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

dt_toronto_geek said:
And that's an advantage with Trump, it's blocked from view at a distance from several directions.
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Sure Trump is mostly blocked from a far, but the few views you can see it from its flaws are still very evident from a few hundred feet to a few kilometers away. But from those distances Aura's flaws are not as noticeable and I'd argue it actually looks decent. Though obviously that alone doesn't make it a 'good building'.

udo said:
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/89684407@N05/9240742725/sizes/l/in/photostream/ imagine by steveve
someMidTowner said:
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Now just imagine Trump being in Aura's place in the skyline.
 
Two 900' buildings with the same problem. In a city waiting so long for something sleek and innovative, this is shameful, really. There are hundreds of beautiful buildings of this size going up around the world and certainly no shortage of design concepts.
Why not just build the entire towers with greater floor to ceiling heights, or perhaps do something akin to Trump World Tower and increase the heights gradually?
 
Went by Aura a couple days ago. Looks like work has started on the space for Red's Wine Tavern on the corner of Yonge & Gerrard. I wonder if they'll open up a patio space in that notch on the southeast corner of the building.

Retailers are very slowly moving into the underground retail concourse. There's a greater variety of retailers than I expected, but most seemed to be closed when I was there (around 7pm). In addition to multiple spas, nail salons and hair dressers, there were also a beauty supply store (good idea), a couple convenience stores, a couple knick-knack/art/small furniture shops, a jewellry store, a custom cabinetry store and a photographer. There were also numerous spaces undergoing renovations and with signs up, but it was not clear what they were. I expect that we'll see some nutritional supplement stores and travel agents move in as well. The food court looks like it's got 2 or 3 spaces coming online. There were also more people down there, but they all looked like (prospective) owners, brokers or contractors.

Also, one of the retail spaces on the east side of Yonge is turning into a Starbucks. Weather or not Aura is an architectural hit, it seems to be having a gentrifying affect on the neighbourhood.
 
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There are already 4 other Starbucks locations within a 3 minute walk from there. I think Starbucks is just being strategic knowing that 2,000+ people will be living in Aura and many of them won't want to walk for more than 30 seconds to get some coffee.

Too bad Aura isn't able to encourage smaller independent coffee shops to join the retail/commercial strip. If anything, it's increasing the rent for the neighbourhood making it only possible for the big players to play.
 
Larissa Doherty said:
There are already 4 other Starbucks locations within a 3 minute walk from there. I think Starbucks is just being strategic knowing that 2,000+ people will be living in Aura and many of them won't want to walk for more than 30 seconds to get some coffee.

Too bad Aura isn't able to encourage smaller independent coffee shops to join the retail/commercial strip. If anything, it's increasing the rent for the neighbourhood making it only possible for the big players to play.
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You can explain Starbuck's rationale however you want, but the point remains that Aura's presence will probably bring higher end retail into that strip of Yonge Street.
 
401 Games is moving out in a couple weeks, too. I don't know if they've been pushed out by higher rents or are simply moving to greener pastures (they've taken a much larger space a couple blocks north, replacing that big junkie souvenir store), but it will be interesting to see what goes in to replace it. The intersection has definitely improved since Aura opened up. Raijin and Banh Mi Boys are great additions, and even if they are a bit more generic both Starbucks and Eki Bento did (or are doing) a lot to clean up their storefronts.

Now the thing I really want to see is the reintroduction of the street vendors along Yonge. I've noticed that many of the stores in Aura are stationing greeters near the retail entrance, and I've also seen street musicians set up near the construction gate after working hours. Those sidewalks are plenty wide enough to also accommodate a couple hot dog vendors or food carts.
 
Not that we need another update from the Aura Webcam, but it is always awesome for storm watching! Interesting effect with the storm moving in from behind the camera:

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Thanks guys. The sky was crazy tonight as the storm rolled in around 7 pm. It makes for some great photo ops.

sMT: You were bang on. I'm on the 27th floor of Pure Spirits (33 Mill St.), north-west corner.
 
One more picture from tonight if I may...



Hard to believe that this and the preceding photo were taken on the same evening less than two hours apart.
 
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