77 King Street (TD Centre) Revitalization

[Red October]

It's black turned up to eleven!

Ha ding ding ding!

 

[interchange42]

There's a fine line between clever and…

42

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

The question is, how much more black could this get?

Well true black is the absence of light, and we wouldn't want that

 

[condovo]

Will they be able to paint through winter? (I'm referring back to Casa's balconies when painting was held off to spring.)

 

[Urban Shocker]

I wonder what Van der Rohe would have thought if he heard his pavilion was getting a green roof!

I expect he would have been horrified by how poorly done the drip edge is, and how it alters his design.

 

[Miscreant]

`

That's gorgeous. They were among my favourite buildings before, and I never really noticed how grey-ish they actually were. This is gonna look awesome.

 

[Filip]

Holy black-as-night!

Beautiful.. And especially with the now-gleeming white FCP, which well deserved its bath.

 

[Miscreant]

Holy black-as-night!

Beautiful.. And especially with the now-gleeming white FCP, which well deserved its bath.

Yeah, it really was grimy before.

 

[Torontovibe]

That's gorgeous. They were among my favourite buildings before, and I never really noticed how grey-ish they actually were. This is gonna look awesome.

Look how much nicer, black looks, than grey. I wish more developers used black, especially for window trim.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Given that the TD Centre buildings are all painted, the transition over time from black to grey - and then back to black again - is part of their identity.

 

[Automation Gallery]

Actually the majority of space available in all buildings part of this complex can be attributed to this i.e. companies relocating to one of the new developments.

Watching when / if these spaces get filled over the next year or so should give a good indication of the health of our office market (class A+) ... and wheather we can expect more office buildings in the next 1 - 2 years.

I reckon filling the space will take a 2-4 years ... so I wouldn't expect to see anything in this timeframe if not longer.

Well according to these guys... our office market is pretty healthy

Newmark Knight Frank Devencore Reports on Vibrant Toronto Office Market

TORONTO, December 1st, 2011 – In its Real Estate Market Study published today, Newmark Knight Frank Devencore reported that through the first three quarters of 2011, the corporate real estate market in the Greater Toronto Area continued to be one of the most active in the country. Office space continues to be absorbed at a healthy pace and combined vacancy rates in the Downtown District are in the 5.3% range. Vacancy rates in the corporate corridors outside of Toronto’s Downtown District have been higher than those downtown over the past few years, but space absorption is accelerating in some of these areas as well.

“Over 3 million square feet of the state-of the-art Class “A” space was delivered to the market over the past few years, and virtually all of it has been leased,” said Allan Schaffer, President/Broker of Record of Devencore Realties Corporation Canada Limited, Brokerage. “Despite an uncertain economy, the continuing demand for premiere space has generated plans for further developments. Additionally, an emerging trend that we highlighted in our market study a year ago—specifically, the way in which urban condo development is reenergizing the downtown Toronto office market—has taken firmer root. As more young professionals move downtown, corporations who wish to attract and retain this skilled workforce are recognizing the competitive advantage they might gain by locating or consolidating their organizations downtown as well. This trend is helping to sustain the demand for space in the downtown office market."

While major new developments projects are taking shape, it will still be at least three years before they are completed so the market will remain tight. “Tenants who wish to expand and who currently reside in buildings with little vacant space may find they will have to pay considerably more for the expansion space, and leasing negotiations may be more challenging over the short term,” Schaffer said. “However, there is ample available space in some of the Class “A” buildings whose tenants moved into the new towers.”


http://www.cisionwire.com/newmark-k...rts-on-vibrant-toronto-office-market,c9194394

 

[taal]

hehe, no need to rely on the report.

Check this out:
http://www.tdcentre.com/en/leasing/Pages/StackingPlans.aspx

So clearly a lot of space has been leased over the last year in this complex ... that's very good news.

Commerce court, on the other hand, is still sitting about 30/40% available, not sure why they're struggling compared to the other older towers.


I think the core needs to see more growth outside the traditional finical industry. Ideally the companies which are located around the airport / Markham i.e. Large American companies.


But anyway, yea the space given up due to the new towers has been consumed by the market fairly easily.

I think an interesting test will be to see how waterfront Toronto manages to lease out space, there is suppose to be a lot of offices in that area.

 

[Automation Gallery]

I think an interesting test will be to see how waterfront Toronto manages to lease out space, there is suppose to be a lot of offices in that area.

Now that will be more than 10 years down the road....you will see BAC-2, 43 Simcoe, Ice-3, and couple more big towers built before that happens.

 

[taal]

Now that will be more than 10 years down the road....you will see BAC-2, 43 Simcoe, Ice-3, and couple more big towers built before that happens.

Actually it's suppose to be in the 5 year range! They're probably going to start marketing them next year from what I recall (according to a WT report).
These are offices part of the East Bayfront Hines project.

 

[adma]

I expect he would have been horrified by how poorly done the drip edge is, and how it alters his design.

I spotted that today, too. Hope they fine-tune it (knock on wood)

And of related interest...

Dear Friends, friends of friends and colleagues,

If you believe that “God is in the details”… Motto attributed to Mies van der Rohe

I am writing to you in my capacity as an architectural historian to ask you for your support with regards to a decision being considered by the City of Toronto, a decision that, if implemented, would threaten the nature of the Toronto Dominion Centre, one of the most significant examples of our modern corporate heritage.

The current owner asked to display two illuminated walls signs, on two of the façades of the 32 storey office building commonly known as “Tower 5” of the Toronto Dominion Centre. The size of these two signs will be 19.43 metres in length and 2.6 metres in height. That is over 63 feet long by over 8 feet and represents more than 1,000 sq. ft of signage. In addition there is a proposed ground level illuminated sign of 2.13. metre wide by 2.13 metres long (about 7 feet by 7 feet), that would be located beside the banking pavilion, fronting Bay Street.

The Ernst and Young Tower, or Tower 5, was devised to conform to the design principles of Mies van der Rohe's original buildings on the site. Mies's signage plan was simple and elegant, with font andfont size clearly specified. The TD Centre had diligently maintained that signage throughout the complex and it is also maintained in other significant Mies projects such as the Seagram Building in New York and Westmont Square in Montreal. This signage plan did not incorporate high-level building signage. The Ernst and Young Tower is outside the 2003 designated property of the TD Centre as it was not one of the original grouping of Mies's buildings. It is however on designated heritage property in recognition of the adaptive reuse of the former Stock Exchange, now the Design Exchange.

Should the signs be erected, the elegant orchestration of lights that moved across the surface of the building as planned by Mies would be seriously altered. As an architectural historian, it is my opinion that such a decision demonstrates a lack of leadership in the area of architecture and design excellence. Placing illuminated logos on Tower 5 and on the ground would create a strong precedent for requests by others for similar signage throughout the TD Centre. The results would compromise the original intentions of the architects and the visionary developers who “all worked together to create a distinctly public realm in the midst of Toronto’s formerly private financial district” (Phyllis Lambert, Mies in America, p. 417).

You can show your support by showing up at Toronto City Hall, Tuesday December 13, 2001 at 9:30. when I will be appealing the decision in front of the Sign Variance Committee of the City of Toronto.


Sincerely,

Marie-Josée Therrien PhD
Associate Professor
Ontario College of Art and Design University