urbandreamer
recession proof
Cal, you're comparing this building to the RC, S-L etc?
Sorry, this building is in a different league.
It's much much better.
Sorry, this building is in a different league.
It's much much better.
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caltrane74
Senior Member
No, I wasn't doing that.
Just saying these people that are moving in (Ritz/Shangrila/Trump) have a little eye candy when they go to the metro hall park, or Roy Thomson Hall, or TIFF, or the Royal Alex.
this area is the destination now...
Just saying these people that are moving in (Ritz/Shangrila/Trump) have a little eye candy when they go to the metro hall park, or Roy Thomson Hall, or TIFF, or the Royal Alex.
this area is the destination now...
urbandreamer
recession proof
I guess.... Although to be honest, I find the area rather dull. I prefer King West from Spadina to Bathurst, as the tourists and ugly fat 519/905-ers in this strip scare me...
Oliver Tweed
Active Member
I guess.... Although to be honest, I find the area rather dull. I prefer King West from Spadina to Bathurst, as the tourists and ugly fat 519/905-ers in this strip scare me...
Wow. Harsh. But it cracked me up. It's funny that you are scared by fat ugly tourists. What's funnier is imagining that the area would get better if the people walking around were slimmer and better looking.
It's a nice building, but it doesn't blow me away. I'm one of those people who has no problem with glass boxes. A box is the most basic shape for a structure, and glass is the most logical material given that natural light is what's desired inside most buildings.
The crosses make it interesting. Not sure how enduring that will be, though. A hundred years from now will those still be cool?
Ramako
Moderator
In my books, any condo still standing after 100 years is cool.
Mongo
Senior Member
Does anybody else think that it looks like it's being held together with giant rubber bands?
khris
Senior Member
The glass above the lobby is so awesome looking. Can't wait to see this built!
interested
Senior Member
I like this project too. I have one concern however. If I was to be an owner (and I won't be), I would not be happy to have an East or West view that would be blocked by the Aluminum or whatever material is there crossing in front of me. On some of these units, the view will be clear. On others, you will be quite obstructed. Can you imagine having the unit where the X is near the top of the building. That would be a huge visual obstruction I would think.
From the outside, I think the building is nice.
UD, I am prejudiced and I admit it but this doesn't hold a candle to the SL at least in my opinion. But that is just my own view.
UD, one other point, as a 905'er, I am neither fat nor do I believe I am ugly. Such a blanket dislike for the suburbanites I just don't get. I guess you can't travel at all to the USA as they have an even larger obesity problem than Canada.
To me, and I will get alot of heat for this, the Ritz despite all those who like it looks too much like an office building to me. So I would agree Theatre Park will be nicer. That said, I suspect the Ritz will be much nicer inside when finished that Theatre Park and we will have to see how it compares to SL.
From the outside, I think the building is nice.
UD, I am prejudiced and I admit it but this doesn't hold a candle to the SL at least in my opinion. But that is just my own view.
UD, one other point, as a 905'er, I am neither fat nor do I believe I am ugly. Such a blanket dislike for the suburbanites I just don't get. I guess you can't travel at all to the USA as they have an even larger obesity problem than Canada.
To me, and I will get alot of heat for this, the Ritz despite all those who like it looks too much like an office building to me. So I would agree Theatre Park will be nicer. That said, I suspect the Ritz will be much nicer inside when finished that Theatre Park and we will have to see how it compares to SL.
Northern Magus
Active Member
It's a great tower, and probably the only thing that could have made this project better for me would have been extending the podium all the way to King and including an Off-Off-Broadway sized theatre inside.
egotrippin
Senior Member
But look at the proportions. They are damn sexy. When it comes to residential buildings, I fully support clean and well-designed boxes. They are more practical for their intended use, and as aA and a few others have proven (Core, Wallman, et al) they can be quite stunning.
If we're to complain about "another ___ ___" it should be directed to all of the Page + Steele horizontally-banded, one-curvy-side condos, or all of Kirkor's terrible stubby Deco knock-offs.
cassius
Active Member
Eesh, I'm not sold on this building at all. I do like the base and even the way the bands at the top will obscure or hide the mechanical rooftop but directions and changing sizes of the bands throughout the main tower look like they're too random. I hope the execution comes out better then the rendering; even if it is a nice rendering.
As well, the tower and the podium area have almost no relation to each other.
I'm curious to know if the bands are precast or some kind of frosted glass ala TIFF's balconies. At least that way light could still pass through and into the residential units.
As well, the tower and the podium area have almost no relation to each other.
I'm curious to know if the bands are precast or some kind of frosted glass ala TIFF's balconies. At least that way light could still pass through and into the residential units.
JayBee
Senior Member
Site's up with floorplans and the other usual info.
Not too fond of the layouts. Also thought I'd see nicer finishes. Seem to be the same kind of finishes that other Lamb projects have...
What I do like though is that there are max 7 units per floor, I believe.
Not too fond of the layouts. Also thought I'd see nicer finishes. Seem to be the same kind of finishes that other Lamb projects have...
What I do like though is that there are max 7 units per floor, I believe.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
That was what I would have liked to have seen too, a modern mid-sized theatre with condos above. It's not much of a Theatre District with only four theatres.
LowPolygon
Senior Member
this is extraordinarily crude--but i wanted to get a very rough idea of what the pattern of the lattice actually was--quite beautiful i think, and hardly 'random'. its going to look amazing from King and John....
catcher_of_cats
Active Member
Lamb wins battle for King St. tower
National Post
Natalie Alcoba November 10, 2010 – 10:36 pm
A 47-storey condo tower that the city originally opposed will rise after all in the heart of the theatre district, but local Councillor Adam Vaughan aims to use heritage conservation powers to rein in the soaring structures that are sprouting up in the area.
The city and the team behind 224 King St. West, headed up by condo king Brad J. Lamb and prominent architect Peter Clewes, settled their differences before reaching the Ontario Municipal Board, the tribunal that rules on development disputes.
The overall height of the tower has come down slightly, to 157 metres from 164 metres, although two more floors have been added, Mr. Lamb said in an interview.
Located next to the Royal Alexandra Theatre, in what is now a parking lot, the “Theatre Park” blueprints set the tower back enough from King Street to create a public park that is heralded as the project’s centrepiece. The price of units will range from $299,900 to $3-million, said Mr. Lamb, or about $600- to $625-a-square-foot, and will go on sale next year.
“I am thrilled,” Mr. Lamb said of the outcome, which recently got a “rubber stamp” from the OMB to proceed.
When it first came up for approval in March, city staff voiced strong opposition to a height they believed overwhelmed the street and could jeopardize heritage buildings on the block by essentially making the conditions right for developers to snap them up and convert them into condo blocks.
The 224 King St. team argued that height was a non-issue, because a whole host of skyscrapers is coming online in the vicinity, including the 66-storey Shangri La and 42-floor Festival Tower on top of the TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Mr. Lamb agrees that preserving heritage is important in Toronto, but he said the Theatre Park property has been a parking lot for 40 years.
“There is no history, so let us make history by creating something different.”
Mr. Lamb owns the land, and is working with Niche Developments and HarHay Construction Management to develop it.
Councillor Vaughan sided with staff who opposed the project in March. While praising aspects of the design, he supported the tweaked proposal that council approved in August.
In the intervening months, Mr. Vaughan said the city has secured a heritage designation across the block, and has initiated a Heritage Conservation District study “to protect the rest of the area.”
“This may be the last tall building on this block,” said Mr. Vaughan, who represents Ward 20 (Trinity Spadina). He wants to move away from site-by-site development, and toward block-by-block development, so that neighbourhoods retain a certain scale, and residents can count on keeping the view they purchased.
Additional heritage controls will preserve the brick-and-beam warehouses and maintain the “commercial validity” of the burgeoning non-entertainment sector in the area, he said.
“I inherited the wild west, and we’re trying to civilize it a bit,” Mr. Vaughan said.
Theatre Park will spend 1% of its construction costs on public art, half of which will be located in the courtyard. It is also paying the city $1-million in development fees that will go to streetscape improvements on John Street, to public housing in the ward and to funding the King Street West Heritage Conservation District study.
“I think this, in a lot of ways, for the Royal Alex, it really presents it in a luxurious context,” Mr. Vaughan said. “Does it present other challenges, absolutely. Is it what the secondary plans 10 years ago envisioned? No, but we lost that,” he said, when the TIFF height was approved.
National Post
Natalie Alcoba November 10, 2010 – 10:36 pm
A 47-storey condo tower that the city originally opposed will rise after all in the heart of the theatre district, but local Councillor Adam Vaughan aims to use heritage conservation powers to rein in the soaring structures that are sprouting up in the area.
The city and the team behind 224 King St. West, headed up by condo king Brad J. Lamb and prominent architect Peter Clewes, settled their differences before reaching the Ontario Municipal Board, the tribunal that rules on development disputes.
The overall height of the tower has come down slightly, to 157 metres from 164 metres, although two more floors have been added, Mr. Lamb said in an interview.
Located next to the Royal Alexandra Theatre, in what is now a parking lot, the “Theatre Park” blueprints set the tower back enough from King Street to create a public park that is heralded as the project’s centrepiece. The price of units will range from $299,900 to $3-million, said Mr. Lamb, or about $600- to $625-a-square-foot, and will go on sale next year.
“I am thrilled,” Mr. Lamb said of the outcome, which recently got a “rubber stamp” from the OMB to proceed.
When it first came up for approval in March, city staff voiced strong opposition to a height they believed overwhelmed the street and could jeopardize heritage buildings on the block by essentially making the conditions right for developers to snap them up and convert them into condo blocks.
The 224 King St. team argued that height was a non-issue, because a whole host of skyscrapers is coming online in the vicinity, including the 66-storey Shangri La and 42-floor Festival Tower on top of the TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Mr. Lamb agrees that preserving heritage is important in Toronto, but he said the Theatre Park property has been a parking lot for 40 years.
“There is no history, so let us make history by creating something different.”
Mr. Lamb owns the land, and is working with Niche Developments and HarHay Construction Management to develop it.
Councillor Vaughan sided with staff who opposed the project in March. While praising aspects of the design, he supported the tweaked proposal that council approved in August.
In the intervening months, Mr. Vaughan said the city has secured a heritage designation across the block, and has initiated a Heritage Conservation District study “to protect the rest of the area.”
“This may be the last tall building on this block,” said Mr. Vaughan, who represents Ward 20 (Trinity Spadina). He wants to move away from site-by-site development, and toward block-by-block development, so that neighbourhoods retain a certain scale, and residents can count on keeping the view they purchased.
Additional heritage controls will preserve the brick-and-beam warehouses and maintain the “commercial validity” of the burgeoning non-entertainment sector in the area, he said.
“I inherited the wild west, and we’re trying to civilize it a bit,” Mr. Vaughan said.
Theatre Park will spend 1% of its construction costs on public art, half of which will be located in the courtyard. It is also paying the city $1-million in development fees that will go to streetscape improvements on John Street, to public housing in the ward and to funding the King Street West Heritage Conservation District study.
“I think this, in a lot of ways, for the Royal Alex, it really presents it in a luxurious context,” Mr. Vaughan said. “Does it present other challenges, absolutely. Is it what the secondary plans 10 years ago envisioned? No, but we lost that,” he said, when the TIFF height was approved.