whatever
Senior Member
As large a building as it is, it still comes down to the math. It's just a question of whether the lost revenue for 5 years of reconstruction plus the cost of the building itself justifies the potential for new income from additional space plus whatever premium they can charge for space in a successful building. But given the location and the history of the site I can't see the city seriously opposing a megaproject on that land, and that allows for some interesting math to come into play. They could easily look at doubling or tripling (or more) the available retail space, plus making the space way more functional. The theatre and restaurants have been successful, but with more space they could look at expanding them and adding additional entertainment draws. They could add significantly more office space (the market must be there, if the Atrium is looking to expand), add classroom space for Ryerson, put in condos/hotel, you name it. Throw in some civic improvements (+15 connections, improved TTC interface, public realm sutff) and I actually think this thing is more likely to happen than the Oxford redevelopment of MTCC.