Aspen Ridge’s Studio on Richmond: An authentic artistic experience
Ryan Starr – Yourhome.ca
The Ontario College of Art and Design is constantly on the hunt for additional space.
OCAD — which in June was granted university status — has grown a fair bit lately, expanding its domain beyond the McCaul St. corridor to include the purchase of three buildings along Richmond St. in what is Toronto’s dwindling club zone.
“We’re trying to create a critical mass of activity in one location as opposed to being scattered around town,” explains Peter Caldwell, the school’s vice president of finance. “And we’re developing quite a footprint on Richmond.”
So when Aspen Ridge Homes unveiled plans for a two-tower condo project that will essentially wrap around one of OCAD’s recently acquired properties, the school recognized a golden opportunity.
Following meetings between OCAD, the developer and the city, a deal was struck: Aspen Ridge would set aside 8,000 square feet of space for OCAD to use as a gallery in their building at the northwest corner of Richmond and Duncan..
“It’s a good partnership,” says Aspen Ridge principal Andrew De Gasperis. “It provides a benefit for OCAD, and for the city, which is trying to revitalize the area. And obviously it’s a great cross-promotion for us, as well.”
The project, dubbed Studio on Richmond, will include two towers: one 31 storeys, the other 41.
The smaller tower, which will be built first, will have 337 units and a nine-storey podium that will incorporate the OCAD gallery. The taller tower — the second phase of the project — will likely include 400 condos and around 25 townhomes.
Units range from 419 to 1,294 square feet, not including the penthouses. A 2,500-square-foot penthouse will occupy the building’s entire top floor, with four sub-penthouses on the level below.
The condos will have floor to ceiling glass, open floor plans and “great kitchens,” De Gasperis says.
Prices start at around $240,000.
Eleven% of the homes at Studio on Richmond — or about 36 suites in the first tower — will be three-bedroom units.
De Gasperis says this stems from an agreement with local councillor Adam Vaughan, who has been pushing developers in his Trinity-Spadina ward to include 10% “family housing” in their projects.
“In the last four years, we’ve approved 7,000 new units of housing in the ward, and every single project, save for one, achieved 10% family housing as a mix,” says Vaughan.
“The reality is we know there’s a growing need for families in the downtown core, and for housing more families in the downtown core close to work.
“And we’re either going to build a city that can be flexible and manage the diversity going forward or we’re going to build for the conditions of what sold yesterday. This is about building a city for the next 50 years.”
Critics say it will be tough to sell condos of that size downtown. De Gasperis figures a three-bedroom unit at Studio will go for “north of $700,000.”
“Is there a market for that? Well, we’re going to test it,” he says. “If not, we’re just going to have to discount those units eventually. It’ll be difficult, there’s no question, because of the end price.”
Sales are slated to launch in November.
Aspen Ridge is targeting existing area residents and young professionals working in the financial district. It’s also looking to entice back to the area those who were driven away by all the clubs.
“It’s a highly sought-after site,” De Gasperis says. “And it’s a slick building.”
Quadrangle Architects designed the two towers, which feature a series of stacked cubes. There will be terraces on some floors, “which breaks it up so it’s not a monotonous building,” De Gasperis says.
The first tower — which will incorporate the OCAD gallery — will have an outdoor party room, walk-out kitchen, BBQ and lounge area on the ninth floor. Inside there will be a party space that can be divided into a series of smaller rooms.
Details have yet to be worked out for the taller building’s podium space.
De Gasperis says the tower might have townhomes at its base, or retail space with residences above.
“It really depends on how revitalized the area gets once we get to the second phase,” he says. “Retail is sort of suffering at the moment because Richmond is almost a highway. It’s a little rushed for retail.”
He notes there are plans in the works to turn Richmond and Adelaide back into two-way streets. “We’re hoping that with those proposed changes, it’ll create more foot traffic in the area, which will help the retail.”
OCAD’s 8,000-square-foot space will be used primarily for exhibitions, with a portion leased out to a food and beverage service operator.
“Some people may come to have lunch and wander next door to see what’s on in the various galleries,” says Caldwell, “or people may come to see our galleries and stay for a glass of wine and a light dinner.”
The exhibit space will be divided into different areas, he says, allowing for different events to be held simultaneously.
“The idea is for it to be a beehive of activity, with constantly changing exhibits, not shows that’ll stay there for four months. We want it to be a very dynamic space.”
Aspen Ridge plans to complement OCAD’s space by carrying certain of its design elements through into the condo building and by featuring students’ art in the lobby.
“We’re going to integrate their space with ours,” De Gasperis says. “We want to do something sort of funky, a little bit more in tune with the gallery space, and we want to incorporate that into the design of our podium.”
OCAD obviously benefits from the donated space. But as Caldwell points out, the school’s presence in the neighbourhood in turn will ensure the area is animated and vibrant.
“Having professors and art and design students in the community, working in the community, studying in the community, enlivens it in a wonderful creative way,” he says, noting that the school will also support restaurants and services in the area.
“It’s a real win-win-win situation,” says Vaughan. “(OCAD) gives the building a unique identity in a crowded market, it delivers a strong anchor to a residential property and it helps us revitalize Richmond St. all at the same time.
“In my view, it represents a responsible and creative way to build a city.”
And when it comes to wooing would-be buyers, the OCAD gallery will provide Aspen Ridge with a natural marketing hook.
“People who move into this building will be surrounded by real artists and designers,” Caldwell says. “This will be an authentic experience.”
Increased height = Increased benefits
The OCAD-Aspen Ridge partnership has its basis in Section 37 of the City of Toronto’s Planning Act, which enables the city to change zoning bylaws to allow for height or density increases in return for “community benefits.”
Under the arrangement, developers can either build certain capital facilities — such as libraries, recreation centres, community centres and health centres — or make cash contributions to fund construction of such facilities.
The goal is “to address service needs or deficiencies in the existing community.”
Section 37 funds can be used for public art, parks, streetscape improvements or the conservation of heritage properties.
They can also go toward building rental housing to replace demolished rental housing, or to preserve existing rental housing.
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