TORONTO l Oxford Place l 326 M / 1,070 FT x 2 l Norman Foster
 

This is the Toronto Metro Convention Centre Redevelopment. This whole proposal is massive as it incorporates the long awaited Toronto Casino, a brand new convention centre, two office supertalls and two other buildings all while building over rail tracks (and demolishing the old convention centre).

"Oxford Place Facts
Developer and owner: Oxford Properties Group
Architect and Planner: Foster + Partners
Location: Front Street, bounded by Simcoe Street and Blue Jays Way
Total area: 11 acres with 7.35 million SF of master planned mixed-use development
Elements: * 1.1 million SF of Convention Centre
* 2.5 million SF of Office
* 1 million SF of Retail
* 600,000 SF of Residential
* 450,000 SF of Casino and Amenity Space
* 1.7 million SF of Hotel and Amenity Space
* 4,000 Parking Stalls On-Site
* 5.5 acres of public parkland, cooperating with neighboring stakeholders
Timeline: Contingent on City of Toronto support and Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation operator selection process. Oxford will be in a position to submit a rezoning application shortly after the necessary decisions are made."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle4608014/

http://www.marketwire.com/press-rele...to-1712716.htm

http://torontoist.com/wp-content/upl...-rendering.jpg

http://oxfordplace.ca/images/slide-aerialSkyline.jpg

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/837...photoen201.jpg

What is the likelihood that the casino will pass ?

Are those twin tower supertalls? WOW!

Looks like one massive project.

There's been a lot of talk in the past couple of years of a casino in downtown Toronto. Often it's talk of converting the land at Ontario Place, but in my opinion a more centrally located casino to the downtown core is more likely to be approved.
I can't say for sure, but I would postulate that there is a very high likelihood that the casino will be approved.

Gotcha, thanks.

If they are supertall it will be a close call, I would guess between 290 and 320 meters (950-1050 feet), based on their relationship to the observation area of CN Tower.

The image states "For massing / illustration only".

The casino will pass once a few people's pockets have been lined with that green stuff.

I'd rather not see twin towers, as we have so many of them as is - but the development does look promising.

Yes, these illustrations are rarely accurate when it comes to scale. They usually enlarge the proposal and reduce the size of everything else. The Delta Hotel (blocked by the 'Convention Centre' sign) is actually 160m tall or 29% the height of the CN Tower, but here they've made it look much shorter than that.

If the scale in the illustration is accurate, the office twins would be about 350m but as I've pointed out the scale is off.

This better be a supertall |:c.

Su-per-tall, su-per-tall~

Ah, very hard for this one to actually get approved. No doubt this one is going to take some time. Yes, I hope the towers are supertalls but I wouldnt get my hopes up.

Also, the fact that it is right in downtown upsets a lot of people due to traffic concerns and the concerns of people with gambling problems.

The traffic concern is a reasonable concern, because a casino will definetly cause pressure on the roads and on the gardiner.

But the concern about those with gambling problems is ridiculous. If that made sense then why keep any beer shops open? Close them down as well for those that are alcoholics.

Considering this is Toronto, this is a very decent proposal overall.

I also think this isn't the best location for a casino. Its a good location, don't get me wrong; but the best option IMO would be to build it on an artificial island they make by Ontario place. Who knows, maybe a hotel on that island too? Very Burj al Arab.

^ I would agree but the same arguments would still pop up...transportation (if it is an island then will there be ferries or the additional cost of a tunnel?). Also, the problem of those with gambling problems and so on...

It just seems like everything is criticized a bit much without giving a proper answer. City council really havent seem to have given a definite answer as to if they even want a casino. Same with the people of Toronto. And those that want it but not like this dont have a proper alternative themselves. (There was a thought to put it in Scarborough which eases on the traffic problem but I dont think Oxford wants to put it there because its not as glamorous as being close to downtown Toronto).

No, you want a casino central and easily accessible not tucked away on some out of the way place. What's the good of that?

Yea but how they look at it is if there is a good casino, people will go even if it is farther away and less accessible like Scarborough (not that I agree).

Here is the site of the eastern two towers of this project.

Wikipedia - http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier...er_skydeck.jpg

Word out of City Council is that the 2 tall eastern office towers are each 326m or 1070ft.

Great news! Perfect height for our first Supertalls. They will blend perfectly with the CN Tower, and are located in a good spot to keep the flow of the skyline from all directions. If anything they will link the CN Tower to FCP and Scotia Plaza and the CBD even better.

TORONTO l Oxford Place l 326 M / 1,070 FT x 2 l Norman Foster
 

Rumours of two supertalls coming to Oxford Place. 1070 feet each Foster will design.

http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2012/10/...ll-skyscrapers

http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2012/10/...ll-skyscrapers

With Foster, this can be exciting.

Toronto gets First Supertall Proposal in Ten Years

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QIqGOsIA2q...rmanfoster.jpg
Norman Foster New York City Design for World Trade Centre


Toronto Gets First Supertall Proposal in 10 Years


Today, we have learned through the administrators over at the forum www.urbantoronto.ca that the Oxford proposal for the Convention Centre and Railway lands south of Front Street in downtown Toronto and adjacent to the Union Centre Rail Terminal Plan two office skyscrapers with a total height of each tower to be 326 meters high. The secret did not reveal how many planned floors these office towers would have but at that height they would have to be between 75 to 85 office floors to attain that height.

Old New York World Trade Centre Design?

A question that has been asked by many on the Urban Toronto Forum, is whether these designs have been poached from the design competition to replace the New York City World Trade Centre Towers in 2001. The design looks similar to a Norman Foster proposal that I have included here:

The proposals for the Toronto Convention Centre look quite familiar, almost like we've seen them before. And trust it's not that we don't mind having them here in our city. We will take them, for the number one reason that they are not a box. So the party of speculation now begins regarding timelines, although to be honest, for these towers to begin, the convention centre must first be rebuilt, and relocated for that all to happen the current site would need to be demolished, but without loosing any convention space. So this timeline will be drawn out. Still we are excited about the prospect of these towers gracing the skyline, and right next to the CN Tower, nonetheless.

The Oxford Proposal for the Toronto Convention Centre and Railway Lands

For those uninitiated here is the Oxford Proposal for the Toronto Railway lands that was revealed about two weeks ago.


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-djpSJ3NWbm...convention.jpg

This is very exciting times for Toronto and its office construction. As explained above, the time taken for these to be built will be long, but worth the wait.

* off-topic posts deleted *

guys, "toronto vs. chicago" has been a forbidden topic in this forum for over 10 years now. the next person who even mentions the name of that other great lakes city in illinois in this thread will be getting suspended.

please keep the discussion on topic.

It's about time that Toronto finally gets a supertall.

Love that Foster design......

BTW - Shouldn't this thread be in "proposals" since construction hasn't started?

uhhhhhhhh, this thread IS in the proposals sub-fourm.





well, for whatever it's worth, the CN tower is real and it's been soaring mightily over toronto for several decades now. ;)

but indeed it is very cool that toronto is poised to gain not just one, but possibly two, 300+ m skyscrapers, and designed by Norman Foster no less! i absolutely loved his design for the WTC replacement "kissing towers", and if this toronto project ends up taking cues from that exercise, something very, very special could happen here.

definitely exciting!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees :D

OK, now let's all wait for the inevitable hand-wringing and eventual height reduction.

Very satisfying.
Not only are the designs amazing but it will be a great addition to the skyline to fill up the gap between FCP and the CN Tower looking from the lake.

Moreover the supertalls are part office which is great considering the amount of condos going up. Every city core should have some dominant office development and Toronto has been lacking in that segment. Finally a proposal that will put two more part office towers that are as big as the towers in the Financial District.

Not sure if the twin supertall idea is so great. It just might be too overpowering but in the end doesn't make a big difference considering the design and quality seems good.

Hope this teaches other developers the quality that Toronto is looking for.

Looks better there then here in NYC.

Looking at the rendering, they'll be knocking down those two hotels bookending the convention center, no?

And it looks like there are a handful of surface lots directly north that are begging for some development. Hopefully this spurs those lots into action.

^ That's an old pic, some of those parking lots have already been developed. RBC centre and Ritz now occupy the lots behind that office building across from the convention centre.

The convention centre and hotel bookends would be demolished. Like has been mentioned, the lots to the north now house skyscrapers: the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and RBC.

There is already a thread for this. You're making duplicate threads all over the place. Perhaps, you should check to see if there is a thread before making a new one. ;)

Could someone merge the threads. A 2nd thread has just been made for this development when one already existed. There are 4 towers: 326m (1070ft), 326m(1070ft), ???, ???.

This thread can be for the office towers?

The hotel towers and convention centre rebuilding can be in the other thread.

I agree with Cal's suggestion. With four towers going up as well as the revamping of the convention centre, it will get very crowded very quickly if all is in one thread.

Merged 'em anyways. It won't all get built at once.

Thanks.

Let's hope not.

Toronto has been sitting at 5% vacancy for office space for a while, yet office construction has not kept pace with demand. Looks like will see an unprecedented development and construction boom for office towers.

Just as the condo market was cooling...

The extremely low office vacancy rate was a surprise. The timing couldn't be better. Downtown has become heavily skewed towards residential, so a flurry of big office towers would be welcomed. Hopefully, some of these office towers will go north of Dundas to give the entire breadth of the core that big city feel.

Interesting. You're right though. Those Foster twins looked a little out of place in NYC. Near the CN Tower they look dynamite.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8464/8...ecc63ea5_z.jpg
Oxford by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Won`t be supertall-enough for me until it tops the antannae on FCP. ;) The `White Knight` on King St. in downtown TO seems unwilling to reliquish his crown...

My understanding is this isn't the final design by Foster but rather more a placeholder for now.

I like the proposed height. For its location it will blend perfectly with the viewing decks of the CN Tower without causing too great an obstruction to the distance view to the north east.

Personally I like the idea that the Oxford towers will surpass FCP in roof height, but not to the absolute tip. Unless they put an antenna or spire on top, which I doubt as there's no need for one so close to the CN Tower, and a spire just doesn't fit with the building's asthetics.

Heights have now been put into the database for these towers so the drawings for them that were in the diagrams are no longer showing.

http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?searchID=56692438

Between this and the John/King towers, we could have 5 supertalls u/c at the same time in a couple years.

Twin supertalls for Toronto?

I love it! :D

Hm, quite a stretch but who knows....

I never thought a supertall could be proposed so close to the CN Tower but I suppose this is a priority.

The height has been said to be negotiable and flexible by oxford so if the city doesnt agree (and they probably wont considering their hate for anything big and revolutionary) oxford might go ahead with a reduced height.

So it seems that oxford has proposed this height to simply draw away the attention from the casino that is mandatory.

In this area no one to complain.

The complaining will come from those opposed to the casino.

Sorry, but this kinda proves what a hack architect Foster really is. This guy can't come up with an original idea in 10 years and has to recycle a design for the WTC. Not impressed. Doesn't matter the location. This guy just has no original ideas.