Active 18 vs. WESTside Lofts

[Crossposted on the Eye Blog]

Back to back press conferences taking place Thursday morning will provide two perhaps contrasting visions for development taking place in the Queen West Triangle, that chunk of industrial land across from the Gladstone Hotel and the notorious Drake.

Starting at 10:00am at LOT 16 Bar (1136 Queen Street West), the residents’ group Active 18 will release the results of a community charrette they held March 5th. The day-long charrette allowed them to pull together a vision for development in area based on the concerns, needs and desires of the residents who live in the neighbourhood.

An hour later, just down the road at 1151 Queen West, architect Will Alsop (the same guy who built the OCAD building) will be on hand to help launch WESTside Loft’s “urban renewal effort”. From the press release:

“The WESTside Lofts are the first step in a long-term development that will create a new community, finally connect King and Queen Streets and enhance an already robust neighbourhood,” says project manager Marc Julien of Landmark. “Our vision will revitalize neglected areas by incorporating residential, commercial and recreational spaces.”

Though it’s nice WESTside Lofts are taking things like recreational space and street connections into consideration, it’s concerning that they haven’t worked more closely with the residents’ group that formed to give citizens a voice in the whole development process. For a company that’s bragging about creating a new community, this seems a bit suspicious.