There's an interesting debate surrounding the proposed Mirvish condo/retail base project on King Street, in the Entertainment District, designed by architect Frank Gehry. The plan involves demolishing the Princess of Wales Theatre and four heritage warehouse buildings to allow for three condo towers—each more than 80 storeys, just east of John Street. The city's chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat says the project must be scaled back for her to back it. The project has been appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board. Given the opposition from planning to city council, approval will now rest with the OMB.
We thought we'd ask Allied CEO Michael Emory, whose company has made a mark combining heritage structure with new development, for his thoughts. "The context is important," in the case of the Gehry/Mirvish project, Michael says. The sites are very close to, if not squarely within, Toronto's downtown core. "I personally believe that Gehry's involvement should override any concerns about preserving the heritage structures," he says. What are your thoughts? Send them to mark.keast@bisnow.com.
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