Quote:
Originally Posted by davidcappi
Buildings look nice - a little goofy for my tastes, especially the James St one.
A few notes -
they need to figure out how to activate that alley / rear section, especially if each building is going to have a street facing parking ramp. Would be great if they could negotiate with medical arts to plan for a future pedestrian alley / mews going north south. Right now those balconies look out onto nothing, so finding a way to make that rear space special (and not just a loading / garbage void) is key
there are no plans for street trees or green roofs (I guess the city doesn't require them) but CU should be going above and beyond here and not doing the bare minimum re landscaping
I would like to see the James St building pushed back from the sidewalk to provide space for a patio and landscaping, as well as to preserve the view of the Medical Arts signage from James Street. I know they're going wood frame here so they're limited to 6 stories, but the one on James St should consider adding a floor to offset any set back from the sidewalk needed to keep the view of the MA signage.
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I agree that the alleyway would be my only real criticism, and one mentioned in the staff documents. There is no shared amenity space, so these balconies will essentially get a view of garbage trucks and delivery trucks, and that's it.
I do think CoreUrban is trying to stay cheap though. Wood construction, simple shape, no amenities or bells and whistles, staying within zoning. It's essentially designed to glide right through approval process. Most older buildings that Core Urban tries to emulate have no amenities.
In terms of the design, I think it looks great, depending on the material used. I suspect they will keep to the design as much as possible and use real stone. So long as they do quality work, it'll look good to my eye. Just no repeat of the downtown Oakville french style grossness:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/QTZgX6Mb4shMzW3A9