Toronto 350 Bloor East | 209.07m | 63s | Osmington Gerofsky | Hariri Pontarini

Approved at council

Agenda Item History 2024.TE12.4

Agenda Item History 2024.TE12.4
secure.toronto.ca

Massing perspective:
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rdaner said:
Don’t know if the City has signed off on no office component.

www.theglobeandmail.com

Toronto planners mull allowing more office to residential conversions

Eliminating the strict replacement policy would provide a route to transforming underused and vacant buildings into much-needed housing
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com
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What do you mean you don't know?

Uhhhh

350 Bloor East | 209.07m | 63s | Osmington Gerofsky | Hariri Pontarini

I wonder why they're keeping the Rogers logo in the renderings. Will Rogers move back to the office portion? Surely it's not because it's deemed heritage-worthy? Because it's another big fat Rogers logo on Bloor Street. BTW, not only did I not get my (fictional?) rebate for the black-out...
urbantoronto.ca urbantoronto.ca
 
While office is in the dumps now it also has been in the past and then came roaring back. I would argue against a kneejerk reaction. The city is growing and there will again be demand for office space.
 
Edward Skira said:
While office is in the dumps now it also has been in the past and then came roaring back. I would argue against a kneejerk reaction. The city is growing and there will again be demand for office space.
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In the past low demand for office space was caused solely by economic downturns and therefore recovered when the economy picked up. Now even when the economy picks up, many employees insist on working from home, and some companies actually see the benefits of WFH (less rent to pay for one), so the change may be structural and permanent.
 
Rascacielo said:
In the past low demand for office space was caused solely by economic downturns and therefore recovered when the economy picked up. Now even when the economy picks up, many employees insist on working from home, and some companies actually see the benefits of WFH (less rent to pay for one), so the change may be structural and permanent.
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There will be some structural change,to be sure, ie. more remote work than was the case pre-pandemic.

I do not expect the current level of remote work to remain. The evidence leans against it.

That said, if, for argument's sake, remote work remained at close to its current level; the City of Toronto is planning for being up to 1/3 larger in just a decade's time.

All other things being equal, that would mean 1/3 more office space.

All things are never equal, at any given moment; but the current vacancy rate is more than likely to decline, substantially, over the next few years.

Lets add to that, office space is being pulled from the market now and replaced with residential; those offices will move to other office complexes and lower the vacancy rate, stimulating demand.
 
I can see a need for smaller office space returning...but unless they plan to build those big towers for the use of storing hard copy for record and legal purposes, what's the point of them?
 
^^So we should freeze large amounts of real estate in the hopes of something happening in the future while ignoring current conditions and incremental, organic change? 🤞🤞🤞
 
Adding to WFH, A.I. will likely further decimate office jobs in the coming one or two decades (and beyond). I honestly can't see the demand for office space ever returning to the levels they were at pre-covid. It's a different world now and we're never going back.
 
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