Bay Adelaide Centre West Tower (Brookfield, 50s, WZMH)

[cdl42]

Okay, seriously... Toronto will NEVER compare to London as a metropolis nor as a world city. There are factors such as geography and history that we just don't have the advantage of.

And there's not a single thing wrong with that. We're not London, New York, or Paris; we're Toronto.

 

[Bogtrotter]

London is a nice city, but TO is better. Just my opinion. And yes I think that TO could easily be compared to London, or paris or San fran etc. TO can hold its own.

 

[SD2]

Okay, seriously... Toronto will NEVER compare to London as a metropolis nor as a world city. There are factors such as geography and history that we just don't have the advantage of.

People probably used to say the same thing about New York.

I know exactly what you're saying, but who knows what will happen in the distant future?

 

[GregWTravels]

There are factors such as geography and history that we just don't have the advantage of.

We aren't that far out, if you look at this article.

This is a study that looked at cities and tried to put a face on how "international" they are in their reach with regards to business. The findings (based on the number of "global" business services companies in accounting, banking, law and advertising) are as follows:

A. ALPHA WORLD CITIES

12: London, Paris, New York, Tokyo
10: Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Milan, Singapore

B. BETA WORLD CITIES

9: San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, Zurich
8: Brussels, Madrid, Mexico City, Sao Paulo
7: Moscow, Seoul

C. GAMMA WORLD CITIES

6: Amsterdam, Boston, Caracas, Dallas, Dusseldorf, Geneva, Houston, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Osaka, Prague, Santiago, Taipei, Washington
5: Bangkok, Beijing, Montreal, Rome, Stockholm, Warsaw
4: Atlanta, Barcelona, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Budapest, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Miami, Minneapolis, Munich, Shanghai

Toronto is only a point away from being an ALPHA WORLD CITY, which I think will be coming with the banking consolidation - we should move from having just MAJOR to PRIME representation in the banking world. Add a million more people in Toronto, and a couple million in the burbs...

I love the future. It's so bright... 8)

 

[cdl42]

The future is bright for Toronto.

And yes, SD, anything can happen in the distant future. Who knows what effect global warming will have on the viability of Europe?

 

[Ed007Toronto]

I'd think the recent increase in the Canadian dollar should have the banks making major aquisitions in the US in the next while.

 

[WhistlerinToronto]

I forgot to metion earlier this week that Ellis Don has put signs in the windows of the soon to be gutted buildings on site. Only a few more weeks guys and Gal.

 

[buildup]

London is a nice city, but TO is better. Just my opinion. And yes I think that TO could easily be compared to London, or paris or San fran etc. TO can hold its own.

Just because two things can be compared, doesn't make them comparable. Nor does it come down to what one likes more, eg "livability". The criteria that differentiates one small group of cities from the rest is past imperial status - what it "was", not what it "is".

To occupy this place in the popular imagination a city needs to have been seen as the seat of power in the world at some point, and have some physical evidence of that. By that standard Athens, Rome, Constantinople, Paris, Tokyo, London, New York qualify.

Current size and wealth also factor in serving to reduce Athens' status while raising Tokyo and Beijing.

Toronto will never be the seat of any empire, the globe's most austentious monuments will never be built here, and we'll never be 20-30 million in population.

That doesn't mean we can't be the best city to "live" in.

As an aside, just imagine what New York would have been if American's had not decided early in their history to split the seat of government and finance into Washington & New York.

 

[Bogtrotter]

"Toronto is only a point away from being an ALPHA WORLD CITY, which I think will be coming with the banking consolidation - we should move from having just MAJOR to PRIME representation in the banking world. Add a million more people in Toronto, and a couple million in the burbs..."

Indeed- now that's the spirit!

Well in my book such cities as Hong Kong and Chicago are also comparable to London. I personally don't think Canada's premier financial and corporate centre will perpetually be a 'B' city. Canada will never overtake Britain in global importance? I just don't think that this is an impossibilty.

 

[tudararms]

Isn't this just the same old 'world class' debate again, in a different format? Still, to argue that a city has to have at least once been the seat of an empire to be considered a
"great" city is pushing it, imho. Cities gain international status for different things, which in this day and age are more likely to revolve around economics, culture, media or technology. Toronto scores well in all of these areas.

Sometimes I think we may be somewhat unaware of just how well known and respected our city is internationally. Our film festival alone plops us squarely in the international spotlight on a yearly basis!

 

[Ed007Toronto]

NEW YORK, April 28, 2006 – Brookfield Properties Corporation (BPO: NYSE, TSX) today
announced net income of $49 million or $0.21 per share and funds from operations(“FFOâ€) of
$103 million or $0.44 per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2006.
After leasing 933,000square feet during the first quarter, approximately threetimes the amount
contractually expiring, Brookfield Properties’ portfolio-wide occupancy rate finished the quarter
at 94.6%, consistent with the 2005year end. In Brookfield Properties’ primary markets of New
York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa, the occupancy rate at the end of
the quarter was 95.4%.
FINANCIAL RESULTS
Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2006 totaled $49 million, or $0.21 per share,
up from $43 million or $0.18 per share during the same period in 2005. For the three months
ended March 31, 2006, funds from operations totaled $103 million or $0.44 per share, up from
$99 millionor $0.42per share during the same period in 2005. Funds from operations and gains
for the three months ended March 31, 2006 was $133 million or $0.57 per share, as the first
quarter of 2006 included a $30 million gain on the disposition of the Trade Center Denver.
Commercial property net operating incomefor the first quarter of 2006 was $172 million, up
from $166 million for the first quarter of 2005.
Residential development operations contributed $25million of net operating income in the first
quarter of 2006, up from $13 million in the first quarter of 2005.
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS OF THE FIRST QUARTER
Closed $4 billion U.S. office fundwhich will serve as Brookfield Properties’ primary U.S.
acquisition vehicle, targeting central business district office assets in gateway cities. Equity
commitments to date total $850 million, including Brookfield Properties’ $300 million
commitment. Brookfield Properties has the option of upsizing the fund to $1.2 billion of equity
within a one-year period. The fund has a three year investment period and a ten-year term.
Completed the sale of the Trade Center Denver, for $116 million, booking a gain of $30
million.
Completed the acquisition of One Bethesda Center for $69 million. This 12-story, 168,000
square foot office property is located one block from the Washington, D.C. metrostation in
Bethesda, Maryland and is 88% leased.
Entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the TSA buildings in the Pentagon City
submarket of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for $230 million. The property is
comprised of two 12-story office buildings that total 554,000 square feet. The buildings are 100%
leased to the U.S. Government and are the headquarters of the Transportation Security
Administration. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2006.
Acquired two buildings at Yonge and Adelaide Streets, Toronto, for approximately $9 million
adding 100,000 square feet of density to the Bay Adelaide Centre development site, and
completing the parcel bounded by Yonge, Bay, Temperance and Adelaide Streets. The company
is working toward the commencement of construction on a 1.2 million square foot office tower
during the summer of 2006, the first of three phases in the 2.6 million square foot development
project.
Acquired three ground leases in Bostonand Toronto. The company purchased the fee interest
in the 53 State Street ground lease in Boston for $17 million and purchased the ground leases of
74 York Street and 76 York Street, both under the HSBC building in Toronto, for approximately
$6 million.
TRANSACTIONS COMPLETED SUBSEQUENT TO MARCH 31, 2006
Acquired remaining 75% interest in Hudson’s Bay Centre, Toronto, for approximately $96
million. The 1.1 million square foot mixed-use complex is located in the heart of the dynamic
Yorkville shopping and entertainment district.
Increased common share dividend by 6% to $0.76 per share per annum. The Board of
Directors of Brookfield Properties declared a quarterly common share dividend of $0.19 per share
payable on June 30, 2006 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 1, 2006.
OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
Brookfield Properties leased 933,000 square feet of space across the portfolio during the first
quarter of 2006. Nearly 75% of this leasing was accomplished in Toronto and Calgary, including
two large leases in Toronto:
- Renewal and expansion with Davies, Ward, Phillips and Vineberg for 120,000 square
feet at First Canadian Place for a five year term
- Renewal with Aird & Berlis for 100,000 square feet at Bay Wellington Towerfor a nine-
year term
Additional leasing brings the first quarter total for Toronto to more than 450,000 square feet,
accounting for nearly half of the company’s leasing for the quarter.
Approximately 220,000 square feet was leased in Calgary, a market where Brookfield Properties’
vacancy rate is less than 1%. All of the first quarter leases signed in Calgary are for 25,000
square feet or less, and approximately half are in buildings acquired in the O&Y acquisition
during the fourth quarter of 2005.
Brookfield Properties’ residential development operations contributed $25 million of net
operating incomein the first quarter of 2006, nearly double the $13 million in the first quarter of
2005, as the Alberta marketplace continues to experience tremendous demand growth.
OUTLOOK
“With almost one million square feet of leasing completed during the first quarter, our new U.S.
office fund poised for deployment, another strong quarter from our residential operations, and
construction nearing at two of our major development projects, Brookfield Properties is off to an
exciting start for the year 2006,†commented Ric Clark, President & CEO of Brookfield
Properties Corporation.
* * *

 

[maxy505]

Going down the list...

London, Paris
Unless we control an empire on which the sun never sets, then I don't think we will ever quite compare to London.
The world is less unipolar than it once was -- in the 19th century, in the West, the most important/greatest/most famous city was either London, or Paris. That's it. In 200 AD it was Rome, no competitors. They even tore down Carthage and salted the earth to make sure of that. It is not natural for a city to attain such prominence as
London and Paris and Rome -- their fame comes from the empires they controlled. Today they are relatively less great than they were and their reputation lives partly on past glory.

New York
New York gained its mythology as an entry point for millions of immigrants, and by being vastly bigger and taller than the old-world cities. It has also been the financial capital of the world for 70+ years, since it took the title from London.

Tokyo
Tokyo has the population of Canada.

Hong Kong
It was unique in the world as an open British port bordering closed China. Also positioned as the premiere trading hub for the entire region (population near 2 billion). Now that its uniqueness is lost it may be superceded by Shanghai.

Los Angeles
Not really in the same league as the above, but it has an international mythology (or just a cultural reputation) that no number of opera houses and museums can touch.


The rest of the entries (Frankfurt, Milan, Singapore, Chicago) aren't really that special. Sure they are all great places, but in no dimension do they stand out as being the biggest, best, most, etc. Toronto would do well to equal these cities.

While we will never capture the world's imagination, or be a must-visit city or premiere tourist destination, there is nothing stopping Toronto from being (one of) the best place in the world to actually live.

 

[jordancerovic]

No offense, but these comparisons are highly unscientific and quite silly. For example:

"The rest of the entries (Frankfurt, Milan, Singapore, Chicago) aren't really that special. Sure they are all great places, but in no dimension do they stand out as being the biggest, best, most, etc. Toronto would do well to equal these cities."

But Chicago was at least as important in the US as New York in the late 19th and early 20th century. Wouldn't that make it a "seat of power" by some of the definitions posted earlier?

Tokyo has the population of Canada, but it has about half the population density of Bombay and a quarter (!) the density of Delhi. Are either of those nearly as "international" as Tokyo?

In terms of military power and global reach, Tokyo and Hong Kong can't hold a candle to New York and London (nor could they in the past), but are they less "international" because of it?

You see how easily these things can be deconstructed. They're completely arbitrary.

 

[Ed007Toronto]

Purolater, the last retailer in the buildings, is packing up.

 

[ganjavih]

Is anyone else going to miss 335 Bay? Sure it's a nondescript modern building but it's unique and adds to the variety of the strip... and the cheesy blue panels are kinda cool and quirky.