I was very pleased to hear that Toronto council is moving forward with changing the composition of the TTC board to include private citizens. I am in complete support of this idea. It’s a definite step in the right direction to include board members whose backgrounds and relevant experience will add value to the decision-making of the TTC. The ongoing debate over subways vs. surface LRT has become tiresome. Surely there is an affordable direction for today that will be easily upgraded when the demand and money allows.

The Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown LRT project.

I have always been a subway supporter, but as an urban designer and city builder, I appreciate that the demand for subways must be demonstrated. Toronto is growing and it needs to grow into a first-rate transit system.

As far as the Eglinton LRT goes, the city and the province agree that it will run underground from Black Creek Drive in the West to Laird Drive in the east. If it were tunneled along that route, I would suggest extending the line east to Don Mills as phase one, and continue east with buses in dedicated lanes until the demand for a phase two extension to Kennedy can be demonstrated. The section from Brentcliffe Rd. to Don Mills can be a surface route in a dedicated right of way on the south side of Eglinton. The intersection at Don Mills and Eglinton is undeveloped. A proposal call should be issued immediately for a truly integrated LRT station, bus terminal and mixed-use development at this corner. The proponent will bear the cost of constructing this terminus.

The corner of Don Mills and Eglinton as it is today.

Is there time to affect the cost of the Eglinton crosstown? Open houses run by Metrolinx for the proposed Allen station and Bathurst station reveal the station boxes have been placed centered on both Eglinton Avenue and the Allen and Bathurst. The location of the Allen station creates a grand underground concourse with all the associated costs, construction complexity and traffic chaos as a result of the loss of Allen Rd access. The Bathurst station would also create traffic chaos by closing down key north south traffic lanes during construction. Moving the stations completely to the east or west of major north south arteries will be faster and cheaper to build with 50% less traffic disruption. It’s an issue that requires carefully considered design.

-Steve

Back in November, Councilor Karen Stintz (Ward 16 Eglinton/Lawrence) who had just been appointed by 
Mayor Rob Ford to lead the Toronto Transit Commission, declared that she was in favour of bringing additional skills from members of the business community to be part of the commission.

Councilor Karen Stintz. Image: thestar.com

“We need different skill sets beyond just political skills. This is an opportunity for us to expand the competency on the commission,” she said in the National Post.
 A staff report said that candidates should have legal, financial, engineering and construction knowledge, in addition to transit planning experience.

This idea is a good one. Previously, nine councilors oversaw the TTC but opening it up to those of us with relevant experience will create an arena for more relevant and focused discussion and problem solving opportunities.

Bloor subway station at rush hour. Image: cbc.ca

At Kirkor we deal with the TTC in numerous capacities, mainly when we are working through the infrastructure challenges that go with building large-scale projects over existing or upcoming transit stations. One of the greatest challenges when working with multiple parties is to build consensus, and I very much look forward to a future when this becomes a more fluid process.

Our project Hullmark Centre, at Sheppard and Yonge will sit above two subway lines.

Given that many of the city’s new smart-growth projects are centered around transit nodes, it’s important that the GTA moves ahead with a comprehensive, intelligent approach to transit. My hope is that the new board will help achieve this. The decision will be made in the fall, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, Councilor Stintz spoke at the Economic Club of Canada a few weeks ago. Judging from the reports on her improvement plans, the TTC will benefit considerably from input from citizen representatives.

-Steve

We are thrilled to announce exciting news with regard to our Shops on Steeles redevelopment in Markham. See our previous blog post.

Conceptual rendering: Shops on Steeles, Mixed Use Development. Steeles Avenue East & Don Mills Road, Markham, ON.

An agreement was “endorsed” by Markham council last night with Bayview Summit Developments and the German Mills and Willowdale ratepayers that will allow for a reduced density of residential units to be presented at the Ontario Municipal Board.

The agreed upon reduction from the 1787 dwelling units, referred to the OMB, down to 1235 units is a significant concession by Bayview Summit, the Town and the ratepayers.

We believe that all sides have won in reaching this agreement.

Conceptual rendering: Shops on Steeles, Mixed Use Development. Steeles Avenue East & Don Mills Road, Markham, ON.

The settlement must be submitted to the OMB for its review and approval and the OMB should be pleased to hear that the principal parties have reached an agreement.

The other important party involved with the application is the City of Toronto, led by councilor David Shiner. We are all hopeful that Toronto will respect the wishes of Markham council and the ratepayers and come on side with the reduced density.

Conceptual rendering: Shops on Steeles, Mixed Use Development. Steeles Avenue East & Don Mills Road, Markham, ON.

We are looking forward to the next phase of this exciting project, taking our great ideas and turning them into reality. This project will become the model of greyfield intensification throughout North America.

The OMB hearing starts this Monday March 7. We will report its decision on our blog.

Steve

One project that we are currently working on is the Shops on Steeles, a proposed mixed-use project in Markham at the North East corner of Don Mills and Steeles.

Shops on Steeles. Mixed Use Development. Steeles Avenue East & Don Mills Road, Markham, ON.

The property is right on the border of the town of Markham and the city of Toronto bordered by Don Mills Road, Steeles Avenue and Highway 404. The site is an underused commercial property like many others – with a retail mall and restaurant pads, surrounded by big parking lots.

The developer, Bayview Summit, would like to improve the mall and believes that they can justify these improvements by intensifying the use of land to create a bigger market that would shop there.

Our plan – which includes consolidating all the retail to create room for high density residential on the site achieves many objectives by enhancing the commercial floor area, adding population that  will support the commercial activities, redefining the public realm with new street front buildings and uses, hiding  the majority of parking in decks or below grade, providing an alternative and affordable housing to the neighbourhood, with the end result being  a sustainable mixed-use precinct in an existing community that provides necessary intensification. High-rise, high-density wasn’t needed in the past, but now it is.

Shops on Steeles

It’s important, in my opinion, to redesign many of our suburban  retail plazas so that space is maximized with residential buildings,engaging street fronts and green areas. This replaces the vast grey parking lots with lively, bustling communities.

Most people in downtown Toronto live in neighbourhoods that lie just behind retail areas, not directly on top of them. The idea with Shops on Steeles is to let people live in a residential community that has its own park, close enough so that they can walk over to the commercial area.

Shops on Steeles

Planners tend to think of ‘mixed-use’ as a vertically stacked built form like our Hullmark Centre, where the residential sits directly on top of the commercial. But I’d say that our plan for Shops on Steeles is also mixed-use.

Shops on Steeles.

If we broaden our definition of what mixed-use means, we allow suburban areas to grow in diverse, organic ways and avoid repeating the same model on every block. Communities need diversity, just as they need intensification.

Shops on Steeles has been referred to the Ontario Municipal Board and will be heard in March. STAY TUNED.

Read more about mixed-use development at the website of the National Association of Homebuilders.

Steve

On Thursday, September 2, Kirkor Partner Brent Whitby was interviewed by the Toronto Film Festival Group on his role in the TIFF Bell Lightbox and Festival tower.

Working with TIFF and King John Festival Corportation, Kirkor Senior Partner Steven Kirshenblatt, Associate Partner Richard Golab and Brent took on this incredibly complex project. As Architects of Record on both buildings for the Toronto International Film Festival Group, we played an essential role in their construction and successful completion.

We coordinated development and construction approvals, the execution of the construction and managed the final occupancy inspections. As well as programming the location of the Festival Tower and tower interface with Bell Lightbox, we programmed (together with KJFC) all residential amenity areas and lobbies and the Level 6 event space. We were responsible for the architectural construction details and drawings for the entire building skin.

In the interview, Brent spoke about the importance of creating a balance between TIFF Bell Lightbox and the Festival Tower to ensure cohesiveness of the two forms, how the TIFF project compares to Kirkor’s other large-scale projects and the dramatic impact that the TIFF Bell Lightbox project is having on the city of Toronto. As festival director Piers Handling says, “Festival Tower will play an integral part in this community.”