Sunday, November 30, 2008

Fly condos - Front St West and Blue Jays way


Creative Commons License photo credit: thesix


Fly condos development  on the north side of Front Street West, mid-block between Spadina Avenue to the west and Blue Jays Way to the east, also right in the entertainment the city of Toronto with possible competitive pricing and a distinctive if not daring building.

Developed by Empire Communities' at 352 Front Street West. 24-storey’s and using a emboldened glass and metal panels exterior fit and finish that owes much of its ornamentation history to Frank Gehry building of 15 years ago. Not to say this is bad, in fact the developer seems to have provided some of Gehry’s character without the cost to the prospective buyers

Located at Blue Jays Way and Spadina in downtown Toronto - the entertainment area in the city of Toronto. With balconies on its western façade. Designed by Graziani + Corazza Architects has a community scale in sync with this neighborhood.



Current developments from city staff  Rezoning Application - Preliminary Report 352 Front St W dated Oct 21nd 2008,

Already there have been four pre-application consultation meetings and one community open
house meeting. Issues raised at these meetings include:
1)- proposed building height and massing and the resulting shadows cast on Clarence
Square Park;

2)- the opportunity to establish a linear connection that will serve as a future link
from Clarence Square to Front Street West; and,

3)- separation distance to the existing building to the east located at 340 Front Street

Development details from city report

The proposed redevelopment of the site consist of a 24 storey building (building height of
81.5m, including mechanical penthouse) with 396 residential dwelling units (240 one
bedroom unit; 127 two bedroom units; and 29 three bedroom units). The proposal is for
32,892 square metres (354,058 square feet) of gross floor area, including 415 square
metres (4,460 square feet) of retail commercial uses to be located at grade along Front
Street West. A total of 290 parking spaces are proposed to serve the expected parking
demand associated with this development, including visitor parking spaces.
The proposed building is setback 15m from the west and 6m from the north property
lines to facilitate a mid-block connection to Clarence Square from Front Street West.




Posted by Robert

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Dundas Street West and High Park Avenue– Traffic Control Signals





Etobicoke York Community Council has recommended that City Council approve the installation of traffic control signals (traffic lights) at the intersection of Dundas Street West and High Park Avenue.

This seems to be how the process works - Community Council approves the effort and requests the City Council to stamp it. The background file lists a price of $130,000.00 to intsall the lights.

Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) have not objected.

Background Information

October 24, 2008 report

(http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/ey/bgrd/backgroundfile-16878.pdf)

Attachment map

(http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/ey/bgrd/backgroundfile-16879.pdf)

posted by Robert

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

CPR Holiday Train comes to the Junction



From what we have gathered this is the ONLY City of Toronto Stop.

In addition it's an all Junction event, just think... stand next to a train.. what else is the Junction lore about?

Posted by Robert

Picture credit junctionartsfest blogspot and

with informaton provided by Councillor Bill Saundercook's office

Monday, November 24, 2008

CPR Canadian Holiday Train Visits Junction



The train which is traveling across the country will to raise food, money and awareness for local food banks. Bring your cash and food donations and support your local food bank.



Just remember these are very short stops being 30 minutes only

Tuesday, December 2





  • Junction stop Toronto – 6:30 to 7:00 p.m 6:15pm to 7:15pm


    . – 87 Ethel Avenue, adjacent to RONA



  • UPDATE N0V. 24/2008 afternoon


  • WTO Toronto Councillors


    Invite your family, friends and neighbours


    to a Community Holiday Celebration


    as we welcome CPR’s


    10th Anniversary


    Holiday Train to the Junction


    Your browser may not support display of this image.


    Tuesday, December 2nd @ 6:15pm to 7:15pm


    CP Rail Yard, 87 Ethel Avenue


    (east of George Bell Arena)


    Free Admission     •   Live Entertainment


    This event will help raise food, money and awareness for local food banks.  So bring your cash and food donations and support your local food bank.




  • Event arranged by Councillor Frances Nunziata Councillor Bill Saundercook Chair, Junction Forum Arts and Culture




  • & Councillor Cesar Palacio




    and if you cannot make that the closest next stop is
    Vaughan 9:00 to 9:30 p.m. – Northwest corner of CP Vaughan Intermodal Yard andNashville Road, near grain elevator.

    Posted by Robert


Thursday, November 20, 2008

What is a Business Improvement Area?

Bloor West Flower Shop
Creative Commons License photo credit: srossi

Helping things to bloom in Bloor West Village

The BIA concept began in Toronto. The first BIA - and still one of the most successful - was Bloor West Village, established in 1970. Toronto now has Toronto has 64 BIAs.  Most BIA's are composed of strip high street retailers providing a great basket of services, retailers who have little in common with chain stores.  Looking at the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas web site, ...the association of Toronto BIA's. maybe their union? …you can see the vast array of events and efforts they put forth. All this effort is in aid of business success -  in sales, but most often their efforts contribute towards a community. Yet many residents in a lot of Toronto communities neither know little, nor care about their local BIA. While researching this post, it interestingly became apparent that the Bloor West Village BIA (the 1st one and one of the most successful) seemed to have a high connection to the residence community.

More info about BIA's in Toronto and what everyone wants to know, where does their money come from...

City text...

Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) are geographic zones that are established to
promote designated areas as business or shopping locales. BIAs may undertake projects
to improve, beautify and maintain City-owned land or structures within the boundaries of
the BIA, and thus provide benefits to the member property owners and businesses, as
well as adjacent residential neighbourhoods. BIAs are governed by a Board of
Management and established by by-law. The operations of a BIA are funded through an
annual levy, which is billed and collected in a similar manner to property taxes, on all
commercial and industrial property owners (i.e. business properties) within the BIA.


What is the average annual levy of a Toronto BIA member?

Every business member is charged a share of the annual budget, based on that member's share of the BIA's total commercial realty assessment.

For example: If a business's commercial realty assessment is 6,000, the total commercial realty assessment of all businesses in the BIA is 2,000,000, and the BIA's annual budget is $100,000, then that business's BIA levy is:













6,000 X $100,000

= $300 average amount a business pays as a BIA levy



2,000,000

Data TABIA (see link below)

Assessment Appeal Provision for Business
Improvement Areas staff action report [opens in new window]


TABIA Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas web site [opens in new window]

Links to other interesting WTO blog posts

The Junction Parents Blog has a must see picture about the High Park Stroller Fitness


and

The ArtsJunction Blog has a post


THE LOCAL OPTION ART AWARDS
AFTERNOON TEA in the Junction

When: Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
Time: 3 - 6 pm
Where: Latitude 44 Gallery
Address: 2900 Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario M6P 1Y8

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Victoria Royce Presbyterian Church city staff report

A reader of the blog Hamish was Kind enough to post the cities link to the Victoria Royce Church ...Approval of Alterations to a Heritage Property ( which is great because it's really difficult to troll thought the cities web site looking for information - thanks)

152 Annette Street (Victoria Royce Church) - Approval of Alterations to a Heritage Property and Intention to Designate, Part IV, Section 29, Ontario Heritage Act

The report recommends that City Council approve the alterations to the heritage property considering it a well considered example of adaptive reuse and incorporation of a heritage building as the focal point of a development project. Moreover city Staff view the project as preserving significant architectural elements of the church with minor modifications that are necessary for its new functional use.

City staff report details about what is happening to the building.

The project converts the existing historic church and the attached school structure to
residential use. The project would also sever the portion of the lot containing the manse
structure from the project site for private sale. The adaptive reuse project would add 34
residential units with 22 below grade parking spaces. The new uses would be fully
contained within the existing building footprint. The project would add only an
approximately 270 square metre one story rooftop penthouse atop the school structure
(with appropriate setback) and a sub-grade parking level below the church.
The project would conserve significant architectural elements of the church and ancillary
school structure. The conservation objectives for the church are herein stated as:
1) Minimal intervention in the masonry of the church building as only eight small
new openings are proposed at the tower.
2) Minimal intervention in the massing of the church building as the project does not
change the building envelope of the church structure
3)Minimal intervention at the roof as disturbance of the roof plane is minimized by
the use of discrete reverse roof dormer elements.
4)Restoration of Masonry
5) Preservation of smaller leaded windows, large arched openings and exterior light
fixtures.
6)Retention of tower entry features adapted to the new residential use
8) Revisions to flashing and rain ware to reduce future deterioration of the masonry
due to identified sources of water flow and infiltration.
9)Although the Interior is not part of the reasons for designation, the project would also:
10)Retain the existing interior hammer beam structure.
Preserve and re-use offsite the stained glass windows, organ and other elements
such as pews, grates, etc.
11)At the ancillary school structure, the project would:
12)Restore the masonry and retain and repair existing stone elements
13)Carefully dismantle and then rebuild the Arts and Crafts entrance vestibule
according to documentation.
14)Approximate retention of existing window openings with minor changes due to
changed type of use occupancy.

Reading through all this this it can be summed up Revitalization both programmatically and physically of the heritage structure is a primary objective of the proposal.

For the community it can be read as a Church being coverted into homes, each person in the community needs to think about that personally as to their view concerning this type of building reuse as it remove the church road feeling in this of Annette St. Yet the Junction does receive additional density in people and homes from this development which is something it greatly needs.

posted bt Robert

Roundhouse Rail Heritage, a lot to work on...

IMG_3748
Creative Commons License photo credit: wyliepoon


The John Street Roundhouse was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway (“CPR”) in 1929
to service the steam locomotives that hauled CPR passenger trains into the new Union
Station. When steam engines were finally retired in 1959-60, the Roundhouse was
converted to servicing diesel locomotives and it remained in service until 1986.


This report details progress on the implementation of the Rail Heritage Museum initial phase of Rail Heritage Museum involves three bays of the Roundhouse and re-establishing a modest portion of the rail
heritage landscape to help interpret the site. This will be accomplished by placing radial
display track from the turntable into the park to showcase the rail artifact collection
consisting of locomotives and other rolling stock, and opening a series of restored railway
structures to the public, including the original Don Station which is being moved from
Todmorden Mills.


It also impact that a new hydro transformer station (Hydro One) might have on this National Historic Site.

Other interesting sections of the report

Roundhouse Rail Heritage
The Toronto Railway Historical Association is a registered Canadian charitable
organization, established in 2001, to promote the development of the museum at the
Roundhouse. The vision of TRHA for the Rail Heritage Museum is to link three
component sites: the Roundhouse, Roundhouse Park and Union Station. While the
TRHA has undertaken various actions such as participation in the annual Doors Open
event to promote interest in the Rail Heritage Museum as well as organizing regular
public tours of Union Station, it has not been possible for them to prepare a detailed
operational plan due to the remaining uncertainties with the Roundhouse restoration and
other issues.
The TRHA working with the Tenant, City staff and other appropriate
stakeholders have been able to resolve the following:
1. Resolution of rail cars ownership issues
2. Finalization of plans for the integration of the Rail Heritage Museum within
Roundhouse Park
3. Finalization of condition assessments for the restoration of various rail heritage
elements such as the Coal and Sanding Tower, Don Station and Cabin D
4. Development of a cost plan for the capital needs of the Museum and
establishment of an operating direction (with help from the Museum of Science
and Technology)
5. Formulation, in consultation with Parks, Forestry and Recreation; Preservation
Services; and Planning, for the Restoration of the Coal/Sanding Tower, a park
lighting scheme, landscape improvements and interim construction access


John Street Roundhouse -  city changes Full report [opens in new window]

Monday, November 17, 2008

The Village by High Park, ...not to bore anyone

But this another post about shoring and tiebacks...



Old Cantire store shoring that they are keeping?


But this is really exciting -  Deltera, really their subcontractor, is still working on the railway line shoring wall. This wall which will and has to be designed and built to hold back the railway tracks is so Junction. It abuts the original railway subway, it holds the railway together much as the old Cantire Store foundation did and still does in parts, and will be an important part of the new condo building.



If you click in the cloud tag on The Village by High Park text you can view posts with images following the process they used to… 1st remove and level the soil hill mass that was against the wall and the old building in areas, then strengthen the ground with new temporary rock fill…then drill  & place in the steel ibeam shoring, then remove the soil mass until they had a shear wall.





Completely new! shoring closer to Keele St




This guy is on the tracks without a CPR escort, he's is trouble





Posted by Robert

Dufferin Street Jog Removal

$24,832,664.54 is being spent on the Dufferin Street Jog Elimination project and the construction of the Dufferin Street/CN/GO Transit Underpass at Queen Street. The Dufferin Construction Company (St. Lawrence Cement Inc. C.O.B.) is the prime contractor and if you look at the material making up the the bulk of the volume of the structure, they are the main material supplier too.

Looking at the method and construction engineering to be used, it appears the  underpass will mix well with other nearby underpasses such as the one on King street in Liberty Village. It is the grammar of ornament used to display art in the structure that is of considerable issue in this design. In a tunnel underpass that is probably going to be wind swept at times, and with the usual short width of sidewalks used in Toronto it is going to be difficult for passers by to stand and have some contemplative time viewing the photographs.



...tending to agree with this quote from Adam Vaughan, in this Toronto Life article by Philip Preville.

Though it’s not in his district, Adam Vaughan, for what it’s worth, is not a fan of the idea. “Congestion is good,” he told me not long ago, meaning the more difficult it is for cars to navigate the grid, the more people will consider alternatives like walking or transit. It’s also true that oddities like the Dufferin Jog act as natural traffic-calming devices, and they provide incentive for drivers to disperse throughout the grid in search of alternative routes. But there’s also the fact that irregularities in the grid are what give any city its character.



jjj



kk



Picture credits  St. Lawrence
Cement Inc. C.O.B. as Dufferin Construction Company
[opens in new window]

City of Toronto Contract Award - Contract No. 08FS-22S [opens in new window]

Dufferin Street history on Wikipedia [opens in new window]





































Project Name:Dufferin Street Jog Elimination
Project Value:$24,832,664.54
Scheduled:2008-2009
Owner:City of Toronto
Contract No:08FS-22S
Consultant:
Location:Dufferin Street at Queen Street
Market:Municipal Construction - Central
Delivery Method:Traditional Public Tender

Saturday, November 15, 2008

South Junction Triangle Residents Assoc contact info and events


The South Junction Triangle Residents Assoc at the end of this past week sent out a email about thier upcoming events, which are listed below.


The contact email for then is info@southjunctiontriangle.ca



COMMUNITY MEETINGS:

Toronto Police 11 Division Town Hall Meeting
Tuesday November 18, 2008, 7:00p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Bishop Marrocco / Thomas Merton Catholic Secondary School
1515 Bloor W. (Bloor Street West & Dundas Street West)
More info:  http://www.southjunctiontriangle.ca/node/167

Bloor Dundas Avenue Study Community Meeting
Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
Saint Joan of Arc - Gymnasium
1701 Bloor Street West
More info: http://www.southjunctiontriangle.ca/node/169

Thursday, November 13, 2008

West end building facings that define our character



Faux brick was the prevailing asphalt siding style in many cross industrial/residential communities around West Toronto. Although commonly used in Toronto in a rectangle shape ,  wall shingles were marketed in a variety of patterns and colors such as rectangular, hexagonal and pyramidal. This siding material was offered in brown tone, red tone, jade green and tile red over the years with “mortar” lines in white, brown or black.

A finished look to the job could be had by placing accessory strips for inside and outside corners.

This material can be seen around The junction, in the Annex and other areas of WTO.

An interesting aside to the choice of siding issues in WTO is the current use of "suburban" bricks being used in older communities to reface or add new extensions to a particular building.  These "suburban" bricks commonly used to build houses in the new developments around the GTA are substantially bigger in length and  width then the traditional bricks or faux "bricks' used in  the older west areas. They impart a very different feel to the street-scape. This fall a homeowner on Vine Ave. near the Parkette used "suburban" bricks  to reface the front of a house. Take a look it's very easy to find during a stroll, by comparing bricks of a few houses as you pass by.

Posted by Robert

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The health of local information and it's gift

West Toronto in addition to being half of Toronto is a city of places. Usually tight communities that are relatively small, they are glued together to form the whole of West Toronto (WTO). Right now it can be said to be overrun with community groups, residents associations, development watch groups, special interest groups – “you're not going to close this school” and many more.

All of these groups produce and cause a lot of information to be created but not widely distributed. Many concerns and much of the happiness generated in local neighbourhoods are of interest to many if not all of the other communities. “Media” play an important role in moving this information around, but they can never do it all. Joining together in a combined effort the communities of WTO could move most of the information into each others view and the workload of each community and each counsellor would greatly decrease as situational advantages and problem solving successes could easily be distributed and shared.

This chart from the Knight Commission sets out some of the advantages






















How Information is UsedBy Communities
For problem solvingTo decide how to achieve community goals or solve community problems for public as a whole.
For coordinationTo mobilize people and resources more effectively to address community needs, e.g., emergency relief, park clean-up, recycling, food distribution.
For accountabilityTo bolster legitimacy by demonstrating that individuals and organizations in power are performing their roles in lawful, democratically supported and socially appropriate ways.
For creating systems of meaningTo form a narrative of community that supports a common identity in support of mutual trust, cooperation, and engagement.

(The chart has been redacted for clarity, that is, I took out the column on how individuals use information), to see the complete chart use this link.

Should the city revise it's commercial High Street rules?



Picture credit - Bob Krawczyk, TObuilt



Whats left ...   Picture Credit - bricoleurbanism flickr

If you are planning to demo a residential house in Toronto you must submit a plan, before the demo, and gain approval form the city for your project. Yet, if you purchase a strip building like the one pictured above top, you can demo the building before you have approval for your project. And if the city disallows your project, the community has this empty lot to contend with.

Another issue is that the person who caused this to happen destroyed a good quality architectural building. Looking at this in contrast to the two buildings removed on the north side of Dundas Street West at Pacfic Ave. (lot currently donated to the arts fest and BIA) The individual has brought down two nondescript simple buildings with no deep merit to the community. These two lots when redeveloped can provide for the community rather than remove from it, while the removal of a good historical quality building only harms the Junction.


Update: Dec  5 2008 The blog has been told that the two sites discussed in post are owned by the same person. (we have yet to verify that, but the source is well regarded as a source at the blog) This is an interesting issue, whereas the corner of Pacific and Dundas St west lot and the building next to it are prime examples of a great place to instill some greater density in the Junction. The old Mc Brides site is a prime location for that too - some may say even more.  Again the cities procedures for orchestrating infill developments such as this have failed both the developer and the community. Simple community meetings really are not enough as they provide for very little common goal bulding between a developer and a community. The developer appears to be trying to reach out to the community by providing the use of his vacant lot for community with the help of the local councillor, which has contributed to the community.



Posted by Robert



what you are seeing brought down, once held this business...

Started in 1909 by Percy A. McBride, the store began by selling American-made Hendersons from a building on College Street. It moved later to a series of locations on Queen Street before taking up its current spot on Dundas Street West, near Keele Street.
The list of makes sold by the store could fill a book on motorcycle history. They included AJS (built by Albert John Stevens), Francis-Barnett, Royal Enfield, Indian, Brough Superior, Rudge, BSA, Ariel and Lambretta.


The store rode the wave of the Japanese invasion of the 1960s, the same decade Percy died, and the business was taken over by Marty McBride, John's father.

From a September 8, 2006 article by Oliver Moore - The Globe and Mail - theglobeandmail.com

Going up, ...for extra space

Sunday, March 30, 2008 03:58:41 PM

@ photo credit: Usonian

Maybe you’ve stretched your smallish Toronto home to its limits and
are looking for some way to carve out a free niche or you have a new
addition that needs its own space. Extra room can be expensive to buy
or add on to ones home and the typical Toronto back yard is already
groaning from encroachment.

So go to the attic. You may or may not have stairs; if not, you’ll
have to find the room for the rise and run of the steps which may
entail taking some space from a closet. Attic ladders are available but
they are not great for frequent use and not as safe as stairs.

The attic is usually an unheated space until it is modified for
living space, as a result, all the insulation is in the floor to stop
heat from rising from the living areas in the house through the ceiling
into the attic. This insulation may be in rough shape depending on how
old your house is and perhaps who used to live there. If you smoke or
there were smokers there previously, you make find very stinky
insulation with a mixture of sawdust and other construction debris. Get
rid of it, and wear a mask while your doing it. More on this to follow…



IMG_9732
Creative Commons License photo credit: mattdesmond

Monday, November 10, 2008

South Kingsway - gut reno- and make big - house renewal



Upping one storey dwellings has been a popular project among small developers for years and has intensified as urban real estate in established neighbourhoods become more and more scarce.



After researching what real estate agents call the comparables (selling prices for similar houses in the area) the developer of this project discovered that if he built a 2700 square foot house next to the 2300 sf house that recently sold for 1.4 million he should have no problem getting at least that much for his. He purchased this corner lot for $560k and estimates a construction cost of ~350k, which makes the project very profitable if he can sell for anywhere near a million and a half.

The house sits close to its north facing lot line between the house wall and the neighbouring church parking lot seen above. In observance of fire regulations the city would not include in the construction permit, permission to put windows in the new wall to be built there. Nevertheless, the original wall already had windows in it so since those fire regulations do not apply to existing construction, windows are gained by incorporating the old wall into the new structure; in fact, they can even modify those window openings (i.e. make them bigger) to suit the new house design.  The purchaser is acting as his own contractor and has assembled a team of 4 or so trades people while specialized trades will be contracted as needed. They’ve expanded the foundation and framed-in and sheathed the four walls of the new structure, their next major task will be to put the roof on so they can protect the interior. They probably have their windows and doors on order and will be able to work in a heated space once those are installed.

Posted by David

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Facebook used by condos buyers to link up

Condo buyers are using Face book to link after they buy their units, while construction of their building occurs. and...

A few days, ago a blog reader informed me that there are more Toronto condo groups on Facebook than the one for the Village by High Park development. After that, some other contributors to this blog noted that Facebook is good for helping people get connected; even for new condo buyers, where they get to know other owners in their condo before they even move into their new building.

On Facebook, they discuss their building construction process, the process of design and choosing finishes, fixtures and other upgrades, and some of the issues they need to deal with as a group with their developer. They do all this with the other purchasers of homes in the building, gaining insight into building construction and move-in time lines and with just about everything every other condo buyer needs to know.

So we thought, why not try to disseminate some of the plain, well thought out knowledge that is being built up in those Facebook groups into a local blog? - well this local blog. If you are condo buyer and a Facebook condo site member, why not share some of that knowledge for the betterment of the overall community? Just let know what you think should be known - you are only helpful to someone else when you do.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Tieback work at The Village by High Park



The site really is all about tiebacks now, some earth moving, and there has been a inclined drilling machine on site for a number of days which seems to be working on tiebacks for the railroad wall. Of course, the required CPR watcher is in attendance.


Info on Tiebacks from wikipedia [opens in new window]



Because the fun is really visual at this time we asked a local professional photographer  to get some great tieback work shots.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Bloor/Dundas Avenue Study op... to watch and hear

MEETING REMINDER Bloor/Dundas Avenue Study - Local Advisory Committee



Wednesday, November 5


6:30 p.m.


Loyola Arrupe - Main Floor Dining Area


1709 Bloor Street West



Signs will be posted directing folks to the meeting area.




The public are welcomed to attend the Local Advisory Committee (LAC) meetings and observe the LAC discussions.  To ensure a focused discussion that will provide an opportunity to review the study materials to date and provide opportunities for feedback as we move, we ask that members not appointed to the LAC to reserve their comments for the Bloor Dundas ‘Avenue’ Study public meetings, or submit their comments directly to City Planning lead Corwin Cambray at 416-397-0244 or by email at ccambra@toronto.ca

Friends of Dundas and Bloor volunteer org of area residents concerned with development is a local community with a lot of information on this. Link [opens in new window]

...got this nice little writeup about the issue from Gord Perks website, we had a post lined up but his text is  better...  saw it when we looked at his site this evening, so we've used it.

Posted by Robert

Tuesday Links

Garbage collection is different in Toronto starting this month.

Single-family-home residents must start using their grey garbage bins, supplied by the city, to set out their trash on collection day

Full story Toronto Star Article [opens in new window]

City plans buildings standards blitz

Toronto has launched a 15-member team that will go after bad apartments and have the power to charge a $60 per hour fee to landlords who continue to operate buildings in substandard condition.

Buildings standards blitz Full story Toronto Star Article [opens in new window]

In other areas the city also needs to clean up the act of landlords running multiple unit apartments in houses.

Posted by Robert

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Mayor pushes for retrofit of post-war apartment towers



Picture credit - blackbodypie's  flickr

Renewing the city’s aging stock of apartment towers could be “the Cinderella story of Toronto’s 21st century” possibly worth $95 billion by 2030 and create 838,000 jobs, says a report written by a panel of experts - the Daily Commercial News in this story

He says that while the core structures of flying-form concrete could last hundreds of years, it is the exteriors that are failing.

It’s estimated that about 1,000 high-rise buildings across Toronto have units that are about 20 per cent less energy efficient than the average single family home. The renewal plan could reduce those energy costs by 50 per cent.

see link above for the DCN full story and click over to the City of Toronto's BIG Huge SITE on all of this.



You can download a copy of the report the mayor had his staff do - overview report here [opens in new window as PDF file]

We will be doing a recap of this report in the next few days on the blog.

Posted by Robert

JRA meeting this Thursday and get this...

The 1st fifteen mins are worth the walk and next 60 mins are one big free bonus


The meeting takes place at the  West Toronto Baptist Church, 3049 Dundas St. W at 7 pm