Posted Oct 28, 2020, 3:04 AM
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Forever forward.
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Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Hamilton
Posts: 878
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Agreed drpgq - I am dying to know who exactly is the driving force behind the height limit, and I've never gotten a straight answer.
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Agreed with TheRitsman that its unfortunate to lose commercial space here - I believe it's been previously stated in the thread that City staff didn't want commercial space here, apparently due to travel speed on John, and I honestly don't get it. The existing sidewalks on John street are already incredibly wide AND the City is requiring a 3 metre road widening on John so it would get even larger when all is said and done.
This is really one of the most prime locations in the city to locate mixed-use podium retail given all the characteristics that would allow it to thrive.
It's a big drop too - from 2,157 sq.m. to 930 sq.m.
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I'm not sold on the landscaping (courtyard) as is - I'm happy that they're proposing nice, attractive pavers instead of plain concrete or asphalt as is so common, but nearly all the walls facing in to the courtyard are solid. There's not going to be much (anything?) to draw people in to the courtyard unless you live in the complex.
The previously landscape plan wasn't great either, but it did two things a lot better in my opinion:
- It emphasized an east/west circulation, which is a lot more urban and pedestrian than the north/south circulation in the new landscape plan. It had room for improvement of course, especially the rather pinched entrance off of John street which also wasn't accessible (two flights of stairs down to the courtyard).
- It had a single parking garage entrance rather than two. Also, as an aside, while the unit count has decreased from 792 to 769, the residential parking spaces have gone up from 351 to 462, which seems unfortunate in a location so well served by transit.
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I suppose it might have been prudent to hold off on commenting on the architecture, considering we only see the massing at the moment. However, it has been my observation that when massing gets tortured into such odd shapes the architecture usually suffers. I'll wait and see and eat my words on that if the architecture turns out well...
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