Toronto Pinnacle One Yonge | 345.5m | 105s | Pinnacle | Hariri Pontarini

Ramako - my thoughts exactly... Toronto will be the foremost poster child for "Skylines of Pure Greed" magazine for a long time to come. The utter lack of overall vision and the cynical end runs around the official city plan by developers have given Toronto lots of height and not much style or quality. This development promises only to be the worst offender yet...
 
I doubt that most of the "supertalls" listed above will be built for the following reasons:

1. There is already a glut of demand for condos that has flattened prices.
2. There is a growing backlash against tall buildings. The Gehry proposals will be a bellweather for projects going forward, because the issues they raise -- not the lease of which is inadequate transit infrastructure -- have not been dealt with.
3. Eventually interest rates will rise (although it seems hard to believe now) and the building boom will slow.
 
Oliver Tweed said:
I doubt that most of the "supertalls" listed above will be built for the following reasons:

1. There is already a glut of demand for condos that has flattened prices.
2. There is a growing backlash against tall buildings. The Gehry proposals will be a bellweather for projects going forward, because the issues they raise -- not the lease of which is inadequate transit infrastructure -- have not been dealt with.
3. Eventually interest rates will rise (although it seems hard to believe now) and the building boom will slow.
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1. prices have flattened, but still remain record high. I don't see why this would deter more development as long as they can sell.
2. there is always backlash against tall buildings. It is nothing new. If anything, Toronto is more and more accomadative of tall buildings. As to transit, dt transit is the best in the city. A significant of percenage of new condo owners will walk everywhere. Downtown needs more people, it makes sense.
3 yes eventually. But the Feds already said the current low rate will stay until at least 2015. BOC will do the same. So it is really not much of a concern.
 
Oliver Tweed said:
I doubt that most of the "supertalls" listed above will be built for the following reasons:

1. There is already a glut of demand for condos that has flattened prices.
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This won't be going on sale all at the same time, let alone anytime soon. It takes a long time for sales to start, when as of right now, we haven't even seen a design!
 
This may be a helpful article for all you guys arguing about the size of Toronto's building boom compared to the rest of the world:

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH): Canada Grows Taller:
http://www.ctbuh.org/Publications/J...Rising/tabid/4080/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Notable Quotes:
"The epicenter of Canadian tall building development is Toronto, where 15 buildings taller than 150 meters are under construction, more than any other city in the western hemisphere. Toronto is projected to have 44 buildings taller than 150 meters by 2015, up from 13 in 2005"

"Canada added four buildings taller than 200 meters in 2012, the most Canada has ever completed in a single year, the CTBUH study found. In contrast the United States completed two building over 200 meters in 2012."
 
It's impressive however , most of the action is centred in the Eastern hemisphere. The insanity continues in China and Mumbai is poised to takeover Dubai's place in super tall skyscrapers.
 
Oliver Tweed said:
I doubt that most of the "supertalls" listed above will be built for the following reasons:
2. There is a growing backlash against tall buildings. The Gehry proposals will be a bellweather for projects going forward, because the issues they raise -- not the lease of which is inadequate transit infrastructure -- have not been dealt with.
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Regarding your second point, I would sacrifice both Gehry and Oxford place for a megaproject at 1 Yonge. And transit / electricity / water infrastructure is definitely on my mind, since King St is a busier street and probably way more expensive to upgrade.

Queens Quay East is dead. This part of the city needs way more of a lift than King/Wellington/Front. They already have Queens Quay torn apart to lay new infrastructure, it's already a designated growth zone (and our province has invested heavily in it too). You put a tall building here, and approve a series of midrises beside it, new businesses will open to cater the needs of residents. It will be much easier to justify an LRT instead of BRT, and a direct PATH connection is possible from Waterpark Place I/II (with the Westin conference hall eventually getting remodeled or built over)
 
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Mongo said:
Really? Where did you hear that? "Supertall" is the standard term for "300m to 599m (or 499m)", while the only term I have heard for "600m (or 500m) and over" is "megatall".
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C816A212-8958-459E-917F-7E1822F55248-1521-00000123FCEF2591.jpg
 
Hariri Pontarini have shown that they have the ability to impress when given the opportunity to be creative. However, developer expectations of architecture firms can also hinder the design result. It's been shown by Plazacorp's projects with Quadrangle and how this partnership has restricted the firm to designing some forgettable buildings. With Pinnicrap as the developer, I'll remain skeptical until more detail is revealed. I also have a hard time believing this level of density to be approved by the city.
 
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Now that looks amazing! I knew HP would produce something good. Appears as though there is a large office building as well. In the same spot I predicted one would be too..
 
Am I the only one that thinks there is an extension on top of the toronto star building? I'm happy they aren't recladding it. Everything seems so nice with this so far.
 
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