Toronto Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR

MetroMan said:
The TTC exit is one floor below the York Concourse correct? The Bay Concourse will be level with York with a double height court open below that will be level with the TTC. I get it now.
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Correct.
MetroMan said:
Still, there are a lot of ramps to slightly adjust the heights of different wings and the exits to the moat. Will they be able to eliminate these ramps and keep everything level amongst their different floors?
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For better or for worse… or actually, just because of what's there now, and to what extent things can be rebuilt (mostly not), there will still be ramps, stairs, escalators here, there, and everywhere at Union when it's all done.

One of the reasons people are having a hard time imagining it is that while we think of Union having an upstairs (Great Hall level) and a downstairs, (everything else), there have always been grade changes whenever you move from one part of the station to the next, sometimes by shallow gradient ramps so that you barely notice it… but the changes are real, and they cannot remove most of them.

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interchange42 said:
Correct.

... there will still be ramps, stairs, escalators here, there, and everywhere at Union when it's all done.

One of the reasons people are having a hard time imagining it is that while we think of Union having an upstairs (Great Hall level) and a downstairs, (everything else), there have always been grade changes whenever you move from one part of the station to the next, sometimes by shallow gradient ramps so that you barely notice it… but the changes are real, and they cannot remove most of them.

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Obtaining present architectural/engineering drawings is wishful thinking, but historical ones would prove very interesting.

Are there any posted prior in this string? If not, I'll Google and see what shows.
 
steveintoronto said:
Obtaining present architectural/engineering drawings is wishful thinking, but historical ones would prove very interesting.

Are there any posted prior in this string? If not, I'll Google and see what shows.
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Apologies if this has been referenced in this string prior, this is an absolute gold-mine of information, 220 pages long, with clear photographs and some architectural drawings, albeit small sized in the section I'm now reading, and I believe all is in the public domain to allow free reproduction here, but what's immediately clear is the steel superstructure that densely latices the entire structure.

There's also an excellent ground floor drawing that can show 'before and after' with the drawings linked in this forum just a few days back. I'm trying to figure out how to copy and post specific pics and drawings from this PDF as it would make discussion vastly simpler:

https://www1.toronto.ca/City Of Toronto/Facilities Management/Shared Content/Union Station/PDFs/USHSR - 484-050506-HSR Final .pdf
 
khristopher said:
When might we see the York Concourse (lower) open to the public? It's gotta be soon!
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The other day I saw the interior of the Bagel Stop beside Starbucks has finally progressed to the point of final finishings. It took them 6 months to build out a simple 100 sq. ft. bagel and sandwich place so I imagine the real food retail spaces on the lower level will take even longer.
 
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Jonny5 said:
The other day I saw the interior of the Bagel Stop beside Starbucks has finally progressed to the point of final finishings. It took them 6 months to build out a simple 100 sq. ft. bagel and sandwich place so I imagine the real food retail spaces on the lower level will take even longer.
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When you say "they" in that bolded part, who are you referring to?
 
TOareaFan said:
When you say "they" in that bolded part, who are you referring to?
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All parties who may have been involved. I am referencing the time from when "Bagel Stop Coming Soon" signage went up and now.
 
Jonny5 said:
All parties who may have been involved. I am referencing the time from when "Bagel Stop Coming Soon" signage went up and now.
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you and I would have to read the lease to know whether there was an issue or not....and particular attention to the clauses defining commencement date (the day where rent payments commence) and fixturing period (the time between the date the tenant takes possession of the space and that commencement date during which they have the place to build out their leaseholds and get ready to open).....given that they are a, mostly, commuter driven business it does not seem to be there was an inordinate mis-timing here. Whenever they signed the lease and took possession (presumably that is when the "Bagel Stop Coming Soon" signage went up) I suspect their leasing folks negotiated the lease (and, specifically, those two terms) to reflect that they did not want to commence paying rent (and, therefore, be open for business) until the end of the summer when all of their target customers (the commuters) were back from holiday and back on their regular commuting cycle.

In other words, just because there was a long time between the coming soon and open for business announcements does not mean that anything went wrong.....it might have, but it does not look like it to me.
 
Open time will shrink as the Union Revitalization is further along.

They are behind in a lot of things, like say, missing Ethernet (for debit), or an incomplete code compliance, and the stretched-thin construction won't fix your 240 volt till next month (and no, you cannot install it yourself, bad, bad!)

Finish that 268-item or 372-item checklist, before you're allowed to open, buddy. (And poor Metrolinx is probably on the hook, waiving rent till then.)

Finished? Tough. The building inspectors just told Metrolinx of a new unverified Union code compliance issue. Which won't be fixed until we finish playing phone tag. You'll have to wait (but don't worry, we're waiving the rent for you.)

Resolved. Oh! Stop the presses. Your permit application expired when not activated within a timeline clause. Time to reapply for the permit. But this time, you're paying rent, even if your bagel shop is not open yet, buddy.

Come 2020, it will be much quicker, but the early adoptor caveat emptor -- with possible big reward if commuters lovezzzz you.
 
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Metrolinx, due no shortage of criticism on other matters, is not on the hook for this:
Torstar News Service Published on Mon Jan 04 2016
[...]
Union Station has been undergoing a massive revitalization, plagued by delays and cost overruns. The original pricetag of $640 million has climbed to more than $800 million, and the entire project was supposed to be completed last year.

But the proposed $37 million in construction costs will not be borne by the city, though the committee approved a recommendation to pay an additional $500,000 to lawyers to oversee remaining work at Union.

According to the proposed terms, Osmington will initially fund this total cost and amend established revenue-sharing formulas “so there’s zero risk to the city,” Keast said.

The original 2009 plan already called for retail in the lower concourse area. But the company’s plan evolved — food vendors will now account for 60 per cent of the leased space — due to market trends and the condo population explosion south of Front St. [...]
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http://www.metronews.ca/news/toront...s-plan-for-union-station-lower-concourse.html
 
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