Toronto Pinnacle Lakeside | 158m | 49s | Pinnacle | Hariri Pontarini

For over $160 million too - over double the price per square foot that Menkes paid for the LCBO lands. Greenland is going to be going in with some crazy density here.
 
What a shame. I was expecting some bold architecture with Cityzen at the helm, but now that Greenland's got it, I'm expecting that they'll go with the same firm they've already worked with at King Blue... (ugh, it just hurts to type their name)... Page + Steele.
 
They inherited Page + Steele. Greenland has worked with many top notch firms being the largest developer in the world. Anything could happen here. I'm going to set aside my pragmatism for optimism and just risk being disappointed.
 
Also, Page + Steele won't be a thing by the end of the year. IBI is tightening the reigns and will be eliminating the name entirely.
 
I'm actually quite saddened by this. It's a name with a rich history in Toronto and IBI will still be producing garbage.

What about the other firms under IBI?
 
I'm actually quite saddened by this. It's a name with a rich history in Toronto and IBI will still be producing garbage.

What about the other firms under IBI?

I'm not sure but I do believe now that their largely through their recent monetary issues, they'll begin consolidating everything under the single name.

Will that make any practical difference? It's still the same firm.

Not necessarily, but as @maestro notes, it's less about their current portfolio than their accomplishments 80-40 years ago.

In fact, in spite of much change along that stretch, their original office still exists (in a dramatically altered / bastardized form) on St. Clair West:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.6874...4!1siHihrNwDKgrjnYcAHZPDEg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
 
I would gladly take any one of the many Greenland Centres in China here. Often times it seems that they are willing to pay for a premium architecture firm when developing a project above the 200M mark.
 
Will that make any practical difference? It's still the same firm.

Yeah, I was thinking about the instrumental history of the firm. Maybe this is the best to relegate the name to the past and remember the Page, Steele and, Dickinson eras and forget Wassermuhl.
 
Saw this on Twitter from Urbanation: Greenland Group (Chinese) buys FedEx lands at 215 Lake Shore E for $166.05M - Nice !
 
Greenland are celebrating their third anniversary in Canada right now inside the cavernous former FedEx space, and besides having nibbly bits and wine for everyone, they've just announced this site as their next development in Toronto. Having won a competition to design the site, David Pontarini is here to unveil a little bit of the concept design in a video. Not sure we'll get a digital file tonight or not, but I have a few photos from the event. These are not final designs!!!

This is Henry Cao, President of Greenland Canada:
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David Pontarini:
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... and it appears that some sailboats have arrived in port!
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Again, they're going with a sailboat motif for the buildings' curves, but these are not final designs!!!!

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Looks like a glazed canopy between the buildings ala The Well
 
Not a personal fan of the sailboat motif (an overused waterfront cliche the world over, and there is nothing sail-like to most buildings - with exceptions - at that scale when executed) - but the ask seems pretty reasonable. Not so sure about the plaza - it weakens the emergent QQE streetwall, and has a "what's the point" feel to it. The materials are also a continuation of the Southcore bland - which one'd hope wouldn't creep this far east.

AoD
 
As a complete non-expert on the investment side of development, I am a little surprised by these preliminary renders. Given the cost of the land, can they really make money on a project of this relatively modest size and density? (Relatively modest compared to the properties just to the west, eg 1-7 Yonge, that is.) Well, they're the experts and I most definitely am not. They must think they can recoup their investment. Still surprising to me, though.
 

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