Canadian City Proposals

[Rico Rommheim]

Raising the height limit will benefit no one.

Except land developers and 8 or 9 geeks on an internet forum.

To say that raising the height limit will make the city better or anything better is absurd, as it is completely unnecessary in the pursuit of making city life more enjoyable.

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by itom 987

The vast majority of Edmontonians didn't mind the municipal airport when it was still an airport. It was up to us to bring the issue up and convince the city to remove it, it ended up being a david VS goliath battle given the wealthy people that backed the airport but we succeeded and the city has been better off because of it.

If you want to make a change for the better in Montreal it will be up to people like you to change the mindset Montrealers have about the hill. I'm not saying that the hill is a bad asset for the city, all I am saying is that the height limit is out of date and has lost its purpose. Would you rather have a 200m skyscraper wall surrounding the hill competely blocking the view of the hill from the river, or a few taller buildings poking above the hill that still leaves part of the hill visible from the river.

I’m not invested in the matter as much as you think. I don’t think the height limit is necessary, but it doesn’t change anything in my appreciation of the city. I like tall buildings as much as the next guy, but architecture, design and sound urbanism are way more important to me.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by uzi

is that in Calgary?

Yes it is. It is located on the site of the former YWCA. Great Gulf also owns the parking lots directly across the street from this and have another proposal there which will compliment this one quite well. On SRC we have heard from a few reliable forumers that this proposal is solid and that Great Gulf is seeking to move ahead with it.

Here is a zoomed out version of the main render from the last page showing greater context within the city. Bridgeland is in the background, East Village to the right, and Chinatown to the left. It'll also be connected to Bow Valley College (the 2 blocks directly south) via a +15 skybridge.

[LilZebra]

^^^


Would like that in Winnipeg too!

[Dmajackson]

This is effectvely under construction right now in Bayers Lake, Halifax (suburban business park).


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

If the renderings are true and it is 28 stories this could be the tallest building in Atlantic Canada when completed beating out The Vuze (Fenwick Tower) at 98 metres. The views for the rooftop restaurant would be unobstructed and include all of the Chebucto Wilderness lands to the south, Birch Cove/Blue Mountain to the north, Northwest Arm, and it should peak over Geizers and Cowie Hills to include Halifax's urban core. At 100 metres the horizon could be up to 35kms away so that also includes the Atlantic Ocean.

[ericmacm]

I don't know if these made it into this thread before, but we have some stuff going on down in Windsor now. They're not impressive projects by any means but they're a huge deal at the moment because Windsor has been completely kneecapped for some time now due to the financial crisis. Things have been picking up since around 2014 (I came here in 2015 so I've been able to see things change quite a bit). There hasn't been construction or new apartment/condo proposals happening like this in Windsor for a very long time.

850 Wyandotte Street W (Under Construction)



The Hive on Pelissier (Demolition Underway)



Eastside Horizons (Proposed)



955 On The Avenue (Under Construction)





DoubleTree Hotel Conversion (Abandoned Radisson being converted into a DoubleTree, still proposed)



Here's what the building looks like currently:

[esquire]

^ What happened to the Radisson? How long has it been closed?

[ericmacm]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ What happened to the Radisson? How long has it been closed?

It got bought around 2013 by Farhi Holdings. They were planning on turning it into a student residence, but absolutely nothing happened and it's just been sitting empty since then, like most of Farhi's properties. Finally heard some stirrings last year of a plan to turn it into a DoubleTree. Recently, Windsor city council approved some funding to help get this going as part of an ongoing downtown renewal initiative.

[itom 987]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

Raising the height limit will benefit no one.

Except land developers and 8 or 9 geeks on an internet forum.

To say that raising the height limit will make the city better or anything better is absurd, as it is completely unnecessary in the pursuit of making city life more enjoyable.

Nor does raising the height limit hinder, stifling Montreal's potential doesn't help Montreal.

Keep the height limit and you might get what is happing in Vancouver where one of the surrounding cities becomes open to taller buildings and ends up stealing attention away from Vancouver.

[MTLskyline]

I would be all for raising the height limit, however.. I would say above 180m, it should be considered a "landmark" class of building that is subject to more stringent architectural criteria, and a thorough architecture review (taking into account how it fits in with its surroundings at street level, and at a distance) by the city.

e.g. if a developer wants to build a 250m building, let them, but to get approved, it better be worthy of being the city's tallest and most prestigious skyscraper. Otherwise, the developer will have to settle for building a 179m building.

What I wouldn't want, is ugly, cheap, balcony covered throw-away architecture that dwarfs Montreal's existing skyscrapers and ruins the look of the skyline.

[itom 987]

^ That's what you guys should be fighting for.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by itom 987

Nor does raising the height limit hinder, stifling Montreal's potential doesn't help Montreal.

Keep the height limit and you might get what is happing in Vancouver where one of the surrounding cities becomes open to taller buildings and ends up stealing attention away from Vancouver.

Aside from the aforementioned height-interested people on this forum, Burnaby is in absolutely no way stealing any attention away from Vancouver.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

Aside from the aforementioned height-interested people on this forum, Burnaby is in absolutely no way stealing any attention away from Vancouver.

In all fairness, Burnaby hasn't built taller than Vancouver yet. Nothing happens over night but when development is restricted in one jurisdiction it's inevitable over the long term (50+ years) that an adjacent jurisdiction where development its easier will steal growth and attention away.

Give this till 2070 and then ask the same question.

[cityguy]

Thanks for the Windsor update.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by ericmacm

It got bought around 2013 by Farhi Holdings. They were planning on turning it into a student residence, but absolutely nothing happened and it's just been sitting empty since then, like most of Farhi's properties. Finally heard some stirrings last year of a plan to turn it into a DoubleTree. Recently, Windsor city council approved some funding to help get this going as part of an ongoing downtown renewal initiative.

Good news... It seems odd for a relatively modern highrise hotel to be sitting vacant like that. Hopefully this Doubletree proposal will take off.

[ericmacm]

Originally Posted by esquire

Good news... It seems odd for a relatively modern highrise hotel to be sitting vacant like that. Hopefully this Doubletree proposal will take off.

It is definitely odd for it to be sitting vacant but it also doesn't surprise me as Windsor has a ton of hotels already, there are about 5 major ones in the core already, along with a few more high profile ones along Huron Church by the bridge. Hopefully DoubleTree does take off, it'll be nice to redo yet another abandoned building in Windsor.

[Airboy]

Nice to see Winsor picking up.

Heard that the first Caisson went in for the Gordy Howe bridge last week. That should start things moving.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Yes it is. It is located on the site of the former YWCA. Great Gulf also owns the parking lots directly across the street from this and have another proposal there which will compliment this one quite well. On SRC we have heard from a few reliable forumers that this proposal is solid and that Great Gulf is seeking to move ahead with it.

Here is a zoomed out version of the main render from the last page showing greater context within the city. Bridgeland is in the background, East Village to the right, and Chinatown to the left. It'll also be connected to Bow Valley College (the 2 blocks directly south) via a +15 skybridge.

I wondered what was happening with that site. Very different design for Calgary. I fear we’re a bit late to the party when it comes to curvy organic design but I’ll take it. A few years ago this would have knocked my socks off. Now it looks a bit like a rehash. Also not crazy about quadruplets. Very exciting to see something of this magnitude being proposed right now in our downtown though.

[TorontoDrew]

121 Portland Avenue Toronto


source: Urbantoronto.ca

The revised exterior features a grid of white and copper-hued precast concrete panels, metal balustrade balcony guards, and a mix of opaque spandrel panels and metal slab edge coverings on upper floors.

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

Aside from the aforementioned height-interested people on this forum, Burnaby is in absolutely no way stealing any attention away from Vancouver.

Not even close. Burnaby is about to receive BC's tallest building and nobody really talks about it, because it is a generic, suburban-condo tower that happens to have an extra 30 or 40 metres. Who cares about the height if the quality is so low.