Toronto MaRS Centre Phase 2 | 112.77m | 20s | Alexandria | B+H

Couldn't agree more ... The government should NOT be in the business of individually dealing money to certain small business ... or businesses in general. If they want to spur growth in certain areas there are other ways of doing it. Ways which should only target one development as that's not sustainable when everything is said and done.

So we're back to the original question - isn't it more expensive to keep cranes on site that are not doing anything!
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
I hope they finish this one. Can't leave this intersection torn up like this.
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I agree with you. This is University Ave. This is supposed to be Toronto's grand avenue. At least that is what Miller is always calling it.

They ripped up that corner, they need to finish it. I'd hate to see a boarded up lot here for the next 10 years. It will ruin all the Queen's Park pictures.
 
musters said:
I agree with you. This is University Ave. This is supposed to be Toronto's grand avenue. At least that is what Miller is always calling it.

They ripped up that corner, they need to finish it. I'd hate to see a boarded up lot here for the next 10 years. It will ruin all the Queen's Park pictures.
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Pictures of Queen's Park are the last problem on people's minds, and rightly so. This is a city-- a living, breathing creature that has issues of its own.

It would be unreasonable to spend endless government money to make MaRS happen right now just to make University Ave. look more picture-perfect.

It will get built eventually, no worries.
 
would you really want a government to start lending millions of dollars to small start-up companies in the current economic climate? sure that would be great, but very unpopular. it's too risky. politically, it is very unattractive to start financing the private sector, particularly, one that is so specialized and not obviously related to middle class citizens across the country.
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My understanding is there is plenty of demand for the space. The problem is the developer couldn't get the financing to finish the space. No reason the government couldn't finish the building and get the space leased. This does not mean the government is all of sudden lending money to start up companies.
 
The province has identified biotech as a strategic sector for Ontario. MaRS is arguably the flagship project of that sector. I see no reason that Queen's Park shouldn't just lease the space itself, and then sublease it to real tenants as financing becomes available. Something as important as MaRS should be ready to go when the economy picks up again.
 
But why ...

And contrary to the above what I've heard is that they weren't able to lease enough of the space out ..... yes they couldn't secure financing but for the above reason. It wasn't 100% leased, not by a long shot.

Once the economic conditions are right for this to go ahead I believe it will. The government can offer incentive to such companies, I do not believe the way to go about this is for the government to start purchasing spaces and leasing them out it self ...
 
18 January 2009 photo update

Here's what it looked like Sunday at noon:

DSC00991.jpg
 
exactly, the developer depends on tenants to secure construction financing. the tenants are available but cannot borrow money to pay for their offices. remember, these are small companies.

let's just say that government action is out of the question right now.
 
Barry, I certainly agree with your first paragraph, but why do you conclude that "government action is out of the question"?

This is a prime example of a "shovel ready" project, and it's not much of a stretch to call it "infrastructure". If we define school and university buildings, hospital buildings, etc. as infrastructure, why not this?

I agree that government should not be financing small, unproven start-up companies. But the government probably could finance completion of the structure itself, taking a mortgage on it. By the time of completion in 18 to 24 months, hopefully it could be leased up and the mortgage paid out of lease income, or alternatively sell it outright to private owners.

(It's a heck of a lot less risky than bailing out the car companies!)
 
Observer Walt said:
(It's a heck of a lot less risky than bailing out the car companies!)
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My thoughts exactly. This project will create high paying jobs in a sector of the economy that the government should enthusiastically support.
I'd rather the province give a billion dollars to the biotech and heath sectors of the economy rather than dole out that money to auto manufacturers. I don't agree with supporting an aging dinosaur industry that was too slow to respond to the changes in the economy.
MarS is right beside UofT which could use the extra space as an incubator of new innovate ideas.
Anyone of GM, Chrysler and Ford could declare bankruptcy and that money would be wasted.
 
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John Barber reports in today's Globe that there is a good chance that the federal government will inlcude money for a Pickering Internaitonal Airport in the upcoming budet.

Regardless of what you think of the merits of MaRS as a candidate for government financing, it is surely an infinitely better investment in the future of the GTA than squandering billions on a second airport that is not needed.
 
Doesn't Dan McTeague represent that area?
 
Why would they do that?? Oh, wait, its the FEDERAL government, when did they ever support anything useful in the GTA, especially conservatives...
 
jks said:
Why would they do that?? Oh, wait, its the FEDERAL government, when did they ever support anything useful in the GTA, especially conservatives...
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Why not complain about the dumb ass voters in this city who demand nothing from the decades of Liberals that are sent to Ottawa on our behalf? The current conservatives have done nothing for Toronto but so have their predecessors.

Now back to the current building and not the Pickering airport...
 
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