Toronto CIBC SQUARE | 241.39m | 50s | Hines | WilkinsonEyre

  • Thread starter Suicidal Gingerbread Man
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AlvinofDiaspar said:
taal:

re: Nordstrom at DPB - I would have difficult envisioning how that building could be refit for retail, particularly along the Front facade.

AoD
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I don't...if it is done well it would be magnificent; it would likely be a complete gutting as only the façade is worth saving. A development might have an underground (don't like that word in this context) retail concourse to link seamlessly with PATH to the north and the new Concorde below Union to the west. This would cement Front Street as a major retail area along with new retail at the convention centre site and the Globe and Mail site. As mentioned before the federal government has had planning approval for a tower above this building since the early 90s but the crash put everything on hold. I wonder what Liebeskind would come up with?! Will post a pic of his War Museum in Dresden.
 
Honestly I can't see this happening in the short term ! The only way is if GO / metrolink are somehow forcing the developer to build the underground portion now for their use.

I say this simply because: There is over 5.5 million square feet of office space under construction (or just about to start) in the core, the most amount of space going up in decades ...

Moreover, a lot of these buildings (while still early in the construction process) are sitting mainly empty (i.e. with only 10-20% of space leased).
 
It won't. I think we can safely say this is a long term project along the lines of Mirvish/Gehry and Oxford Place.

The chips will eventually fall into place, but who's to say this isn't going to be a staggered development?
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
re: Nordstrom at DPB - I would have difficult envisioning how that building could be refit for retail, particularly along the Front facade.
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It would need some work, especially around the entrances, but it certainly looks like it could be transformed into a "classic look" department store.

dominion_3_reno.jpg

Source:http://www.adamson-associates.com/projects/dominion-public-building-l-one-front-street
 
The fed's own that property and would have to publically market it if they were going to sell it. to date they HAVE NOT put that site on the market or informed any of the usual suspects (pension funds etc.) that it is available.

I agree that Nordstroms would be a great fit there (hopefully with a massive food hall a la Harrods to fee the core) and a tower behind that, podium over the tracks and another tower on the other side of the tracks would be wonderful. Pretty much the book end and somewhat mirror to what Oxford had wanted to do at Spadina.
 
They're getting the plans ready to build when the market cools and everything is cheaper. By the time it comes online, there will be pent-up demand and it will have privilege of place. Same read I get for the Gehry project: a very long-term investment. Time and turnover is sacrificed for a longer, more lucrative payday.
 
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A little off topic -- does anyone know if the Dominion Public Building will be pressure washed a la Union Station? It's looking pretty filthy.
 
I have a hard time seeing the City approving this project. If what we've been told is correct, it will be about as large One Yonge, which sits right across the street.
 
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