Residential, office mix triggers demand for day care facilities

Kimberly Spice –

Approximately 50 people attended a community information meeting with regards to the development of the Globe and Mail site located at the northwest corner of Front and Spadina streets on April 29 at Metro Hall.

There was little opposition to the preliminary plans proposed by RIO-CAN, Allied Properties and Diamond Corporation, as they presented the outline of seven buildings to be erected on eight small city blocks.

The development will be a mix of residential and commercial real estate. The site will consist of a 34-storey residential building along with a row of townhouses on Wellington St. W., along with and various office buildings. Meandering through and around the property will be walkways with a number of smaller boutique-like businesses, similar to the Yorkville area.

A few residents congratulated the firms for the proposal, now officially called The Well. Others still had questions about amenities and services such as daycares, senior care and medical services that will be necessary for the large increase in population.

“One thing that we will be doing through the process is there is an assessment about the community facilities that will be required,” Steve Diamond, president and CEO of Diamond Corporation, told the audience. “Whatever we believe as we go through, we can accommodate. There are always Section 37 requirements and we are in discussions with the community about what we think those are.”

“Things like daycare, because we have the offices, so there are actually facilities that benefit our own project so that’s something we hope to have. We hope to accommodate a variety of different housing types on the site. We are working with the city and everyone to look at what facilities and community facilities we think should be there in this project.”

Most of the questions and comments from area residents were not about The Well project but focused on the current construction and GO trains idling within the Downtown core. Few people at the meeting opposed the preliminary development plans.

More information can be found at www.toronto.ca/planning/developmentapplications.ca. Questions and concerns can be emailed to Dan Nicholson at dnichol2@toronto.ca.