Toronto Pan Am Village in the West Don Lands | ?m | ?s | DundeeKilmer | KPMB

The dataBase entry is up, introduced by a quick story here. Way more images coming later.
 
That's a good place to put the residence. Healthy walking distance, and it instantly puts some vibrancy in the new neighbourhood by filling it with younger folk to fill up the coffee shops et al.
 
There's a lot to take in here, and a lot to like. I am particularly smitten with the building with the giant floor numbers on the sides.

Overall, the village is reminding me of the rebuild of Potsdamer Platz in Berlin.

If we only had the will to get the subway or LRT to run through here too.
 
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greenleaf said:
If we only had the will to get the subway or LRT to run through here too.
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Wait, what? I'm even more confused now. What has changed (other than the delayed implementation) with the streetcars for Cherry/WDL? According to the WT link below, an LRT is to run down from King to south of the railway. Eventually, once it gets built, it will be connected to the LRT for Queen's Quay.

So, first AG chimes in with Mill Street. Then, Greenleaf seems to imply no LRT at all. Has the WT plan changed or been cancelled?

http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/planning_the_community/cherry_street_transit
 
My hope is that there is some retail on the major streets (such as Front) and this is more than just housing and institutional buildings. If there is retail (and I do not see much evidence of it), I would also hope that there is some destination retail, as opposed to simply banks, Pizza Pizza and a dry cleaners. This is a great opportunity to extend the destination Distillery District.
 
Hopefully they can attract good clothing retailers etc. :) ... Destination retail indeed! :cheers:
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
k10:

It is implied that the private sector partner will be responsible for the conversion - from the WT release:



Now this bit is interesting - underlined for emphasis:



Does that mean DK has access to additional development opportunities to other sites in the area and/or densifying existing ones? If so, what sites? What of the zoning approved? Does it entail compensation to the government? Unanswered questions that should be asked.

AoD
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Good point. Would that mean free land, or just a fast track on planning permissions?

And whether it really transfers risk to the private sector remains to be seen. Exhibit A: The Vancouver 2010 athletes' village.
 
Riverdale Rink Rat said:
Wait, what? I'm even more confused now. What has changed (other than the delayed implementation) with the streetcars for Cherry/WDL? According to the WT link below, an LRT is to run down from King to south of the railway. Eventually, once it gets built, it will be connected to the LRT for Queen's Quay.

So, first AG chimes in with Mill Street. Then, Greenleaf seems to imply no LRT at all. Has the WT plan changed or been cancelled?

http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/planning_the_community/cherry_street_transit
Click to expand...

Oops, my bad! Based on transit planning cynicism, I just assumed this was going to be unconnected.
 
The November 2011 Minutes of the WT Design Review panel say:

"One Panel member asked if there was currently a plan in place to provide transit to service the East Bayfront and West Don Lands, wondering if there anything in place other than busses.
Mr. Glaisek stated that the cost to develop this as per the EA has risen by $100m, including the new tunnel and portal for the East Bayfront. Mr. Glaisek stated that they are currently looking at a temporary or partial build until the financing becomes available. Mr. Glaisek stated that the temporary solution would likely provide enough capacity for the next 5-10 years, and that a study would be done in advance".

The Cherry Street line from King to the rail berm is, I am assuming, the "West Don Lands" and it will be a great pity if it is postponed as it is really a rather short (though useful) "stub"and would not only serve the West Don Lands and Distillery but would allow the TTC to bring east-bound King Street cars as far east as Cherry before turning them around and bringing them back westbound. At the moment they use Parliament but they usually only re-enter service at Church so miss a long stretch of King Street.
 
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I'm not sure why there has to be destination retail here. Leave it for the Distillery where the critical mass of it will make more sense. Neighbourhood-type eateries, markets and amenities etc would be perfect. Not every great neighbourhood has to be a destination.
 
Front page article with many shots of the village model is here.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
RRR:

Nope, everything has been approved and funding secured. Not really sure what the timing is however.

AoD
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And yet in the images from the groundbreaking last week, they had graphically removed the Cherry LRT from the same images where it used to appear.
 
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