Toronto Union Centre | 298m | 54s | Westbank | Bjarke Ingels Group

What with the internet being just a fad, maybe the developers have decided not to build this "internet hotel".


Seriously, I'm wondering too. Talk about a long gestation.

42
 
The rendering is fine, but is more or less what I would have expected, especially considering the complex facade work. You knew that such features would be the first to face extinction.

On another note, does anyone understand the significance of a 15 ft. antenna? It reminds me a crappy gadget belt or something, but a really cheap and crappy one.

p5
 
I imagine that has been shelved or at least not actively pursuing tenants considering the amount of office space that has beaten them to the punch. Or, perhaps the German backed investors never had any intention to build and went through the process to up the potential sales price.

This is an office building with a small telecom hotel component on top of a parking garage.
 
anyone with any knowledge of internet traffic knows how significant this building is. even from a worldwide perspective. even gmail peers at 151 front I believe.

I'm surprised they arent proceeding with this
 
Being space, power, and cooling-intensive, Internet co-location facilities tend to be of the suburban-warehouse variety, to say nothing of the Google-style megaplex sort. I expect there's some convenience associated with a way-downtown location, but it seems almost as out of place here as a factory would.
 
Yes ... and No. There is a lot of network demand in the downtown core and there is a bit of slowdown with distance. Having a site like this downtown gives all the offices downtown a convenient access to the net.

Plus it's not just switches. Many web servers are located there.
 
Sir Novelty Fashion said:
Being space, power, and cooling-intensive, Internet co-location facilities tend to be of the suburban-warehouse variety, to say nothing of the Google-style megaplex sort. I expect there's some convenience associated with a way-downtown location, but it seems almost as out of place here as a factory would.
Click to expand...
regardless, it's already here, and would be infinitely difficult to relocate the entire datacentre along with all the fibre heading into it, into some suburb.

therefore it only makes sense to expand.
 
But why expand if the current space is sufficient enough? Doesn't appear to be a huge demand for more space considering vacancies since the bust have averaged 15%. Even if there was demand, the planned expansion adds only about 20% more telecom space however, as it sits atop the office parking structure, I can't see it going ahead without a lead tenant for the office tower.


sure its an important facility for the internet however, internet operations are fairly minor in comparison to even one of our banks
 
In the midst of our renewed interest in this project, this news:

The land the project is on has just been amalgamated into one parcel to be known as 171 Front Street West. (It turns out that 151 Front was just an entrance address for 149 Front St West, and 7 Station Street was the other number as was already common knowledge.)

Existing entrances at 151 Front and 20 York will maintain their numbers.

So, while it's not exactly a crane in the ground, it is progress.

42
 
Good news. I want to see this go forth, mostly for the effect of bringing some viable business activity to the SkyWalk and for the street frontage along the new Simcoe St. underpass.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
From the Post:

New 'Carrier hotel' planned for Front St.
Proposed tower would house city's electronic nervous system
Greg Macdonald, National Post
Published: Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Toronto and East York community council yesterday approved a 36-storey telecommunications centre to be built on Front Street West.

The building, called a carrier hotel, will be the city's electronic nervous system, where several companies will house their networks side-by-side -- basically a giant server room with the capacity to connect Torontonians to various networks.

The proposed tower will replace the current carrier hotel at 151 Front St. W., which "is home to more than 150 telecommunications companies and is one of North America's most connected buildings," according to a company Web site.

The new centre will be more than five times taller than the existing structure and will have "the power to connect half a country," Peter Doering, vice-president of developers Northam Realty Advisors, told council yesterday.

It will also have a number of offices available for rent.

"This building will secure and sustain telecommunication capacity downtown," said Councillor Adam Vaughan.

The project will also create new jobs, and the neighbourhood will see improvements such as better sidewalks, he said.

Architectural drawings submitted to council show a thin, opaque tower facing north on the south side of Front Street.

Building schematics showcased various connections to the area's underground PATH system, as well as a publicly accessible route through the building that will connect the Skywalk to Front Street.

"This is an adventurous building," Mr. Vaughan said.

After negotiations with the city, the developers agreed to make the building as environmentally friendly as possible, with natural heating and cooling systems and an option for a "green roof."

Northam will also contribute $1.5-million for ''community development.'' Some councillors voiced their opposition to how the contribution was being allocated. An estimated $150,000 will go to affordable housing in Ward 20, but the nearest neighbourhood with that type of program is more than a mile away, said Councillor Kyle Rae.

Mr. Vaughan replied that the immediate area will receive the majority of the money while neighbourhoods that really need it get very little.

"From what I've seen of [such funding], the more affluent areas of my ward are benefitting while two blocks away the don't have locks on their doors," he said.

The development, which still needs to be approved by city council, would be complete by 2010.

© National Post 2007
Click to expand...

What ever happened to this proposed and approved project?
 
Hopefully this approved building will be built after the economy improves ... I am keeping my fingers crossed that this project is only being 'pushed back' rather than 'canned' ... the current design looks pretty sharp, and I particularly like the canter-levering feature on the north elevation, it certainly adds uniqueness to the building :)

171Front_1.jpg


171Front_2.jpg
 
What's with all the Ritz-podium-like, cantilevered, muscular "Whoa! Dude! Look at me - I'm holding up the whole friggin' building!" architecture in this part of town?
 
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