Toronto Aura at College Park | 271.87m | 78s | Canderel | Graziani + Corazza

They probably don't want to get sued in case they decide to effect a Cheapening(TM) to save money and ditch the LEDs like BA did.
 
They probably don't want to get sued in case they decide to effect a Cheapening(TM) to save money and ditch the LEDs like BA did.

Whats happening is that Trump,1 Bloor East,Aura.Signature and maybe a couple more future near 300 meter condo buildings will all be scraping it out to be the tallest and most attractive structures in TO.
 
Tallest? I don't think any of the buildings you mentioned are going to make "tallest" in TO. As far as we know, none of them will surpass FCP.
 
They probably don't want to get sued in case they decide to effect a Cheapening(TM) to save money and ditch the LEDs like BA did.

The problem here is even if LEDs are included in the project, the second the developer has completed and registered the project, the condo corporation can turn the LEDs off to save on condo maintenance fees.

Also with respect to comments regarding sales staff should know if there will be a light feature or not - it's actually highly unlikely that the detailed design and working drawings for the project have been completed at this point. Many elements of the project are still likely to be in flux and it's quite possible that no decisions regarding lighting or even hiring lighting consultants to review the possibility of lighting have been made at this point... so why would a sales person have any knowledge of what the plan is if it's unlikely there even is a plan regarding lighting at the stage?
 
Mike, how much artistic license are renderers prone to take with their renderings?

I am sure that the license varies from project to project, but as we know that this particular building has been through an architectural review, we might construe that enough thought has gone into the plan that those strips of light at the top of the building as rendered are part of the plan and not mere artistic license. If I were a sales agent, I would find out.

42
 
The problem here is even if LEDs are included in the project, the second the developer has completed and registered the project, the condo corporation can turn the LEDs off to save on condo maintenance fees.

Much like The Met turns off their "art component" at midnight, presumably to save electricity.
 
Hi 42,

Every developer and even on a project by project basis the approach to renderings can be very different. We've all seen fairly realistic renderings that turn out fairly close to the final product, and others that have no resemblance whatsoever to what is actually built or the context in which it is/will be built.

With respect to Aura, the renderings obviously suggest some kind of lighting and I would be fairly certain that Canderel is leaning that way, although at this point I would be somewhat surprised if the design for that aspect of the project is 100% complete (I could be wrong) - some projects are actually well into construction before decisions on small amenities such as lighting are finalized.

I also agree that in this case you'd think the sales agent might ask a few more questions, although to be fair many agents are moved from project to project and for better or for worse some are better informed then others. In this particular case it's possible that one of the other agents on site may have had a better answer to the question.
 
If I paid $800,000 for a 1000 sq ft box would I want to pay maintenance fees to keep some silly light on all night just to amuse the 10% of Torontonians with a view of the tower? No!

It's frankly environmentally irresponsible. A better idea: spend money on improving the architecture of the building (we all know it's gonna be a cheap C.S. hunk of garbage) and getting a Janet Rosenberg-style park/landscaping around the perimeter of the College Park/Aura site.
 
The problem here is even if LEDs are included in the project, the second the developer has completed and registered the project, the condo corporation can turn the LEDs off to save on condo maintenance fees.

That's a really interesting point, Mike. I hadn't considered that.

Are you aware of instances where this has actually happened? (Are the lights still on at the early CityPlace phases, for instance?)
 
The problem here is even if LEDs are included in the project, the second the developer has completed and registered the project, the condo corporation can turn the LEDs off to save on condo maintenance fees.

Also with respect to comments regarding sales staff should know if there will be a light feature or not - it's actually highly unlikely that the detailed design and working drawings for the project have been completed at this point. Many elements of the project are still likely to be in flux and it's quite possible that no decisions regarding lighting or even hiring lighting consultants to review the possibility of lighting have been made at this point... so why would a sales person have any knowledge of what the plan is if it's unlikely there even is a plan regarding lighting at the stage?

You're right Mike, but the point that I-42 and I are making is that some sales people can't even relay this kind of information. In other words, they don't know why they don't know something and that's not professional.
 
From SSC

Bisonblight said:
With regards to the height. Though not from the developer, I have been told from a good source, they will be asking for 80 storeys, and will probably get them. How high that will work out to be, I don't know.

Wasn't the prevailing rumour that the tower was likely going to approved for about 280 metres?
 
AofD posted this on Nov 17 of last year:

Aura aims to be tallest condo tower in city
Yonge-Gerrard
Will Tremain, National Post
Published: Saturday, November 17, 2007

An old-fashioned race to the skies may be under way in Toronto's condo tower market.

Condo developer Canderel Stoneridge Equity Group yesterday unveiled its Aura tower, which it plans to build next year at Yonge and Gerrard streets.

Aura, a slender knife-blade building, currently sits at 75 storeys and 243 metres in height. That would make it slightly short than Bazis International's planned condominium tower at One Bloor Street East, whose roof would sit at 248 metres. The Trump International Hotel and Tower on the southeast corner of Bay and Adelaide, which when first announced was described as Canada's tallest residential tower, was recently scaled back to about 274 metres.

But Michael La Brier, president of Canderel Stoneridge, said his company could add up to 10 more storeys -- provided the city blesses the plan. Aura would then be the city's highest condo building, at about 280 metres.

"When we had the building engineered, we had everything so we could add up to 10 more floors to the building," said Mr. La Brier. "So that's certainly part of the discussion we need to have ongoing with the city."


The new Aura skyscraper will boast at least 960 residential units, and more if the additional floors are added. Canderel Stoneridge says 5,000 people are on a waiting list to buy.

Mr. La Brier is clearly willing to barter with the city to win add the additional height for the new tower. "One of the the things we want to do is completely rebuild the [nearby] Barbara Ann Scott Park, and that's a price I'm certainly prepared to pay, especially in lieu of getting another 10 storeys of density on the building."

The local city councillor, Kyle Rae, said he's open to the possibility of 10 more storeys -- ''that would be something that would have to go through planning''-- but welcomes the new people drawn to the downtown core's "residential renaissance."


"I know there are people in the neighbourhood looking to move up," said Mr. Rae.

Riz Dhanji, vice-president of sales and marketing for Canderel Stoneridge, said the sale of Aura's units, starting next February or March, should be nothing like this week's sales for the Bazis tower.

Real estate agents lined up for eight days for the chance to buy a unit in the Bazis tower. On the morning the sale began, arguments broke out, and the base price on the units jumped by $200,000.

"We don't believe in that," Mr. Dhanji said.

"We want it to be more of a controlled process, and as easy a process as possible. But we can't control if people want to line up."

© National Post 2007

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5 extra storeys (from 75 storeys to 80) would put this building somewhere around 260 to 265 metres in height.
 

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