TORONTO | Highrise Developments Compilation Thread - Page 264

LivinAWestLife · #**5261** Posted **Apr 25, 2025, 7:40 PM**

Toronto has officially hit 100 skyscrapers according to CTBUH's numbers. (Reddit post is mine below)

Toronto's metro will surpass Chicago's in skyscrapers when every skyscraper under construction is complete, which would likely be around 2027-2028. Toronto proper will surpass Chicago not long after, around 2030-2032 (by my estimation). If Chicago never gets a massive construction boom again, it will be permanently left behind.

Chicago is still some ways ahead in the supertall department. However Toronto has 3 U/C and 1 likely to be built (Forma), so it will reach half of Chicago's 7 by 2030. Considering the number of supertall proposals, it will likely surpass Chicago in this regard eventually as well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/skyscrapers...ers_making_it/

Innsertnamehere · #**5262** Posted **Apr 25, 2025, 7:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LivinAWestLife

Toronto has officially hit 100 skyscrapers according to CTBUH's numbers. (Reddit post is mine below)

Toronto's metro will surpass Chicago's in skyscrapers when every skyscraper under construction is complete, which would likely be around 2027-2028. Toronto proper will surpass Chicago not long after, around 2030-2032 (by my estimation). If Chicago never gets a massive construction boom again, it will be permanently left behind.

Chicago is still some ways ahead in the supertall department. However Toronto has 3 U/C and 1 likely to be built (Forma), so it will reach half of Chicago's 7 by 2030. Considering the number of supertall proposals, it will likely surpass Chicago in this regard eventually as well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/skyscrapers...ers_making_it/

There is a huge slowdown in the condo industry in Toronto which is sidelining a LOT of proposals right now. Toronto's going to slow down the pace a bit for the next few years, I suspect.

yaletown_fella · #**5263** Posted **Apr 26, 2025, 7:57 AM**

By some metrics , such as quantity of high rises in both the city and inner suburbs , Toronto already has a much more vast and extensive skyline than Chicago, especially when you account for seperate nodes such as Yonge Eglinton, Don Mills, Fairview Mall, Six Points, NYCC

But I dont see how we will ever compete with Chicago when it comes to build quality. We don't have the beaux arts and art deco stock and downtown river that gives Chicago its dramatic beauty. Chicago's skyline is much more neat, orderly and visually appealing, while ours is cluttered with bad trends and "premium" semi-gloss window wall and also the soviet style social housing of the late 60s and early 70s.

koops65 · #**5264** Posted **Apr 27, 2025, 6:56 PM**

Burke:

[IMG]

[/IMG]

Zoomed:

[IMG]

[/IMG]

WhipperSnapper · #**5265** Posted **Apr 27, 2025, 7:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LivinAWestLife

Toronto has officially hit 100 skyscrapers according to CTBUH's numbers. (Reddit post is mine below)

Toronto's metro will surpass Chicago's in skyscrapers when every skyscraper under construction is complete, which would likely be around 2027-2028. Toronto proper will surpass Chicago not long after, around 2030-2032 (by my estimation). If Chicago never gets a massive construction boom again, it will be permanently left behind.

Chicago is still some ways ahead in the supertall department. However Toronto has 3 U/C and 1 likely to be built (Forma), so it will reach half of Chicago's 7 by 2030. Considering the number of supertall proposals, it will likely surpass Chicago in this regard eventually as well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/skyscrapers...ers_making_it/

•Toronto surpassed 100 built on SSP last year.
•The supertall Forma is as likely to be built as any other supertall proposed.
•Toronto is 10 skyscrapers behind Chicago including built and under construction. 10 skyscrapers starting over the next 2 years for completion in 2030 to 2032 is not happening.

koops65 · #**5266** Posted **Apr 27, 2025, 11:03 PM**

Toronto almost caught up to Chicago in number of skyscrapers during the building boom (2007 - 2024).

Back then, in 2007, there were only 18: https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?searchID=108845413

Now there are 131: https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?searchID=108845419

Nouvellecosse · #**5267** Posted **Apr 27, 2025, 11:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

By some metrics , such as quantity of high rises in both the city and inner suburbs , Toronto already has a much more vast and extensive skyline than Chicago, especially when you account for seperate nodes such as Yonge Eglinton, Don Mills, Fairview Mall, Six Points, NYCC

But I dont see how we will ever compete with Chicago when it comes to build quality. We don't have the beaux arts and art deco stock and downtown river that gives Chicago its dramatic beauty. Chicago's skyline is much more neat, orderly and visually appealing, while ours is cluttered with bad trends and "premium" semi-gloss window wall and also the soviet style social housing of the late 60s and early 70s.

I agree about natural features like the river which will mean Chicago will likely remain more beautiful. But I consider that more of a city beauty thing than a skyline specific thing. While a skyline can play a role in a city's beauty, I find that things like natural setting/geography, non-skyline impacting buildings, parks, trees, street layout etc. combine to play a bigger role.

I'm also not sure about the issue of quality. It seems to me that Chicago's advantage in that area is almost entirely down to it having a much higher proportion of office buildings which tend to be more prestigious with more premium designs than residential. Metro Chicago is still larger and can support more office but that may not be the case forever. Toronto is catching up in pure numbers since highrise living has always been more common here but Toronto's office projects aren't really inferior on average. For quality, I'd put buildings like Scotia Plaza, the CIBC Squares, RBC plaza, CCW etc. on the same tier as most large Chicago office towers. Chicago just has a lot more with fewer residential buildings cluttering things up.

It's true that Chicago has more variety in architectural styles, but that's mainly just due to Chicago building for longer. We can see the same issue affect many other cities that matured more recently than Chicago since if you look through the SSP global diagrams the overwhelming majority of large towers built in the last 20 years are blue glass.But that's something that tends to fix itself over time as style trends evolve.

LivinAWestLife · #**5268** Posted **Apr 28, 2025, 1:34 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

•Toronto surpassed 100 built on SSP last year.
•The supertall Forma is as likely to be built as any other supertall proposed.
•Toronto is 10 skyscrapers behind Chicago including built and under construction. 10 skyscrapers starting over the next 2 years for completion in 2030 to 2032 is not happening.

For completion in 2032, it’s definitely plausible for a building to start construction in 2028-2029. That gives 10 buildings to start in 2026-2029 which surely seems very plausible to me.

koops65 · #**5269** Posted **Apr 28, 2025, 5:14 AM**

Sky tower and The One photoshopped, in HD:

[IMG]

[/IMG]

Original photo credit: https://old.reddit.com/user/MarkwBrooks

WhipperSnapper · #**5270** Posted **Apr 28, 2025, 8:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LivinAWestLife

For completion in 2032, it’s definitely plausible for a building to start construction in 2028-2029. That gives 10 buildings to start in 2026-2029 which surely seems very plausible to me.

Doubt any of the over 100 skyscrapers built since 2000 in Greater Toronto managed construction in less than 3 years. Less than 4 is plausible (Centrecourt has done it and with lots of time to spare ) however, I didn't choose 2 years from now to start lightly.

I don't think it's the end of skyscraper starts however, 10 starts to tie Chicago is alot to ask even over the next 3.5 years. One possible stimulus is a Liberal majority and a continuation of the last 9 years. Otherwise, overall market growth will continue to slow and cheaper cities/regions like Calgary, Edmonton, Maritimes "steal" from Toronto.

koops65 · #**5271** Posted **May 3, 2025, 7:10 AM**

Concord Sky:

• Video Link

Northern Light · #**5272** Posted **May 3, 2025, 12:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Doubt any of the over 100 skyscrapers built since 2000 in Greater Toronto managed construction in less than 3 years. Less than 4 is plausible (Centrecourt has done it and with lots of time to spare ) however, I didn't choose 2 years from now to start lightly.

I don't think it's the end of skyscraper starts however, 10 starts to tie Chicago is alot to ask even over the next 3.5 years. One possible stimulus is a Liberal majority and a continuation of the last 9 years. Otherwise, overall market growth will continue to slow and cheaper cities/regions like Calgary, Edmonton, Maritimes "steal" from Toronto.

3 not yet started projects that meet the height requirement have financing and incentives in place and are required to start before the end of 2026.

2 buildings at Quayside and 49 Ontario Street.

The City is currently negotiationg with additional proponents, and some of those proposals meet the height requirements.

So its more plausible than you think. Though certainly not assured.

These are all purpose-built rental with affordable units representing a portion of the total.

WhipperSnapper · #**5273** Posted **May 6, 2025, 8:46 PM**

The fundamental for rental investment are only getting worse. Developers capable of financing development walk away from leases with binding starts all the time if it doesn't make sense to build.

The city should not provide the financial incentives to improve the fundamentals in order for skyscrapers to be build. That's for someone larger like the Feds and, with the Liberals now having won, that should greatly improve upon the plausibility of ten skyscrapers breaking ground in the next few years. Should they is, again, another matter. Skyscrapers represent the most expensive form of housing on the most expensive plots of land in the most expensive cities. It's the least bang for your buck to make Canada affordable.