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Urban Toronto: Toronto Community Housing Bringing Affordable Rentals to CityPlace

Urban Toronto — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:00:39 +0000

Construction progressing on 41-storey tower.

The history, design, and development of building projects, brought to you by Urban Toronto.

Toronto Community Housing is bringing affordable rental living to CityPlace in the form of “Block 32,” a 41-storey tower matched with 9- and 11-storey podium blocks at Fort York Boulevard and Dan Leckie Way. For Toronto Community Housing, this complex, designed by KPMB Architects, represents quite a landmark: it’s their tallest complex, it’s green, and it will be affordable family rental housing. Townhouses are being constructed all around the base of the complex, along with some retail fronting on Fort York Boulevard. Patios and deep planters will also be featured at street level.

Kyle Rooks of Toronto Community Housing explains the rental system: “The development will have 427 units of affordable rental housing. That’s a new kind of rental that means the average rent in the building will be 80% of the CMHC average. For example, if the average cost of a 1-bedroom rental is $1,000, the rent for 1-bedroom units in this building would average $800 and could not exceed $1,000.” TCH expects to start renting units this spring, for fall move-ins.

For a full tour of the building, head over to Urban Toronto.

Urban Toronto: CityPlace Pedestrian Bridge Sneak Peek

Urban Toronto — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:00:00 +0000

The history, design, and development of Toronto’s building projects, brought to you by Urban Toronto.

Image courtesy of Urban Toronto.

Work is proceeding on a new pedestrian bridge that is set to connect CityPlace to Front Street West. The project, funded by CityPlace developer Concord Adex, will run from the area around the new Parade Condos, in the south across the rail corridor, to an area between Portland and Draper on the Front Street side. Work is being done by the MMM Group. What will the bridge look like? Urban Toronto received renderings of the bridge, including the image above, from a member who wishes to remain anonymous. A construction worker at the site indicated work could be done within six weeks, which means pedestrians will soon no longer have to use either Bathurst or Spadina to get in or out of the area. We can’t wait to see the renderings come to life.
See Urban Toronto’s original posts here and here, where additional details and more images of the bridge are available.

Thinking Outside the Box Truss

Brenda Petroff — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Back in April, we posted about a bridge design charrette hosted by the Urban Toronto forums, and, in response to Concord’s indifferent proposal to connect CityPlace and Front Street with a box truss bridge, there are now sixteen bridge designs to consider as alternatives. All of the entries adhere to the rigid guidelines outlined by GO Transit and Canadian National Railway [PDF], and most have even addressed technical feasibility, cost, safety, and ecological requirements in addition to aesthetics. Votes and comments have been pouring in, and polls will remain open until June 12, when one submission wins the “Design of Distinction” title.
The only remaining issue is that responses from the city and developer have been nonexistent. Scott Dickson, a moderator at Urban Toronto, seemed frustrated with the process. “The developer has no interest in speaking with us and—like city planning officials who contacted us once and then ignored all future emails sent to them—clearly wants this initiative to just go away.” Nigel Terpstra, another moderator, is certain that the core issue is economics. Concord, he said, “is a company which is out to make money, not spend it. As such, they want to build the cheapest bridge possible.” The budget for the CityPlace bridge (in the area of $2.5 million) is about half of the Humber Bay Bridge (constructed for approximately $4 million), the latter of which is proof that good design can create value and that Torontonians appreciate good bridge-building. As Christopher Hume hopes, maybe “its unqualified popularity and instant iconic status have reminded city hall that it’s worth going the extra distance.”
Of the sixteen entries, one was deemed incomplete by the charrette organizers, and another is an improved version of the entrant’s earlier submission, leaving the fourteen finalists pictured above. Though all are quite different, each takes conventional notions of a bridge and re-presents them with a unique twist. At a minimum, the charrette has provided the developers with new designs to consider and given the public some beautiful alternatives to compare. Hopefully, Concord will also recognize that this creative energy is exactly what is required to connect this emerging neighbourhood with the more established community across the tracks.

Like a Bridge Over Troubled Train Tracks

Brenda Petroff — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:15:00 +0000

Elliott Avenue Helix Bridge, Seattle. Photo by Brenda Petroff/Torontoist.

Today, Urban Toronto is launching a design charette called “Bridging the Design Gap” to respond to what they say are the “unacceptable plans for the CityPlace box truss pedestrian bridge across the rail corridor.” Design charettes typically serve as a forum to introduce an important project to the community, explore its needs, and identify different design solutions, which means that anybody can get involved and brainstorm about the design and aesthetics of the bridge that will link the Railway Lands West with the neighbourhood north of the CN Rail corridor.
In the 1990s, when the city allowed the railways to re-zone their waterfront lands and sell them to condo developers, the agreement included a requirement for Concord Adex to provide a pedestrian bridge [PDF]. This bridge is to be built over the tracks south of Front Street between Spadina and Bathurst, connecting the established neighbourhood with the new development and Lake Ontario. The developer, Li Ka-shing, promised a bridge that the Post called “sublime,” one strongly supported by the city, but GO Transit and Canadian National Railways have imposed design conditions so restrictive [PDF], construction keeps getting pushed back, and an ongoing battle with the city has ensued. Now, logistical challenges and the desire to just get the bridge built are taking precedence over any notion of creativity, which has rattled several members of Urban Toronto, who are channelling their rage in a proactive manner, recognizing this as a fantastic opportunity for community involvement and collaboration.
In this exercise, the pressing issues are greater than the “fifteen second sight lines” or “minimum twenty-eight foot height restrictions,” focusing instead on how to design the most beautiful bridge possible within the given budget, to take full advantage of the highly visible location. Toronto harbours some truly talented individuals, many of whom have some extra time on their hands, and it will be exciting to see the innovative proposals that are produced as a result of this charette—proposals that will, hopefully, heavily influence the final design of the bridge. The deadline for submissions is May 29.