Toronto Southcore Financial Centre & Delta Toronto | 159.71m | 45s | GWL | KPMB

Ramako said:
Thanks for the update. Could you tell whether the towers will be all glass?
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What they showed appeared to be mostly glass towers, but they were shown to present the massing on the site. These were preliminary with many revisions to go before we see anything close to the final product. The office tower was literally 18 York rotated 90 degrees.

khristopher said:
That makes no sense. Why don't they do just one tower, with a large podium. Add the 50 on top of the 26, and stack it so that it fits in with the surroundings by using stepbacks.
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How does a 76-storey building fit into the surroundings around here? That's 20 storeys higher than the current tallest building in the area, MLS. Besides, one building is unfeasible. The office building will not be built for a very long time, a lot later than the hotel/residential building, which will still be awhile before any construction begins. The purpose of showing the office building is to have the building in the plans from the start until such a time comes that the market is ready to bear another office tower. Easier to plan for it now and incorporate it from the start, similar to how BA2 and the ICE office building are incorporated into the master plan within their blocks.

whatever said:
I'm kind of interested that it's a rental building tho. That means this could break ground a lot sooner than I was expecting. Did they have any mention of office tenants?
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No office tenants lined up. Way too early for that.
 
I am shocked at the small podium... two floors.

Excited about this nonetheless though. Bremner can become a real street! And it will have a nice park right across from the street :) (well almost right across... beside Infinity I mean.)
 
Based on the massing drawing the podium isn't really that bad. The podium will be pretty animated with a restaurant at the Bremner/Simcoe corner and other retail units. Sure it's no MLS, but I find teh 10-storey podium there is pretty daunting walking beside (not so much walking closer to Telus). For this project, along Simcoe it's 2-storeys, then with a setback and up to 10-storeys towards the south end and up to 50 towards the north. It will really frame Simcoe well i think. Then again it's really too early to make any sort of conclusion. I am excited about it all as well. Overall I think it's good so far.
 
I sure hope it's not Delta... would love to see a W hotel here. :)
marcus_a_j is right in that scale is important and that a 2-4 story podium is sufficient for THIS location.
But I'll hold off on final judgement until we see the renderings/execution.
 
I would love a Delta here. The Delta Chelsea has to stay though-- that is just the greatest hotel. :) Always buzzing, and great service.
 
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Filip said:
Very interesting!

I really don't know how they're going to shove an office tower into this: I'm looking at satellite shots of the site and it's definitely going to be a tight fit.

Fairmont is then out of the picture... Time to take bets on a hotel operator!
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A flagship Fairmont will be here! They have been involved right from the start.

The hotel will be 5 star.. the building will be LEED Gold.. no delta sorry delta boys
 
marcus_a_j said:
Based on the massing drawing the podium isn't really that bad. The podium will be pretty animated with a restaurant at the Bremner/Simcoe corner and other retail units. Sure it's no MLS, but I find teh 10-storey podium there is pretty daunting walking beside (not so much walking closer to Telus). For this project, along Simcoe it's 2-storeys, then with a setback and up to 10-storeys towards the south end and up to 50 towards the north. It will really frame Simcoe well i think. Then again it's really too early to make any sort of conclusion. I am excited about it all as well. Overall I think it's good so far.
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Could you throw us a quick Sketchup render?
 
Ooo kool news...i've never been in the know on something from the (basic) start...will be nice to follow this over time
 
TorontoMike$$ said:
A flagship Fairmont will be here! They have been involved right from the start.

The hotel will be 5 star.. the building will be LEED Gold.. no delta sorry delta boys
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I believe Fairmont's only involvement was Fairmont Holdings (which is no longer the same company as Fairmont Management) inherited the land from predecessor companies (Marathon Realty and CP ).....just as they were the vendor of the lands for Telus, Ice and MLS (and perhaps others on former railway lands). Fairmont is simply a hotel management company and they may or not bid on this project but they have no "right" to the site.

I seriously doubt it will be a 5 star hotel of any brand. A few years ago Horvath (a hotel consulting company) did a study indicating that Toronto did not have any 5 stars and we were the largest developed city to have that distinction. The market response has been to bring, likely, too many 5 star hotels to the market in too short a time frame...absorption will be a real issue. In a very short time frame we are getting a new 5 star Four Seasons, a Ritz Carlton, a Shangri La and a Trump. We are probably done with 5 Stars for a while.

Not even sure this site warrants a true 4 Star (very close to the Royal York and InterContinental...two very strong 4 Star brands)....this hotel is likely gonna go "boutique" or funky and whoever guessed W gets my vote. Tourists eat that stuff up and this is very much a touristy area on the edge of core. Not the core itself.

Other potentials might be a Hard Rock hotel (not sure if the Seminoles have ever looked at taking their hotel brand north) or perhaps a new entrant like Schrager.....but I know that Starwood looked hard at MLS as a potential W....they are also rumoured to have looked at the existing Four Seasons (for conversion once the new one opens)...so they are looking to locate in Toronto and this would be a good site for it.
 
Originally Posted by TorontoMike$$
A flagship Fairmont will be here! They have been involved right from the start.
The hotel will be 5 star.. the building will be LEED Gold.. no delta sorry delta boys
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Mike$$, did u hear this from Fairmont directly? I have conflicting opinions saying they have no ownership anymore and no involvment. I guess we'll have to wait for that Spring press release to know for sure.
 
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I am guessing (based on article in G&M yesterday talking to Ian Gillespie of Westbank (developer of Toronto's Shangri La, and Vancouver's Fairmont Pacific Rim (the best-looking modern highrise hotel building in Canada imho!) that Ian Gillespie is behind this project. I am guessing that it will be branded "Fairmont Toronto."

TorontoMike$$, how close to the $$ am I?
 
IMHO, The Fairmont Pacifc Rim tower is quite fat and awkward and the art centrepiece is just plain tacky. The podium is top of the line including some funky perforated metal cladding however, there just doesn't seem to be any direction to it. One of those where the parts are better than the sum total.

I'm looking for something with a little more continuity as to be expected in Toronto with none of that Vancouver hodge podge schizophrenia
 
Parts of Fairmont Pacifc Rim tower actually remind me of the bell lightbox to a certain degree.

It doesn't really have any redeeming qualities otherwise, that's not to say it's bad ... hopefully we can get something a little bit nicer / more unique.
 
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