College. Spadina, and Sussex potentially home to three new student residences

By Annemarie Brissenden, Brian Burchell, and Neiland Brissenden

In about 500 B.C., the Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (near modern-day Kusadasi, Turkey) propounded a distinctive theory of universal flux. It is an oversimplification of his views, but he is frequently attributed with the quote “the only thing that is constant is change itself”.

In terms of the large-scale redevelopment plans on the near horizon in the greater Annex area, Heraclitus provides us with an apt descriptor. In this edition of The Annex Gleaner we aim to scope out the development sites where radical change is most likely to occur.

Think of it as the before picture. Some of these sites we have written about extensively already such as the possibility of a big-box-style store on the former Kromer Radio site on Bathurst (see “Will Wal-Mart worm onto Bathurst?” June 2013); others such as the
new high-rise student residential development at Spadina and Sussex have only recently emerged as the University of Toronto has been quietly amassing property on the west side of Spadina avenue south of Bloor Street West.

In the coming months we will aim to keep you appraised of development proposals, applications for major and minor variances to by-laws, and community consultations, and we will aim to reflect your views on the pages of this newspaper. Inevitably, the Ontario
Municipal Board (OMB) will have something to say. Hopefully they will make every effort to consider what the city has to say and what the community itself thinks will work best, and not try to impose something totally alien on our established main streets and neighbourhoods. That said, we should not be afraid of change, we should embrace it as inevitable and “constant”, join the process, and become engaged in it.