Bloor West Village Residents Association

The construction billboards showed a stylish building with cascading terraces and lush greenery. But, what the community got from the Context Development Co. on Bloor Street at Ellis Park Road was a flat, featureless six storey wall of brick and glass: a back alley design on our major street that is remarkable for its failure to show any affinity with the landscape it imposed itself on.

Faced with the blank wall, the BWVRA asked simply “is that it?” We wrote Context the letter below asking what it plans to do to at least dress up the exterior of its building. Art, iron work, planters? That letter went late last year. So far, we’ve heard nothing but the silence one would expect from…a blank wall.

The feeling of the Executive at the BWVRA is that this developer, having carved out a piece of our precious park, forced its immediate neighbour to leave her now-unsafe home, and blighted views from the Grenadier Retirement Residence, ought to show some consideration for the thriving and attractive community which drew the developer here. Answering our letter would be a start.

If you add your voice to these queries, we might be able to get some answers, and perhaps a measure of improvement from Context. Please leave your comments here and we will report back.

Context Developments
Howard Cohen, President
500-229 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5B 1N9

Mr. Cohen,

I am writing on behalf of the Bloor West Village Resident’s Association. We have had a number of individuals raise concerns with the Bloor Street side of your new development called Home beside High Park.

Individuals had hoped this new high-end development would add to the street but currently the Bloor Street side of the building adds little to the street if not detracting from the street with the current wall of brick.

Are there any plans to add high quality ironwork, canopies and/or plants to improve the appearance of this side of the building? Your company is known for high quality developments specifically from a design standpoint and currently the Bloor Street side of your building a number of people feel is lacking.

Can you please respond back to let us know your plans and we will communicate to the resident’s association?

Sincerely,

Michael Davidson
On Behalf of the Bloor West Village Resident’s Association

Long a source of complaints by residents, the bumpy, rutted, crumbling sidewalks in Bloor West Village claimed an elederly victim last month, and earned a big headline in the Toronto Star. Complaints from residents to the City, to the Councillor and to the BIA have so far failed to generate anything more than more spot patching.

See the Star article here:

http://www.thestar.com:80/article/175125

Share your stories of misadventures here and the BWVRA will try to generate some momentum for much needed changes.