154 Main St East | 81.75 m | 26 fl | Complete

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

This actually turned out pretty well I gotta say. Still surprised there isn't any movement on the garage.

The shoring is all in place and some cement formed for the lower levels. Moving slow though, yes.

[matt602]

Every time a new condo/tall building gets put up on Main or King it just makes them look even worse by comparison. At least the skyline is a bit more buffed up now.

[Chronamut]

That liquidation place beside it now looks HORRIBLE in comparison - they need to fix all of that *does circle motions with hands*

but yeah it's looking pretty good so far - the entranceway looks a bit plain - I am interested to see what they put above the curtainwall on the first floor - where it juts out. The renders just kinda show a — bar there.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

It's not hideous. Is that complimentary enough?

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by lachlanholmes

Floor-to-ceiling glass walls have now been installed at street level. I don't recall a single commercial unit this developer's ever built that has actually been occupied for commercial purposes, however, so expect an an empty street level here for years to come.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

Floor-to-ceiling glass walls have now been installed at street level. I don't recall a single commercial unit this developer's ever built that has actually been occupied for commercial purposes, however, so expect an an empty street level here for years to come.

I wonder if there is some sort of policy the city could create to force these units to be filled. It seems like they just use them as a loss, and that loss needs to be less than some kind of vacancy tax. I'd like to see a commercial vacancy tax on units at 6 month, 12 month and 14 month increments unless the owner can prove there are plans for the unit.

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

I wonder if there is some sort of policy the city could create to force these units to be filled. It seems like they just use them as a loss, and that loss needs to be less than some kind of vacancy tax. I'd like to see a commercial vacancy tax on units at 6 month, 12 month and 14 month increments unless the owner can prove there are plans for the unit.

Cities have started doing that for vacant properties so I don't see why they couldn't do it for vacant units within properties.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

Cities have started doing that for vacant properties so I don't see why they couldn't do it for vacant units within properties.

Having spoken with some individuals at the Barton Street BIA, a huge problem with all the vacant units is that the owners live in Stoney Creek and don't want to bother renting out the units because they have no debt and just pay property tax on the property which means $416/month which can be put as a rental loss on your taxes, meaning the tax back brings the after taxes cost down to $334 assuming they're not in the second tax bracket. The more money they have, the cheaper it is to just be lazy and do nothing with it.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^One of the many perverse incentives of taxation...

[Markus83]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

I wonder if there is some sort of policy the city could create to force these units to be filled. It seems like they just use them as a loss, and that loss needs to be less than some kind of vacancy tax. I'd like to see a commercial vacancy tax on units at 6 month, 12 month and 14 month increments unless the owner can prove there are plans for the unit.

That's a good idea.

[Davis137]

I kinda like that the exterior on this has some minor similarities to Century21...Errr, Landmark...from some vantage points it doesn't look like an eyesore. The 100+ year old buildings right next to it look dinge-y now...

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by Davis137

I kinda like that the exterior on this has some minor similarities to Century21...Errr, Landmark...from some vantage points it doesn't look like an eyesore. The 100+ year old buildings right next to it look dinge-y now...

Yeah those ones definitely need to be gentrified to reflect a higher aesthetic- fix the window treatments, powerwash/sodablast it etc.

Mind you that building probably won't last in future - itll just get knocked down for more high rises most likely. This whole stretch will eventually be high rises.

[craftbeerdad]

Have to imagine the Hertz location will be prime for development since they're bankrupt and haven't had a presence for over half a year.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by craftbeerdad

Have to imagine the Hertz location will be prime for development since they're bankrupt and haven't had a presence for over half a year.

yup, better start taking pics now for "vanished hamilton"

on the plus side, the most expensive restaurant in the entire city shakespeares is across the road, and if it can survive the pandemic I highly doubt it'll ever be knocked over..

I still would love to eat there one day, just for the novelty of it...

[thelandofdustin]

This looks cheap. Sure its brighter, but it's literally a box. The mech is a huge disappointment. Looks stubby - zero presence, just blends right on it. I'm a huge supporter of stepped massing, and decorative mech levels. Anything over than a box on top of a box. You can get away with that if the tower is much taller, but it being so short, and it being very visible, more should have been done to stand out.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by thelandofdustin

This looks cheap. Sure its brighter, but it's literally a box. The mech is a huge disappointment. Looks stubby - zero presence, just blends right on it. I'm a huge supporter of stepped massing, and decorative mech levels. Anything over than a box on top of a box. You can get away with that if the tower is much taller, but it being so short, and it being very visible, more should have been done to stand out.

Welcome to the club of the box haters lol..

And welcome to the land of lazy cheap designs...

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by thelandofdustin

This looks cheap. Sure its brighter, but it's literally a box. The mech is a huge disappointment. Looks stubby - zero presence, just blends right on it. I'm a huge supporter of stepped massing, and decorative mech levels. Anything over than a box on top of a box. You can get away with that if the tower is much taller, but it being so short, and it being very visible, more should have been done to stand out.

MPs not done yet. The renders suggest an interesting design, perhaps even a luminescent feature (scroll back to earlier pages in this thread). Here's hoping the construction plan aligns with the plan depicted in renders.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

MPs not done yet. The renders suggest an interesting design, perhaps even a luminescent feature (scroll back to earlier pages in this thread). Here's hoping the construction plan aligns with the plan depicted in renders.

they changed the design after the render - the floor plans show the updated design - so I don't know how much of the original render look will survive.

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