Conrad Black
Senior Member
When is the Trump sign supposed to go up?
MetroMan
Senior Member
I often reserve my judgement of a building for when the hoarding comes down and the building is washed but I think it's safe to say that with Trump substantially complete, it falls far short of this:
Credit where credit is due, the interior finishings show that they spared no expenses but this exterior...
... doesn't meet the TRUMP brand's high level of expectations. It was a tight site but I find the delivery garage entrance on Bay St. to be inexcusable. Why have a Bay St. address and not use it? Then the actual main entrance is anything but fancy. You arrive through a garage ramp with bad yellow lighting into a lobby that could have been in any condo of average quality. VIPs aren't going to be flattered with photos taken in that lighting.
The stone cladding looks like bad precast. They might as well have saved substantial money and made it out of precast if that's what it ended up looking like. The green glass cladding? Looks cheap. Green could have worked but this was a poor choice of hue.
The saving grace will be the LED lighting up the spine. At least at night, it will glare out the poor quality of the other finishings.
I still have faith in the spire as it's turning out nicely, but from street level, that's not what people will see. It certainly doesn't hint to the beauty and service inside. If it weren't for the TRUMP name, anybody wishing to spend $500+ a night would walk up to this building, turn around, grab a cab and head down Wellington to the Ritz Carlton.
A solution to some of these problems lies immediately south of Trump on Bay.
Who owns this building?
Trump/Talon could buy this and turn it into a proper hotel lobby on Bay st. and perhaps use the upper floors for other VIP services.
Credit where credit is due, the interior finishings show that they spared no expenses but this exterior...
... doesn't meet the TRUMP brand's high level of expectations. It was a tight site but I find the delivery garage entrance on Bay St. to be inexcusable. Why have a Bay St. address and not use it? Then the actual main entrance is anything but fancy. You arrive through a garage ramp with bad yellow lighting into a lobby that could have been in any condo of average quality. VIPs aren't going to be flattered with photos taken in that lighting.
The stone cladding looks like bad precast. They might as well have saved substantial money and made it out of precast if that's what it ended up looking like. The green glass cladding? Looks cheap. Green could have worked but this was a poor choice of hue.
The saving grace will be the LED lighting up the spine. At least at night, it will glare out the poor quality of the other finishings.
I still have faith in the spire as it's turning out nicely, but from street level, that's not what people will see. It certainly doesn't hint to the beauty and service inside. If it weren't for the TRUMP name, anybody wishing to spend $500+ a night would walk up to this building, turn around, grab a cab and head down Wellington to the Ritz Carlton.
A solution to some of these problems lies immediately south of Trump on Bay.
Who owns this building?
Trump/Talon could buy this and turn it into a proper hotel lobby on Bay st. and perhaps use the upper floors for other VIP services.
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interested
Senior Member
^^^
We walked around Trump last week. We walked into the entry and found it frankly dark and uninviting. One can see that a lot of money has been spent on the floor but it is essentially a dark arrival room when you first get there. We then went up to Stock....it was OK to look at, again nothing special.
After, we walked over to the Ritz....it was far more impressive, both the hotel and even the condo entrance. The condo entrance lacked a bit but the arrival was much better. That said, I appreciate due to the tight site that Trump is on, they had logistical difficulties.
I agree it should be a Bay street address and it probably still is: I believe 327 Bay Street even though the entrance is around the corner but I could be wrong.
I agree the green glass cladding did not turn out anywhere near as well as I would have hoped. But then, I am not too impressed with the look of the Ritz either.
I realize I am prejudiced and in the interest of full disclosure acknowledge that I purchased a small unit at Shangrila but in my opinion it is head over heals above either of these other 2. The 4S is impressive. I am awaiting as Metroman suggested to form my final opinions but it is crystalizing for me that SL will be the clear winner downtown with 4S winning for Yorkville.
We walked around Trump last week. We walked into the entry and found it frankly dark and uninviting. One can see that a lot of money has been spent on the floor but it is essentially a dark arrival room when you first get there. We then went up to Stock....it was OK to look at, again nothing special.
After, we walked over to the Ritz....it was far more impressive, both the hotel and even the condo entrance. The condo entrance lacked a bit but the arrival was much better. That said, I appreciate due to the tight site that Trump is on, they had logistical difficulties.
I agree it should be a Bay street address and it probably still is: I believe 327 Bay Street even though the entrance is around the corner but I could be wrong.
I agree the green glass cladding did not turn out anywhere near as well as I would have hoped. But then, I am not too impressed with the look of the Ritz either.
I realize I am prejudiced and in the interest of full disclosure acknowledge that I purchased a small unit at Shangrila but in my opinion it is head over heals above either of these other 2. The 4S is impressive. I am awaiting as Metroman suggested to form my final opinions but it is crystalizing for me that SL will be the clear winner downtown with 4S winning for Yorkville.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Running a strip of LED lighting up the side of a building when all else fails seems to be the latest design meme.
Ramako
Moderator
I don't know if I'd call two instances of it a meme.
k10ery
Senior Member
MetroMan: That's the National Club. Pretty sure they don't want to sell, and it's a heritage property. So I think it's safe from Trump.
FAC33
Active Member
Yep. I believe the National Club was approached about selling their spot when the corner spot was acquired for the Trump, and were not interested. For those of you who have not been inside, it's a functional private club/event space that is heavily used by nearby businesses for conferences, seminars, etc. It's quite nice, even if it contains what has to be the downtown's slowest elevator.
Student99
Active Member
wasn't there supposed to be some sort of connection to PATH with this project?
FAC33
Active Member
Nope. Apparently there is a rough-in for a connection if they ever decide to do it, but it would be more of back connection, not fully integrated with the PATH. Search higher in this thread--I know it was discussed here, because we were somewhat incredulous about a hotel spokesman's dismissive comments about the PATH system, which led one to believe he was not very familiar with it.
ahmad.m.atiya
Banned
Leave it to city hall to enforce developers to abide by shadowing concerns and vista views, but completely ignore a crucial part of our downtown core's infrastructure; the PATH. In fact, shadowing concerns over NPS were actually brought up on this very site, and were ready to be enforced before the Trump came to be, yet connection to the PATH takes a back seat. Just lovely.
whatever
Senior Member
Why does Trump need a PATH connection? It wouldn't strengthen the network (west and north connections from Scotia Plaza are already in place), so the only people it affects are those either staying at the hotel or living in the condo. And you'd be exposed to the elements for less than 30 seconds to get from Scotia Plaza's north entrance to Trump's lobby.
AndreaPalladio
Senior Member
They city doesn't own the PATH. The owner of the buildings do. If they don't want to pay for a connection, they don't have to have one.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
RBC Dexia makes three.
AndreaPalladio
Senior Member
Take the CN Tower for four. Please!