[adma]

What muddies things up, though, is--City *and* Omni? How are they gonna compress those 2 or 3 into that location?

And also re Omni coming here: whither the old Crosse & Blackwell at LS + Bathurst...

 

[yyzer]

It's in a far too central location to be left the stinking pile of donkey poo that it is.

ganjavih, I lol'd...

 

[syn]

This is incredible news. This should really help make the square more of a unique Toronto location...it should enhance activity too. A win-win situation for everyone.

 

[MetroMan]

Awesome! I had a "joy-gasm" (The Riddler) when I saw the news! Amazing! Amazing!

This development will finally turn attention to the East side of the square which is so blah and lacking in attraction.

I hope they open up some of the closed windows or better yet, remove the cladding on the building and add something more fitting.

After the sad event of seeing CityTV leaving the CHUM building, we end up with a new beginning for the station in a location that couldn't be any more perfect.

Amazing!

 

[MetroMan]

In related news, the rent value of the HNR building's jewelry store just skyrocketed. Having free advertising on CityTV's breakfast television every morning is almost priceless.

... On the other hand, St.Patrick's grocery owners must be cursing CTV for setting in motion this chain of events.

 

[JasonParis]

Awesome news! I'm glad my insider source was WRONGO!

It'll be a tight space for sure in there (OMNI 1, OMNI 2, CITY) and with little room for expansion. In fact, I'm a little surprised that they didn't also purchase the Pen-Equity owned building just east of the site too (or maybe they did?).

We can now start speculating on what will happen to Roger's Lake Shore studios?

This development will finally turn attention to the East side of the square which is so blah and lacking in attraction.

It may also do for Dundas St E what City-TV did for Queen St W. Certainly fun to speculate the possibilities.

 

[MetroMan]

My wishlist for this building just got a big CHECK! next to it: a dynamic tenant.

Three biggies on the list have the potential to be realized:

1 - Dynamic tenant √ CHECK!
2 - Public use encouraged (Speakers Corner, open roof top patio)
3 - Open building aesthetic by removing paneling, replacing with glass
4 - Better designed billboards on the torch part. i.e. curved screen and billboards.

Here's the skeleton of the building:

If Rogers puts in a little money, they can open this up so much more and create a new landmark for this city.

Of course we'll see a big ROGERS logo somewhere on the building, but unlike the SkyDome, I welcome a Rogers takeover of this building.

Woo hoo! Can't wait! When do we think we'll begin to see some activity on the building retrofit?

 

[MetroMan]

Here's what an open, glass clad Torch building was supposed to look like.

I'm sure because of adapting it to its use as Olympic Spirit prompted closing off some of those walls, but with CityTV promoting visibility of their studios and day to day operations of their tv station, I can see those walls coming down (crossing fingers).

Maybe somebody with some artistic ability can modify this image to provide us with some "Urban Toronto porn" of what a CityTV building would look like. ... pweez?

 

[khris]

What does Olympic Spirit look like now. I don't know if I've ever actually seen it haha. I never looked past YD Square, or walked down Dundas in a long long time.

 

[MetroMan]

Spare yourself the disgust Phunky. Wait 'til Rogers finishes the retrofit. It can't get any worse than it is and I'm confident in Rogers' ability to spruce the place up.

 

[simply Dan]

Dundas Square new home of Citytv

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/269424

Dundas Square new home of Citytv

Oct 23, 2007 04:30 AM
RITA TRICHUR
BUSINESS REPORTER

Citytv may be "everywhere" but its flagship station is getting ready to move to Dundas Square.

Rogers Communications confirmed late yesterday it has a binding agreement to acquire the Olympic Torch building at 35 Dundas St. E. and plans to shift both its Citytv and OMNI Television operations to that location.

Financial terms were not released and the deal is subject to various conditions. However, it is scheduled to close in mid-November, the company said, adding it has made good on its promise to maintain Citytv's urban vibe. It purchased the station earlier this year.

"We think this building portrays the local, urban and diverse character of Citytv and OMNI Television," said Tony Viner, president and CEO of Rogers Media Inc., in a release.

"We were determined to find a location that would maintain the stations' presence in the local fabric of the city."

The Olympic Torch building, perched at the edge of Dundas Square, is a $40 million entertainment complex that opened in August 2004 to celebrate that year's summer games in Athens.

Rogers announced in June it would move the flagship Citytv station out of the storied CHUM-City building at Queen and John Sts. over the next few years. Late last month, it received final approval for its $375 million purchase of five Citytv television stations from CTVglobemedia Inc.

There had been speculation that Rogers might shift the Citytv operations to its Omni channels' headquarters at 545 Lake Shore Blvd., near the waterfront. Yesterday, Rogers Media spokesperson Jan Innes said that location would continue to house Rogers operations, but provided no other details.

The CHUM-City building, Citytv's headquarters since the 1980s, will continue to house specialty channels, including MuchMusic and Bravo, which CTVglobemedia scooped up as part of its blockbuster $1.7 billion purchase of CHUM Ltd. earlier this year.

Innes said it is too soon to tell whether the Olympic Torch location will replicate the CHUM-City building's storefront setup, which allows viewers to literally press their noses up against the studio's glass.

 

[alklay]

This is great news and like everybody here, I am hoping the building gets a sufficient redo (and yes, its a tight space. I would not be surprised if they keep the Lakeshore building for overflow and libraries etc.)

And yes, Google never made sense.

 

[markel]

This is going to be a huge boost to both Torch and the area.

Hopefully they will be able to improve the exterior advertising.

 

[ShonTron]

For all of my issues with Rogers, at least it does know how to spend good money on its buildings (improvements to SkyDome, the Confederation Life Building). It might very well be the ideal tenant for the site (well, apart from an Apple Store, perhaps).

 

[caltrane74]

Awesome news!