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

khristopher said:
I think that neighbourhood is pretty awesome myself. Not gritty at all. Lots of nice new mid-rise condos, and great restaurants and bars/cafes.
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+1,

I've never really heard anyone describe it as gritty ... that section of downtown is really the most built out in many ways and has nice intermix of new mid rise condos that fit wonderfully with the older buildings / offices. There's quite a bit of retail on King and some on Front and side streets. Also it's so close to the distillery district which seems to get better all the times as there are more and more events

Having said that, it's not a hopping with life area ... and, I don't think it'll ever be ... which is fine in my books. There is some street life granted but it's quieter in general, quite a few families live there btw.

I personally love the built form of the area, and there are many under looked small condos that have been built here in the last 10 years or so.

Regarding the esplande ... that's an amazing area i.e. with the linear park that goes right though. I can see some people calling it slightly gritty though, you get some characters in the area at times, nothing scary at all though.

There is a lot of subsided housing along that stretch but it's mixed in well. Though the interesting part is unlike current design, generally speaking the subsidized buildings are on their own not intermixed with market rate buildings.

Once the area around the distillery get's built out, which this is a part of, this area will really feel complete/
 
34 storeys is certainly much higher than anything in the neighbourhood. And I can't see that changing considering most of the area is already built out. The only empty lot would be the full block across the street containing the Sobeys. I'm sure they can do just as good with 20 floors.
 
Automation Gallery said:
Cityzen would not have bought this land from the city (Build Toronto) if they were not guaranteed to build tall...i think they will get their way, or just pass it back.
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I am told they were well aware of the current zoning before purchasing the site and that there is no 'money back guarantee' . A Planning Review was prepared before the sale; this clearly shows the general heights in the neighbourhood. See: http://www.slna.ca/slna-news-pdfs/Barry Lyon Report.pdf
 
Automation Gallery said:
Cityzen would not have bought this land from the city (Build Toronto) if they were not guaranteed to build tall...i think they will get their way, or just pass it back.
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Civics fail. Build Toronto can't guarantee that zoning approvals will go through than any more than any seller could.
 
Looking back a few pages at the renderings, I almost think this building was designed so that floors could be piled on or lopped off at will. It looks great at the proposed height, but it would look just fine 10 stories shorter too. It's not an organic form in any way. It's Lego - well let's say modular - just pop a few blocks in either direction.
 
Uncle Teddy said:
Pass it back? What planet are you on?
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Full purchase price pending, on approvals by the city....its not like in this neighbourhood the developer can chop this in half and profit from a watered down build .
Developers are into making money, and not breaking even...im sure they are working with the city to get this through, it kind of reminds me of what went down years ago at the Distillery District when the first proposals came along for condo towers.
 
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Here's another rough model. I think the height is pretty accurate. The towers are probably of slightly different proportions - mine are doubtless too fat or too thin. My podium also looks a bit bulkier than in the renderings, and a bit short on the left.

Since there are no renders available for any side other than the south, I haven't done them.

greyhound1.jpg



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greyhound3.jpg



greyhound6.jpg



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All told, I think the height is fine for the area, and it's a welcome addition.
 
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Amazing renderings!

Something I don't understand. City planning regs seem to be a bit of a voodoo black art. How is it something like Spire with it's height goes up (and is standing out magnificently). Other examples close by : Vu, Post House (not quite as tall) Distillery buildings. Also..how does the LTower get it's wonderful glorious height, but London on the Esplanade, its neighbour, and a far smaller building was forced to chop off a couple of floors from it's west building.

Feels like a lot back room politics at play.
 
Demolition Permit applied for:

Application: Demolition Folder (DM) Status: Under Review

Location: 154 FRONT ST E
TORONTO ON M5A 1E5

Ward 28: Toronto Centre-Rosedale

Application#: 11 247441 DEM 00 DM Accepted Date: Jul 28, 2011

Project: Other Demolition

Description: Proposal to demolish existing Bus Station (Greyhound).
 
Uncle Teddy said:
Pass it back? What planet are you on?
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Money will not exchange hands until conditions are met. AG is right; they would not offer that kind of money for a site that they can’t build on. The conditions will be that they have building permits in hand. If they don’t get permits, the deal doesn't close, it's that simple.
 
Big Daddy said:
Money will not exchange hands until conditions are met. AG is right; they would not offer that kind of money for a site that they can’t build on. The conditions will be that they have building permits in hand. If they don’t get permits, the deal doesn't close, it's that simple.
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I am told by City staff that there were no conditions on the sale and the buyer was well aware of the current zoning heights and densities. I suspect they will get more than is currently allowed but not as much as they first requested and the architects are, supposedly, working on a re-think as their first effort was not well received by the Design Review Panel.
 
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