[SimonP]

It's kind of too bad the Festival Tower is already under construction at its current location. This would have been a perfect location for a home for the Film Festival. It's near all the Yorkville hotels and the other cinemas, and would also have been a big draw for the area.

 

[Homer]

Hey good point SimonP.

I wish now Bazis lost control of this development, it will be really, really disappointing to see the building reduced to a 'nothing special about it'
building, especially at that corner. I would rather an empty lot for a few
years if it means something great in design and height is built there.

 

[TOareaFan]

Bazis is having problems paying the loan payment on a $46 million loan,.... haven't made a payment since December and it's July already! Even the chopped off 1 Bloor East at 67 floors will cost about $542 million in construction costs.

Let's put it in perspective most average working folks can understand,... if someone is having problems making the loan payments on their $46,000 car and haven't made a payment in 7 months,.... what kind of financial institution would be willing to loan them $542,000 to build a house? (Can't choose Lehman Brothers,... they already went bankrupt).

Maybe you misunderstood my explanation of how contstruction loans are made/structured. The interest payments are built into the loan so the loan pays itself until the ultimate source of repayment which is the sale proceeds of the condos.

I am not suggesting that there are banks lined up to make this loan (there are not) but I was explaining to someone that failure to pay interest on a land loan of $46 million (which would have been current pay in all likelihood) does not, necessarily, indicate an inability to "make payments" on a much larger construction loan.

It is simple, the repayment of the construction loan comes once (at the end) from the sales of the units.....and sales are the one thing that we know they have.[/quote]

As for the guy buying on the 67th floor now thinking he's some kind of condo lottery winner,.... he's more like the deer caught staring at the headlight,... as 1 Bloor East will probably get chopped again,... and again,... How low they go, nobody knows right now,... but I'd be surprise if some financial intitution would actually lend Bazis enough money to build a bungalow at that site!

I was being, a bit, tongue-in-cheek with that but the project will not die a death of a thousand cuts. It will either go forward or not....but there is a point (long before it hits bungalow size) that it just does not make any sense to cut again but it makes more sense to sell to someone that might build the height.

 

[Automation Gallery]

Seriously, who is going to loan Bazis $542 million to construct a building on about $50 million worth of land,... land that's about to be taken away from Bazis in receivership. Which other financial institution wants to go bankrupt?


As for the guy buying on the 67th floor now thinking he's some kind of condo lottery winner,.... he's more like the deer caught staring at the headlight,... as 1 Bloor East will probably get chopped again,... and again,... How low they go, nobody knows right now,... but I'd be surprise if some financial intitution would actually lend Bazis enough money to build a bungalow at that site!

Sunny.... i wouldnt worry about it so much, this area is not North York, if Bazis cant do it here someone else will come along and build something big and tall. Enough of the Bazis bashing.

 

[Sir Novelty Fashion]

It's kind of too bad the Festival Tower is already under construction at its current location. This would have been a perfect location for a home for the Film Festival. It's near all the Yorkville hotels and the other cinemas, and would also have been a big draw for the area.

Now that's an excellent point.

 

[bgd]

hey all,

here is a post I just finished up on my blog regarding this topic:

http://www.globizenproperty.com/?p=844

 

[Eastside]

I understand how many have a soft spot for Roy's Square (a favourite restaurant owner or dry cleaner or whatever) but it was still nothing more than a painted over alley with cheap white lawn chairs. I'm not sure that it was "better than nothing". I prefer to see a blank canvas here once again.

I dunno, I think that when one justifies the demolition of what was a viable employment block because it offends some aesthetic sensibility, one has to ask oneself some pretty serious ethical questions. I know I'm sounding like a bit of a broken record on this topic, but this area was much more than a "painted over alley with cheap white lawn chairs" to the people who owned businesses there. Add in the value to the community (both to the residents of the area and to the thousands of office workers in the area) that this block provided, and I don't think it's difficult to argue that it was "better than nothing." An empty lot that will most likely remain an empty lot for the foreseeable future adds absolutely nothing to this neighborhood.

The TIFF project mentioned a few posts up would have been a great addition. I'd really like to see some sort of cultural institution that acted as a destination point added to this project (no, an Apple Store doesn't count). Unfortunately, I think we may be a bit short on gazillionaire philanthropists right now..

 

[casaguy]

Galleria Mall at Dufferin and Davenport is also a viable employment block. Would it be ok if that were simply transplanted as is at this location, nicotine stained ceilings and all?

And yes, the TIFF suggestion is a great one.

 

[Oliver Tweed]

Not sure a public square is what we need here. I understand the temptation, but I would rather see a massive tower with over-the-top high end retail flagship stores at street level. It would be better for the city to increase the concentration of this high end retail section of the city to make it a better overall shopping destination and compliment the sidewalk improvements being made on Bloor. It's really too bad this project is kaput.

 

[Eastside]

Galleria Mall at Dufferin and Davenport is also a viable employment block. Would it be ok if that were simply transplanted as is at this location, nicotine stained ceilings and all?

This misses the point completely. No one is proposing that the shabby, old block be replaced with another shabby, old block. What I was saying is that, just because it is older and doesn't look pretty or upscale or whatever, doesn't mean that it is devoid of value. If it has to be replaced by something more current and impressive then great, that's progress, but I think the argument of a windswept gravel lot (your "blank slate") being preferable is silly.

 

[casaguy]

Well, of course no one wants a gravel lot, including myself, but, well, here we are.

I didn't say Roy Square was devoid of value but I did say that it was "a painted over alley with cheap white lawn chairs". No matter how special it was to many people, Yonge and Bloor deserved better and still does. And yes aesthetics are most certainly of paramount importance here.

 

[condovo]

It's like we're getting the worst of all worlds here -- an ugly, tacky, gimmicky tower that's no longer even especially tall, formerly it's one redeeming factor.

 

[Edward Skira]

Anything that removes a Harvey's and replaces it with an empty lot is a really bad thing.

 

[condovo]

Anything that removes a Harvey's and replaces it with a compromised version of an already architecturally dubious tower is a really bad thing.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Maybe you misunderstood my explanation of how contstruction loans are made/structured. The interest payments are built into the loan so the loan pays itself until the ultimate source of repayment which is the sale proceeds of the condos.

I am not suggesting that there are banks lined up to make this loan (there are not) but I was explaining to someone that failure to pay interest on a land loan of $46 million (which would have been current pay in all likelihood) does not, necessarily, indicate an inability to "make payments" on a much larger construction loan.

Hmmmm,... by any chance did you use to work at Lehman Brothers?

But seriously,... you seem to have some financial knowledge,.... so let me ask you,... who or what kind of financial institution would be willing to loan Bazis $542 million now for construction cost,.... especially for construction on land that might be taken away in receivership in a month or so?

Does Bazis canadian operation have any real tangible assets that can back up any serious loan? At least a Canadian developer would have some serious assets here in Canada and a long reputation,... unlike Bazis from where-ever that nobody ever heard of,... You deal with a fly by night operation,... well, you know ,.... what a mess.

It is simple, the repayment of the construction loan comes once (at the end) from the sales of the units.....and sales are the one thing that we know they have.

What we know is Bazis has about $70 million in purchasers' deposits is being held in trust,.... belonging to purchasers,... many of whom seems to be looking to get their money back and get out of the deal with Bazis. For most of them, their money have already been tied up since late 2007,.... for how many more years their money will be tied up,... is anybody's guess now.