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Back to the Drawing Board for Mirvish+Gehry?

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On Wednesday afternoon City Council voted against Mirvish+Gehry's proposed three-tower, 82-to-86-storey development. Instead, Council wants to form a working group of what Councillor Adam Vaughan is calling "prominent Torontonians" in order to come up with an alternative plan that would please everyone.

Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmat presented one such proposal yesterday afternoon; that revised plan would crop 20 to 30 storeys from the towers. It would also shift the whole project further back along King Street, in order to preserve the block's historic warehouses. In the proposal, Keesmat argues that the current plan would lead to over-intensification of the neighbourhood, and goes against the Planning Act.

The Mirvish team has always been strongly opposed to making any substantial changes to Gehry's controversial concept. Unless they go along with Council's proposed compromise (which doesn't seem likely), it looks like the Ontario Municipal Board will have the last word.

Giant Mirvish+Gehry Condos Could Be Cut Down to Size [blogTO]
Mirvish+Gehry [UrbanToronto]
Gehry's Game-changing Design Challenges Toronto's Rigidity (Toronto Star]