Public urged to pressure politicians to create park on Wellesley St. site of stalled apartment project

[Travis007]

http://thetorontoblog.com/2011/04/21...tment-project/

Photos of the 11 Wellesley site available on the article page.

Key quotes:

The land in question has a municipal address of 11 Wellesley Street West, and occupies the eastern half of the city block bounded by Wellesley to the north, St. Luke Lane to the east, Breadalbane Street to the south, and Bay street to the west. Over the past two decades, it has earned notoriety as a site where ambitious development plans fail to materialize.

Back in the late 1980s, the provincial government donated the entire block of land for construction of a new ballet/opera house. Various levels of government pledged tens of millions of dollars toward the project, and construction of a spectacular building designed by architect Moshe Safdie was supposed to start early in 1991. However, with Ontario in the throes of a recession and facing a $2.5 billion budget deficit, the province’s newly-elected NDP government withdrew its $65 million cash pledge. In turn, the federal government and Metro Toronto cancelled their pledges for $88 million and $20 million, respectively, and the project was cancelled.

The developer, Morguard, planned to build two more apartment buildings, 9 and 10 storeys tall, on the 11 Wellesley West site, along with a recreational amenities facility for the use of residents in all of the buildings ..


...However, shovels never got in the ground for the final phase of construction, and the property has sat vacant behind hoarding ever since — an eyesore that annoys hundreds of residents in the condos and apartments overlooking the site, not to mention passersby on Wellesley and Breadalbane.

Last month, a city planning department official told a community meeting I attended that the site has sat empty for years because the developer and the Ontario Government have been embroiled in litigation over the property. No further details were provided about the nature of the dispute, but the planner said the parties are close to signing a settlement under which the province could re-acquire the land. If that does happen, the province apparently has indicated that it would be willing to give the property to the city for use as a community park — if that’s what people want.

A page on the Bay Cloverhill Community Association website urges residents to contact City Councillor Kristyn Wong-tam and MPP Glen Murray to show their support for the creation of a new park.

[allurban]

Great idea - actually it would be nice to have a string of parks in between Yonge & Bay downtown to preserve some green space.

I remember when I first passed the sign announcing the plan to build the Ryerson Business campus at the corner of Bay & Dundas - at the time it was a beautiful green lawn that people could actually sit on.

I'm not 100% of the message someone had scrawled on the sign - it was either "What the Fuck!?!?" or "Oh, for fuck's sake!?!?!"

So yeah, I think this is a good idea. Make it a park. A nice green+urban park that people can appreciate.

Cheers, m

[Travis007]

This is a pretty prime piece of real estate, so I don't think the government will just allow it to become a park. Some public space would be nice but development along Wellesley would definitely improve its urban aesthetics. IMO, an ideal development would be something like Five at St. Joseph replacing the crap along Yonge and with retail space lining the laneway.

[BrandonK]

I agree that this massive plot of land should be used for development and streetwall/retail along Wellesley. There's already a large park a couple blocks west of here at Queen's Park. A park or public plaza along Breadalbane St would be alright, but a full park would be a waste of a prime location.

[COTO]

Converting the entire plot of land into green space will increase the value of the surrounding property which will benefit developers (who already own it). The city can sell the density over the parkland to pay for the land revitalization, which could lead to taller towers around a well-used park financed by the private sector. It's a win-win situation (unless you're Morguard that is...).

[Me Too]

I like the idea of creating a small park like College Park or Cloud Gardens. It will have to be done by the Province, though, as I don't see the present City government signing off on it.

[Baystreetchick]

Well, there's actually some action going on today. There's a flatbed out there and a digger, and one large bin for garbage. Miserable work in the rain. I did take a pic from my balcony (I live right over the thing) but can't post it as I haven't been an SSC member long enough. They seem to be picking up crap leftover from a some time ago.

[current]

Good news - National Post article:
Committee Gives Green Light to Plan to Buy Wellesley Lot, Create Park Named in Honour of Jane Jacobs

Peter J. Thompson / National Post

Natalie Alcoba | Oct 19, 2012 12:20 AM ET

Downtown Toronto may be getting a new park, after a city committee gave the go-ahead to try to purchase a plot of land on Wellesley Street. Toronto Centre Rosedale Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam says the 2.1-acre site at 11 Wellesley is the last piece of real estate of its size in an area quickly becoming crowded with soaring skyscrapers. She already has a name for the grass land, should negotiations prove fruitful: Jane Jacobs Park, in honour of the urban planning visionary.

Local residents burst into applause when the government management committee authorized city staff to use a portion of funds set aside for new parkland to negotiate the purchase of some or all of the Wellesley site. The pot of money is raised through cash in lieu contributions from developers that cannot dedicate park space. The amount earmarked for the transaction is confidential. City council must still give final approval before negotiations begin.

The land, between Yonge and Bay streets, had been pegged as a new ballet and opera house, but the three levels of government pulled funding and the property has sat largely abandoned. The Ontario government, the owner, has put it on the market and received a number of bids. Initially, Councillor Doug Ford, a member of the committee, expressed opposition to buying a plot of land over the cost, but sided with the recommendations in the end. Councillor Pam McConnell, a member of the committee, backed her fellow downtown councillor, noting how precious parkland is in the core...

Read more: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10...f-jane-jacobs/

[Marcanadian]

Great news!

[Taller, Better]

Yeah!!

I was walking past there the other day and wishing for some action.

[htpwn]

Key word in that article is "try." They could still be priced out of the bidding by local developers.

If the city does acquire the lot, I wonder if a deal could be worked out to purchase the buildings currently fronting Yonge and tear them down (there's a couple heritage listed buildings but nothing too significant), opening up the site to the street. The city could then team up with a developer to build some quality architecture on the West side of the side, to both recoup some of the money spent in purchasing the land and more importantly, block out those faux-precast condos. A striking twin tower development would be ideal (heck, perform a land swap with Mirvish and get an amazing Gehry development without losing the POW and other buildings). On the east-side of the site, the city could then build a public square fronting Yonge (as opposed to a park sandwiched between the backsides of buildings), though one with more greenery than Nathan Philips and Dundas squares have.

Just some thoughts.

[CrazySerb]

I wonder why it wasn't possible to turn this empty lot that has been sitting cordoned off for years into some sort of a public space sooner - temporarily at least, while the owner decides what to do with it.

Same question for another such precious plot of land - former TTC bus station at Yonge-Eglinton, which today looks like the set of one of those "I am Legend" films, with grass growing out of the asphalt:

[icemachine]

Yong-Eg bus bays are going to be very important construction & staging site for the LRT

[ONE HUMAN]

Yeah, now they are, but CrazySerb is wondering why they had to sit derelict for so long. I see his point.

[Innsertnamehere]

they were very close to selling it to a developer before the LRT got announced. that is still the plan, but now not until the LRT is built.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

Yeah!!

I was walking past there the other day and wishing for some action.

This really made my day. I've been hoping for so long that this might one day happen, but thought it didn't have a snow ball's chance in hell. Torontonians are going to look back at this decision as one of those pivotal moments in the evolution of our downtown. I would love to see something like Bryant Park in NYC.

[Toronto2008]

Awesome. And it's named after Jane Jacobs? Even Awesomer !!

[GenericUser]

No offence, but Toronto has no chance of turning this into something like Bryant Park. That requires common sense. Something that Toronto's councillors lack. I keep up with Toronto news through this site pretty regularly, and it seems that especially Kristyn Wong-Tam is very into the narrow, childish mentality of protecting every square inch of ground from the catastrophic effects of shadows (Can you imagine the horror?? Shadows in downtown!).

As for the revitalization of Yonge St., I also don't think that this will happen for a long time. It seems like Toronto is caught up in the stupidity of classifying everything as a "Heritage" structure. In a few decades, Toronto's downtown will be too silly at street level to take seriously. Maybe it could be the new Vegas? WIth the casino moving in, the whole idea of putting a random house (just because it is X years old) in front of every building in downtown might make sense? I'm sorry, but to me, the whole point of having large buildings downtown is to create a nice street wall. Why are Torontonians so scared of shadows? It's very odd. Have any of your stepped in Chicago's downtown? Maybe your councillors should...

I'll end the rant at that. These were just some of the things that I've observed from following this forum for the past year or so.

[Me Too]

Originally Posted by GenericUser

No offence, but Toronto has no chance of turning this into something like Bryant Park. That requires common sense. Something that Toronto's councillors lack. I keep up with Toronto news through this site pretty regularly, and it seems that especially Kristyn Wong-Tam is very into the narrow, childish mentality of protecting every square inch of ground from the catastrophic effects of shadows (Can you imagine the horror?? Shadows in downtown!).

As for the revitalization of Yonge St., I also don't think that this will happen for a long time. It seems like Toronto is caught up in the stupidity of classifying everything as a "Heritage" structure. In a few decades, Toronto's downtown will be too silly at street level to take seriously. Maybe it could be the new Vegas? WIth the casino moving in, the whole idea of putting a random house (just because it is X years old) in front of every building in downtown might make sense? I'm sorry, but to me, the whole point of having large buildings downtown is to create a nice street wall. Why are Torontonians so scared of shadows? It's very odd. Have any of your stepped in Chicago's downtown? Maybe your councillors should...

I'll end the rant at that. These were just some of the things that I've observed from following this forum for the past year or so.

No offence, but the dark and unwelcoming Chicago Loop and downtown is exactly what we are trying to avoid. It's nice that you like your city, though.

Edit: I don't mean that to sound harsh. There are plenty of reasons for Toronto to envy Chicago, but the downtown isn't one of them.

[M.R.Victor]

@Generic User: those are just different ways of guiding development. Not every city needs to follow the same path, and I for one welcome Toronto's more conservative approach, especially in retaining some of the smaller historical houses. You have to keep in mind that there are vast differences between the development of Chicago and Toronto at the moment. Since city councilors don't seem to have the ability to force developers into providing higher quality architecture than they currently do, I feel that the insistence on historical preservation is the only way to prevent Toronto from becoming a very cold, grey and boxy glass-condominium sort of place.