Toronto 50 Bloor Street West | 230.11m | 70s | Morguard Corporation | Pellow + Associates

ushahid said:
the new design not only looks short it also looks cheap.
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Sadly, that's too true. Not to be a total pessimist, but this is so typical of this city. They take what could be a sensational project and pick it to pieces until it's only a mere shadow of it's originally planned self (shaking my head) :confused:
 
How is "the city" responsible for the design getting worse? The DRP is demanding that the design get better. The developer and architect are failing to make it better.
 
alklay said:
How is "the city" responsible for the design getting worse? The DRP is demanding that the design get better. The developer and architect are failing to make it better.
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Without knowing what demands the DRP laid out, that's a rather dubious conclusion to come to. All we know at this point is that the DRP demands have resulted in an inferior design to what we originally had. That seems to happen far too often so it's unlikely that the DRP is without blame entirely.

But of course, as we all know, the DRP always gets it right.
 
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Like most projects, design is consumer-driven by bottom-line developers. In a competitive market like Toronto, they do what they think needs to attract buyers...nothing more. Developers that actually prioritize design for it's own sake are far and few between, and Morguard is certainly not one of them.
 
The potential decrease in the height has nothing to do with the DRP. The DRP cannot demand anything, by the way, they can only advise, request, etc. Height changes pretty much always have to do with Planning, or the Councillor's office, or a local body like the group that keeps a hawk-eyed view of new shadows on the Jesse Ketchum school grounds who put pressure on the planners and Councillor.

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or a local body like the group that keeps a hawk-eyed view of new shadows on the Jesse Ketchum school grounds who put pressure on the planners and Councillor.
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That school is beginning to get on my nerves. They don't like shadows? Fine...lets cut down every tree on the yard.

What does this say about the Toronto market/demographic then?
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It says we buy cheap condos regardless of the architecture. It would be the same thing if there were such a thing as $200k condos in Manhattan or London, etc. In fact, those cities offer less for a lot more sometimes. Overall I'd say we are pretty lucky.

My dream scenario for this tower would be to locate it in the centre of the site, sleek, consistent, minimalist, balcony-less soaring tower. Make it look taller than it is, rather than a hodge-podge of treatments, none of which look good.
 
Towers with better architecture, all things being equal, should have higher resale value over time. To see a tower with beautiful architecture as you're going through MLS listings will always draw you in. People don't yet realize there's a correlation between architecture and long term value because condos have only recently gained mainstream acceptance. Most people now consider a condo when buying real estate--which wasn't the case even in the 1990s. They were never built to the degree we see now, so the differences weren't that noticeable. Some people are also just dipping their feet in the water at this point, buying condos as a short term investment.

Everything new is shiny and seems equal. Give it a generation or two. A well built condo with excellent architecture will always present itself well and be more valuable. Those with bad architecture may stagnate in value or decline. When people see this trend over the next generation, they'll also be more demanding with the architecture of new builds knowing more of what's at stake. It even goes to apartment buildings. Dozens of those ugly slab apartment towers from 1960s simply declined after being initially trendy and pricey rental properties. When the lustre of newness wore off, there was little value left in those commie blocks. The solution isn't disposable buildings but better designed buildings that will hold their value better.
 
Morguard is not much of a condo developer...they are just a big real estate investment company that specializes in acquiring real estate through their REITs. A large part of their portfolio is suburban retail.

Pellow + Associates is a firm that specializes in suburban retail design.

Obviously these two boring companies have some sort of working relationship, and that's why we have a terrible proposal. I'm quite sure any kind of artistic notions have never entered the heads of anyone at either firm.

I mean the least they could have done is the usual go-to thing for Toronto condos...aA.
 
freshcutgrass said:
Morguard is not much of a condo developer...they are just a big real estate investment company that specializes in acquiring real estate through their REITs. A large part of their portfolio is suburban retail.

Pellow + Associates is a firm that specializes in suburban retail design.

Obviously these two boring companies have some sort of working relationship, and that's why we have a terrible proposal. I'm quite sure any kind of artistic notions have never entered the heads of anyone at either firm.

I mean the least they could have done is the usual go-to thing for Toronto condos...aA.
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Not just the least, but locally, the best.

A good part of me is positive that this is just a rezoning exercise. In that case, I would be fine with Morgard using a cheaper firm like Pellow and either flipping the property or moving forward with more competent design architect (Piano, please!?). Unfortunately, there's also a good part of me who thinks that they might very well move ahead with the dreck we've been privy to.
 
ProjectEnd said:
A good part of me is positive that this is just a rezoning exercise.
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+1. Nothing will happen in the foreseeable future, just going through the motions. It is possible they don't see it as financially feasible at the moment given the current lease encumbrance by the large Holts. That, and as many have mentioned, Morguard does mostly commercial retail.

That said, maybe we should be happy, given the mediocre design...
 
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