[jackattack]

Jul 1 -

from the north -

 

[AHK]

July 3 - an obvious major push on to complete the Portland Commons project. Large numbers of contractor staff on site, in multiple work locations around the building. The major focus appears to be the ground level perimeter of the building, where a number of landscaping and planting activities are underway. The shipment of remedial pieces for the damaged or missing cladding and glazing components has been received - pieces that have been received are stacked in their frames all around the ground level perimeter of the building. Some photos from mid-afternoon today (Wednesday, July 3) starting with the building overview:

Glazing shipment items on the left, landscaping plantings on the right

More glazing and cladding photos

Working on a section of the rooftop

Ground floor - still very much a construction staging area:

 

[rdaner]

Taken 6 July. Interested to see what retail is going here.

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

Potential retail here: Nothing Burgers, The White Elephant & Arms, Vapour Wares, The Incorporeal Dragon, Ghost City... >.<

 

[Rascacielo]

Today

 

[AHK]

July 19. A lot, but by no means all, of the remedial glazing and cladding sections have been installed, however there are still a number of pieces still sitting around at the sidewalk level.

Some overview photos, along with some more detailed ground level pictures.

A couple of Front Street photos:

Portland Street sidewalk, with still to be installed cladding and glazing sections:

From Front Street, looking north along the Portland Street sidewalk:

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

Sign says: 560,000 SF office space for lease! Good luck with that...

 

[AHK]

Sign says: 560,000 SF office space for lease! Good luck with that...

July 23 - Some thoughts on UtakataNoAnnex's comment below, but first some photos. Major change at Portland Commons is that both the Front and Portland Street sidewalks have basically been cleared and are open for use. The Portland Street sidewalk is quite wide, and would accommodate a sidewalk cafe patio, if and when a cafe ultimately opens here.

Portland Commons construction started with the initial site preparations in mid-2020, well after the start of the Covid-19 epidemic and the move to work from home. When I spoke with one of the development managers on site when they were just starting up, I asked whether it might not be better to wait a bit, and see how the situation unfolded, before committing to such a large, 560,000 square foot project being done without a signed lead tenant. His reply was that the developer (Carterra) had several deep pocketed institutional investors backing the project, with an eye to the long term results.

The site was always more suitable for residential, but with the in place planning restrictions on building heights for the area, and the need for separation between buildings, much more density, more saleable square footage could be achieved with the large single building floor plates for office, over multiple smaller residential buildings.

Now, in today's market, proximity to transit is a major priority, especially given the reconstruction of the Gardiner and associated traffic congestion, closeness to Union Station is as close to a must as can be. At least until all the available downtown core office space has been absorbed.

So the Toronto office market now has three new large 'white elephants': Hines T3 Waterfront, Hines T3 Sterling, and Portland Commons - all three buildings inflicted with the same blight, a relative lack of convenient access to transit.

Ultimately, Portland Commons should lease up, but when, how long it will take, remains to be seen.

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

To be clear, there's an awful lot to like about this building. My concern is that with the current market as it is, all the work, love and detailing that's gone into this project will be for not...

...I do hope that this can turn around here, but building this without an anchor client in the hopes they will come doesn't really work out that way outside of fantasy baseball movies.

 

[rdaner]

Taken 26 July.

 

[karledice]

Taken 26 July.

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Amazing pics and also you were able to get inside the lobby to document it!

 

[taal]

It's a new AAA (I suspect) office building, I suspect in time it'll attract tenants from nearby older buildings. It also has ~60K SF floor plans which is nearly unheard of.

I wonder if they could get some institutional use (e.g. schools).

 

[rdaner]

The ground floor has been really well planned with very high ceilings and a very clear layout that provides both grand spaces and more intimate areas. I would be very surprised if they haven’t already leased out the retail space. A Terroni would go really well here as would a hotel of some sort.

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

The ground floor has been really well planned with very high ceilings and a very clear layout that provides both grand spaces and more intimate areas. I would be very surprised if they haven’t already leased out the retail space. A Terroni would go really well here as would a hotel of some sort.

Hope it's more optimistic than my retail list up top! >.<

 

[drum118]

July 26
More up on my site shot from a distance

Can see the KING Toronto in the distance