Toronto 20 Front West | 175m | 52s | Brookfield | KPMB

[adma]

Though that's setting the bar pretty low for "average persons". Like, in the same category as "CNN Tower"...

 

[samsonyuen]

Wow, what an old news release!

 

[smuncky]

the sign coming from union station looks really bad. like really really bad.

and what is this sam pollock square? looks like it's stuck on some other name as well. anyone know what the old name was?

 

[samsonyuen]

Apparently it was named Heritage Square before.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

Though that's setting the bar pretty low for "average persons". Like, in the same category as "CNN Tower"...

Oh, not at all...it is setting the bar predominantly outside of downtown, though.

 

[adma]

You mean the sort of people who venture downtown once or twice a year, if even that...

 

[Skeezix]

Your points are valid, though this isn't true. BCE was indeed the initial developer of the property, and though it may be headquartered in Montreal, Bell certainly has extremely strong ties to Toronto.

You're right - I didn't know that BCE's real estate arm was such a key player in its development. Having said that, it just reinforces why I'm not too bothered by the name change -- the name of one real estate concern switched for the name of another.

As for strong ties, certainly any large Canadian company has ties to Toronto. We'll just have to agree to disagree, though, because IMO BCE does not have the same ties to Toronto that O'Keefe Breweries or the O'Keefe family had.

 

[Edward Skira]

BCE Developments was the developer. They went bankrupt soon after the complex was built which is when Brookfield picked up the property. The name stayed with the parent BCE.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

You mean the sort of people who venture downtown once or twice a year, if even that...

Not just them, but they do make up a large percentage of the population. There's plenty of people who live/work downtown and haven't the foggiest idea what the actual name of many of the buildings around them are, especially if they're not branded. This name change will be noted by those who frequent PATH but beyond them, it isn't comparable to something like the SkyDome or O'Keefe Centre. Some years ago I used to think BCE Place was the TD Centre because of the TD light-sign-box.

 

[ShonTron]

It's likely known to many as the building with the Hockey Hall of Fame.

And who's Sam Pollock?

 

[AndreaPalladio]

If you read the press release that's linked upthread, you find that he was a hockey player and long time director of Brookfield.

 

[Bogtrotter]

I could care less who owns it, it will always be Calatrava's atrium to me.

 

[wyliepoon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Pollock

 

[Mat'u]

if this is on another thread, forgive me, but is this something new:
http://www.urbandb.com/canada/ontario/toronto/brookfield_place_3/image.html

 

[JasonParis]

No, it's the long proposed 3rd stage of the complex. If it ever gets built, I'd imagine it won't follow the same design.