Toronto Hudson's Bay Centre Renovations | 32.87m | 6s | Brookfield | Adamson

Id much rather Robert Stern than Gehry or Michael Chin, assuming it's going to look like the ROM addition or Forma (both those projects are clunkers) An 8 Spruce Street tier building with a vertical mall might be a worthy replacement though.
 
I mean, it makes more sense if you look at it as wanting something ole fashioned but with lots of weird arsed angles and jagged spikes thrown in... 🙀
 
ProjectEnd said:
What are you talking about?
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People were discussing the possibility of HBC Centre eventually being demo'd in its entirety and replaced with a 'starchitect' designed building. 'Starchitect' buildings in Canada tend to turn out to be clunky value engineered designs like the ROM crystal or Forma. That's why if it's going to be demo'd , Id rather it was replaced by something more conservative but of high quality.
 
It's not getting demo'd.
ProjectEnd said:
I'm sorry but *how* is this a surprise to anyone? Anything that happens here needs to be accretive while still following the built form (TBG) and OPA 231 guidelines that are in place. We were never going to get a new, tall, tower because the space between the existing buildings isn't wide enough. We were never going to demo the existing office tower because the replacement cost would outweigh the profit. Reclad and refurb was *always* going to be the name of the game here. I'm sorry but if folks thought we were going to get Langham Place or Ginza-Six-meets-Shibuya-Sky you were only deluding yourselves.

In that vein, I'm happy with KPMB and what we're seeing now looks promising.


Exactly.
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Revised SPA submitted for this in Dec '22

From the Docs:

1678953287936.png


Concourse Level:

1678953398903.png


Level 01:

1678953452065.png


Updates to design as described in Cover Letter:

1678953575225.png


1678953610266.png


Comments: Brookfield and their team should hang their heads in shame that this is the best they can come up with for such a prominent location.
 
Northern Light said:
Revised SPA submitted for this in Dec '22

From the Docs:

View attachment 461888

Concourse Level:

View attachment 461889

Level 01:

View attachment 461890

Updates to design as described in Cover Letter:

View attachment 461894

View attachment 461895

Comments: Brookfield and their team should hang their heads in shame that this is the best they can come up with for such a prominent location.
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Interesting it is still showing the old arrangement for the subway station entrance at the concourse - compare and contrast to the proposed redesign for the Yonge/Bloor expansion project. Maybe that's what the expropriation is about? Keeping the arrangement as is would be a lost opportunity.

AoD
 
This may be a functional change from the bunker but its location at Yonge + Bloor begs for something far more interesting than... what looks like a forgettable little office building in a forgettable suburban office park.

Lost opportunity™.
 
ProjectEnd said:
I'm sorry but *how* is this a surprise to anyone? Anything that happens here needs to be accretive while still following the built form (TBG) and OPA 231 guidelines that are in place. We were never going to get a new, tall, tower because the space between the existing buildings isn't wide enough. We were never going to demo the existing office tower because the replacement cost would outweigh the profit. Reclad and refurb was *always* going to be the name of the game here. I'm sorry but if folks thought we were going to get Langham Place or Ginza-Six-meets-Shibuya-Sky you were only deluding yourselves.
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To come back to the above, I was certainly aware of the limitations on this site; however, it was City reports that suggested this location be targeted for the Mayor's 'Design Excellence' initiative. I think that's what had people considering what creative idea might have been come up with. .

Side note: Off hand, I'm only aware of 3 project sites targeted for said initiative, the other 2 being 11 Bay and the Dawes Library; the latter may be the only one we see in the near term.

ProjectEnd said:
In that vein, I'm happy with KPMB and what we're seeing now looks promising.
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Do you still feel that way?
 
Northern Light said:
To come back to the above, I was certainly aware of the limitations on this site; however, it was City reports that suggested this location be targeted for the Mayor's 'Design Excellence' initiative. I think that's what had people considering what creative idea might have been come up with. .

Side note: Off hand, I'm only aware of 3 project sites targeted for said initiative, the other 2 being 11 Bay and the Dawes Library; the latter may be the only one we see in the near term.



Do you still feel that way?
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Which "mayor" is that?

Cheekiness aside, sure, if you abandon existing policy and start carte blanche on the site anything is possible (we've always known that). Also, I don't have a clue what the 'Design Excellence' initiative is or what it permits beyond what is set out in the by-law and governing policy.
 
UtakataNoAnnex said:
Oh looky, glass bunk that doesn't fit with the rest of the bunker... /sigh
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It is a whole pile of bland! Glass and aluminum bland. Very lazy and probably an inexpensive option bland.

While I will be happy that the new building at least acknowledges that it sits on a street, I am lamenting the fact that we are getting the equivalent of a suburban office building podium, in a location that deserves so much better.

(this is probably better suited for a Simons, in terms of size, than the available Eaton Centre space. It certainly will not get the foot traffic of Eaton Centre, although I suspect that the rent will reflect that.)
 
alklay said:
It is a whole pile of bland! Glass and aluminum bland. Very lazy and probably an inexpensive option bland.

While I will be happy that the new building at least acknowledges that it sits on a street, I am lamenting the fact that we are getting the equivalent of a suburban office building podium, in a location that deserves so much better.

(this is probably better suited for a Simons, in terms of size, than the available Eaton Centre space. It certainly will not get the foot traffic of Eaton Centre, although I suspect that the rent will reflect that.)
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* the proposal is for class A office space from level 2 up, not retail, so the footprint would not be particularly robust.

Simon's Square One is 116,000ft2 for reference.
 
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