Tropical
Active Member
Agreed. But let's consider keeping mid-rise elevations off of that stretch of 124 Street and just slightly off of it. There's a charm to the scale of buildings that are already there that keeps it unique.
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124 Street BIA / Westmount General Discussion
- Thread starter Greenspace
- Start date
IanO
Superstar
Yes and no. I agree in part, but there is room and opportunity to add 4-6 storey to parts of 124 to add density on top of 124 like West 4th.
BrettB
Active Member
And there are plenty of 3-4 storey buildings in the area. My brother lived in one that was so old and sagged, his dog could play fetch all by himself
thommyjo
Senior Member
some stretches are nice 1-2 story sections. But many are rundown/ugly and a replacement would be awesome. I doubt we see them replaced as 1 story. So a 4-8 story, nice stepbacks at the top, sort of project would be great. Here's a bunch of pics showing some nice 1 story stretches, as well as some ugly/empty ones that could see midrises.
And for most of this stretch, 1 block off means a 4-6 story building next to 1-2 story residential and heritage homes. Is that preferable?
archited
Senior Member
^ Many of these do not need to be tear-downs... they could actually be added onto (horizontally and vertically) and repurposed into 3 or 4-storey units with retail/hospitality below and offices/residential above. Not every subjective unit needs to re-densified into sardine-can-like residential units.
Greenspace
Senior Member
Often in other cities you see 3-4 stories behind the commercial main street. That is an option as well.
David A
Senior Member
These older sometimes smaller spaces are actually quite good for independent businesses and local retailers as they are often more affordable and owned by local landlords who may be more responsive. Many of them seem to remain occupied, while the new spaces in residential towers are slow to fill up. This is also the case in other cities too, such as all the older commercial buildings in retail areas like Queen Street in Toronto.
SMayo
Active Member
A hotel would do wonders for the restaurants on 124th.
As for adding residents I think the best spot would be to add tons of units in the run down blocks around Stony Plain road, there's no shortage of empty or abandoned lots just off 124th there.
Along the whole stretch of 124th itself, there's really no need to tear down any of the commercial buildings, there's still lots of empty lots for new builds and like David A mentioned the older spaces are great for the businesses.
As for adding residents I think the best spot would be to add tons of units in the run down blocks around Stony Plain road, there's no shortage of empty or abandoned lots just off 124th there.
Along the whole stretch of 124th itself, there's really no need to tear down any of the commercial buildings, there's still lots of empty lots for new builds and like David A mentioned the older spaces are great for the businesses.
thommyjo
Senior Member
For clarity, not all my pics were of “tear downs”. I showed a mix of both “good” 1 story commercial imo, as well as rundown or vacant lots that could easily see midrises.
This was in response to concerns about impacting the character of that stretch. I think a midrise replacing a vacant lot is sensible. And I’m not sure a new 1 story commercial is super viable without increasing the residential base anyways.
thommyjo
Senior Member
Heritage homes along 125st make that tougher though. Vacant lots right on 124th seem most sensible imo.
Tropical
Active Member
I'm in Saskatoon often, and it strikes me that Broadway and Riversdale (their two more vibrant retail streets) are surrounded by heritage homes and new infill rowhousing. There's little reason that 124 Street can't succeed with a more dense eastern fringe, LRT access and Edmonton's most populated area just to the south (Wikhwentowin).
archited
Senior Member
I presumed so... my comment was not aimed at yours. Some of the best creative architecture in my opinion comes from working with existing structures even if they are in a substandard state of repair.