Toronto Massey Tower Condos | 206.95m | 60s | MOD Developments | Hariri Pontarini

So the stone isn't perfectly cleaned and a little wet... damn rain

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Sorry, I just booked a flight to Philadelphia before reading this. Love Philly, BTW.
The " only in Toronto" claim from a Philadelphia point of view comes across a tad insular.
 
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The problem with 205 Yonge is that it does not have a lot of development potential, or at least nothing would come easy. Unlike the MOD parcel at 197 Yonge, it has no vacant land at the rear, and the important heritage resources are both at the front (the facade) and the rear (the banking hall) of the building (MOD only had to retain the first 7 metres 197 Yonge because the heritage exteriors and interiors were all at the front of the building). You might get a few storeys on top of the rear of 205 Yonge, but it would be a really small floorplate. I think of the outcry over the tower proposal at 8 Elm, yet the 8 Elm site is more than 50% larger than 205 Yonge.

205 Yonge would make fantastic flagship retail, a club, a restaurant, etc. Just not sure how costly it would be to get the building up to snuff.
 
I would have greatly preferred both lots to have been in public hands and have a public building here. Nevertheless, the logistics of constructing a massive building at this site are fascinating.
 
nrb said:
I would have greatly preferred both lots to have been in public hands and have a public building here.
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It was in public hands till the city sold it...now go find the irish man, lol.... it wont be cheap

Heritage buildings threatened by neglect
The banking hall, with its columns and mosaics, is a show-stopper. The building later became home to Heritage Toronto, until the city sold it in 2003 to Irish businessman John Cavannah. Today, an Irish flag flutters on the roof line and pigeon poop speckles the columns. The Downtown Yonge business improvement area provided a telephone number for Mr. Cavannah; a recording says, “The customer you are calling is unavailable at the moment.”
http://news.nationalpost.com/posted...uwer-heritage-buildings-threatened-by-neglect
 
Yes, Automation Gallery is correct. 205 Yonge was formerly owned by the City, as was the Massey Tower parcel at 197-201 Yonge. The City acquired the properties in the late 1980s as part of its (since abandoned) "Theatre Block" initiative. For a time, 205 Yonge housed the Toronto Historical Board, and later Heritage Preservation Services and Heritage Toronto (Heritage Toronto used a diagram of the front facade of 205 Yonge as its logo for quite some time). 197-201Yonge was sold to Parasuco in 1999. When heritage staff were relocated in 2001, and no other City department, agency or board showed any interest, 205 Yonge was declared surplus in early 2002 and Council agreed to a sale later that year. It was claimed at the time that the sale of the property would "further Council’s goal of the revitalization of Yonge Street". As 205 Yonge remains empty almost 15 years later, that goal appears to not to have been met.
 
Love this building, heck it wouldn't look out of place along the Via del Corso. I actually thought both property's had been acquired for the Massey project. I'm very curious as to what kind of shape it is in and what the interior looks like now.
 
Bogtrotter said:
Love this building, heck it wouldn't look out of place along the Via del Corso. I actually thought both property's had been acquired for the Massey project. I'm very curious as to what kind of shape it is in and what the interior looks like now.
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Here are a couple of interior shots of 205 Yonge Street just to give you an idea.
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205 Yonge doesn't look neglected and that's what matters although it would be nice if it had a tenant or two.
 
breain said:
Here are a couple of interior shots of 205 Yonge Street just to give you an idea.View attachment 86960View attachment 86961
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I recall reading somewhere that it's recently been used for some film shoots. So at least that would keep it in a good state of repair.

But, I would argue that the massey tower makes it more difficult for 205 yonge to be redeveloped into something else. It's unfortunate the two private owners couldn't come to an agreement involving the tower and I think shows what a mistake the city made in selling it off.
 
nrb said:
I recall reading somewhere that it's recently been used for some film shoots. So at least that would keep it in a good state of repair.

But, I would argue that the massey tower makes it more difficult for 205 yonge to be redeveloped into something else. It's unfortunate the two private owners couldn't come to an agreement involving the tower and I think shows what a mistake the city made in selling it off.
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205 Yonge was not for sale at the time.
 
Any money derived from film shoots would have had to be diverted into a fund reserved for the keeping the building in good repair; that didn't necessarily happen.
 
This would be a great cocktail bar/event space too. It is a beautiful interior. I don't think there is anything to compare in the rest of the city....is there?
 
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