The Tenor (10 Dundas St E, Ent Prop Trust, 10s, Baldwin & Franklin)

[dt_toronto_geek]

to buy out Ryerson ( a given), the HMV building, and the heritage building beside it.

The building at Gould & Yonge (339 Yonge?) north of HMV must stay right where it is.

^ Ah. Makes sense.

The heritage building that houses Salad King should stay as is but would integrate nicely into a reconfigured Metropolis. It would be the perfect place to house a badly needed North entrance to Dundas Station.

The corner of Y&D doesn't need yet another mall. With the Eaton Centre dominating and the Atrium on Bay playing second fiddle, another mall is not what Metropolis should become. I like how the stores at street level have their main -- and in most cases their only -- entrance along the street.

The interior accessible businesses should continue to strengthen the concept that Metropolis is an Entertainment Venue: an AMC multiplex theatre and restaurants. What is missing here (and in downtown in general) is a Dave & Busters type venue. A bowling alley would be great. A couple of clubs at the top could work well since this part of the city is active well into the night.

The prevision for a rollercoaster on the roof of the AMC and the intention to bring Disney on board almost makes me believe that PenEquity knew what they were doing, had a winning concept and possessed the right vision for this building... but just royally screwed up in the details.

I'm hoping a second shot at it by a developer with deeper pockets, more experience and connections can really make Metropolis a hit.

Down the road, I'd like to see AMC add 3 or 4 IMAX screens on top of where they are now if the building can indeed support such an addition.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Metro:

The heritage building that houses Salad King should stay as is but would integrate nicely into a reconfigured Metropolis. It would be the perfect place to house a badly needed North entrance to Dundas Station.

In all likelihood, the new north entrance for Dundas is going to be in the Ryerson library expansion at the Sam site.

AoD

 

[Student99]

Down the road, I'd like to see AMC add 3 or 4 IMAX screens on top of where they are now if the building can indeed support such an addition.

I think IMAX screens are only found in Cineplex Entertainment theatres in Canada (with the exception of the science center and ontario place) and that they have some sort of deal with each other

 

[TrickyRicky]

I think the dreams of demolition are fun thought exercises but don't get your hopes up, this building will out live us. Think more along the lines of adaptive re-use.

 

[GraphicMatt]

They should definitely mount the old Sam the Record Man sign on it somewhere.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I think IMAX screens are only found in Cineplex Entertainment theatres in Canada (with the exception of the science center and ontario place) and that they have some sort of deal with each other

I don't think Cineplex Ent. has any type of exclusive deal with IMAX in Canada. Empire Theatres have an IMAX screen in Halifax, I don't know about other Canadian exhibitors. AMC has a strong presence in the US with over 100 IMAX screens so it's possible 10 Dundas E. could add IMAX screens on top given how they far outgross standard auditoriums and the large number of IMAX feature films being distributed each year now.

 

[Tewder]

I agree with the opinion that this building should be an entertainment complex with restaurants, cinemas and novelty attractions (bowling, arcades etc). Wasn't a Virgin Superstore to be an original tenant? With Sam's gone this sounds like it would be an even better idea now.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Except music stores are a dying business...I think the Virgin megastore at Times Square is closing, if it hasn't done so already.

AoD

 

[GraphicMatt]

I agree with the opinion that this building should be an entertainment complex with restaurants, cinemas and novelty attractions (bowling, arcades etc). Wasn't a Virgin Superstore to be an original tenant? With Sam's gone this sounds like it would be an even better idea now.

I don't think there are any Virgin Megastores left in North America. They're done. The modern equivalent would be a bunch of PCs set up so that you can browse iTunes.

I think Metropolis could use a really nice event space. It was weird to think about TIFF premieres happening at the AMC, with people in nice clothes going up and down the escalators and walking through the closed food court at the end of the night.

If the food court or another part of the building could be turned into a nice event space with configurable seating, that'd be very cool. With Ryerson in there and Google's headquarters upstairs, it could become the premiere space for tech and web events.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Just wondering how would the economics work if it is just a minor addition to the western mass of the building - or maybe Brookfield-Hines are hoping for a more significant intervention that would require rezoning, etc. that could fund the redo?

AoD

 

[MetroMan]

^ a tower? THAT would be nice

... and it would explain why Brookfield is even interested. They divested from shopping malls some time ago, most recently selling Atrium to Hines.

 

[MetroMan]

Alvin, your observation really got me thinking. Brookfield is in it for the office or residential space potential and would lease the commercial part of the building to Hines to operate as an extension of Atrium on Bay.

Looking at a side profile of the building, you can see 2 things:

1) There's a lot of wasted air space behind the billboard façade.

2) Just as I was told, the building was engineered to support another two floors and a rollercoaster above the AMC on the East block.

Now imagine the space immediately behind the Milestones patio filled in with an 8 story office tower facing Yonge street looking like this:

... instead of the grey corrugated panels that are there now.

Alternatively, a mixed use residential/hotel + office tower could rise from that block of space.

With the knowledge that Brookfield's bid involves substantial work on the Western half of Metropolis, all this begins to make a lot of sense.

 

[urbandreamer]

If I were Brookfield, here's what I would do:

1)Buy the joint.

2)Do very little, small cosmetic updates to attract more tenants.

3)Hang on to the property for 20 years.

4)In 2030 or so, when the mall is dated and the surroundings have gone very highrise, implode the thing and build a 50-75 story office building.

 

[gei]

If I were Brookfield, here's what I would do:

1)Buy the joint.

2)Do very little, small cosmetic updates to attract more tenants.

3)Hang on to the property for 20 years.

4)In 2030 or so, when the mall is dated and the surroundings have gone very highrise, implode the thing and build a 50-75 story office building.

Me too. Except I would rather they explode the building... as I would enjoy seeing it destroyed in a more dramatic fashion.

 

[Exodus]

I think it would be neat to build a residential condo above 10 Dundas east. Given its location, I think it would attract a lot of purchasers. And who knows, maybe it will transform the space into something more attractive than it currently is, and create more business within the complex.