Toronto Maple Leaf Square | 185.92m | 54s | Lanterra | KPMB

CityPlace = bad, but ACC Village next door is good? I am so confused.

YES, ther should be buildings lining Bremner between SkyDome and ACC with bars/restaurants etc. Condos and office towers to the back or above them. It makes too much sense. As much as people may hate Infinity, it at least accomplishes this. I would have prefered buildings that look a little more like Front Street between Universiy and Simcoe, at least at their base, but.... Infinity does have the potential to create a good retail strip between 2 major sporting venues, and right up along the South entrance to the MTCC. Lets hope that 18 York Street doesnt have just a lobby stretching all along Bremner. I would rather see the lobby centred right at the Bremner/York corner, and restaurants or other retail stretching west from there.

Does anyone know the details of the next phase at Infinity? How tall, where exactly on the lot it will go etc.
 
Does Infinity have any retail at its base and if it does, is it anything more than small spaces suited to Subways and dry clearners?
 
Jdot said:
CityPlace = bad, but ACC Village next door is good? I am so confused.
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I'm also confused. I haven't criticized Cityplace (in fact, I live there), but an ACC Village would be nothing like Cityplace. Outside Toronto, "village" doesn't imply "Forest of 40-storey condos on two-storey podium." I'd be really interested to see a village of low-rise buildings with narrow irregular pedestrian streets. They could have outdoor patios all along them and maybe a couple floors of office or residential above. It would be a fun, lively place to go for sports fans, condo dwellers, and financial district types.

I would have prefered buildings that look a little more like Front Street between Universiy and Simcoe, at least at their base
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I think you mean between Simcoe and John. Between University and Simcoe there's a big parking lot and a bank building. Even that stretch, though, is hardly very pleasant to walk. I endure that stretch almost every day.

Lets hope that 18 York Street doesnt have just a lobby stretching all along Bremner. I would rather see the lobby centred right at the Bremner/York corner, and restaurants or other retail stretching west from there.
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I completely agree. If restaurants and the like can't make a go of it here, I don't know where they could. Let's have something a little more than one St. Louis.
 
alklay: Infinity does have retail space at street level, but I don't know what has opened there.

Jdot: Infinity 2 will be south of the first two buildings. I don't believe any renderings or massing models have been released regarding the planned complex.

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Changing face of the ACC

TheStar.com - Sports - Changing face of the ACC

'We'll scramble to get a lot done in the summer of 2008,' Hunter says of major construction plan

August 01, 2007
Paul Hunter
Sports Reporter

The Maple Leafs are going to give new meaning to the term face off.

In a significant, $24 million renovation to the 8-year-old Air Canada Centre, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment will take off the building's west face and replace it with a six-storey, glass atrium.

The work, beginning next summer, is scheduled to be completed for the 2009-10 Leafs and Raptors seasons.

The change, one that will further link the building to MLSE's condominium complex immediately to the west at Maple Leafs square, will serve several purposes.

Not only will it make the ACC bigger – the footprint for the atrium is 20,000 square feet – but it will also serve as a 24-hour link to the city's underground PATH system, with an enclosed pathway joining Union Station to the entertainment facilities under the condo buildings.

Bob Hunter, the MLSE executive vice-president overseeing the project, says it will also provide the marquee entrance that the ACC has always lacked. Mostly it will allow fans to move more easily in what is a relatively small big-league arena at 680,000 square feet. That compares to, say, Chicago Stadium, which is one of the biggest at more a million square feet.

"It's a pretty cool entrance and people will enjoy hanging out there between periods," said Hunter. "We also needed additional space. There will be new escalators, elevators and a grand stairwell to take you to the upper level."

Along with new concessions, the atrium might also include a broadcast centre and, possibly, a hall of fame that could be used to display the historic Naismith basketball collection and other artifacts. The arena bowl will not change, other than the possible expansion of the restaurant/bar on the 300 level.

The downside from a fan perspective is that for the entire 2008-09 season the west side of the building will be a construction site.

"We'll scramble to get a lot done in the summer of 2008, then it's a matter of building around events, which is always pretty challenging," said Hunter.

With occupancy of the condominiums also slated to begin in 2009, the completion of the atrium will further enhance MLSE's plans for a downtown sports zone with a plaza outside the area for ticketless fans to gather to watch the games. A giant video screen will be installed on the outside of the atrium, a move that would take on more significance if the Leafs were to make the playoffs again. The plaza would become a central party spot for up to 4,000 fans.The condominium site is a big hole in the ground now as builders go down eight storeys to construct the parking garage. Eventually the two towers – the north one containing a 171-room boutique hotel – will sit on a nine-storey podium, which will house offices and retail outlets.

Facilities there will include what MLSE president Richard Peddie calls "the most high-tech sports bar in Canada, containing all the latest toys from an audio-visual point of view."

Also part of the project is a fine dining restaurant, a Longo's grocery store and, of course, a mega-store to buy the merchandise of MLSE's four sports teams.

"We now understand how the building works," said Hunter of the major alterations just eight years into the life of the ACC. "A lot of people come from the west. To better service those people and provide more amenities for those people is one of the driving forces behind this as well."
 
that sounds like fun: try sleeping when your condo faces a giant tv screen of your favourite losers....

I'm predicting a Fall 2008 launch of phase 2 of the condos--across the street from the current site. What the city should do: redevelop the connection to the convention centre's underpass (york st) to include shops.

but yeah the acc has always failed to impress out of towners--they see the skydome and cn tower, then find out the Leaf's play in a suburban office park look alike:(
 
It doesn't help that the interesting facade of the former postal station is hidden by the Gardiner and facing Bay Street, which otherwise really is a very fortunate example of facadism working. The Bremner side is okay, but I do like the idea of this extending an enclosed PATH to Lakeshore.

They mention the plaza as a place for ticketless fans to go. MLSE is smart - they continue to find ways of getting money from fans priced out of the games.
 
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment will take off the building's west face and replace it with a six-storey, glass atrium.
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Would be a nice place for a second Santiago Calatrava galleria in Toronto (which coincidentally is quite fitting given the fact that the Raptors have Spanish players).
 
If the PATH is going to make it to the ACC and Maple Leaf Square, maybe this would be a good opportunity to tunnel it under Lakeshore and the Gardiner. I can't see any other buildings it could attach to now but one day all those parking lots will be gone. For now they could just have a stairway opening up on the south side of the Gardiner.
 
Re: retail at Infinity's base... I haven't walked along that stretch of Bremner, but from what I've seen, there is nothing opened there yet. (Correct me if I'm wrong. ;))
 
If developers in this city had incredible vision and deep pockets they could build the Path to Niagara Falls! A tunnel under the lake--aquariums, all kinds of touristy things to keep the Europeans amused. Niagara Falls could thus become part of Toronto.

Noticed: Anyone need a new job that pays okay? MLSE and other sites around the city are desperate for decent hardworking guys. $18/hr cash.
 
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