[buildup]

In caving so quickly, perhaps Tridel is confirming the market slowing, that they might have cut height anyways, and that they don't want to delay by appealing at the OMB.

I hope this is not the case.

 

[caltrane74]

I also believe the market and not these old timers had everything to do with the height reduction.

 

[ttk77]

Yeah....Out of fear that a project won't sell as well as hoped, I doubt any developer would want to admit that the market is slowing down. It seems pretty clear that Tridel is using the complaints, both from the neighbourhood association and the design review panel as an excuse to scale back on the project.

 

[Tewder]

I know many of you will disagree with me and my opinion, but this makes me SO angry, why the heck is Tridel even listening to this group of bitter retiree's? Leave it at 75! The height of our city is gaining, and rightly so. Toronto is a constantly evolving city, as is our skyline. If they don't want to live near tall buildings, then they really need to reasses their choice of neighbourhoods. They'd be happier in a small town, the burbs, or a smaller city, but if you're choosing to live in downtown Toronto, expect tall towers to be built, and please, don't whine about it when they are. Reminds me of a patient I had last year, who was blatantly complaining that there are way too many immigrants in Toronto (that's the polite version, needless to say I was forced to call security after she saw my Chinese co-worker and refused to be Xrayed by an, well, I can't repeat it here, but why do people live somewhere they hate, and instead of moving, insist on staying and being a miserable pain in you know what?). I calmly told her the city would be empty without them, and that immigration is what this city, and country is all about, to no avail, same goes to this group of whiners. To me, land downtown is valuable, so why not make the most of it, besides, tall towers are a symbol of strength, and prosperity, if this group had their way, there would be nothing over 10 floors. So, how is it that they actually managed to have Tridel drop seven floors off the height? The new south core, with giants like Ice 1 and 2, is creating a whole new stunning symbol of Toronto's prosperity, don't discourage it, it should be encouraged, dare I say, this is so typical of Toronto, it takes but a whisper to silence the entire chorus. I'm sure there must be a very good reason why Tridel backed down, but aside from possible declining sales, I can't, for the life of me, understand why they even listened to these people. As I said, I know many will disagree with me, and that's fine, variety is the spice of life, but I truly love tall towers, I have a passion for them, and things like this get under my skin, how will we ever grow higher when things like this are allowed to occur?

Silly boy. Relax and have a cup of tea.

 

[gristle]

Some people should get a grip. This is still a 68 floor proposal, not exactly stubby by any measure. As for the characterization of the age of some of the participants in the community meeting, grow up already. The age prejudice is coming through loud and clear. Hanlansboy's little diatribe about towers and strength and big erections and prosperity is a little too indicative of a fixation on numbers and little else. There's a little more to a successful building - and a successful city - than building heights, but as some here have limited their definition of urban to the number of floors of a structure, it's easy to see how anything old inevitably comes to be viewed as out of date and unfashionable. One has to wonder if Hanlansboy has similar view on old low-rise buildings as well (as in get rid of them because they are old and low-rise).

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I know many of you will disagree with me and my opinion, but this makes me SO angry,

I'm with you however I'm just disappointed because it's an opportunity to build high in an area that is permissive to tall buildings plus it appears to introduce a fresh design into a sea of glass. Oh, and it's a Wallman!

 

[Ric]

I'm with you however I'm just disappointed because it's an opportunity to build high in an area that is permissive to tall buildings plus it appears to introduce a fresh design into a sea of glass. Oh, and it's a Wallman!

Guys relax. As mentioned b4, this height reduction has nothing to do with the objection of "old geysers" and everything to do with current market conditions. If the launch is a resounding success and the economy improves; I'll place bets that GG will seek additional floors.

 

[wang888]

Guys relax. As mentioned b4, this height reduction has nothing to do with the objection of "old geysers" and everything to do with current market conditions. If the launch is a resounding success and the economy improves; I'll place bets that GG will seek additional floors.

how high are the surrounding buildings?

 

[000]

PwC Tower 26 floors
Bremner Tower 30
Delta 45
Telus House 30
MLS North 53
MLS South 49
Ice North 67
Ice South 57

Ten York 68

Waterclub South 37
Waterclub East 37
Waterclub West 27
Number One York Quay North 39
Number One York Quay South 40
33 Harbour Square 33
55/65 Harbour Square 38
WaterPark Place I 24
WaterPark Place II 18
WaterPark Place III 30

 

[urban]

Didn't someone say the height reduction is due to the fact that the building is triangular and to reduce sway?

 

[somuchwater]

Guys relax. As mentioned b4, this height reduction has nothing to do with the objection of "old geysers" and everything to do with current market conditions. If the launch is a resounding success and the economy improves; I'll place bets that GG will seek additional floors.

Well, it's a good thing there are no old geysers on the site. Imagine the stability issues!

Edit: I can't leave my first UT comment at that. I actually think Ric's comment is spot-on. If the demand is there, they'll push for more. But a difference of 7 or 8 storeys doesn't seem like it will have a huge impact on the skyline, which should always remain as a secondary concern anyway.

 

[egotrippin]

^Talk about "spewing" nonsense, am I right!?

I'm here all week, try the veal.

 

[Hanlansboy]

Perhaps you're right, when I calm myself (I'm a tad emotional sometimes in case you didn't notice) and think about it, 7 floors probably won't make much difference. The point of my argument isn't the height per say, more over the fact that just because a small group of seemingly wealthy retiree's whine, they change the plans. However, with the possibility that Tridel is just using their complaint as an excuse to hide slumping sales, that's entirely different, and you're right, if sales are brisk, they probably will end up adding more floors. I remember reading an article when 10 York's design was first shown to the public claiming that 75 floors is the highest the base would allow them to build, so 68 leaves a bit of "wiggle room" so to speak, time will tell. Either way, I'm excited to see how it will look!

 

[buildup]

Perhaps you should get mad again. IMO a 10% difference is a lot. Its like a guy who 6'0" standing beside a guy 6'7" very noticable.

 

[000]

Don't spill your milks guys, have some patience, they will make up for height on some other project if they need to. Notice how all the office tower additions aren't really that tall at all despite being in the sooper tall building zone? Not everything has to be built *right now*.

Over the pond notice the huge vacancy rates in Khalifa Tower? What about the Ryugyong Hotel under construction for 25 years? Is height really that significant of a symbol of prosperity? We have lots of land and our CBD can be extended to the Portlands if our city keeps investing in itself and not settling on 3rd world infrastructure (i.e. over capacity buses on Queens Quay East)