildings to go up in this regeneration area: 20 Niagra. You get a sense of just how developers can't get enough of pushing heights up because they overpay for land.
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Remember that 20 Niagara went up almost fourteen years ago - much has happened since then.
 
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I'm quite aware of that, that's why I cited the building.

Since 20 Niagra, there have been other appropriately-scaled buildings such as 32 and 50 Stewart, 66 Portland and more recently 10 Morrison. This proposal is intended to be much taller than any of these, and much taller than anything presently on that part of Bathurst (552 Wellington and the Bathurst tower of 650 King).

Given the realities of city planning and the OMB, at twenty-two floors in height, this structure would set the defacto limit for the area at any OMB hearing - regardless of whether the secondary plan suggests 30 metres. In the end, additional height creep will bring ever greater pressure for redevelopment of many of the brick structures on King. Ultimately, the original buildings will be the smallest of all the structures, and will pay a painful tax penalty.
 
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I'm all for progress and don't mind increased density in the neighborhood. However it seems we'll just have more dogs in the park once this Freed/Minto project gets built. It seems more owners let their dogs run free and don't bother to pick up after them. The park just becomes a big latrine. By the way it is a leash park. You would not know otherwise looking at the number dogs unleashed in this park when their owners come home from work to let them out.

This pick was taken around 2:30 pm

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You bring up a good point. I don't mind dogs at all...but it's pretty disturbing how some dog owners pretty much turn small parks into a giant poop/piss palace. Almost as if the park was made for the dogs. I walked by 500 the other day and could smell the piss/shit from the park. Reminded me of when I had to clean my cat's litter box.
 
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