39 storeys...500 feet? Bay could be incredibly canyonlicious with this and Burano, and the condotel and U farther up...funny how all these gaps along Bay will be filled in in such quick succession. Which government offices/ministries might move or be consolidated here?
 
I wonder if that's a serious development proposal, or just the government keeping its options open. That might also make it easier to sell the site at a later date if it's pre-approved for a big office tower. I hope I'm wrong tho, that really would be another huge addition to what was very recently a dead zone
 
The pharmacy that was at the bottom of this building just moved out to a new location.
 
Should we expect more than a bland and sterile tower paid for by government coffers?
 
Hopefully!

Here is what &Co visualized for the site and two adjacent sites, as found by my friend Neal on their Facebook page. Awesome ideas at work here:

Added 19 Hours Ago: &Co, on a team lead by Walker Nott Dragicevic, undertook the urban design and visualization for an Optimal Use and Massing Alternatives Study for provincial property comprising 880 Bay, 60 Grosvenor and an additional site located to the west. To explore options for possible redevelopment, our team determined how various uses might be massed on the site and what constituted optimal use in the context of the current planning policy and regulatory framework. Results included the determination of maximum achievable density, visual communication packages to illustrate massing schemes including perspectives and 3D models, and final recommendations such as marketability, pro-forma analysis.


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Whoa! Very cool. If we get something inspired by these renderings I think most of us would be quite pleased.
 
I actually dislike that. I'd rather see the tower front on Bay, with a step down toward Queen's Park.

Don't mind the actual design tho, it's more of a siteplan/massing issue for me
 
I agree I'd prefer it were situated closer to bay, but I'll take it where it is given how good it looks. It will make a huge difference to the skyline in that area.

Question, what's the big empty lot to the east of the new building, on the other side of bay, behind the two condo towers?
 
I'm confused. In one way, I'd like the building to be closer to Bay but prefer the setbacked placement in comparison to the rest of the block
 
Mods: I believe there is a second 880 Bay thread floating around somewhere - maybe the two threads can be consolidated to keep all the historical posts and info together.

Anyway - now that this is in the public realm a couple other points:

The ORC has an objective to consolidate a lot of government office space spread around the city and a number of long term leases are due in the next couple of years. So this proposal makes long-term financial sense and it will help reduce some of the 'silo' effect by bringing a lot of staff in different Ministries under one roof that is directly adjacent to a number of other Ministries at the Main Legislative Building Mowat Block, Hearst Block, Hepburn Block, Ferguson Block, Whitney Block, Frost Building etc.

The site also includes land parcels directly behing 880 Bay along Grosvenor Street (as seen in the renderings).

The approximate timeline is at least 2-3 years.

There is a long-term plan for the provincial government that seeks to replace older buildings with new ones, retrofit interiors (as was recently done to 900 Bay), upgrade various HVAC systems which decreases the environmental impacts and GHGs while also improving the overall image on the Ontario Government.
 
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I've sent these images to all my colleagues up here on the 5th floor of 880, explaining as best I can what they are, and they generated a lot of interest, let me tell you! It's a massive building compared to the others in the Queens Park Complex, but I suppose that is to be expected.

There are people working in offices all up and down Bay Street, along Bloor, and farther afield. It would definitely be a benefit to have them in a new building that is closer by.

I suppose this is crazy, but wouldn't it have been cool if Burano was PATHed to the Ontario government buildings, which of course could be connected to the new Women's College, and of course connected underground the short block to College Park, which of course might be part of the PATH someday? PATH expansion gone wild! Walk indoors from Osgoode to Queen's Park the long way around!
 
Mods: I believe there is a second 880 Bay thread floating around somewhere - maybe the two threads can be consolidated to keep all the historical posts and info together.
Click to expand...

I merged the two last night when I created today's lead story. I create a lead story one day and next day the renderings show up. Same thing happened while I was putting together the Toronto Sun building story.

I'm good!
 
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