Windsor was close to being named South Detroit, The Ferry, or Richmond, but Windsor was chosen to promote the heritage of English settlers in the city and to promote Windsor castle in Berkshire, England.

Names all across north America are taken from other existing places.

I liked the market in London when I visited! I thought it was nicely done, it had variety, was quaint and had a presence being right in the core.

Maybe it's just me but the material used in the Ren towers looks much nicer than the concrete that overwhelms the city. They looked like the have a beige undertone or something. I'm not sure what it is but they don't look as ghastly as the other commie blocks London has in it's downtown.

I still think London could use a little more colour.

I would tend to agree with that more color is needed.

I drove by yesterday and they are just starting the set-back, I would imagine this is going to be topped out sometime in the next month

Tower 1 and 2 from Warncliffe and Commissioners:

http://i.imgur.com/7wR1a.jpg

^^Nice shot, I love the vantage from that intersection

Nice pic!!

It'd be nice if London developers could stray away from that taupe-y beige colour for a little while.

Edit: 'They say taupe is very soothing.'

https://mail-attachment.googleuserco...VGnvmJygxeHvIk

Look'n swanky. This is really gonna look good once it's done.

Can't see the pictures you last posted.. for this and what I am guessing is renovations starting on the Dundas Street/Market Lane Fanshawe Building?

Here's a few pictures of Ren 2 taken around downtown:

http://i.imgur.com/zovXW.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rlPsW.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/6sgad.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/lEHxh.jpg

^excellent angles.

Side view at night

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8167/7...a0ffec8d_b.jpg
IMG_5905 by jamez999, on Flickr

So, you guys think this'll be topped out by next weekend?

http://i.imgur.com/veCcc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RCzm8.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/dxAvT.jpg

:previous:

Looking good!

:previous:

What's weird is that I was driving down Horton at almost the same time (7 - 8pm?) and snapped a few pics as driving by. Was going to post, but you have beat me to it.

I'm really surprised that no one has noticed/commented on how the second tower is in fact a totally different structure than the first tower. I have been waiting for some time to see if anyone would comment on this point, but alas no. Yes, both towers are thematically similar from an external appearance point of view, but one would find very few actual identical dimensions - and this is not like hand grenades (close doesn't count). As well, the internal layouts are completely different, the penthouses radically different including higher ceilings, the main residential component is shorter, the construction method very different, and unless something different is done with the mech room (one can never be sure as plans can be changed at the last minute sometimes), the building as a whole will be slightly shorter by as much as a story, making it not the tied-for-3rd, but the 5th tallest building in the city.

This is notable because Tricar was willing to forgo the economy of scale that twin towers offer in favor of going for a custom second building. This a vote of confidence in the market.

BTW: The 3,400 sq.ft. top floor penthouse must be pretty awesome when complete.

Edit: Forgot to reply to your question: It will be more than a week. It takes time to install the mech equipment. HVAC, elevators, etc. Still, I'd say late July at the most. Nonetheless, this was a very rapid build due to the prefab exterior panel construction method.

Yeah, I got out a couple times today between the rain, I think those pictures were taken around 5pm.

I guess I was being a little optimistic with my one week prediction, but either way it certainly has been a rapid progression. I see transports sitting on Ridout every morning with the prefab walls ready to be delivered.

I remember a few months ago you posted three line drawings showing the visible differences between the towers. It's interesting that despite retaining a very similar shape to Ren 1, so little of the building is actually the same. Do you know why Tricar would choose to design a completely different structure, but still keep basically the same silhouette? If they were going to such lengths, how much extra effort would it have been to create a noticeably different tower instead of another twin?

Also, what's your opinion on Tricar's new property on Ridout in Old South? The Tricar sign with "The Height of Living" is awfully tantalizing. As far as I know, I've never heard them use that slogan before. Is there any chance that's a clue that this may be a larger than average project for the area, or is that just wishful thinking? Would Tricar be able to get away with a downtown-sized development there because The Gartshore towers next door are already fairly substantial?

Tricar went with a different structure to accommodate fewer units of generally greater size - betting that the market contains buyers with sufficient funds to pay the extra $$$ for the larger luxury units. Developers (or rather their consultants) do market studies to determine the right balance of number of units/size of units/cost of unit to come up with what they think is the optimum business model for the market sector that they are looking to attract.

Why keep the same general silhouette? Mainly for visual symmetry in the development as viewed from the east and west. The idea is for two towers back to back facing outwards to the north and south. If the second tower were to be radically different, it would throw that visual balance out the window.

There are height restrictions in the zoning once one gets out of the downtown, and Old South is a sensitive and influential neighborhood. Seeing that the existing apartments are 16 stories but well set back from the street on a very large lot, and the Tricar lot next door is smaller and closer to the street, I'd be surprised if it was much taller than the Gartshore's 16 stories. I'd guess 15 -19 stories if anything. Remember the current development ongoing in Wortley Village is just a few blocks from this location, and the developer was nearly lynched for proposing 4 stories without a setback in his development.

When Tricar announced the second tower, they explained it would be redesigned because they were switching to condos instead of rental units as previously planned. There are less units because they made each unit larger than if it was a rental. It would have probably been rather difficult to clone the building on the outside while the inside is quite different. Window/door/balcony placement would be difficult to line up with the first tower.

Edit: Snark beat me by 1 minute to that explanation.

I go by that Tricar property on Ridout quite frequently. I'm patiently waiting for some other information to emerge. The Old South Community Organization has known that a high rise was likely for that property for some time now.

http://www.oscolondon.ca/whats-new/119.htm

OSCO doesn't appear to be against a high rise in that location. While NIMBYism doesn't appear to have any boundaries as to what people will protest, this region has a good quantity of multiple dwelling units. The resistance will hopefully be less than it was in Wortley Village.

I tried finding the original renders for Renaissance Place, but could not find them anywhere. Originally, they were not supposed to be parallel to each other, but rather perpendicular which would have made a more interesting look in the skyline.