Pushing all the right buttons

Here is an article about a new mixed-use development that gives the left-leaning city planners and downtown politicians all they want in return for faster approval.

This mixed-use development will feature Section 37 money, public art, retail stores, commercial offices and residential condo towers. Ten per cent of the condos will be three-bedroom units; the idea is to attract families.


Proposed development aims to revitalize unused ‘no-go’ zone below Gardiner Expressway
National Post
Natalie Alcoba
February 18, 2015

Rendering of development at Lake Shore and Bathurst that uses space under the expressway.  Architects Alliance

A new condo and retail development in Toronto’s southern core aims to render the Gardiner Expressway irrelevant by breathing new life into unused, forgotten space below.

The project, on a plot of land owned by Loblaw Properties Ltd. at Lakeshore and Bathurst, centres around an art deco building that served as the grocery giant’s main operation centre until the 1970s.

The proposal is to dismantle the existing heritage building and reconstruct it using salvaged components of the same site, in order to house a new Loblaws. Another four storeys will be added to the structure for commercial uses.

Two condo towers, 40 and 44 storeys, would be built next door, with retail on the ground floor, while a courtyard and retail entrance would spring up under the Gardiner, said Peter Clewes, the architect behind the design.

“I think [it] is kind of cool, to be building under the Gardiner,” said Mr. Clewes on Wednesday, after the Toronto East York Community Council gave the project a preliminary green light.

The plan is to light up the under belly of the Gardiner and install public art, thus reclaiming space that has previously been a “no-go” zone, said local Councillor Joe Cressy.

Mr. Clewes, of architectsAlliance, said the city needs more projects like it around the much-maligned elevated expressway.

In addition to a grocery store, the building will house the corporate headquarters of clothier Joe Fresh, and an LCBO, Mr. Clewes said.

According to the city staff report, the plan is to dismantle, store and then partially reconstruct the existing heritage building, which is circa 1927. It was one of the first buildings constructed on reclaimed land at the west end of the Toronto harbour, city staff said.

Rendering of the proposed development, which would include condos and retail buildings.   Architects Alliance

Some walls will be rebuilt using salvaged components of the building. The report says retention of the original walls is impossible because of the extent of deterioration.

Mr. Cressy hailed the heritage preservation and welcomed the addition of a new grocery store, which he said is needed in the neighbourhood. He also pointed to money allocated by the developer for new affordable housing, a community centre and a school facility that is promised for the rail lands and a local park. One tenth of the condo units will offer three bedrooms, a move intended to encourage families to move into the core.

“Downtown Toronto is zoned for density. The question is: Are you doing the right kind of smart growth?” Mr. Cressy said. “I’m not somebody who is afraid of density when it’s focused on building neighbourhoods, which this does.”

The project now goes to council for approval. Mr. Clewes hopes they will be ready to break ground later this year.


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