Canadian City Proposals II

[Coldrsx]

A few new towers for Hastings, along with some massing preview of what could be.





https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnwest...Npmg7LhQ%3D%3D

[hipster duck]

^Is this really the CoV's plan? I feel like the DTES advocates are vehemently against this level of gentrification, and condo investors wouldn't want to touch that area with a ten foot pole.

If those were all affordable rentals then there would be demand, for sure, but I'm not sure how that would pencil out or which government has pockets deep enough to subsidize affordable housing on that scale.

This proposal's location at Hastings and Glen, on the east side of the tracks, near the Waldorf, is where things start to become a bit more attractive and it's a bit more plausible, but I think that whole line of highrises marching east from Main and Hastings is pure fantasy.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

This proposal's location at Hastings and Glen, on the east side of the tracks, near the Waldorf, is where things start to become a bit more attractive and it's a bit more plausible, but I think that whole line of highrises marching east from Main and Hastings is pure fantasy.

There are also a lot of historic buildings closer to Main; parts of it are architecturally as nice as Gastown but unappealing due to blight. It would be a shame for them to mostly be torn down for condos or turned into facades. Eventually I guess if nothing changes they will crumble and be lost.

For what it's worth I think the problems of that area are of more of a political or social nature and fixing that before or somehow in concert with development is best. I don't believe that adding lots of public housing in that area would have a good result today, and I don't believe the current approach to the situation is working. I don't mind the drug legalization and tolerance approach but I don't agree with the leniency toward public disorder and health hazards.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by someone123

There are also a lot of historic buildings closer to Main; parts of it are architecturally as nice as Gastown but unappealing due to blight. It would be a shame for them to mostly be torn down for condos or turned into facades. Eventually I guess if nothing changes they will crumble and be lost.

Who knows to what extent the "future envisioned context" is actually reflective of the City's plan vs. artistic license taken by the developer to justify the density they're hoping to achieve.

I'd agree that a more granular approach to intensification would be warranted here though. On a typical block between Main and Clark you have a smattering of nice old 5+ storey hotel-type buildings and ornate 2-4 storey brick commercial buildings interspersed with nondescript single-storey retail buildings, vacant lots, and other utilitarian or derelict structures. Filling in those gaps between the heritage buildings with contextually sensitive, 6-12 storey midrises would make it into a great urban street in a way that a canyon of anodyne towers would not - especially given the lack of any current or planned higher-order transit in the area.

[Nouvellecosse]

I really like that last one. It's giving me Toronto on the west coast!

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

^Is this really the CoV's plan? I feel like the DTES advocates are vehemently against this level of gentrification, and condo investors wouldn't want to touch that area with a ten foot pole.

If those were all affordable rentals then there would be demand, for sure, but I'm not sure how that would pencil out or which government has pockets deep enough to subsidize affordable housing on that scale.

This proposal's location at Hastings and Glen, on the east side of the tracks, near the Waldorf, is where things start to become a bit more attractive and it's a bit more plausible, but I think that whole line of highrises marching east from Main and Hastings is pure fantasy.

This isn't really core DTES though. It looks like it starts around Dunlevy and heads east from there, so it's moreso running through Strathcona - which is fairly desirable residential neighbourhood these days, even if that section of Hastings is still a bit rough.

Better hope there's plans for a Hastings subway with that much density though!

[Hawrylyshyn]

304 Main Street East, Hamilton ON | 88.55m, 25s (x2)






Site currently:

[SteelTown]

Goodbye retro Canadian Tire gas station

A Canadian Tire gas bar as heritage? The city doesn't think so
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamil...k-so-1.2594092

The city will not be adding a swooping Canadian Tire gas bar canopy to its registry of heritage properties.

A resident asked the city to consider listing the canopy at 304 Main St. E. on the list of properties with heritage value. Inclusion on the registry would mean the corporation would have to wait 60 days for a demolition permit rather than 20 days.

Canadian Tire doesn’t want the designation, said Scott Arbuckle, a planner with IBI Group, at a planning committee meeting on Tuesday. Arbuckle and Matt Johnston represented Canadian Tire at the meeting.

“It’s a giant concrete gas bar canopy that has no ability to integrate into any sort of mixed-use proposal,” Arbuckle said.

[ScreamingViking]

As much as I like seeing so much change and proposals in Hamilton, these big-ass podiums are becoming tiresome.

Though the trees are a nice (if only aspirational) touch.

[J.OT13]

Ottawa designated a 1920s gas station, which will be awkwardly integrated in a development.



They had to move it across the street while they build the new mid-rise.

• Video Link

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...=209249&page=8

I find the 1950s gas station across the street is more noteworthy and would be easier to integrate.

Island Park Esso by R. D. Barry, on Flickr

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.3974...oASAFQAw%3D%3D

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Ottawa designated a 1920s gas station, which will be awkwardly integrated in a development.

Do they sell fudge, cookies, and ice cream there too?

Awkward indeed.

[Coldrsx]

Hahaha... wow

[Innsertnamehere]

Better than the City of Toronto's heritage gas station on Lakeshore which they restored about 15 years ago and promptly fenced it off.. abandoned.. in the middle of the City's waterfront park with no plans for it's use:

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.6357...oASAFQAw%3D%3D

[ScreamingViking]

Ugh.

I wonder if the attendants were dressed in fairy costumes and tiaras, with the mechanics having grease spots on theirs. All managed by an old wizard who would make your vehicle go "poof!" if you couldn't cover the bill or wanted it taken down off the hoist.

[Innsertnamehere]

Orillia CA has a population of 33,000 (vs. 54,000 for Rimouski) and has had a Costco for a few years now. So not the smallest city in Canada with a Costco!

Orillia Costco relies heavily on cottage-bound traffic though from outside the immediate metro area. Rimouski as a whole is a lot more isolated.

[O-tacular]

Most exciting proposal for Calgary in years! 3 towers with internal public courtyard and tons of CRU's, rental and condos. At the corner of 17th ave and 4th street which currently looks like this:



They tore down 2 buildings that were on site last year:

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0377...oASAFQAw%3D%3D

Proposal: 17th & 4th - Vesta







https://calgary.skyrisecities.com/fo....24234/page-27

[WhipperSnapper]

Costco ... the supertalls of towns

[Hawrylyshyn]

That's a stunning Calgary proposal!

[WhipperSnapper]

Indeed however the renderings lack reality. There's nothing holding up the floors. Also, cramming in as many render people and setting the mode at dusk is an obvious technique to make things even more attractive. The towers? Can't make out the tower. They appear bulky suggesting narrower shoe boxes and internal bedrooms with glass walls. Investor units. The internal courtyard is great no matter how the buildings turn out.

A development permit with buildable plans can't be too far off from being posted.

[O-tacular]