p o s t h o m e sPH4 nationalpost.com NATIONAL POST, SATurdAy, SePTember 12, 2015

B y J a c k k o h a n e

t here is more than just condo towers growing in the heart of the city.

rachel Kimel and deena del-Zotto are co-founders of the bowery Project, a not-for-prof-it organization transforming vacant lots into urban farms. Their current farm is growing at Alexandra Park, near where Tridel is revitalizing some of the housing. Finding empty space is an issue, but “having a supporter like Tridel can make it happen,” Kimel says.

Applying an Ontario Tril-lium Foundation grant, along with backing from Tridel and Toronto Community Housing (partners in Phase 1 of the re-vitalization of Alexandra Park at Spadina and Queen), the bowery Project is growing crops on the ymCA’s vacant space be-hind its Vanauley Street youth shelter. “Our farm of 1,500 milk crates on 750 square feet of va-cant land will grow organic vegetables and herbs for the local hungry community — through both Vanauley Street and the metro Hall food pro-grams,” Kimel says. “This will be our biggest farm yet.” The bowery Project also harvests from other temporary sites, in-cluding Todmorden mills and evergreen brickworks.

milk-crate gardening al-lows for mobile urban farming, Kimel says, and brings aesthet-ically pleasing public spaces, local food and even job training to urbanites. “There’s a huge in-terest in it,” she says.

It’s an initiative that ex-cites daniela Palmieri, senior marketing manager at Tridel. “There’s a great neighbourhood spirit going on in the Alexandra Park area, and all through the Queen West community. We’re proud to be a part of it.” She’s re-ferring to Tridel’s latest mid-size condo projects: SQ (Spadina/Queen) is currently under construction; SQ2, the second

phase of the series (each tower will be 14 storeys), is slated for occupancy in Summer 2018 (tridel.com). “There are some awesome views of the city from here, but both projects also overlook the bowery Project, a unique feature,” she adds.

Innovative in design, but not overwhelming the neighbour-

ing streetscape, SQ2 comple-ments its twin by utilizing a shared architectural language, but at a different scale. “There is a play of form and colour between the two; one is light, one is dark, one reflects a finer grain, the other a grander scale,” notes Stephen Teeple, the pro-ject’s award-winning architect.

“being such a well-connected neighbourhood, close to transit and schools and with so much to offer in the area, purchasers are looking at this commun-ity as a home they’ll stay in for some time rather than a transi-tional space.”

Teeple has been an integral part of Alexandra Park’s revital-

ization, and wants to make it a destination for Torontonians and out-of-towners. “We need to ensure that residents here can live a sustainable and green lifestyle, integrating walkabil-ity, close transit options, and developing new green spaces. We want to design buildings and public spaces that will add dimension and character, extraordinary structures that will endure.”

Palmieri points to the SQ series as engaging for buyers bucking the small-suite trend. “There are 67 fewer suites in Phase 2 (169 suites in the tow-er; five town houses; size range from 538 square feet to 1,279 sq. ft.; prices start from the mid-$300,000s) because we’ve increased the size of the suites overall and also increased the number of two-bedrooms and three-bedrooms in the building. In Phase 1, about 70 per cent of the suites are one-bedroom and one-plus-den, but in Phase 2, it’s less than 50 per cent. We find that many SQ purchasers have been liv-ing in the area for generations, know the community well and are looking to stay. They are a mix of first-time buyers and move-up buyers, some with small families as well as empty nesters who don’t need a large house but still want a com-fortable amount of space. So it stands to reason they would want enough space to be com-fortable over the years.”

Alexandra Park was pur-chased in 1841 by Sir Casimir Gzowski, a Polish engineer who built gardens and a grand home, which he called “The Hall.” In 1904, the City of To-ronto purchased it for use as a public park, and is extensively used by the local residents.

“The bowery Project also cultivates communities,” Kimel says. “It helps nurture the sense of neighbourhood for the people who call this area their home.”

National Post

We need to ensure that residents here can live a sustainable and green lifestyle, integrating walkability, close transit options, and developing new green spaces. We want to design buildings and public spaces that will add dimension and character … — Stephen Teeple, architect

bOWery PrOjeCT PHOTOS by KeVIN VAN PAASSeN FOr NATIONAL POST

Clockwise from top: Rachel Kimel, co-founder of the Bowery Project, with Tridel senior marketing manager Daniela Palmieri; produce from the Bowery Project’s huge space in

Alexandra Park, at Spadina and Queen; and SQ2 (Spadina-Queen 2), Tridel’s second condo project in a series. The first is under construction; the second is slated to open in 2018.

Cultivating communityRather than have unused urban lots lie fallow while neighbours go hungry, the Bowery Project — with support from Tridel’s SQ2 — is growing both vegetables and confidence