Toronto braces for new office tower onslaught

[Nouvellecosse]

Even if it wasn't a huge building that would overshadow FCP, there could still be something in the 10-30 story range that would maintain the area's tightly knit urbanscape instead of looking like a "gap in the teeth" as you so aptly put it.

[Taller, Better]

Well, the thing is... it would sort of become the most desirable business address in the country, so I'm guessing if they go to all the trouble of ripping down BMO's podium (which, as we all know will never happen) then they had better go big or go home.

[large]

I looked on the supertalls thread last night...big mistake....why is it that we have the biggest construction boom in north America, and yet we must be the only major city in the world that does have a 300m+ going up? Toronto needs to man up.

[waldenbg]

I would also love to see a supertall built in our city. Howaver, I find it really stupid that Toronto technically does not have one.

The CN Tower is not a radio stick, its a building. It has rooms, restaurants, decks. Its a building. A 553m tall building. But fine, its a tower, so people don't want to count it as a supertall.

I also think it's really dumb that FCP is not a supertall... The building on the right is not wile the one on the left is. Does that make sense?



Ok, Ok. I get it. A spire is architectural so it is counted in the height when determining a supertall, but an antenna is not. Even though it is still the height. Hmm.

But fine, fine. If an architectural aspect like a spire is counted to make it a supertall, then why isn't the CN Tower? It is architectural. It is thicker than a spire!

Maybe the tower is just a really huge spire coming up from the base building :P

[Nouvellecosse]

The CN Tower has a base building? It must be a very strong one to avoid getting crushed.

Btw, I never really count a building as a true supertall unless it's roof (or at least a crown) is above the 305m mark. Having a stick poking above it doesn't cut it.

[Taller, Better]

Yeah, if you weed through the Supertalls, half of them are "supertall" only by dint of a super tall "spire" (aka antennae).

[waldenbg]

The truth is, we live in a safe, clean, green, livable city. We are extremely lucky to live in one of the best cities in the world, and we have an extremely successful economy here. We will surely get a supertall eventually. We have a beautiful skyline, and remember we had the tallest building in the world for over 30 years people!! It is what should be considered as a supertall. Its not like Toronto is a joke because we cannot build anything that is over 300m. Technically, we have two structures over 300m. So lets just be happy that our city is sustainable and great. I assure you that we will get a supertall soon enough.

And yes, I understand this is a skyscraper forum. However, I think our skyline is beautiful, and it does have significant height.

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


I'm pretty happy with our city. Compare it to what it was 10 years ago. Its amazing! We have the most skyscrapers under construction in North America, and the tallest structure in North America. It's pretty impressive, and we will have a supertall eventually.

I understand why something like this isn't a supertall...


But look at the CN Tower in the pictures above. It is not a little toothpick that is barely visibly. It dominates our skyline and is seen from kilometres away!! How can it not be considered a supertall!?!

[large]

I agree with everything you're saying. I love the Toronto skyline, and the city...and when I got my residency, I knew full well I'd been given one of life's golden tickets. But I'm also acutely aware that we are about to enter the darkest financial days of the crisis as first the wave of European sovereign defaults crushes global growth and then the collapse of the Chinese property market, and with it the collapse of many of their banks sends the world into another protracted recession. This will result in Canada experiencing the crisis fully for the first time, and the likelihood of a supertalls proposal being very low until recovery comes...which may be a while off. So this was the time we should have had one under construction.
Saying all that...once all the debt has been sorted, and provided there are no significant wars, Canada will be one of the first countries to experience growth, and will pick up very much from where it will leave off. The old world...Europe, is a different matter though. In a world with dwindling natural resources, it's better if you're sitting on a pile of the stuff rather than consuming it.

[Taller, Better]

It is all about supply and demand; supertalls cost a super amount of money and are only built by either extremely wealthy corporations looking for a Primo head office (most Canadian corps having gone through that phase back in the 70's/80's), or if land is at such a premium that there is no choice but to build upward.
So, as much as we all would love to have new supertalls, it all boils down to who will pay the price-tag? We don't have the same number of multi-national corporations head officed here as in many other cities.

[desertpunk]

Toronto will have at least one supertall announced or in development by 2020. Hold me to it, bros.

[oceanmdx]

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

It is all about supply and demand; supertalls cost a super amount of money and are only built by either extremely wealthy corporations looking for a Primo head office (most Canadian corps having gone through that phase back in the 70's/80's), or if land is at such a premium that there is no choice but to build upward.
So, as much as we all would love to have new supertalls, it all boils down to who will pay the price-tag? We don't have the same number of multi-national corporations head officed here as in many other cities.

That is exactly right... there is no multi-billionaire sheik to go crazy with super talls in Toronto.... hence, they are rather hard to come by.... at any rate, I'm with desertpunk.

[koolio]

Originally Posted by desertpunk

Toronto will have at least one supertall announced or in development by 2020. Hold me to it, bros.

With our luck, this will probably prove to be true but only because Brookfield Properties will come out with a proposal to add a 2 metre box atop First Canadian Place.

[desertpunk]

Originally Posted by koolio

With our luck, this will probably prove to be true but only because Brookfield Properties will come out with a proposal to add a 2 metre box atop First Canadian Place.

No, it's just too easy: 30 or so floors of office space surmounted by 60 floors of resi. Done and dusted. Add a 2-5 story retail base and you have an easily financable supertall. The best thing about mixed use towers is that you can hedge any downside in a particular real estate sector such as the condo market within one tower. Apartments, hotel, whatever. A supertall planned for Los Angeles has office below and hotel above. I'm surprised there aren't 5 of these going up in T.O. right now but then again, in the 1980s, NYC had the biggest office boom in its history with tens of millions of square feet constructed...and not one supertall.

[Innsertnamehere]

We sort of have one building like that being built. though mind you, its only 10 floors of office and 38 floors of condos, and its outside the down town core.

[isaidso]

Which one?

[Innsertnamehere]

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