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Supertall and near-Supertall Rumour/Speculation Thread

Softee said:
^ Well, hopefully in the not too distant future the two Oxford supertalls will be rising on the skyline, and between now and then it's quite possible that other supertalls will be proposed in Toronto.
Click to expand...

I hope so too but I am having concerns after reading these comments from the new city planner:

"Jennifer Keesmaat, Toronto’s chief planner, says if the city focuses on building midrise buildings along the avenues — streets planners have designated as ripe for growth — Toronto can meet the province’s growth targets without 80 storey buildings, and with “significant amount of room to spare.â€

Clearly Keesmaat is not a big fan of tall building with her comment that if only the city would focus on building midrises we wouldn't have to build any 80 storey buildings to meet our "growth target".

Obviously Keesmaat thinks that there is something inherently wrong with tall buildings and I have no doubt if she had her way there would be no Super-talls being built (thank god for the OMB!).

We finally get proposals that will eclipse the 40 year-old First Canadian Tower in height - we finally get long-overdue proposals for Super-talls and the chief planner is throwing water all over them? :mad:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1278409--density-toronto-why-the-skyscrapers-on-steroids
 
Peepers said:
I hope so too but I am having concerns after reading these comments from the new city planner:

"Jennifer Keesmaat, Toronto’s chief planner, says if the city focuses on building midrise buildings along the avenues — streets planners have designated as ripe for growth — Toronto can meet the province’s growth targets without 80 storey buildings, and with “significant amount of room to spare.”

Clearly Keesmaat is not a big fan of tall building with her comment that if only the city would focus on building midrises we wouldn't have to build any 80 storey buildings to meet our "growth target".

Obviously Keesmaat thinks that there is something inherently wrong with tall buildings and I have no doubt if she had her way there would be no Super-talls being built (thank god for the OMB!).

We finally get proposals that will eclipse the 40 year-old First Canadian Tower in height - we finally get long-overdue proposals for Super-talls and the chief planner is throwing water all over them? :mad:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1278409--density-toronto-why-the-skyscrapers-on-steroids
Click to expand...

All the 'experts' in urban planning in this city are cut from the same cloth.
 
A lot has happened since the last post -- Ivanhoe Cambridge is looking at an international design competition for their 2 million SF probable supertall at 45 Bay, and credible rumours of four towers of 98, 92, 70 and 70 floors for the 1 Yonge development. Add in the twin Oxford Place office/residential towers and we are looking at 5-7 supertalls on the southern edge of the downtown core.

And we could see that number increasing. The last I heard about the 60 Harbour site was that the developer was leaning toward two MLS/Ice sized towers instead of a single supertall because of better financials, but given the new competitive environment in the area, they might change their minds. Then there is the long-awaited "signature tower" for Cityplace, with an unknown and perhaps not yet decided-upon design, and the current design for the Mirvish-Gehry triple tower project is still a work in progress -- they could easily grow just a bit in height to take one or more over 300m, or even eliminate one tower and have the two remaining be somewhat taller. Don't forget the Synergy 100-story residential tower somewhere near Yonge as well.

What has been happening over the past decade is that the heights of the tallest buildings under construction in Toronto has been steadily increasing. Ten years ago, a 40-story building was a cause for celebration, now they are a dime a dozen. The real excitement is for the 70-story and taller buildings, and even 70 floors is becoming rather common (don't forget the rumoured 70-story tower just east of 1 Yonge at the LCBO site, for an example).

We are on a trajectory such that in the absence of a disastrous downturn, supertalls will start popping up like mushrooms over the next decade in Toronto. I can hardly wait, myself.
 
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I'd love to see them all be built, but I'm skeptical the market can sustain all of that. My entirely uninformed opinion is that I'd be surprised if half of those projects get built.

I'd love to be wrong, though.
 
Miscreant, I think of it more like a visioning exercise. I think that it is realistic to assume these projects will get built but the question is when? This comment is loaded both on the optimistic and pessimistic side. I'm optimistic they will be built one day just as Bay-Adelaide was eventually built. The real question is which projects are going to be built in a say 5-year time-frame that is satisfactory to people here? I think you will have to wait minimum 15 years or more for some to top out.
 
I’ll throw out something out there and see the reaction.
Hudson Bay Centre (2 Bloor East) being torn down and replaced with a pair of 80-storey twins
 
It has been talked about – at least the feasibility of it
 
Don't do it ... that's a huge office building to lose if its not replaced ... if the office building is replaced by 2 80 story residential buildings ... the TTC would actually have MORE capacity ... office buildings drive much much more transit usage then residential.
 
So there are rumors in the Cumberland Terrance thread that 2 Bloor W might be reclad. As for 2 Bloor E... that tower isn't going anywhere IMHO. However, if I was a savvy developer, I'd be studying the redevelopment potential forthis site. What is it currently used for now anyway? Parking?
 
I can see many or most of these getting built, but likely with height reductions for most of them. Submit an application for something taller than you want to build, the City and community negotiate lower floor count and the developer obliges and gets what they were actually looking for. Seems to be a common theme. I'd be surprised if we see more than one supertall out of this group of proposals.
 
cassius said:
I can see many or most of these getting built, but likely with height reductions for most of them. Submit an application for something taller than you want to build, the City and community negotiate lower floor count and the developer obliges and gets what they were actually looking for. Seems to be a common theme. I'd be surprised if we see more than one supertall out of this group of proposals.
Click to expand...

Well it would be a shame to have the Mirvish/Gehry and Oxford developments chopped up to please a few down at city hall:eek:
 
Peepers said:
I hope so too but I am having concerns after reading these comments from the new city planner:

"Jennifer Keesmaat, Toronto’s chief planner, says if the city focuses on building midrise buildings along the avenues — streets planners have designated as ripe for growth — Toronto can meet the province’s growth targets without 80 storey buildings, and with “significant amount of room to spare.”

Clearly Keesmaat is not a big fan of tall building with her comment that if only the city would focus on building midrises we wouldn't have to build any 80 storey buildings to meet our "growth target".

Obviously Keesmaat thinks that there is something inherently wrong with tall buildings and I have no doubt if she had her way there would be no Super-talls being built (thank god for the OMB!).

We finally get proposals that will eclipse the 40 year-old First Canadian Tower in height - we finally get long-overdue proposals for Super-talls and the chief planner is throwing water all over them? :mad:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1278409--density-toronto-why-the-skyscrapers-on-steroids
Click to expand...

I for one an happy. A building needs to be 80 storey or else its a failure? Really. Only architect and developers want tall buildings. Go over to Paris or Amsterdam and see what would happen with a proposal of tearing down an old building and or replacing with an 80 storey one.
 
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