Category: UrbanToronto

Shoppers Drug Mart busy with plan for Midtown Yonge St.

Shoppers Drug Mart is revealed as a tenant among the commercial doors at the Hill and Dale Residences now being built at Yonge St. and Roxborough Drive. Picture above was snapped by Yonge and Roxborough News. Then down at Charles St., the 1889 Robert Barron Building on the southwest corner is being re-built retaining the original edifice.  When done, it will again house a Shoppers. The firm has held a lease there for most of this century. The photos at right are (top) an architect’s rendering of the finished building and (below) Shoppers in 2014. Urban Toronto

Huge new LED sign set for bright-lights magnet on Yonge

Yonge Dundas Square, Toronto’s bright-lights magnet for tourists and the young, is about to get a new LED sign bigger than anything the City has seen. It will sit atop the Cinexplex building at 10 Dundas East and will measure 25 metres by 31 metres. It is part of what Urban Toronto calls a “massive digital display makeover” for the corner. Great fun.

Bigger outdoor screen for 20-year era of Scotiabank Arena

Urban Toronto reports on the imminent (July 1) start of Scotiabank’s 20-year naming period for the arena now called Air Canada Centre. A most notable element is the replacement and enlargement of the outdoor screen on the arena’s west atrium overlooking Bremner Blvd. and Maple Leaf Square. It is known as Jurassic Park during Raptors events. Urban Toronto

OMB tries to wiggle away from Erskine Ave. tower order

The Ontario Municipal Board is feeling the heat over the tower it approved next door to John Fisher School. A post Thursday night to City News by staff quotes James McKenzie of the OMB as saying the City was a party to the deal. “In this case the board facilitated (mediation) and when the parties were successful at doing that, they came before the board in a hearing and the board approved exactly what the parties had asked them to.

IF YOU DON’T NEGOTIATE, YOU LOSE BIG TIME

The problem with this story is that if the City fails to participate, or merely opposes development, it is a lot like an accused person failing to appear in court. He loses big time. Call it an OMB “unconscious bias.” In fact, this jeopardy is well understood by everyone. It has been expressed many times by Councillors including Jon Burnside (Ward 26). A recent local case is Sunnybrook Plaza at 660 Eglinton East. The parties, property owners and the City, negotiated because there was a compelling fear that if they didn’t, the outcome would be worse than it was. There is not a lot of confidence that determined opposition by the City will cause the OMB to turn down an application. This ever-present threat is part of what many dislike about the OMB.

 

Burnside newsletter summarizes four developments

Jon Burnside’s monthly newsletter summarizes the status of four large developments: 660 Eglinton Ave. E (Sunnybrook Plaza); Dawsco Plaza (Steve Diamond) located at Brentcliffe and Eglinton; 140-150 Laird and 3-5 Southvale Drive beisde Leaside Gardens. The seniors residence at 140-150 Laird has been heard at the Ontario Municipal Board and a decision is expected within 90 days. The newsletter is here in pdf form.

UrbanToronto feature on high-rise at 146/150 Laird Drive

The architectural and planing website UrbanToronto has a full article on the Viva Life development proposed at 146/150 Laird Drive near McRae Drive.  The article is informative but it seems a bit out of touch with the fierce resistance to the project. This is particularly so as it describes the stepped nature of the west side of the building, a supposed concession to those who live on Randolph Ave. and has been dismissed as feature found in Kremlin-like design.  UrbanToronto  Angry residents demand stop