[vatche]

Some!!!! How about make it an obligation, a law that they all have to contribute somehow to the public space in front of the building!!!

 

[kkgg7]

Have you guys worked in construction? Regardless if you have or not, 4 years to complete a tower is slow.

I agree with you. Why people just can't admit the extremely low efficiency here.

To give an example, the Chrysler Building, 320m high, took less than two years to complete. Empire State Building, twice as high as the Four Season, took 2 years as well. The former World Trade Center took 6-7 years in total for both towers.

Whoever says it is not taking too long is delusional.

 

[AHK]

I agree with you. Why people just can't admit the extremely low efficiency here.

To give an example, the Chrysler Building, 320m high, took less than two years to complete. Empire State Building, twice as high as the Four Season, took 2 years as well. The former World Trade Center took 6-7 years in total for both towers.

Whoever says it is not taking too long is delusional.

Construction of the Empire State Building was done quickly - but a different time and different standards. Excavation ran from January 21, 1931 and construction of the building itself started just eight weeks later on March 17(dates and other info from Wikipedia). The workforce totaled 3,400 and five workers were killed during construction (no mention of the number of people injured on the job).

The construction process for below grade areas, ground floor, and above ground floors which are not 'typical floors' is much slower than typical floors - custom formwork must be assembled for each non-typical floor plus the first typical floor - a much slower process than typical floors. Below grade - depending on the size of the site, shoring, excavation, formwork and construction of the below grade floors can take up to two months per floor - one month down and one month back up for each level of basement (a rough estimate, taking into account shoring, excavation, footings and foundations, plus the floor by floor build back up of the basement levels).

Being a hotel, after the building is up to grade, more than the ground floor would be non-typical, I do not know the exact number, but the building would have at least a couple, if not more, floors of function rooms and other specialty spaces - each requiring custom formwork and construction.

Once the typical floors are reached, construction proceeds much more quickly. In the case of the Four Seasons however, I would expect that even then, there would be a change between what a typical floor would be in the condominium floors compared to the Hotel component.

One final consideration - the interior fit and finishes of the hotel would be of a custom and of a much higher standard than an office building. In the particular case of comparisons with the Empire State Building - opening for the Four Seasons means that all public spaces and common areas would be complete, and at least a reasonable number of hotel rooms available. In the case of the Empire State building - official completion of the building was to a much more rudimentary state - the building was very slow to lease up, and the interior floors were only built out as they were leased (the building was known for a long time as the 'Empty State Building), and only became profitable in 1950.

The other examples quoted - Chrysler Building - same comments as per the Empire State, although it did lease up more quickly, however 'completion' of an office building, with empty shell floors waiting for tenant fit-up is quite a different standard that completion of a hotel or residential condominium, which must be ready for use. With respect to the World Trade Centre - building two towers simultaneously - with two different, in parallel work sites - no reason why it should take any longer that building one comparable tower - so no reason why having two towers makes that a particularly onerous job.

Kkgg7 - to paraphrase your comment: Anyone who thinks that four years to construct a building as complex as the Four Seasons is taking too long, and is indicative of extremely low efficiency here - is delusional.

 

[condovo]

Now it's time to make the leap towards being more comprehensive with improvements and making sure that when money is spent, the design will succeed with experience gained from the past and the most successful and attractive urban design in other cities used as benchmarks for further improvements.

Need a new regime for that; new mayor, new council, new unions, new voters.

 

[scrapergeek]

The Regency Yorkville my god--saw the most typical vulgar residents hanging in that lobby today, vomit.

UD, I'm wondering. Were you ever bullied at school? Seriously, I'd love to know what turns a person into a character like you. You single handedly make this forum a depressing place to visit with your constant judgemental and pretentious attitude. If I could block your posts, I surely would.

 

[wopchop]

kkgg7, are you a construction professional? An engineer? An architect? Upon what expertise do you draw when making the claim that construction in Toronto takes "too long", and is not "efficient". Please elaborate.

 

[Tewder]

Some!!!! How about make it an obligation, a law that they all have to contribute somehow to the public space in front of the building!!!

Yes, but there needs to be a less incremental approach to improvements. Perhaps developers could be required to contribute funds to the BIA in question, who in turn would be required to earmark those funds to the public realm (improvements and upkeep), i.e. sidewalks, lighting, furnature, trees and plantings?

 

[urbanvillageboy]

UD, I'm wondering. Were you ever bullied at school? Seriously, I'd love to know what turns a person into a character like you. You single handedly make this forum a depressing place to visit with your constant judgemental and pretentious attitude. If I could block your posts, I surely would.

Not to mention bigoted.

 

[Thanos]

Yuckville was a dreary depressing pile of poo today, it needs a ton of $ thrown at it to make it presentable. All these condos have just turned the wealth inwards--rather than splurge on making the street attractive they're typically just focused on keeping the money in the condo buildings. The Regency Yorkville my god--saw the most typical vulgar residents hanging in that lobby today, vomit.

You are the greatest example of what is wrong with society today.
I could only imagine what people think of you when they come across you.
Why do you hate life so much?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Well, the language might be colourful and the tone judgemental - but let's face it, Regency Yorkville is a pile of poo, architecturally speaking. Not really sure about the residents.

AoD

 

[interchange42]

Enough ad hominem attacks please. Got problems with urbandreamer? Please PM him. And UD, the attitude is clearly not helpful. Anything further in this vein will be deleted.

42

 

[wmedia]

Enough ad hominem attacks please. Got problems with urbandreamer? Please PM him. And UD, the attitude is clearly not helpful. Anything further in this vein will be deleted.42

Thank you Interchange. As a resident of Yorkville, I found Urban Dreamer's comments utterly offensive. For one, he makes a baseless assumption that there is a “typical” resident of Yorkville (or guest of the Regency), and then goes on to claim that this section of society is vulgar and makes him want to vomit.

If a racial group was the object of such a statement, it would not be tolerated, but he thinks it’s acceptable for to slur a wealthy section of the community.

Judging by the other infantile comments he makes on other threads, it appears to me that his main objective seems to be to provoke other forum members, rather than offer any real constructive input to this forum.

Sorry to drag this out, but I needed to get this off my chest!

 

[urbandreamer]

^What?

I wasn't judging Yorkville, but rather, certain segments of the area. It's like seeing a guy driving a lowered Chevy Cavalier.

The Regency Yorkville is an architectural disaster, so why should it surprise me that its residents have questionable aesthetic taste? (We discussed this topic in detail during the construction of that building.) And how is this an attack on wealthy folk? Many rich ppl chose not to live in this area, so they could just be average ppl pretending to look well off? Who knows!

I have no problem with the area, just my observations on a dreary overcast day.

I was merely showcasing the fact the new 4$ is a vast improvement to the area, with photos to prove it. It's easy to criticize a member, but why not post some photos for a change?

There's a reason twitter is where it's at these days...

When I go to the effort to take photos on a cold winters day, I believe I have the right to make comments about what I photograph

Bigoted? I fail to comprehend.....

As for constructive input on this forum--you do realize I volunteer for free out of my own generosity and curiousity to find secret info on new projects? Try doing something constructive indeed!

 

[Irishmonk]

UD, I'm wondering. Were you ever bullied at school? Seriously, I'd love to know what turns a person into a character like you. You single handedly make this forum a depressing place to visit with your constant judgemental and pretentious attitude. If I could block your posts, I surely would.

There's a twit-filter on here. Unfortunately it doesn't filter out quoted remarks.

 

[AlbertC]

February 3, 2012