daptive
Active Member
Mods should probably rename this thread from Ryerson to TMU
Toronto TMU: Science Building | 81.7m | 14s | TMU | Henning Larsen
- Thread starter androiduk
- Start date
Mods should probably rename this thread from Ryerson to TMU
Northern Light
Superstar
UT Front Page story on TMU's decision to nix the housing component here.
urbantoronto.ca
Credit to UT for reaching out to TMU for comment on that; but unfortunately, no explanation is as yet forthcoming.
Plans Devolve for TMU Science Building & Student Residence | UrbanToronto
The Toronto Metropolitan University Science Building was previously approved at 44-storeys inclusive of multiple levels of student residences. Now, a Minor Variance Application has been submitted that would completely remove the residential component of the development.
Credit to UT for reaching out to TMU for comment on that; but unfortunately, no explanation is as yet forthcoming.
torplanner
Active Member
This... makes no sense.
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
Oh, they probably have reasons...just ones the public are unlikely to swallow. So they'll likely keep quiet about it. /sigh
Northern Light
Superstar
Superficially, I agree.
I am/was prepared to extend some benefit of the doubt...........with great reservations..........but the fact that UT reached out looking for a reason and they clearly didn't have one that they considered media-ready to reply with..........
Is concerning.
HousingNowTO
Senior Member
April 2021 math : $475-Million / 565,000 sq. ft. (52,500 square metres) = $841 per sq ft
Have to assume that their pre-construction budget number is now well past the Half-a-Billion dollar mark in June 2022, right..?
...and if I am the PC Provincial Cabinet Minister(s) who are funding these University Residence development projects, do I really want to spend more than Half-a-Billion dollars on a Student Residence in a ward that is NEVER going to vote for "Ford Nation" -- when I can instead spend that money at U of T Scarborough or Mississauga campuses (or Humber College) where it will both "bring home the bacon" to our voter-base --- and probably create hundreds more dorm rooms for the same $500-MILLION+ spend..?
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
Most folks never voted Tory, so in a real election the said party should of never formed government to begin with...let alone a majority. Thus they really shouldn't be rewarding any ridings here on that principle to begin with...
...but I guess this is kinda mute for this discussion, as I wouldn't put it pass them for exercising the archaic notion of rewarding/punishing ridings based on whether they leaned PC or not as entirely plausible. (Or any party in power for that fact.) Thus we're left with a stumpy educational building with no students to call home in living arrangements. /sighs again
Northern Light
Superstar
While that's entirely possible; I await TMU's statement on the matter...........
I suspect that the political calculus above likely isn't correct. I would wager:
The majority of TMU students are from ridings that are currently Blue, and that proportion is even higher among those seeking to live on/near campus.
Their parents vote.
I can't imaging TMU would attract a large number of students to residence who already live in downtown Toronto just beyond; those students would likely be commuter students.
@HousingNowTO is essentially correct: the student residence part of the building has essentially been cut because the cost to build it has now risen far beyond any funding that they could secure for it. TMU has responded, so we have updated the story on the front page with their response, word for word:
https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2022/07/plans-devolve-tmu-science-building-student-residence
42
https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2022/07/plans-devolve-tmu-science-building-student-residence
42
Northern Light
Superstar
Question, did you ask/did TMU volunteer whether the building will still be designed to structurally support the addition of a residential tower in the future?
We didn't ask that. I would be surprised if they did; they'll be looking for ways to cut construction costs for the academic section of the building, and that will include redesigning to remove anything associated with the upper tower portion no doubt, including most obviously space for the elevators, etc. If new architectural plans show otherwise once they are submitted, we will know then, but I cannot believe they'll spend a cent beyond what they have to to produce an academic building.
42
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
...still calling this a "minor variance" though is an akin of saying, "It's just a flesh wound!" >.<
ProjectEnd
Superstar
This is really smart because construction costs almost always go down over time.
Northern Light
Superstar
Star article on the nixing of the residence spaces:
:format(webp)/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/gta/2022/07/13/toronto-metropolitan-university-scraps-plans-to-build-residence-for-nearly-600-students/rpj_metroryerson03.jpg)
www.thestar.com
TMU clearly blaming construction costs:
Quoting the interim Councillor, financing in general may also have been an issue:
The interim Councillor, Ms. Buxton Potts also thinks this should be re-thought:
- Additional notes:
TMU has a student housing wait list of ~ 1,000
That's before factoring in how many additional students will be admitted as a result of the new academic building.
***
TMU declined to say how much its financial shortfall is on project.
Toronto Metropolitan University scraps plans to build residence for nearly 600 students
The local councillor for the area calls that decision “short-sighted” and a disappointment. The university is blaming construction costs.
TMU clearly blaming construction costs:
Quoting the interim Councillor, financing in general may also have been an issue:
The interim Councillor, Ms. Buxton Potts also thinks this should be re-thought:
- Additional notes:
TMU has a student housing wait list of ~ 1,000
That's before factoring in how many additional students will be admitted as a result of the new academic building.
***
TMU declined to say how much its financial shortfall is on project.
Northern Light
Superstar
There is a member motion, requesting a report, on the subject of student housing, coming to the next meeting of City Council.
The motion is unlikely to directly impact the current version of this proposal; but was almost certainly triggered by the potential/likely loss of housing here.
From the above:
The motion is unlikely to directly impact the current version of this proposal; but was almost certainly triggered by the potential/likely loss of housing here.
From the above: