Toronto RioCan Hall | 145.2m | 42s | RioCan | Hariri Pontarini

Calling it a mini Well is a bit of an overstatement. Sure, it has partially the same team, but the site size (81,000sf vs. 329,000sf) and scope are vastly different. The Well has 7 towers (3 mid-rise res, 3 high-rise res, 1 high-rise office) and an enormous podium with a mall and more office in it.

The most RioCan is going to get here is 2 towers and they'll both be res. I'd be genuinely surprised if there's anything more than a combination of retail, res and office here.
 
Downtown is an inconvenient location for a theatre complex? It's going to be quite a pain for TIFF and HotDocs to work around if there's no theatre there.

RioCan says it themselves in the first post in this thread, so you can raise your pretty certainty to total certainty.

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I didn't say downtown is an inconvenient location for a theatre. I said John & Richmond is an inconvenient downtown location compared to, say, 10 Dundas. And, yeah, it's a relative minor thing.
 
Some existing condition shots from today:

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Didn't realize it used to be so over-the-top 90s-chic:

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via http://www.tkp.ca/projects/01/003gall.html (where I learned that the same architect was responsible for Mississauga City Hall!)

I would never have called it 'good'.............nonetheless, the original had 'flavour'

The Chapters mezzanine level which had Starbucks (sigh)....but a once pretty damned good music dept.........was a place to enjoy.......

The cinema was kitschy albeit w/good auditoria............but that view of downtown from the windows of the cinema was incredible.

Since then....it's only gone downhill..........even the Cineplex when expanding/altering its bar area managed to cut most movie goers off from the windows....and obstruct the entire intent of the original design.

Not to mention drywalling the back of the concession island........... or that ridiculous move of the box office.....

Bleh!
 
Downtown is an inconvenient location for a theatre complex? It's going to be quite a pain for TIFF and HotDocs to work around if there's no theatre there.

RioCan says it themselves in the first post in this thread, so you can raise your pretty certainty to total certainty.

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Touche, I didn't notice
 
This will be one of the first developments that I know of where a previous facadism / heritage facades is likely to see its "host" demolished and will have to be "re-hosted" by a new development.
 
For sure they will be seeking more uses and a lot more density. It would be unfortunate to lose the theatre as inconvenient a downtown location can be.

How is a downtown movie theatre "inconvenient"? You know, not everyone drives everywhere. Scotiabank theatre is a 10-15 minute walk away for anybody living within a radius ranging from Bathurst to Jarvis and Dundas to the lake. That's hundreds of thousands of downtown residents. Don't worry, there'll still be plenty of movie theatres with massive parking lots that you can drive to.
 
It has a gigantic parking lot underneath that has really cheap parking on weekdays anyway. I know - I drive a lot to it even though I live downtown because it's way cheaper than 4 TTC fares.
 

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