***Waterfront Development Thread***

[Diesel_Power]

A massive campaign should begin encouraging Torontonians to visit the new waterfront before deciding if the Ford brother's are right to sell it all to private investors.

As stated earlier by other posters, I'm willing to bet a lot of the critics haven't even been to the waterfront.

[allurban]

Originally Posted by Diesel_Power

A massive campaign should begin encouraging Torontonians to visit the new waterfront before deciding if the Ford brother's are right to sell it all to private investors.

As stated earlier by other posters, I'm willing to bet a lot of the critics haven't even been to the waterfront.

there will be decent weather on Sunday and Monday - invite a few friends to go down to Sherbourne Common & Sugar Beach with you. Tell them to invite friends.

Use twitter & facebook to spread the word. I hear that the social networking stuff is pretty nifty.

Cheers, m

[Taller, Better]

Start a baseless campaign falsely promising free beer and pizza at Sherbourne Common!

[Travis007]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/04...he-billboards/

[Taller, Better]

Wow, there is probably a lot of city land there to grab and sell to cronies fast in order to mask any budgetary shortfalls.

[Nouvellecosse]

That actually sounds like a pretty decent plan with #15 being the component I'm most excited about.

The one thing that I feel is missing though is a streetcar line extending east from Union up Queen Quay with one arm going north up Parliament and the other going further east on Lakeshore Blvd, mirroring the streetcars going west to Bathurst and Spadina since they bring a lot of colour and life into those areas.

Also, a skateboard park would be amazing! I'm not (and have never been) a skater, but that would inject such a sense of youthful fun and vitality to the area.

[monkeyronin]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

The one thing that I feel is missing though is a streetcar line extending east from Union up Queen Quay with one arm going north up Parliament and the other going further east on Lakeshore Blvd, mirroring the streetcars going west to Bathurst and Spadina since they bring a lot of colour and life into those areas.

Thats the plan.

[Nouvellecosse]

That is amazing! And much more extensive than expected. I have to admit though, I'm not sure I see the point of 524 and 517. Is there really enough stuff on Unwin Blvd to justify streetcar level service? Perhaps they should eliminate those two and just have 567 go up Broadview instead of ending at West Don.

[Mollywood]

I was just down at Sugar Beach/Corus yesterday and they were putting in the new light posts. It's so much nicer now. I can't wait to see it in the Summer.
I tried to go into Corus, to find a washroom but the doors were locked. I thought that building would have public access? The restaurant, facing the harbour, is well underway, so that's a good thing.

Sherbourne Common looks like it's almost finished. It just needs a few more paved strips and it's ready to go. Both these parks seem like they will be great summer destinations. (lots of cool water for hot, humid days)

Oh, and I saw my first BIXI bike docking station being installed at Sugar Beach. It was a big station too. (probably 15 bikes) Great place for a bike ride.

[jje10001]

By the way...

The Fort York Bridge just got killed at the last moment by Councillor Shiner. Some real dirty stuff coming in from up top.



http://torontoist.com/2011/04/extra_...far_enough.php

Updates here:
http://twitter.com/#!/goldsbie/

[Marcanadian]

Ford’s sale of city’s waterfront real estate begins

Mayor Rob Ford’s administration is preparing to hang a huge for-sale sign on the city’s waterfront real estate assets and is now in the process of auctioning off the first parcel – the new Corus Entertainment building, as well as the land it sits on at the foot of Jarvis Street, just south of Queen’s Quay East.

Council earlier this monthly quietly voted to change the rules governing the activities of the Toronto Port Lands Company, a city agency that owns and leases 400 acres of land in the eastern waterfront. Under the new rules, TPLC will be allowed to sell its real estate holdings for a profit and funnel the proceeds back into capital reserves. The move represents a sharp departure from the city’s long-standing policy to retain ownership of waterfront properties created by landfill.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2003068/

[Taller, Better]

WHAT!?!?!?

How the hell can they do this? Has he the authority to act like a dictator?

[monkeyronin]

"An influential Vaughan developer, who donated generously to Mayor Ford’s pre- and post-election fundraising drives, controls a long-term lease on the Port Lands’ Hearn Generating Station, which has been proposed as a site for an NFL stadium by the mayor’s brother Doug.

Developer Mario Cortellucci, together with various relatives and individuals who listed his company’s premises on their donor forms, contributed $30,000 to the mayor’s campaign, about half of which was raised following the election as part of a multi-candidate effort to eliminate campaign deficits. He also secured a private meeting with Rob Ford, according to scheduling documents released under access to information laws."

Talk about shady.

[Taller, Better]

THAT MAKES ME SICK.

[jje10001]

Plan: Sell as much land to cover up the fiscal shortfall as possible.

But who cares? As long as we get more supertalls, everything's fine!

[Marcanadian]

I'm all for supertalls - where they make sense. There should be a moratorium on condominium development right on the waterfront. If condos have to be built, at least supply them with at grade retail, patios, parks and boardwalks. Ford thinks people voted for him to save money at all costs, but I don't think those who did vote for him wanted this to happen.

[rbt]

You're not getting a supertall. You're getting an NFL stadium surrounded by thousands of parking spaces.

http://www.journalofcommerce.com/cgi...32a87b1ae35029

STADIUM Proj: 9135077-1
Toronto, Metro Toronto Reg ON CONTEMPLATED
RL Hearn site, Portlands, M5V
$50,000,000 est
Note: This project is extremely preliminary. The site selection is ongoing. How an architect will be secured is undetermined. Schedules for design, tender and construction have not been set. Further update winter 2011.
Project: proposed construction of a NFL stadium on the site of the abandoned RL Hearn generating plant in the Portlands on Toronto's Waterfront. The project would include demolition of the existing building and reuse of some of the existing foundation.
Development: New
Category: Recreational bldgs
Owner's representative Waterfront Toronto, 20 Bay St Suite 1310, Toronto ON M5J 2N8, Phone: 416-214-1344 Fax: 416-214-4598; Tari Stork
This report Wed Apr 27, 2011.

[Marcanadian]

Oh god, why do the Ford's insist on building an NFL stadium? This isn't Sim City, we're talking about real money and real people here. Maybe they should focus more on transportation, infrastructure and homelessness before building an unwanted stadium. It'll be another 'mistake by the lake'.

[Filip]

I don't see what's wrong with building a stadium on the Hearn site. Waterfront Toronto's revitalization efforts didn't even stretch that far east!

This could be the catalyst needed to finish the waterfront. It also offers us a bargaining stick for the Olympic Games that I'm sure Ford is eagerly targeting.
Keep in mind, there were forumers on UT claiming that the city (3 years ago mind you) was 'secretly working' on a stadium proposal in the portlands to be linked by LRT to downtown Toronto. Years before Ford nonetheless.

[Marcanadian]

He doesn't want to build just any stadium. It specifically states NFL Stadium. I hope he doesn't think that building a 70,000 seat stadium is going to automatically get us an NFL franchise, because it likely won't. The proposal to turn the Hearn into a hockey rink makes sense to me, I'd rather see it reused as a different space rather than torn down. Plus, NFL stadiums typically come with hundreds of parking spaces. I don't want a paved waterfront.