Toronto St Lawrence Condos at 158 Front | 91.44m | 26s | Cityzen | a—A

If I remember correctly, one of the material available on 154frontstreeteast.com states that current zoning only permits 8-10 storeys.
 
Last Thursday there was a very preliminary meeting of local residents on this project. It was organised by Cityzen and their architect (Peter Clewes). At the moment they are looking at ca 400,000sq ft of condominium with retail on main (and maybe next) floor. Most people there from the neighbourhood were not opposed to height per se and appeared very willing to exchange greater height for more public space (probably at the Front/Frederick corner of the site.) Clewes displayed several VERY preliminary models and though there was no in-depth discussion (he was clearly not ready to have any), it was clear that the neighbours' preference would be to see the lower floors (to 5?) being in character with Old Town Toronto architecture and the upper floors more 'playful" with set-backs, balconies and/or terraces. (The new TCHC building on Adelaide East was used as a positive model, the Spire as one not to be repeated). Clewes semed very supportive of this approach and of designing the retail floors as carefully as the residential ones to avoid yet another batch of tiny convenience stores and dry-cleaners being squeezed in at the last minute (again Spire was used as something to be avoided.).

It was stressed by everyone there (and that included a City planner and someone from Councillor McConnell's office) that this was an informal and very preliminary meeting and it was noted that there would be public meetings once the project is officially submitted to the City (target date is February 2011). It was also noted that new buildings in Old Town go to the Design Review Panel and that if possible there should be some discussion with the builders of 251 King East (corner of Sherbourne) whose plans were just approved by the OMB and whose building is going to be across the street. In general most neighbours seemed fairly happy about what we heard and everyone agreed that it could not be worse than the current Greyhound Bus station :->
 
chriskayTO said:
Thanks so much for sharing that information. How did you find out about this meeting? Are there going to be more?
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They invited members of condo Boards and property owners in the immediate neighbourhood and members of the the St Lawrence Neighbourhood Association's Development Committee. There were about 20 people there plus the Cityzen and architect folk. There will certainly be public meetings on this once an offical application goes into the City (they are aiming for February) but probably nothing before then.
 
I am a property owner within one block of the development and never heard a peep. Ah well, I will definitely be attending the public sessions.
 
couple of mainstream local media are reporting that the sale of the property to Cityzen has closed successfully....and urbanation has posted this pic on their twitter feed.....quite a large site!

nj9b8
 
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2011/01/04/16759396.html

**

Build Toronto makes first sale

By DON PEAT, City Hall Bureau
Toronto Sun

Build Toronto made its first sale.

The city’s real estate and development corporation that operates at arms-length sold 154 Front St. E. at Sherbourne St. on Dec. 20, the Sun has learned.

The building currently houses a Greyhound bus depot.

Bruce Logan, communications and public affairs director for Build Toronto, said Tuesday the property was purchased by Cityzen Developments.

“This sale is proof positive of delivering on the mandate established for Build Toronto, to create value from under-utilized city land,†Logan said. “This deal is just the beginning and a great start.â€

Logan said he couldn’t reveal the financial details of the deal.

“Significant real estate expertise was put into assessing the market conditions, zoning and preparing the offer for sale to realize the best possible outcome and valuation for our shareholder,†Logan said.

“Cityzen has an established track record of exceptionally high quality developments,†he said. “Their work speaks for itself. This is an excellent location in the downtown.â€

Cityzen president Sam Crignano said they hope to build a residential condo building on the site with retail on the ground floor.

The height and density of the building has yet to be worked out, he said. "We're just beginning that whole process now in terms of making application, starting the process with the community and getting them involved in a consultation process," he said.

Crignano said Cityzen is quite involved in the area with London on the Esplanade, the L-Tower redevelopment at the Sony Centre and Backstage at the southeast corner of Esplanade and Yonge St.

"We love the neighbourhood," he said. "We like this part of Toronto, we think it is where all the growth will be, at least most of the growth over the course of the next 15 to 20 years so we want to be a part of it."

Build is “actively marketing†two other locations, 64-70 Cordova Ave. and 120 Harbour St., but those deals have not closed yet.
 
Any possibility that Cityzen will run a competition like they did for Absolute Towers? That building was such a success that they built two! I'm very confident that we'll get something interesting here but I'd love to see the boundaries pushed. I'd take almost any of the "losers" from the Absolute tower competition!
 
MetroMan said:
Any possibility that Cityzen will run a competition like they did for Absolute Towers? That building was such a success that they built two! I'm very confident that we'll get something interesting here but I'd love to see the boundaries pushed. I'd take almost any of the "losers" from the Absolute tower competition!
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considering in the above posts that they had aA Peter Clewes at the informal meeting, i would surmise that he's already hired?!
 
MetroMan said:
Any possibility that Cityzen will run a competition like they did for Absolute Towers? That building was such a success that they built two! I'm very confident that we'll get something interesting here but I'd love to see the boundaries pushed. I'd take almost any of the "losers" from the Absolute tower competition!
Click to expand...

It would be nice, but then again how tall can you build here...i dont know, but how about a couple minature 12 storey Marilyns.
 
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