Posted Dec 5, 2011, 6:09 PM
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Toronto
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2259633/
Developer, Nestlé at odds over west end industrial land
ASHER GREENBERG
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, Dec. 04, 2011 6:12PM EST
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Castlepoint Realty is proposing to build a mixed-use residential development next to the chocolate factory on Sterling Road – 45 new townhomes with live-work spaces, new office towers complete with urban agriculture rooftops, a public square, and revitalization of the heritage Tower Automotive building.
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But Nestlé is not on board. In a letter to Toronto’s planning office, it expressed concerns over the introduction of residential units so close to its plant. Residents, however, generally support the bid by the developer to revitalize the desolate stretch of land.
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The site in dispute was home to Alcan – originally Northern Aluminum Co. – for more than 80 years. When it was constructed in 1919, the 10-storey building was among the tallest in Canada, and one of the first with an elevator. The city declared it a heritage site in 2005 shortly before then owner, Tower Automotive, went into bankruptcy.
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Castlepoint purchased the plot in 2007 and partnered with Rio Tinto Alcan to clean up the property. The environmental remediation was “a great favour to the community,” said local business owner Heather Braaten. When plans for the construction of movie studios on the land fell through, the developers instead proposed a mixed-use site.
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The trouble is Nestlé is concerned the factory that operates 24/7, with its noises, trucking, and smells, could become a source of friction with the new residents, said Sarah Phipps, the city planner handling this project. The “thoughtless juxtaposition of industrial and residential uses inevitably leads to complaints by the residential occupants,” Nestlé told the city, “in such a scenario, it is always the industrial user who suffers to a greater or lesser degree.”
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Mr. O’Keefe said that Castlepoint has made an effort to hear the community’s concerns, hosting five or six meetings before submitting the application. At the recent meeting, Castlepoint chief executive officer Alfred Romano unexpectedly committed 10 per cent of the new residential units to social housing.
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Castlepoint is negotiating this month with Artscape, a non-profit developer that subsidizes residential and work spaces for artists. The company has contributed below-market lofts to the re-development of the Distillery District, Liberty Village, and West Queen West, among other sites. Typically, Artscape mediates between private developers, artists and the wider community “to find a win-win-win scenario,” said CEO Tim Jones. Mr. Jones would not comment specifically on 158 Sterling, citing concerns over creating expectations too early in the negotiation process.
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