City
Sherbourne condo proposal threatens heritage property
Sherbourne Street, apparently, is where all the action is. Recently speaking, at least. Beyond the new separated bike lanes, the brand spankin' new park, the massive project proposed for its south end, and a speckling of new condos, the street hosted quite an engineering feat a couple years back. That (albeit, quite slow-moving spectacle) involved moving the historic 800-ton James Cooper Mansion 100 feet closer to the street to make way for a new Tridel Tower.
And now, developers are hoping for a repeat performance. The City of Toronto has received a proposal to build a 52-storey residential tower at Sherbourne and Selby streets, a project that will require the relocation of another heritage property. That property is currently operating as the Clarion Hotel & Suites, though the structure itself touts a history dating back to 1882 when it was a private family home.
The "Goodherm Mansion," as it's officially known, will be moved closer to Sherbourne Street if developers Cityzen, Fernbrook, and Diamondcorp win their project's approval.
The proposed tower will include 499 residential units (including five townhouses) and is currently portrayed in renderings as boasting a shade reminiscent of Cyndi Lauper's hair circa 1983. Located pretty much beside the James Cooper Mansion 32-storey tower, Big Red at 592 Sherbourne will have 20 floors on its neighbour (and six levels of below-grade parking), effectively blocking the spectacular Rosedale view north-facing James Cooper Mansion tenants have previously enjoyed. Shucks, eh?
But that's not the only impact of this proposed new property to consider. Sherbourne is one of those Toronto streets that is denser at its north and south ends, and a new condo here doesn't exactly attempt to close the rift. Sherbourne north of Wellesley is ripe with condo development (including another proposal for a 42-storey tower at 395-403 Bloor Street East), as is Sherbourne south of Queen with its healthy mix of retail and residential. But in between are a lot of halfway houses and low-rise rentals with menacing bed bug reports. And with this latest proposal, it seems Sherbourne's centre will only continue to sag as development concentrates at the street's ends.
It's also worth considering the value we ascribe to so-called heritage properties when we lift them up and shove them over to make way for shiny new towers. Now, I wouldn't call myself an historical romanticist in the least (though I think I did just achieve a new level of douchiness by using the phrase "historical romanticist"), but I do think it looks sort of tacky to attach a towering glass structure to a 100-year-old mansion and call it urban preservation. Just imagine a block full of siamese historical juxtapositions!
In any case, if the proposal for 592 Sherbourne goes through, we'll have two side-by-side at the very minimum, with rows of Sherbourne heritage properties just waiting for their own tall glass compadres.
Now, where can I get a lipstick in that colour?
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As for next door, people need to stop being surprised when they buy a condo and find out that they don't actually own the view.
As for the alarmist threat of impending slumtowns south of Wellesley, where would you suggest a developer put a development? The Phoenix? Allan Gardens? Moss Park? Should one of the low-income apartment buildings make way for a condo? Does a developer have a "responsibility" to look in a crappier area to build their multimillion-dollar condo investment? Is building around heritage properties okay all of a sudden if it's in that location?
Like I said…alarmist article.
@johnsonstarfish "Great, old architecture" Just because it's "old", doesn't mean that it's great. Get over it.
Whatever happened with that?
Like Marc said ....alarmist article
Threatens heritage property? You didn't say anything in the article about the property being threatened. You even point out that it will simply be moved. They won't be tearing it down. It will be well taken care of for years to come, and most likely restored to a better state than it currently is.
You want an example of bad? String of buildings on the south side of Liberty Street just west of Strachan. Puke.
More importantly, I'd love to see some retail in the base of this building - for all of the development attention that the area is getting there is a severe lack of commercial amenities. Public amenities abound (one block north of rebuilt library, community centre, one block south from subway). With the newly installed North-South bike system there are few reasons for this not to be a well-used area, however I live on Sherbourne and can attest that animated street life is lacking. I believe that projects like this can be the shot in the arm an area needs to fill itself out a little.
I'm a big advocate of proper heritage preservation, and simply saving a facade doesn't cut it. This is the fifth largest city in North America though, so we've got to accept that its downtown will be intensified significantly. Look at Manhattan, or downtown Chicago. Price-wise it sucks, but it's a reality and condos are here to stay. As people get priced out of downtown they have to move, but so do their communities, and the cycle of breathing new life into old neighbourhoods continues.
Before the cheering gallery gets itself too worked up, let's consider this: Sherbourne is now permanently a SINGLE lane of traffic in each direction. (For now.)
What is planned for the 3 blocks from Wellesley north?
Wellesley/Sherbourne: 38 storey tower, 300+ units
555/565 Sherbourne: 43 storey tower sandwiched between 3 towers that have existed for 35 years.
This 52 storey project.
5 towers between Howard and Bloor, the shortest of which is 43 storeys, I believe.
That's roughly 3,500-4,000 units, or 8,000 or so people jammed along a corridor that is already the densest in Canada.
Show me where Manhattan or Paris (your favorite Toronto's-gotta-be-like cities)has allowed that many towers along a single lane road. Show me!
Kiss good bye your precious bicycle lane!
Point is, even where the towers aren't as tall, many one or two lane streets in other cities are packed with very high densities and manage to function.
As mentioned by someone earlier, this condo is a stone's throw from the Bloor-Danforth subway line, which makes it a prime site for intensification.