505 Talbot Street / 30s / 315 ft / U/C

[GreatTallNorth2]

DOWNTOWN LONDON
Demand stretching towers to new heights . . . and lows 0

A new luxury condo tower proposed in downtown London would be the second-highest building on the city skyline, muscling out two others built by the same company.

The 30-storey tower, at 505 Talbot St., which could be under construction by the end of the year, will be a triple play for the Tricar Group, whose two Renaissance residential towers a few blocks south are now the second-highest buildings downtown.

At 96 metres, the new tower would eclipse the Renaissance towers by one metre but fall short of the 107-m One London Place, the office tower that still tops the downtown skyline. The Renaissance Towers — one condo building, one rental building — found a ready market, spurring Tricar to launch another project, a company official said. “There’s always an element of risk, but we are confident that the demand is going to be there for what we are bringing to market.” said Adam Carapella, Tricar’s vice-president of operations.

The new building will have a sweeping rooftop view of the Thames River and downtown, complimented by a bar and lounge, exercise room and possibly even a golf simulator.

“It gives you a whole different perspective of the city when you are up 30 storeys looking around.”

The 224 units will vary from a basic one-bedroom with a den, selling for around $250,000, while the penthouses will likely fetch more $1 million, based on similar units at the Renaissance condo tower.

The tower will require demolition of four properties at Talbot and Dufferin Ave., including the iConnect office housed in an 1880 building listed but not designated, on the city’s list of heritage properties.

Another building that will come down houses The Shire pub, a popular venue for local musicians.

The status of that property, at 511 Talbot St., was in doubt because of a lease dispute between the pub owners and the building owner.

Carapella said those issues have been resolved and Tricar has acquired the property. He said there will be a setback and a pedestrian corridor between the building and a historic church next door.

The new Tricar development is one of a series of high-rise residential towers that have been announced downtown by various developers, including a 30-storey tower on King St, a 25-storey tower at Wellington and Wolfe streets and two residential towers at King and Clarence streets.

But Carapella noted there’s been little progress on the other projects. “There’s a lot of development on paper. but nothing really come to fruition. We are definitely committed to this.”

The new Tricar building will require some zoning intensification, but Caraella the project is consistent with the city’s new blueprint for growth, the London Plan.

Units will be sold during construction, with a sales centre likely in the Renaissance complex.

Carapella said he hopes excavation will begin by the end of 2015, with an opening early next year.

- - -

505 Talbot St.

30 storeys, 96 m tall, second-highest tower in London.
224 residential units, from one-bedroom to penthouse suites.
Rooftop amenities include a bar, lounge and exercise area.

[GreatTallNorth2]

Are we getting closer to this tower being built? I hope so...

http://london.ctvnews.ca/mobile/developer-s-plans-clash-with-heritage-1.2524435

[Pimpmasterdac]

Hopefully it gets built soon! Only hope is there widen the road, have turning/on street parking. Talbot will be getting a busier.

The current buildings there are doing jack shit compared to a serious development like this. The report on CTV2 is annoying, in that the usual suspects again are trying to halt development..

Heritage Committee, the same one that find every building, outhouse, or brick worthy of designation for "heritage reasons" with the sole qualification is it's old age, not any intrinsic value. NIMBY neighbors who thought those old homes would remain for time immemorial, now having "their views" obstructed. As well the realization that there will be more development downtown viewing it as a hindrance to their resale value.

Always seems there's some groups looking to stop any development, smart, stupid, or otherwise.

[K85]

I propose this. Whichever would bring in more tax money, and population, gets a % of 100 dice. The other, gets the rest. Both roll. The side with the higher total of the dice wins the development. The other gets a kick in the nuts.

[MrSlippery519]

Are any of the buildings actually heritage designated? Or are people just complaining for the heck of it?

[K85]

Complaining. Even if they are designated, most of them, to me, get it due to looking old...

[MrSlippery519]

Right and that was my point, not that I am suggesting we start randomly knocking down actual heritage buildings but just because they are old does not mean they are designated as "safe"

I think that corner (and downtown in general) would greatly benefit from this tower and if Rygar also builds on the opposite side it would be amazing.

[K85]

Fully agree This seems a lot more of a real build (vs that shit farhi knocked down on Queens to build which never happened, or the old downtown library)

[bolognium]

I've said this before, but I think London is finally at the point where every heritage demolition deserves a thorough discussion. What we have left downtown is of extreme importance and no decision to demolish should be taken lightly. If both Tricar and Rygar go forward with their proposals we could lose a half-dozen houses on that corner. This is significant for a small area like the Talbot neighbourhood.

I'm completely torn on the issue. I can see where the conservationists are coming from as this neighbourhood is being completely eroded by new development, but on the other side of the coin I know this project would massively benefit the core. I'd expect us all to be mature enough to appreciate where each side is coming from.

Either way I'm expecting to be a little disappointed regardless of the outcome. I'm much more worried about the heritage properties on Rygar's corner, and whatever happens with Tricar right now may set a precedent for Rygar to demolish everything on their side.

[MrSlippery519]

^^^ Absolutely agree I can see both sides and there definitely needs to be certain property's set as heritage buildings.

I also would rather see the few properties on Rygar's land be salvaged as I think it could some how be incorporated into the design.

Tricar's plan unfortunately I do not see how you could keep any of those buildings, which I am okay with given the plan.

[Dwils01]

Agree with the above. It's nice to see new development downtown but those are some nice old houses that I would like to see saved somehow.

[ssiguy]

You definitely don't want to get into a Vancouver situation where the history and character of the city is up for sale and tear downs are the norm for any building over 30 years old. It has created a lot of housing and density but the city's soul has been sold and these glass boxes add little but sterility.

[GreatTallNorth2]

Well it certainly looks like this project is moving forward...

http://www.lfpress.com/2015/08/24/counci...icar-group-plans-a-29-storey-condo-tower

[Pimpmasterdac]

Good that sanity ruled the day on committee!

To stop a development like this for 3 old buildings, whose only heritage value is being old is, idiotic NIMBYism. How else is London suppose to attract development downtown if a bunch of busybodies on heritage committee will make a stink every time some old building bites the dust?

[flar]

Shame on London. I'd much rather have these old houses than another shitty commie block. Couldn't they find an empty lot, or look at the crappy one story building on the other side of Dufferin from this site.

[K85]

Live in London flar?

This is needed... Those buildings were never on the radar for heritage protection until people talked about knocking them down. NIMBY. That's all it was.

[GreatTallNorth2]

I really don't think those old buildings were of any value at all. There was really no ground swell support to keep them. As far as the new building being a commie block, that's a stretch as it is the nicest design in DT London since OLP.

[bolognium]

Slow down there, Pimp. While my pro-development side is pretty happy to see this tower going through, my pro-heritage side is definitely upset by this.

My attitude generally mirrors Flar and ssiguy's. In most cases I'd rather keep a heritage building than see new development occur. The building Tricar has proposed could literally be built anywhere, but those yellow brick houses are pretty unique to London and are in finite supply. When downtown starts to snowball, grow, and mature, where do you think all of the hip restaurants and pubs will be moving? Heritage gives a city its character and soul, hi-rises like Tricar's are practically utilitarian in comparison.

This situation is a bit of an exception for me, where I realize the tower is probably more beneficial than the houses. However, I'm very happy to see people questioning developers and trying to protect these houses. I'd hate to see a London where mega developments receive no opposition to leveling heritage homes.


Side note: This is sort of why I dislike heritage conservation districts. I've noticed a lot of people saying "it's not even a conservation district." If people keep using that excuse, we'll end up with a couple perfectly preserved neighbourhoods, but neighb's like Talbot North will be completely eroded and succumb to modern development.

I'd much rather see the odd house in a large neighbourhood like Woodfield knocked down for infill than see all of the century old homes on downtown's periphery leveled for buildings like the Harriston. Houses around the core get demolished regularly and a lot of people don't notice, and probably won't notice until it's too late.

[K85]

That is why people need to be proactive, not reactionary. They cause shit when things are being planned, not before anything is even thought of for the area.

This is why I'm of the mentality that nobody gave a damn before things started to happen (or maybe they did but it wasn't vocal enough), so let those buildings drop in the way of development.

[bolognium]

I don't think that's fair. You almost sound like one of those people that says "if you don't like it you should've bought it."

Heritage advocates can't just run around preemptively designating every friggin' building before the developers get to them. Of course it's reactionary, up until the Blackshire Pub was bought and iConect moved out of that corner mansion, people thought those houses were safe. They had owners and operating businesses, can you blame conservationists for not having them on their radar?

For the record, I noticed/appreciated these houses long before Tricar bought them. Please don't call me a NIMBY for appreciating heritage.