Q Condos (20 Queen St N) | 34 fl | Proposed

[tomh009]

Any more pictures? Is the back half a darker color?

Back half looks similar to 1 Victoria, based on the limited renders I have seen.

[Momo26]

Where can one see more renderings?

[nms]

It will be nice to not have the first X number of floors be a parking podium, or "if you squint, this place it not a parking podium, but who are we kidding?"

[ktmbtsmrt]

I have two problems with this development:
1) That there is parking access on Queen St. I would love to see Queen street be pedestrianized between at least Duke and Charles. Having parking access to a 34 floor building will make that much harder to do in the future. It's not like there aren't any already established parking garages behind and across the street
2) The laneway isn't directly engaged. It would be great to me if the bottom floor, adjacent to the lane was some kind of engaging space like a restaurant or cafe that had direct access to the laneway. Especially if there is community space in the building and the parkette across the street, this could be a well-used space

[Momo26]

Agreed with nms. Just drove by that block, that building is beautiful (current structure, frontage at least). Good choice - let's aim for some premo architectural achievement with this one.

Momentum is known to be a bit more subdued/muted in their designs, but I see this having true potential.

[tomh009]

I have two problems with this development:
1) That there is parking access on Queen St. I would love to see Queen street be pedestrianized between at least Duke and Charles. Having parking access to a 34 floor building will make that much harder to do in the future. It's not like there aren't any already established parking garages behind and across the street
2) The laneway isn't directly engaged. It would be great to me if the bottom floor, adjacent to the lane was some kind of engaging space like a restaurant or cafe that had direct access to the laneway. Especially if there is community space in the building and the parkette across the street, this could be a well-used space

Welcome to the forums ktmbtsmrt!

I can't see disconnecting Queen St S and Queen St N (by pedestrianizing a block or three in the middle) given that it's the main artery perpendicular to King St, and the next ones are Victoria and Ottawa. (Yes, there is Benton/Frederick but it dead-ends after Courtland.) It would make for a nice block, for sure, but I really can't imagine the city doing that in the next decade or two. That said, given that they will be using the city garage at Duke/Ontario, I don't see why there would be any parking access from Queen St.

The way I read the Record article, I do think the performance space will be accessible from the laneway. Details not clear yet, though.

[taylortbb]

I have two problems with this development:
1) That there is parking access on Queen St.

From The Record article:

[T]here will be no parking spaces built for this $110 million development. Instead, an enclosed walkway will connect the condo to the city-owned Duke Street parking garage that is directly behind it. Condo owners with vehicles can rent a space in that garage from the city.

So I don't see how there could be parking access from Queen St.

2) The laneway isn't directly engaged. It would be great to me if the bottom floor, adjacent to the lane was some kind of engaging space like a restaurant or cafe that had direct access to the laneway.

Also from The Record:

The plan is to have this community performance space open onto Goudie’s Lane.

[Momo26]

The renderings do lead one to believe whatever is on the bottom floors will spill into a trendy lane way. A restaurant does seem like a fairly good idea, especially if it's that attracts the folks coming into the theater (obviously).

[Momo26]

I'm okay with utilizing, which I imagine are currently under utilized(?), external parking garages. This one will have a protected overpass directly linking the spiral green Duke lot. Seems like a win.

[Lens]

It continues to amaze me that almost no developers from the GTA or elsewhere seem to be setting up shop here. Maybe they're all too busy?

[Lebronj23]

It continues to amaze me that almost no developers from the GTA or elsewhere seem to be setting up shop here. Maybe they're all too busy?

Agreed, @Ac3r can you comment on this?

[catarctica]

The duke street parking garages sound like a win win to me.

[dtkmelissa]

The duke street parking garages sound like a win win to me.

I thought the same!

[ac3r]

It continues to amaze me that almost no developers from the GTA or elsewhere seem to be setting up shop here. Maybe they're all too busy?

Agreed, @Ac3r can you comment on this?

In terms of residential projects, most of the projects in this region are still too small to entice developers from outside the region to work here. Another important factor is that local developers know the region and its needs a lot better so they are more cognizant of what the region needs and wants. We do attract some outside effort, though. Some examples include Kirkor Architects designing Station Park and Turner Fleischer designing 144 Park/155 Caroline, though the actual developers are local. Offices/institutional work does attract more outside attention. We've got some work by Hariri Pontarini, KPMB, Teeple and a few more - all very prestigious groups.

I'd say within 5-10 years you'll see a lot more developers and architecture firms focusing on the region. One thing to keep an eye on is the SmartCentres redevelopment in Cambridge. I haven't heard much about it yet, but SmartCentres tends to work with massive firms like Diamond Schmitt Architects, Claude Cormier and Associés etc. so whoever designs that will make some really good looking buildings, even though the development is in probably the worst location you could imagine.

[neonjoe]

It continues to amaze me that almost no developers from the GTA or elsewhere seem to be setting up shop here. Maybe they're all too busy?

They is one for suburban housing, Mattamy homes, but they only did so by purchasing a local builder, Monarch homes.