Toronto Union Park | 303.26m | 58s | Oxford Properties | Pelli Clarke Pelli

Ha! I think members of this forum are if anything, overly critical of Toronto and its skyline. Many buildings that are mediocre or forgettable are completely trashed here.
 
David_Brown said:
Ha! I think members of this forum are if anything, overly critical of Toronto and its skyline. Many buildings that are mediocre or forgettable are completely trashed here.
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They probably didn't end well. The fact is, if one posts 20 posts trashing Toronto's skyline, he will most likely be lambasted mercilessly, even banned for trolling. However, trashing Shanghai or Dubai is completely acceptable because people are entitled to their opinions.
Sorry for being off topic like this. I will stop here since it is not related to the project. I just hope people can stop forming extremely biased opinions about other cities (many haven't even visited them before talking trash of them). Skyscrapers may originate from North America, but one can't deny it is in Asia where their future really is.
 
ksun said:
Yes, ground level is important, but you are looking at the CBD of Shanghai, is there tons of interesting life happening near King and Bay on the weekends, or la defence? It is the same in every city. Most CBDs don't has as much life as older residential areas..

Lujiazui has a major mall just near those towers with tons of shoppers, the riverfront has tens of thousand of tourists every single day on the waterfront promenade lined with cafes and restaurants, and if I am not mistaken, there are museums, an apple store as well as some upscale retail near the world financial centre. That's probably more we can say about our financial district, where retail stores don't even open on the weekends. On the weekends, our financial district is almost dead quiet, with occasional people walking past it to the waterfront.
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Our core isn't quite so dead during off hours as you're making it out to be, but any new residential tower in the area, like INDX, is a cause for celebration in my estimation as yes, I want to see more life down there too. I'm sorry there's no longer a residential component at 156 Front West for example (although I like the design), and I'm thrilled that we will be getting 2,000 new units on King West just beyond the Royal Alex. The many Entertainment District condos now going up and in sales will have a spillover effect on the core, as will the Southcore area towers like Ãce, and east of downtown like 88Scott, Yonge+Rich, etc. etc. Its only going to get better and more lively.

I hope that when the Oxford Place plans come back to life again that we find that the top third of the buildings still have residential planned for them, and that the street realm will include retail. If each project is planned with care, we should be able to get the best of all worlds.

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David_Brown said:
Ha! I think members of this forum are if anything, overly critical of Toronto and its skyline. Many buildings that are mediocre or forgettable are completely trashed here.
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Agreed. A lot of the time it's either "love" or "hate" here, without the acceptance of the average.
 
Oxford Properties looks to build up portfolio of rental buildings

Oxford expects to expand its investment in rental properties to $2.2-billion over the next five years, Mr. Seaman said, with roughly a quarter of that growth coming from developing new rental properties, which it plans to own long-term and manage itself.

The company is looking at developing high-end luxury rentals in the downtown cores of major cities, close to transit, universities and hospitals, which would be aimed at graduate students, academics and medical professionals willing to pay premium rents. Its focus now is on downtown and midtown Toronto, and it is “actively looking” at building new rentals in Calgary, although it’s closely watching the job numbers amid falling oil prices.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...ortfolio-of-rental-buildings/article23576730/

Is Oxford Place the only residential project we know of in which Oxford is involved? I can't remember hearing of any others, so maybe this project is being rethought with more residential and less hotel/casino?
 
canarob said:
Is Oxford Place the only residential project we know of in which Oxford is involved? I can't remember hearing of any others, so maybe this project is being rethought with more residential and less hotel/casino?
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They may be considering redeveloping some of their other office building holdings in midtown as well as the MTCC. And we need to stop mentioning a casino because it's dead, dead, dead. But the redevelopment here isn't and the proposal has always included two rental towers with commercial office space on lower floors.
 
The redevelopment of MTCC has gone quiet post-casino discussions. If Oxford is advancing their plans here, they are not talking about it in public, nor as far as I know, with City Planning currently.

Oxford is working on a rental tower project as part of the Cumberland Terrace redevelopment.

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The MTCC is replacing street front glazing. In some sections, they've built indents to allow for more sidewalk room around Richard Serra's sculptures. The new glazing seems clearer, and lacks the mullions. If they do that to the entire facade, it'll make a big difference to the street presence on Front which currently feels like it has its back turned to this major street.

51122
 
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MetroMan said:
The MTCC is replacing street front glazing. In some sections, they've built indents to allow for more sidewalk room around Richard Serra's sculptures. The new glazing seems clearer, and lacks the mullions. If they do that to the entire facade, it'll make a big difference to the street presence on Front which currently feels like it has its back turned to this major street.
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Sadly, the MTCC North is way past the point where putting some glass walls will do.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Sadly, the MTCC North is way past the point where putting some glass walls will do.

AoD
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This is true but you have to see it for yourself. It does make a significant impact on the section where the glazing has been replaced. If it's done along the full length and if the sidewalk is fixed and made uniform, it will buy us time while Oxford waits to make its move.

If anything, that they're making these changes tells us that Oxford Place isn't even close to going ahead.
 
a development the size that would be required to replace the MTCC North building would take years to get to construction anyway. But yes, MTCC North is unlikely to be developed soon.

Could a mod change the title to MTCC North (Oxford), or something similar? Oxford Place is long dead and there is little point of continuing to fool people into thinking it is somehow still kicking around.
 
Changing the title would not make sense. If people wanna post about renovations to the MTCC, then a new thread can be made.
 
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