If anyone has a concern about the height of several new condos planned for Toronto's railway lands — including 50- and 54-storey towers slated for the Air Canada Centre — it's too late, that issue has already been settled.
The best city councillors can do now is try to ensure things like pedestrian walkways, parks, schools and community centres are included in the projects. That's just what happened at Toronto and East York community council where two major condo developments were approved, including the $400 million-plus Maple Leaf Square proposal, which calls for two condo towers at the ACC.
The nearly 900-unit project is a joint initiative involving Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Cadillac Fairview and Lanterra Developments and includes a large podium with a sports-themed restaurant, broadcast studio and theatre. With construction scheduled to begin in October and be completed around December 2009, the project is slated for York St. north of the Gardiner, just metres south of the 30-storey Telus building, a $250 million project planned by Menkes Developments.
In addition to the two condo towers, another development calling for six condo buildings — three 18-storey buildings, two 36-storey structures, and one 38 storeys, all atop podiums — to be built on property west of Spadina Ave. at Front St. W. also got the green light at community council yesterday. Both proposals will be up for final approval when city council meets in two weeks.
Some might think that the enormous intensification called for by the two projects would have caused a stir at community council. The area is being transformed as condos spring up. But there was nary a peep, save for one deputant who complained the view of the Fairmont Royal York hotel might be obscured by the York St. project.
The battle over densities in both areas was fought years ago at OMB hearings and city councils, during heated debates over how best to build on the east and west railway lands. In the '70s and early '80s, the push from many elected leaders was more for "European-style'' mid-rises, than towers with large podiums. These days it's obvious which style has won out in Toronto.
The heights and densities of the two proposals have already been given the go-ahead. Now the fight is to ensure these large projects are a good fit with the downtown core, city councillors say.
"We're faced with that immovable object called the development agreement. But I do think that in this case the Maple Leaf Square development allows us to take a negative for the city (losing the fight at the OMB) and turn it into a positive,'' said Councillor Pam McConnell (Ward 28, Toronto Centre-Rosedale), whose ward takes in the York St. project.
The final staff report for that plan includes four pages of recommendations including calls for publicly accessible walkways in and around the site, landscaping and paving, and adequate parking spaces for cars, buses and bikes. McConnell also put forward amendments of her own, calling for staff to study things like pedestrian traffic in the area, speed limits, sidewalk widths and crosswalks. Her hope is that pedestrians won't be cut off from the waterfront by the project.
"We think we'll have a much better pedestrian realm, a real opportunity to go down York St. and connect to the waterfront and remove the barriers to that,'' McConnell said. "In addition to that we'll have a beautiful public space that can be used by tourists and Torontonians.''
Regarding the Spadina Ave. project called City Place, Councillor Martin Silva (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) admitted that "there's a lot of development going on'' on the site, part of which used to include a nine-hole golf course and driving range. There already are condo towers on the east side of Spadina, part of the same Concord Adex project that's unfolding on the west side.
The new project, pegged at over $300 million, is to be located south of the railway corridor. It also calls for the extension of Fort York Blvd., east past Bathurst St. The TTC has considered putting in a streetcar line, but Silva says that could prove too costly and that buses will likely run along the new street.
Despite the planned intensification Silva is heartened by the fact the new project includes plans for a large park, schools, and a community centre. "We managed to secure a park in the railway lands which I'm happy to see,'' he said, adding there are also plans for Toronto Community Housing units on the site, though that hasn't been approved yet.
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