Mirvish Village icon finds new life
By Geremy Bordonaro
By Geremy Bordonaro
Westbank Projects Corp.’s Mirvish Village development was the focus of the Palmerston Area Residents’ Association (PARA) annual general meeting last month.
By Geremy Bordonaro
Development dominated the Annex Residents’ Association (ARA) annual general meeting on April 27.
The area has seen an increase in developments over the last few years, most notably the Westbank Projects Corp.’s Mirvish Village development, and that coloured every topic of discussion, from bike lanes to community housing.
The Toronto and East York Community Council unanimously endorsed a planning staff recommendation to approve Westbank Projects Corp.’s application to redevelop the southwest corner of Bloor and Bathurst streets on April 4. It’s a significant milestone that comes after three years of community consultations and collaborative work between the Vancouver-based developer, planning staff, and community representatives.
By Joe Cressy
If you’ve ever made your way to a development meeting in Ward 20, you’ve heard me talk about the need to build community as we grow and change. With almost one quarter of all proposed development in the entire city occurring in our ward, we’d be leading ourselves astray without this focus. This has been my primary focus in the review of the Mirvish Village redevelopment proposal, which continues to evolve after three iterations.
By Geremy Bordonaro
For 68 years, Honest Ed’s welcomed all those who came to its doors. While the store made its last sale on the final day of 2016, it will play host to a grand wake before it closes its doors one last time. And organizers hope the celebration will be a tribute to the spirit of inclusivity that they say was a hallmark of the discount emporium.
On Nov. 25 the Bloor Annex Business Improvement Area (whose chair also publishes this newspaper) showcased its street revitalization plans at Markham House in Mirvish Village. The plans — expected to be implemented in 2018 — include converting public rights-of-way along Bloor Street into parkettes and a renewed tree inventory on the north side of the street.
Mirvish Village’s internationally-known comics and graphic novel retailer The Beguiling has already begun moving to its new location at 319 College St. Its sister store, Little Island Comics on Bathurst Street, will be closed. The store’s Peter Birkemoe says he expects to open the new location just before Christmas, and be fully operational by January.
By Annemarie Brissenden
Our third survey of development projects in our coverage area highlights projects that interest us, trends that appall us, and elements that enthrall us. We favour innovative projects that connect with a neighbourhood’s built form, reflect community consultation, and meet the objectives of the City of Toronto’s Official Plan. We take a dim view of developers that do an end run around the process and appeal directly to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), which demonstrates little respect for the city’s urban planning guidelines. And, we — once again — make an argument for razing the OMB. Please click on the image below to enlarge.