Chris R.
Senior Member
I guess permit filed for 309 James St N (the corner building) in end of 2023:
- Thread starter innsertnamehere
- Start date
TheHonestMaple
Active Member
With the Augusta project finishing up, I wonder if they'll jump right to this one. I think so.
Chris R.
Senior Member
Steve told me that they like to do one project at a time, so I suspect that once the projects on Augusta finish up in spring we will see this one start right up, likely with a similar 2 year timeframe on completion. Looking forward to walking by almost every day.
TheHonestMaple
Active Member
Looking forward to the regular photo updates. maybe time for you to invest in a drone!
BrenWilson
New Member
core urban and lintack are killing it, they've found the perfect style and form factors. Would love it if they could develop the parking lot at king williams and james, it would abut one of their restoration projects.
Chronamut
Active Member
Yeah one of the developers is sitting on that one.. not sure why - same with the lot beside the bank where robinsons used to be..
I wouldn't want anything too huge to be built on the james and king william one so not overshadow the lister block and all those buildings along king william
Chris R.
Senior Member
I was just thinking today walking in Gore Park that I'd love to see the building on the northeast corner of James and King restored and something modern built on top in the way of Core Urban.
BrenWilson
New Member
The layout of the buildings on that corner is a bit odd, as the core urban property actually fronts both james and king, but isn't on the corner. Red is the core urban KingJames building, building 2 appears from the roof to be the same structure but is not connected or the same property.
Chronamut
Active Member
someone needs to restore the green building in that maps footprint's face - or replicate the one beside it to restore it to what it used to look like - as far as I've been told there is nothing under those giant signages - they just ripped the entire front of the building off.
6 has lost its original cornice, and is in bad need of sodablasting, and 3-5 used to have peaked roofs - or "rowhouse" roofs - you know the kind. They are the oldest buildings in the city pretty much having changed little since the city was first built.
As a result heritage wise that's probably gonna be a tall older - anything pre-confed - esp the very first buildings would probably be met with resistance.
6 has lost its original cornice, and is in bad need of sodablasting, and 3-5 used to have peaked roofs - or "rowhouse" roofs - you know the kind. They are the oldest buildings in the city pretty much having changed little since the city was first built.
As a result heritage wise that's probably gonna be a tall older - anything pre-confed - esp the very first buildings would probably be met with resistance.
Last edited:
Sunnyside
Active Member
This could be the problem- the land is probably very valuable, so if Core Urban only did 5-10 storeys, it likely wouldn’t be enough to offset the cost. In fact, that lot might be so valuable it’s why we haven’t seen a typical 30 storey proposal (if one can even fit on the parcel with separation rules). Parking lots can make alot of money…
Chronamut
Active Member
Yeah from what I've heard its much more valuable to the developer as a parking lot than it is as a building - the spot is primo - esp. during supercrawl when it's basically used as a beer gardens and a place to set up beside the stages for singers..
I just.. hate the fact that wall still looks like the building beside it collapsed mere years ago.. at least cap it or something.. Hell I think the rebar is still jutting out of it.. I would love a stair step approach like layered so that people could sit on corner balconies htat stair stepped up to the building top beside it and be able to still watch the events along james st - build something that factored in supercrawl., as well as still lets light play onto the lister block - I don't think it goes without saying that.. well until the federal building and the churches, this building is the most impressive on james st N, and being one of the most historic being home to canada's (or was iit ontario's..) first ever indoor mall..
I wonder.. did they fill in the swimming pool in the basement? I think I recall that they did..
...orrr just rebuild something on the scale of what was originally here. 2 stories I believe the Zellars was, and 3 or 4 stories for the 2 buildings beside it. Hell maybe even Zellars could rebuild something now that they've magically come back from the grave... that would be a cool historical development.
Theer is.. however.. NO excuse for not developing the land beside the pigott building, as that's not even being USED at all.. for anything. It's a complete and utter waste o fland - nature isn't using it, cards aren't using it, nothing, it just has those blocks around it preventing it from being utilized. But I would prefer to see something amazing go there - I hope core urban can secure that plot - historically it's had some height so something bigger can definitely go there. I just want to see all the missing gaps along james get filled in - there is no reason our biggest arterial road should be patchy - none at all.
Last edited:
KingJames
Active Member
well if we are on assembly , put Core Urban and Liuna together with (parking lot south side of King William at James + old Woolwoths building (replace) + Right House (integrate and adapt , maybe reskin bnoth end)), and then get super creative and with maximum density.
Sunnyside
Active Member
A big, department-style retailer would certainly look very interesting and be very useful. 3-4storeys is probably the sweet spot so you can still see the gems on KW. I’d love if The Bay came back with a downtown location, but that’s a far off prospect. It would be quite symbolic though.
In any case, that wall doesn’t look good right now and something is needed in the interim.
Agree on the lot by the Pigott Building as well. Absolutely a prime candidate. There are a few peppered among the core office buildings, too.
Chronamut
Active Member
The Bay is currently struggling with financial issues and there have been talks about them closing some of their branches - which is insane - since the bay used to literally own 1/3 of canada ITSELF (ruperts land I think it was called). It's the oldest company in all of north america, at over 300 years old.
Sunnyside
Active Member
They still operate in a ton of sectors of our economy, but the retail side is certainly struggling. I imagine that diversity why they’re still around and Sears isn’t. I’m sure there’s a niche for department stores to fill, heck I like going to them on occasion. But whether or not that’s in an urban setting or just staying in flagship malls, who knows.
The retail landscape is undergoing lots of change, and it’s unclear to me at least whether redeveloped malls will keep their retail mix, diversify, or optimize for their newfound communities in a decade or two. If they shed certain retailers, downtowns/UGCs might be able to pick them up. Downtown Toronto has managed to have both a mall and lively ‘mall’ retailers on streets, but Hamilton and KW clearly cannot. The question henceforth is if our downtown malls were just poorly suited to picking up retail demand (mostly true) and/or if that demand ever existed/can exist for higher end retail in the core (not yet, but time will tell). Not just thinking the Bay here- moreso stores like Adidas, H&M, your typical clothing outlets that don’t go to main streets often. It’ll all depend on how much critical mass accrues in the core, I suppose.