Toronto Pinnacle One Yonge | 345.5m | 105s | Pinnacle | Hariri Pontarini

Im hoping the massive quarter billion dollar investment in the property will be enough to deter an architectural blunder...but its Pinnacle so my expectations are low.

Sh** just got REAL......estate
 
Expect more spandrel-covered mediocrity by Page+Steele. I'm thinking "Pinnacle Centre 2: Success Plaza". A major tower here would hold as much presence from the lake as the CN Tower. Pinnacle is going to totally blight the classic lakeview of our skyline.
 
Ramako said:
The city is a partner on Ten York as they it sold the land to Tridel. There is no such relationship at 1 Yonge.
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Design review panel maybe?
 
someMidTowner said:
If it's crap wont the city demand a redesign? Happened with Ten York
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It'll be subject to the Waterfront Design Review Panel, which I think has been shown to behave a bit more toothily than the regular City DRP. That said, Harbour Plaza/1 York appears to be coasting through that process without much trouble, despite gathering mixed reviews 'round these parts for not being adequately exciting for such a potential-laden site. This site certainly has plenty of similarities.

Ramako said:
The city is a partner on Ten York as they it sold the land to Tridel. There is no such relationship at 1 Yonge.
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Off-topic, but I've never really gotten this assumption which seems to crop up from time to time. Build Toronto may be an arms-length agency of the city, but as far as I know they get no special privileges from the various approval-granting bodies related to zoning or variances etc. than any private developer would. Also, in terms of their mandate and where the pendulum hangs between the goals of maximizing taxpayer's "hard" return on investment versus achieving "soft" non-monetary benefits like excellence in design, I think it's the case where you're unlikely to see them cut a deal where the City gets $10 million less in cash but a better-looking building.
 
Southcore said:
Sold for $255M to Pinnacle? Saw it on twitter...apparently Cityzen was also interested? Damn wish it was them instead.
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What exactly did they buy, the whole parcel of property including the buildings onsite? The Pinnacle group are crazy to be putting out that kind of money as the market begins to soften. Besides, what in the world could they possibly build on this site that would bring them a healthy return after paying $225M for the property?
 
If it's the lot pictured on the first page of this thread, couldn't maybe 8-10 towers be crammed in there? I'm guessing what's planned will be a taller version of Pinnacle Centre. The "aqua zone" of green and blue glass towers will continue to consume more of the central waterfront.
 
So I'm assuming that the Toronto Star building will be staying, and this development will be going around/behind it? Regardless, I actually don't mind the Pinnacle condos at Bay and Lakeshore. Though they're not amazing, by any stretch.

Hopefully we get something beautiful here. I don't know as much about different developers as others here, though, so I can't yet be pessimistic or optimistic. Either way, I'm glad this site will be going; it looks like hell, frankly.
 
If true, yes it's a pretty big let down....

But I think we should hold off on the coronary till we get some real confirmation. Anyone can tweet whatever and $225 mill seems much too high to be grounded in reality. Plus, I'm not one to blindly take the word of someone who has this image as their avatar:
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from Twitter
 
Pinnacle buying this land was pretty much the worst-case scenario in mind. There will be, at best, a couple of 200+ metre towers that are exceedingly bland, green and covered in spandrel. Even Concord and Pemberton can deliver decent architecture on occasion (e.g. Montage, Luna, U Condos), but the very best thing that Pinnacle has ever produced is Pinnacle on Adelaide. Anyone hoping for something decent here will be sorely disappointed, and we'll be averting our eyes (even more so) from the waterfront for decades to come.

In addition to the two aAmbiens at 90 Harbour, and whatever hackneyed mess Tridel is planning for 10 York (since their attempt to add "visual interest" to the initial released design was awful, I don't have much faith in their architectural tastes), the view of the skyline from the lake is pretty much going to be a pile of sh*t for the next hundred years. We really didn't learn our lesson from Harbour Square.

edit: With respect to the overall shittiness of our waterfront architecture/skyline, I forgot to add Menkes' yet-to-be released 'North York special' for 60 Harbour. Don't forget that these are the same people that described Noir as "sexy". Good times ahead.
 
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Xray_Crystal_Junkie said:
If true, yes it's a pretty big let down....

But I think we should hold off on the coronary till we get some real confirmation. Anyone can tweet whatever and $225 mill seems much too high to be grounded in reality. Plus, I'm not one to blindly take the word of someone who has this image as their avatar:
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So what? He looks like Gary Busey...doesn't mean his information isnt valuable. Dont judge someones credibility by their avatar man. UrbanShocker is one of the most informative forum members: his avatar is a dude in a pink wig. Caltrane also provides a lot of very important info and photo updates: his avatar is the count from sesame street.

I don't care what you look like, i take your information as the probable truth until it's proven wrong. Asking for more info is one thing, but saying the guy looks crazy so its probably not true isnt my thought process
 
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