The 4 tower Simcoe Place master plan (3 office and one mixed hotel/residential) was supposed be completed before 2000. 160 Front was completed in 2023 capping the Simcoe Place, Ritz Carlton, RBC tower block. Cityplace will be 25 years to build during a multi-decade long boom.

The office market has shifted. The driving force for new office construction will continue to be centred around population growth. Are the tens of thousand of overvalued bowling alleys with views directly into other units and insufficient vertical transportation systems going to attract the growth needed to fill all the planned towers? Eventually word will get out that the Canadian advertisement directed towards potential immigrants is not truthful.
 
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maestro said:
The 4 tower Simcoe Place master plan (3 office and one mixed hotel/residential) was supposed be completed before 2000. 160 Front was completed in 2023 capping the Simcoe Place, Ritz Carlton, RBC tower block. Cityplace will be 25 years to build during a multi-decade long boom.

The office market has shifted. The driving force for new office construction will continue to be centred around population growth. Are the tens of thousand of overvalued bowling alleys with views directly into other units and insufficient vertical transportation systems going to attract the growth needed to fill all the planned towers? Eventually word will get out that the Canadian advertisement directed towards potential immigrants is not truthful.
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Simcoe-Place1.jpg
 
Just for my own clarification does CF have approval for one residential project to go ahead?
 
rdaner said:
Just for my own clarification does CF have approval for one residential project to go ahead?
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Not to my knowledge. No HOUSING has been advanced beyond the MZO at East Harbour yet.

The only thing that has been submitted beside the Transit-Hub is this OFFICE building at parcel 1B -
urbantoronto.ca

East Harbour '1B' Office Tower | UrbanToronto

East Harbour '1B' Office Tower, Toronto by 1
urbantoronto.ca urbantoronto.ca
 
Can someone explain to me why Montreal was able to maintain the Molson building and keep it with history but yet Toronto on this project was not able to. Once again Toronto not willing to keep its history within architecture. Montreal project not make 65 story towers either but yet we have to with every monster project. We need more architects passionate about Toronto like the architect who is designing that Molson project, even in his words he says he wants Montrealers to be proud of the final product, Toronto architects could care less it seems. And owners I guess as well.
 
Dinamo5 said:
Can someone explain to me why Montreal was able to maintain the Molson building and keep it with history but yet Toronto on this project was not able to. Once again Toronto not willing to keep its history within architecture. Montreal project not make 65 story towers either but yet we have to with every monster project. We need more architects passionate about Toronto like the architect who is designing that Molson project, even in his words he says he wants Montrealers to be proud of the final product, Toronto architects could care less it seems. And owners I guess as well.
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There is a lack of passion for the city. Its much more common to hear someone hates Toronto VS loves it. I'm not sure why but its not really something you can just fix..
 
Dinamo5 said:
Can someone explain to me why Montreal was able to maintain the Molson building and keep it with history but yet Toronto on this project was not able to. Once again Toronto not willing to keep its history within architecture. Montreal project not make 65 story towers either but yet we have to with every monster project. We need more architects passionate about Toronto like the architect who is designing that Molson project, even in his words he says he wants Montrealers to be proud of the final product, Toronto architects could care less it seems. And owners I guess as well.
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I think most people here agree it would have been a lovely heritage structure to maintain. At the very least it would be nice if they didn’t demolish it so hastily.

The big difference between this Unilever soap factory and the Molson brewery is the chemicals used. Most staff working in and around the soap factory required respirators. There are significant traces of pollutants and the effort to remediate was not deemed worthwhile.

As a consolation, and a sad one at that, some parts have been salvaged and will be fitted into the new designs. Colours and materials will be used to reflect the previous industrial look.

I’m not expecting East Harbour to be beautiful but I can understand why they’ve not retained the factory. I’d like to see some big design changes though, especially after seeing more recent, architecturally ambitious plans like Beltline Yards.
 
Dinamo5 said:
Can someone explain to me why Montreal was able to maintain the Molson building and keep it with history but yet Toronto on this project was not able to. Once again Toronto not willing to keep its history within architecture. Montreal project not make 65 story towers either but yet we have to with every monster project. We need more architects passionate about Toronto like the architect who is designing that Molson project, even in his words he says he wants Montrealers to be proud of the final product, Toronto architects could care less it seems. And owners I guess as well.
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As explained above - all old brick buildings are not the same. Former use is a huge part of the decision to retain or replace.

Molson building in Montreal, or the Distillery District in Toronto are easier to retain because the products that they made were always for human-consumption.

Whereas, the Soap Factory (or the Foundry site in the West Don Lands) were used for toxic industrial purposes -- which makes them a Pandora's Box of risk and cost.

If anything, Toronto as a City is overly concerned with keeping "old brick buildings" - if it actually wants to meet other priorities around Energy-Efficient Buildings and new Affordable Housing delivery.
 
Dinamo5 said:
Can someone explain to me why Montreal was able to maintain the Molson building and keep it with history but yet Toronto on this project was not able to. Once again Toronto not willing to keep its history within architecture. Montreal project not make 65 story towers either but yet we have to with every monster project. We need more architects passionate about Toronto like the architect who is designing that Molson project, even in his words he says he wants Montrealers to be proud of the final product, Toronto architects could care less it seems. And owners I guess as well.
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Architects, by and large, don't have a say. They just draw what they're told. You're tilting at windmills in blaming them.
 
Another factor in the demolition is the building was sitting in the floodplain and the Flood protection landform they are building on that side of the river cuts through it. Now they had a plan to keep it and build the landform around the building, but ultimately it was easier to remove.
Note that the BMW building has a similar situation and will be removed eventually or at least a very high chance.
 
HousingNowTO said:
If anything, Toronto as a City is overly concerned with keeping "old brick buildings"
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Alternately, Toronto as a City threw away so much of its heritage fabric in the past and replaced it with total dreck that there's are now a tiny, itsy-bitsy, squeaky little voice that hopes that maybe, possibly someone might occasionally consider not just bulldozing everything in sight. Hardly anybody, ever pays attention to that voice in any practical sense.

As someone who enjoys a good demolition, I can guarantee that there's no hesitation when it comes to bulldozing "old brick buildings."
 
Has Toronto really destroyed that much? There are entire communities of Bay and Gables in Toronto. That was the predominant scale over 100 years ago. Everyone destroyed soot covered wood framed neighbourhoods for highways that came to be and glass and steel mega plexes that never materialized. If Toronto had retained every Deco era or before high rise like Temple and Star it would still sit near the bottom for pre-war high rises in north eastern North America. There is not one ten storey residential high rise pre 1950 in populous Toronto. Chicago has a couple hundred. New York has thousands. Montreal has a handful too.

I never found a definitive answer to SSG Curtainwall being the standard in Montreal vs Toronto's window wall. It makes Montreal look grander eventhough I believe Montreal's post 2000 architecture design is a few bars lower than Torontos.
 
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