This Is What Homes In Toronto Could Look Like In The Future

[M II A II R II K]

This Is What Homes In Toronto Could Look Like In The Future


January 9th, 2022

By Karen Longwell

Read More: https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-t...ouses-toronto/

.....

Main streets could see more intensification without condo towers, says Naama Blonder, architect and urban designer with Smart Density, and there is a need for affordable housing and density on main streets. Smart Density came up with the conceptual idea of a mini midrise, which is a six-storey building on a single lot with 10 residential units and a retail or commercial unit on the ground floor.

- Typically, condo developments require six lots, making it cost prohibitive. Blonder calls the mini midrise a "fresh approach within the Missing Middle framework." Toronto building regulations mean a mini midrise must be built on a main street such as Yonge, College, Dundas or Bloor. Smart Density came up with a conceptual design for a real property on Dundas Street near Kensington Market and won the Ontario Association of Architects SHIFT2021 Resiliency/Architecture Challenge. The concept is a very narrow-looking building. "That's because the property was narrow, very narrow but it's part of its charm," says Blonder.

- It is six storeys because that is what is allowed on many main streets in Toronto. The concept design, while narrow, is also deep, allowing for two or three bedroom units at about 750 to 1,000 square feet. The award drew the attention of developers looking to build a mini midrise, Blonder says. But so far there hasn't been a solid plan to move forward. "We are currently reviewing several properties with several partners to see how we can implement it," she says. She presented the concept to the City of Toronto, which liked the idea, but there are a few challenges to getting one built. "Land is very expensive, for example," she says.

- The concept also didn't include parking because it is on a main street close to transit but some developers may see that as a drawback. And while she thought the idea might appeal to small "mom and pop" businesses, so far around five to 10 developers have contacted Smart Density. "You don't need to be the big guys to do this and, and that's why I mentioned the moms and pops who own a two storey or one storey building on a main street could have developed without that same access to capital," she says. Blonder believes a mini midrise will be built soon in Toronto. "We hope to see one of them in the next few years come to reality."

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[llamaorama]

That’s going to make the NIMBYs head explode and will not get off the ground.

However I bet you could built something like that in Houston.

[C.]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

This Is What Homes In Toronto Could Look Like In The Future

While I admire architects for always trying to innovate and be different, they do come up with a lot of shit that they think doesn't stink.

Natural light will be severely lacking on this property because you can't place windows on the side of a building built to the property line without setbacks. That's because the adjacent owners would be able to also develop their own 6 floor buildings, and could literally brick over the window on their parcel. Also, the cost of a 6 landing elevator to service 10 apartments would be a huge operating cost for the condo association, so these would be more expensive apartments than you would see in a typical mid-rise building. It's much better to have the cost spread across more units. Or is it that this will be a six-floor walk-up? Either way, it reminds me of a thin version of a tenement building.

The site conditions would add to the construction cost. It's hard to build a building this narrow directly adjacent to other zero lot buildings. It can do done, but construction costs will be excessively high due to the lack of staging areas and the tightness of the site.

The frontage MAYBE looks 15 to 20 feet across. Acquire two parcels and you can get something that looks like this instead.


The 100-year old solution is better than the one invented for today's time.

[C.]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

That’s going to make the NIMBYs head explode and will not get off the ground.

However I bet you could built something like that in Houston.

Houston gets a lot of hate on these forums, but I adore some of the townhomes they're building there. Not everyone wants a yard and a pitched roof.



Image of Titan Homes as posted on BizJournals.com

As to compared to some of the crap going up in Virginia and elsewhere:

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by C.

While I admire architects for always trying to innovate and be different, they do come up with a lot of shit that they think doesn't stink.

Natural light will be severely lacking on this property because you can't place windows on the side of a building built to the property line without setbacks. That's because the adjacent owners would be able to also develop their own 6 floor buildings, and could literally brick over the window on their parcel. Also, the cost of a 6 landing elevator to service 10 apartments would be a huge operating cost for the condo association, so these would be more expensive apartments than you would see in a typical mid-rise building. It's much better to have the cost spread across more units. Or is it that this will be a six-floor walk-up? Either way, it reminds me of a thin version of a tenement building.

The site conditions would add to the construction cost. It's hard to build a building this narrow directly adjacent to other zero lot buildings. It can do done, but construction costs will be excessively high due to the lack of staging areas and the tightness of the site.

The frontage MAYBE looks 15 to 20 feet across. Acquire two parcels and you can get something that looks like this instead.

I like the building (streets full of narrow, tall mixed-use buildings like that would be pretty exciting), but yeah, it's kind of an odd lot to be using to demonstrate the typology.

An interwar/post-war bungalow lot would be a much better candidate for redevelopment than a narrow, attached mid-block Victorian lot.



https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...ts.8746/page-2

[C.]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

I like the building (streets full of narrow, tall mixed-use buildings like that would be pretty exciting), but yeah, it's kind of an odd lot to be using to demonstrate the typology.

But that's not what would happen. Architects often fail at considering how their buildings interact with the surrounding community and each other. It would not be just one, tall narrow mixed-use building standing proudly, but a bunch of them clunked together with the occasional hold out property owner since most adjacent property owners would also maximize their properties' profit potential.

Not a bad thing since increasing the density and supply of housing is the utmost important right now, but I think it's important to be realistic about what this would actually look like at the end of the day.

https://i.imgur.com/JjKiYxm.png (on second thought, that does look kind of cool lol)

An interwar/post-war bungalow lot would be a much better candidate for redevelopment than a narrow, attached mid-block Victorian lot.



https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...ts.8746/page-2

Agreed and I can here the NIMBYs howling now.

[Double L]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

That’s going to make the NIMBYs head explode and will not get off the ground.

However I bet you could built something like that in Houston.

As C. said, Houston has much better looking buildings than that.

[lrt's friend]

Building multi-storey walk ups (too small for elevators) does not support aging or disabled populations. Isn't 'aging in place' a desire for the future?

[C.]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Building multi-storey walk ups (too small for elevators) does not support aging or disabled populations. Isn't 'aging in place' a desire for the future?

Right! On this topic, nothing use to piss me off more than seeing homes for the aged being disallowed by zoning from being located in residential neighborhoods but were perfectly allowable in office parks and light industrial areas. As if the nursing home was a business was the only consideration and the residences of the nursing home didn't matter and were removed from the communities they spent their lives in.

American and Canadian zoning can really be shit sometimes.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Building multi-storey walk ups (too small for elevators) does not support aging or disabled populations. Isn't 'aging in place' a desire for the future?

I don't think every home needs to be suitable for every kind of person or life situation. Just like it's common for people to have different housing needs for reasons such as expanding or shrinking family size, there's no reason different mobility needs can't be addressed by different kinds of housing well. As long as there's enough suitable housing available at an affordable price for every type of need.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by C.

But that's not what would happen. Architects often fail at considering how their buildings interact with the surrounding community and each other. It would not be just one, tall narrow mixed-use building standing proudly, but a bunch of them clunked together with the occasional hold out property owner since most adjacent property owners would also maximize their properties' profit potential.

Not a bad thing since increasing the density and supply of housing is the utmost important right now, but I think it's important to be realistic about what this would actually look like at the end of the day.

https://i.imgur.com/JjKiYxm.png (on second thought, that does look kind of cool lol)

Or to use a real world example, that block could end up looking something like this in terms of scale:


https://peterlamphotography.com/2015...about-sai-gon/

[mhays]

These buildings would be soooo much more efficient if they were two or three lots wide.

[ue]

That's even more ridiculous than the "skinny" homes that have proliferated in Edmonton and Calgary over the past decade.

[C.]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Or to use a real world example, that block could end up looking something like this in terms of scale:


https://peterlamphotography.com/2015...about-sai-gon/

Love the real world example. Thanks for posting it.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Or to use a real world example, that block could end up looking something like this in terms of scale:


https://peterlamphotography.com/2015...about-sai-gon/

Yes, and if you’re lucky, they might put a nice telephone pole and cable job to boot.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

This Is What Homes In Toronto Could Look Like In The Future

Imagine always having to go up or down 2 flights of stairs just to go to the bathroom.

[The North One]

How about just demo a few more homes and build a normal apartment building instead...

[C.]

Originally Posted by The North One

How about just demo a few more homes and build a normal apartment building instead...

Because then today's architects can't make a splash with their circle jerk rebranding of concepts that have already existed for centuries.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by C.

Right! On this topic, nothing use to piss me off more than seeing homes for the aged being disallowed by zoning from being located in residential neighborhoods but were perfectly allowable in office parks and light industrial areas. As if the nursing home was a business was the only consideration and the residences of the nursing home didn't matter and were removed from the communities they spent their lives in.

American and Canadian zoning can really be shit sometimes.

This is my thought. What an awful design for the handicap or elderly. Hell, even at my age the thought of multiple stairs just to get from one point of the house to the other seems exhausting.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by C.

Houston gets a lot of hate on these forums, but I adore some of the townhomes they're building there. Not everyone wants a yard and a pitched roof.


As to compared to some of the crap going up in Virginia and elsewhere:

Call me old fashion but I'd take the Virginia ones any day of the week. The nice thing though relatively speaking with the Houston ones are the square footage. Texas homes are massive. I believe Houston has the largest average house size.

Speaking of homes, I know I'm an SSP traitor for saying this, but I'd take this over an overpriced shoebox in the city any day of the week.

IDK how much the same type of home would go for in Toronto but I bet over 2 million.

Even though Covid prices inflate values, speaking in general here... Atlanta is underrated as f**K.

What a bargain. Probably 3x the price in California I bet. And your near a popping city and a booming one too!