[jn_12]

Thompson doesn't own the broadcasting assets anymore, just the Globe. He sold CTV, TSN, etc. to Bell. Well that is to say he won't own it once the deal is approved.

 

[unimaginative2]

Oh of course that's right. I completely forgot. What a bizarre game of musical owners.

 

[agoraflaneur]

Expanded G&M Article

"The Globe and Mail will build a new headquarters in the King Street West neighbourhood of Toronto, an area of the city that has been a hive of condo and hotel development over the past decade.

Woodbridge Co. Ltd., a private holding company that manages the assets of Canada’s Thomson family – including a majority stake in global information company Thomson Reuters Corp. and an imminent majority stake in The Globe and Mail – said on Thursday it will invest in new office space for the newspaper.

The building will likely be on Wellington Street West, near the site of its current home on Front Street West. The Thomson family owns about 80 per cent of the real estate on the block between Spadina Avenue and Portland Street, an area The Globe has called home since it bought the building from the former Toronto Telegram in 1971.

“You can’t walk through the front door of this building any more and say, ‘This is what a modern media company looks like,’ †said Geoff Beattie, chief executive officer of Woodbridge.

The Globe bought the Front Street West building for a reported $7-million after the Telegram closed in 1971. It left its King Street West building – which it had occupied since 1938 – three years later.

The Front Street headquarters is the seventh building the paper has occupied since 1844.

While a decision hasn’t been made on the fate of the 47-year-old building The Globe now occupies, the area has seen a rash of development since zoning laws were loosened in 1996. Condos have brought an influx of residents to the former industrial neighbourhood, and developers have renovated the area’s aging office space.

“King West is one of the most spectacular examples of urban transformation in the country and even the continent,†said Michael Emory, chief executive officer of Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). “When the zoning changed, the private sector really began transforming the area. It is a tremendously dynamic neighbourhood.â€

Mr. Emory, whose REIT is one of the largest owners of office space in the area, said tenants can occupy space in the neighbourhood for about 50 per cent of what it would cost in the nearby downtown core.

There are no specific timelines for development, although construction is expected to start by 2012."

This is an incredibly exciting project. Hopefully, there will be money to carry out the bookend park boulevard concept. It seems as though the parcel of land is awkward, I wonder if they can work to develop the entire parcel with an eye to something spectacular and interesting? A world media hub, furnished with all the latest communications technology has to offer? A mixed use pedestrian oriented boulevard with cafes, Canada's leading newspaper tucked inconspicuously next to the railroad (or, as has been mentioned, developing that side of the railroad)? The possibilities are endless, but, anything will be better than the built form offered by cracked concrete.

 

[Automation Gallery]

I think we are going to see more of a Corus look-a-like building for this area and nothing taller than 12-15 floors.

 

[adma]

Given the client, I can imagine them striving higher than Corus, in the hire-a-starchitect sense...

 

[grey]

They should rebuild their spectacular original building from King & York to exact specifications. I think it would look great fronting on Spadina & Front.

(Posted by thecharioteer in the Miscellany Toronto: Then & Now thread.)

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

adma:

I wouldn't be surprised if it's a Gehry - a la IAC.

AoD

 

[maestro]

It's a newpaper and not a bank. I don't see them needing more than 200,000 square feet and that's being generous. 38 storeys, for example, is ridiculous.

 

[Automation Gallery]

It's a newpaper and not a bank. I don't see them needing more than 200,000 square feet and that's being generous. 38 storeys, for example, is ridiculous.

I agree, i will eat my shoes if anything over 12-15 storeys is approved for that neighbourhood.

 

[DSCToronto]

It's a newpaper and not a bank. I don't see them needing more than 200,000 square feet and that's being generous. 38 storeys, for example, is ridiculous.

If a larger building was approved (and I think it's quite possible) I doubt if anyone would seriously expect G&M to occupy all of it - their press operation is most unlikely to move back downtown. Buildings named after Corporations (think BMO) are certainly not all occupied by that Corporation.

 

[Ramako]

Exactly. The New York Times building in Manhattan is full of other tenants. From Wikipedia:

The New York Times Company owns about 800,000 square feet (74,300 square meters) on the second through the 27th floors. Forest City Ratner owns about 700,000 square feet (65,032 square meters) on floors 29 through 52, as well as 21,000 square feet (1,951 square meters) of street-level retail space. The lobby and floors 28 and 51 are jointly owned.

Six law firms have their offices in the building: Covington & Burling LLP; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP (36th floor); Pepper Hamilton LLP (37th floor); Seyfarth Shaw LLP (31st-33rd floors); Goodwin Procter LLP (leasing floors 23-27 from the New York Times and floors 29-30 from FCRC) and Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC.

Other office tenants include: Barclays Center/New Jersey Nets, JAMS, Legg Mason, Markit Group Limited, The Resolution Experts, Samoo Architecture P.C., Autonomy Inc. and SJP Properties. Retail tenants include: Inakaya, Dean & DeLuca, and MUJI.

Towards the end of 2008, BT Group hope to have started consolidating their NY employees into new offices on the 45th and 46th floors.

On the first floor is the Times Center, an event space consisting of a 378-seat auditorium, a 900 square foot (84 square meter) gallery for exhibits and receptions, and 5,000 square foot (464 square meter) hall for banquets and parties.

Some types of tenants are prohibited under the terms of the lease of the property from the Empire State Development Corporation. These include medical offices, employment agencies, job training centers, and social-services offices.

 

[toto]

It's a newpaper and not a bank. I don't see them needing more than 200,000 square feet and that's being generous. 38 storeys, for example, is ridiculous.

It's also a newspaper that has laidoff most of staff in recent years.

My guess is that they will consolidate the Thomspon media companies. I'd love to see a Mckinsey (110 Charles St) type building. Quality. Not quantity.

 

[Big Daddy]

They would be foolish to build just for the Paper - build as big as you possibly can and use the profits from the centre pay your rent. The building is a profit centre - not a simple place for the Globe to occupy.

 

[sodapop]

i hope this turns out to be some kind of giant office tower that is leased out to other tenants and the globe gets some awesome podium with the printing press on the ground floor visible from the sidewalk (i'm not sure whether or not thats possible) it'd be fun to be able to walk by and see sundays paper being printed

 

[AHK]

i hope this turns out to be some kind of giant office tower that is leased out to other tenants and the globe gets some awesome podium with the printing press on the ground floor visible from the sidewalk (i'm not sure whether or not thats possible) it'd be fun to be able to walk by and see sundays paper being printed

Do not think that any of the newspapers print their own papers any more, certainly the Globe does not - it has been outsourced to commercial printers (except possibly for the Toronto Star - which ran into some issues when it tried to outsource the printing, and I am not sure of the final outcome). BTW - the Globe does not have - to my knowledge never did have - a Sunday edition.

AHK