General Toronto Upcoming Development News and Rumours Thread

[Mollywood]

Originally Posted by AndrewJM3D

This might be the nicest looking building from it's era IMO. Taken by : Timothy Neesam on flickr.com

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

OMG, I love it! They seriously better NOT tear down this building or destroy the wonderful interior.

[Taller, Better]

WOW! I cannot believe this building has been so underused this past half century.

[neilio]

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

Agreed. Hearing "UAE" makes me think it could be Spectacular, or Kitsch... more likely than anything in the middle.

This is exactly what I was thinking! I have faith though that any developer from the UAE will realize that Toronto is not Dubai and do their research before hand, meaning they would come to the realization that a 100st+ tower here that is Kitsch WILL NOT fly lol, you can get away with it in Dubai but I highly doubt you could here. Toronto seems to have a lot of either, conservative but tasteful designs and terrible cookie cutter garbage on the other hand of the spectrum. They would have to find a balance between Dubai spectacular and Toronto 'tasteful" conservatism in my Opinion.

Earlier on somebody mentioned that it was rumoured Will Alsop would be the architect, I'm not sure if this excites me or TERRIFIES me lol

[neilio]

Originally Posted by jje10001

That means we're either getting a facadectomy or a very, very narrow tower. I predict that 197 Yonge will be sacrificed while 205 Yonge is kept whole.

I agree, I don't see them laying even a finger on 205 Yonge without causing absolute turmoil lol. Even on 199 Yonge if they do a facadectomy they better do a damn good one!! Either way I highly doubt they can build the tower without using the space that 199 yonge occupies, its simply TO SKINNY if they don't!

[neilio]

Originally Posted by Travis007

The name ``Synergy Condos`` causing a lot of waves in the real estate world. Rumoured to be with a developer from the UAE and 100+ storeys.

From @BuzzBuzzHome`s Twitter:



Wow! Our hot real estate market is getting world recognition, everyone wants a piece of the action. With Bazis from Kazakhstan, Concord and Henderson from Hong Kong, and now this, Toronto is becoming a playground for the rich and international developers. And tons of companies from Vancouver too. Truly exciting times to be a skyscraper fan in this city. Although will be interesting to see how this and the other rumours materialize in midst of unpredictable economic times.

WOW, this is seriously exciting, this could easily be 400m! Even with condo floor heights the minimum height of this tower would be 350m, especially if its a UAE developer, non of those 100 story floor towers in Dubai are under 400m to my knowledge lol

[allurban]

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

If you don't include the First Canadian Place that was built in the '70's, which had
no idea it was being built 2 metres short of a future arbitrarily chosen figure of 300m
for a "supertall"!

they could lower a shipping container onto the top of FCP, bolt it to the buildings structure, and voila, Supertall!

Cheers, m

[Taller, Better]

Or, just call the antennae a "spire" like they do in certain other cities, and be done with it!

[neilio]

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

Or, just call the antennae a "spire" like they do in certain other cities, and be done with it!

Sigh, the 300m "supertall" requirement is such a joke, IMO FCP is a supertall, hell if the antenna was a "spire" it would be 355m tall lol.

[Travis007]

Originally Posted by neilio

This is exactly what I was thinking! I have faith though that any developer from the UAE will realize that Toronto is not Dubai and do their research before hand, meaning they would come to the realization that a 100st+ tower here that is Kitsch WILL NOT fly lol, you can get away with it in Dubai but I highly doubt you could here. Toronto seems to have a lot of either, conservative but tasteful designs and terrible cookie cutter garbage on the other hand of the spectrum. They would have to find a balance between Dubai spectacular and Toronto 'tasteful" conservatism in my Opinion.

Earlier on somebody mentioned that it was rumoured Will Alsop would be the architect, I'm not sure if this excites me or TERRIFIES me lol

Yeah, Dubai has some pretty crappy architecture. Apart from the Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab, and the Pentomium (although not sure how serious that is anymore), everything else on this list is pretty much an architectural nightmare. Especially the ones trying to fuse Islamic architecture with modernism. I like 80-90's style Pomo but Dubai's take at it is disgusting. Bazis was able to adjust to the Toronto-style medium of design so hopefully this developer will too.

http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=23

[Travis007]

No new 100 storey rumours today but potential future Facadism-base condo east of the Village...

From Urbanation's Twitter feed:

http://twitter.com/#!/urbanation

81 Wellesley St E sold for $4.5 million, future high-rise condo site planned: http://alturl.com/z8gka

http://www.colliers-international.co...20revised2.pdf

[Taller, Better]

WTF!?!!??!!
That is Wellspring House!! Can this really be true?
"Building is free of any historical resignation/listing"

By looking at it I would say that building is more than 100 years old.

[Epi]

Originally Posted by allurban

they could lower a shipping container onto the top of FCP, bolt it to the buildings structure, and voila, Supertall!

Cheers, m

Or better yet one of those 'portables' (the white metal corrugated classrooms they use when schools run out of space) LOL.

[Travis007]

More on the 81 Wellesley St E/Wellspring House:

http://thetorontoblog.com/2011/09/27...ntre-for-4-5m/

Condo highrise expected for Church-Wellesley site sold by cancer patient support centre for $4.5M

Photos on the article link

According to a Twitter post yesterday by Urbanation, a research and consulting firm that tracks Toronto’s condominium real estate market, 81 Wellesley Street East has been sold for $4.5 million, with a “future high-rise condo site planned.” The property, which includes the 5,000-square-foot, 3-storey Odette house fronting on Wellesley Street, and a 2,200-square-foot, two-storey coach house behind it, was owned by the Wellspring cancer support centre.

However, the tweet did link to a Colliers International real estate listing for the property, which describes 81 Wellesley as a “rare boutique building” that is “free of any historical designation/listing” and offers “development potential.”

Wellspring decided to sell the property not only since it was outgrowing the site as it provided additional services to meet steadily growing demand, but also because it was becoming too expensive to operate from the two houses.

One resident who told me nearly two months ago that the sale of 81 Wellesley was imminent also said he has heard that a developer has a large condo tower in the works for the Wellspring site and the adjacent property to its west — a four-storey brick apartment building with street-level retail at the southeast corner of Church and Wellesley Streets. An H-shaped structure constructed in 1926, that building has street addresses of 77 Wellesley Street East and 501 Church Street. I asked a member of the City’s planning department staff last month if a condo tower has been proposed for the corner, and was told no development applications had been filed. However, the planner did say that since Church & Wellesley is among several downtown areas facing significant “development pressure,” it’s quite possible someone will seek to build a highrise there.

[ssiguy2]

This is nauseating.
There is no way this should be allowed.
There are lots of empty lots and ugly buildings to pull down before this beauty is.

[MysticMcGoo]

Unfortunately, developers don't usually speak the language of beauty or heritage. They are business people. They speak the international language of $$$. This house is much cheaper to tear down than any of the other established, ugly buildings in the area. This is their reasoning.

[Taller, Better]

As fun as it is jumping to conclusions, let's wait and find out if there is really any jumping to be done. My guess is the City won't allow a whole lot of change to those two buildings

Walked by them tonight, during Nuit Blanche which was, by the way, beyond awesome and into the realm of science fiction. I haven't had this much fun out of doors since Pride Day!

[MysticMcGoo]

Can anyone tell me why the one on the right has sat vacant for so long?

[Mollywood]

Originally Posted by MysticMcGoo

Can anyone tell me why the one on the right has sat vacant for so long?

For me, it's beyond belief that both those buildings would sit there unused and unloved, for so long. There are so many ways these beautiful buildings could be used. The city must protect these gems.

[Taller, Better]

Well, I suppose we have to be realistic and blame Eaton Centre for that one. It sucked the life out of Yonge Street, and it has taken years for life to come back. But, happily, it very much has.

[Travis007]

Potential large development in the works for the massive Queen/Mutual parking lot.

http://www.thegridto.com/life/real-e...11-queen-st-e/
(Link found via Taal on UrbanToronto)

There has also been considerable interest in the parking lot across the street, which is bordered by Queen, Shuter, Mutual and Dalhousie, and Alikakos reveals a deal is very close to being brokered. For years, the parking lot has been a blight on the area, to some degree preventing the neighbourhood’s development. Once completed, the deal will be one of the biggest of its kind in recent Toronto history (given that the parking lot takes up an entire downtown city block), with an ambitious plan to build retail, office and residential spaces on the site. As such, the retail strips lining both sides of Queen east of Church would likely see a considerable increase in foot traffic.