The Fifth | 17m | 5s | Arlington Street | NORR

You know whats really missing on 17th ave are things like a REC Room, A movie Theatre, a place for teenagers to hang our like a pool/arcade lounge, a well known department store like Nordstrom rack, more non-drive thru fast food chains like burger king, Uniqlo or a Miniso and a fitness gym. I find these sort of tenants tend to generate a lot of foot traffic and what make Granville St. and Yonge st. much more bustling if ignore the population density. At various times of the day 17th ave looks nothing like a bustling street. There's too many bars and independent restaurants that don't drive enough foot traffic throughout the day and night. Im also surprised they haven't got one proper nightclub on 17th ave. I think as ASI needs to focus not only on the designs but also what kind of tenants they want in these places to make an actual "high street". I know I've mentioned this before but adding bright LED lights and ads can really help light up streets and make them pedestrian friendly at nighttime because some nights, 17th ave can look soulless and dark like any other regular street in the city.
 
You know whats really missing on 17th ave are things like a REC Room, A movie Theatre, a place for teenagers to hang our like a pool/arcade lounge, a well known department store like Nordstrom rack, more non-drive thru fast food chains like burger king, Uniqlo or a Miniso and a fitness gym. I find these sort of tenants tend to generate a lot of foot traffic and what make Granville St. and Yonge st. much more bustling if ignore the population density. At various times of the day 17th ave looks nothing like a bustling street. There's too many bars and independent restaurants that don't drive enough foot traffic throughout the day and night. Im also surprised they haven't got one proper nightclub on 17th ave. I think as ASI needs to focus not only on the designs but also what kind of tenants they want in these places to make an actual "high street". I know I've mentioned this before but adding bright LED lights and ads can really help light up streets and make them pedestrian friendly at nighttime because some nights, 17th ave can look soulless and dark like any other regular street in the city.

Agree with you that 17 Ave diversification is healthy, and special attention should be made to curating the new podiums. Would love to see an urban format theatre or other uses that have an experiential quality for all age ranges. Disagree that chain restaurants and chain retail will take 17th to the next level though. I've found a clustering of independent coffee shops and cafes is a good thing--a place for people to linger and meet.
 
Not bad. Some stills from the video...


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I'm giving this a 6/10. The best part is the new retail presence on a key corner of 17th, but the materials and articulation leaves something to be desired. Very mundane. The design is a little brutalist for me on the 5th Street facade. I might have to start referring to it as the "Radiator". Does anyone know if this is wood or concrete construction?
 
I enjoy this development. Not sure what the original rendering looked like, but the new one is not bad at all. strong 8/10 for me.

WRT the branding / marketing concept: also not sure who/what/why Tak is or where it came from. I think their project branding and overall marketing strategy was really good. They used a sort of cosmos/universe/space theme which was creative. I believe they did fairly significant trip give away too if I'm not mistaken.

But yeah, why Tak?
 
I wrote the city expressing my concern over them tearing down that kitschy barn-shaped murder-suicide house. They said they would incorporate elements of the old Waves coffee house into the new design. Well they didn't do that, but why would they? I suggested they move the house to an empty lot along 17th much like they did with the 1896 McHugh house. Nope.
May those two floating spacemen serve as an allegory to the weightless man who murdered his wife and then himself.
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