Here is something I just noticed. The 16 York office development is apparently going ahead, with 841,000 square feet costing about $118 million, or about $140 per square foot.
Meanwhile, the Corus Quay project is 452,000 square feet, costing about $156 million (almost all taxpayer money), or about $345 per square foot -- almost 2 1/2 times as much as 16 York.
Another way of looking at this is that the office space at Corus Quay would represent about 18 additional floors for the 16 York project, which presumably would have cost about $66 million over its current cost, saving $90 million of taxpayer money and resulting in a 50 floor office tower (instead of 32 floors) at 16 York -- and leaving the current Corus Quay site open for something worthwhile.
If 16 York was announced too late, then Union Tower or 18 York could have been heightened instead.
Bill