Toronto Waterworks Building Redevelopment | 47.55m | 13s | MOD Developments | Diamond Schmitt

I agree with the previous poster that making some sort of visual landmark for the foot of Augusta would be a welcome addition to the design. The Waterworks building completely ignores this, which I guess is fine for an industrial building, but since this is somewhat of a destination building itself, the design should reflect that. You could probably just turn the exterior wall 90 degrees at that spot, retain it, and have a grand lobby or something like that there.

Also, I wish the new addition had incorporated some art deco elements in its design. I would think that would be a bit inspirational, but you don't see that happening. It seems like all condos built on top/behind/merged with heritage buildings take no inspiration from the heritage buildings. The architects will point out the subtle things that are nods to the past, but I see no reason why you can't be more open and overt in the design.

That all said, the repurposing of the existing building looks pretty good. Since they have to excavate to build the towers, I wonder what they will find from the market past.
 
Some moderately bad news (to me at least since I use the park every day): the extension of St. Andrew's Playground into the adjacent parking lot won't happen for 3 years. The developer has a deal with the city to use it for parking during sales over the next 18 months and construction thereafter.

The good news: the city has a budget to reconfigure and completely revitalize the park after WaterWorks is built. That includes moving the dog park since the food market will open into the park and extending it to Maud over the mentioned parking lot.
 
Sounds odd as there is ample existing parking within the courtyard of the building, just outside the entrance of the sales centre. There were about 8 cars parked there when I was there last and room for another 8 cars. That's plenty of onsite parking for any sales centre and this isn't a huge project.

The site will be complete mess during construction for the next 3 or 4 years, so it sounds like the park extension and redesign will be the last to happen.

Does anyone know how the proposed youth shelter at the east end of the existing building going to be incorporated into the development? I haven't seen any renderings or designs for that side of the building yet.
 
Since the parking lot is needed during the construction phase as a staging area, then it just makes sense to use it as the sales centre parking lot (which is far more visible than the hidden courtyard) before then. Besides, from a sales perspective, you want to give people more of a feel of what they'll be moving to, and the walk to the courtyard down the brick alley, which can be seen as akin to a ceremonial procession, will reinforce for prospective buyers that they are buying into a property with some serious heritage bones.

That said, it's a non-starter anyway: it's a single lane alley from that runs from Maud Street into the courtyard, and using it as a parking lot during a sales opening would create a traffic nightmare.

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yeah, it make sense to use it as temporary parking if it's going to be turned into a staging area anyways. It's nice that the parking lot is there to use for staging rather than blocking a lane of traffic for an extended period of time. Richmond has been traffic nightmare, as the Lamb's Harlowe project has reduced it to just one lane before Bathurst Street, and to a lesser extent at Minto Westside which the sidewalk has been moved onto the street creating a narrowed car lane on Bathurst (their request to take up the entire lane was rejected).
 
neuhaus said:
Does anyone know how the proposed youth shelter at the east end of the existing building going to be incorporated into the development? I haven't seen any renderings or designs for that side of the building yet.
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The shelter, Eva's Phoenix, is actually already open, and this development will leave that side of the building alone for the most part:
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(The shelter is the darker grey portion the right.)
 

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Just wanted to say how struck I was while walking along Richmond between Spadina and Bathurst how all of the condo developments are going to change that stretch into a true retail street. The Waterworks development will be a major part of that.
 
Impressive. Worth the read - thanks!

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PMT said:
Zoning Final Report: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2017/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-101268.pdf
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"Staff recommend that the proposed application be approved, subject to an increase in outdoor amenity space and an increase in the provision of 3-bedroom units. The proposal, once revised, is consistent with the Regeneration Areas policies in the Official Plan and the King-Spadina Secondary Plan. The proposed heritage conservation is acceptable and the introduction of the YMCA will help to address the significant deficit in community services and facilities provided in King-Spadina."

I looked at the floor plans for this building, and there are a substantial number of large 2-bedroom units. I wonder if the unintended effect of policies that dictate bedroom numbers hasn't been to simply produce a greater number of less desirable three-bed units. Thoughts?
 
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