Canadian City Proposals

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Nope, it's happening. The scope was just expanded. The track is under construction already I believe.

I have no issue with a race track but I thought land next to coulees were protected. It's an incredibly fragile eco-system. It makes for a spectacular setting but I'm a shocked that they've allowed development that close to it. These natural formations should be protected in the same way that Banff National Park, the Grand Canyon, and Uluru in Australia.

Those areas are precious and belong to all Canadians. It's appalling that they've caved to business (rich people) interests. How does this happen?

[blacktrojan3921]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I have no issue with a race track but I thought land next to coulees were protected. It's an incredibly fragile eco-system. It makes for a spectacular setting but I'm a shocked that they've allowed development that close to it. These natural formations should be protected in the same way that Banff National Park, the Grand Canyon, and Uluru in Australia.

Those areas are precious and belong to all Canadians. It's appalling that they've caved to business (rich people) interests. How does this happen?

It's also weird from an economic perspective; as the soil on the land is bentonite, which is prone to heaving and having rapid erosion rates. They will be paying for a lot of repairs to the road constantly.

[Chadillaccc]

It made it through federal environmental regulations, so I dunno. It's happening regardless.

But yes, I agree.

[youngregina]

Originally Posted by uzi

i was wondering the same thing. 2025 seems like very ambitious and is it even possible to build a fancy venue and a hotel for $500 million? may be they will water down the design in the final stages.

It’s not actually all that large. At 7000 seats, it would be at least half the size of a regular NHL arena. Also, the adjoining tower is quit short. It’s essentially an extra large theatre, with a really big stage.

[Hawrylyshyn]

Hamilton City Centre Redevelopment

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

some more renderings from Harlo Capital's (The developer) website:

https://www.harlocapital.com/project/77-james/





















The fact that they have broken down the block and provided a pedestrian extension if King William Street looks incredible, but it needs work on material selection still I think..

I'm also left wondering how they are providing parking now. Before they had a large above grade garage in the middle of the block, it looks like that has now been nixed and replaced with the courtyard. Where did the parking go? Underground? Or did they just kill most of it (Hopefully!)?

[905er]

Overall, I like this Hamilton proposal.. There are far too many commie block buildings downtown, so it's nice to see some new glass towers popping up. My biggest criticism is the base is aesthetically a little basic and the towers all being the exact same height is a bit boring. The pedestrian promenade looks very promising though.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by 905er

Overall, I like this Hamilton proposal.. There are far too many commie block buildings downtown, so it's nice to see some new glass towers popping up. My biggest criticism is the base is aesthetically a little basic and the towers all being the exact same height is a bit boring. The pedestrian promenade looks very promising though.

Hamilton has a height limit equal to the height of the escarpment downtown right now, so that's why they are all the same (relatively) short height. They did implement as of right zoning up to that height as well though, so this project is site plan approval only with no rezoning required.

[hipster duck]

Kudos to Hamilton if they can pull that off. I wonder how animated that King William St. pedestrian extension will be. After all, it's a dead end that terminates in the entrance to a failing mall and middling office tower.

The mews that cuts through the development to the north (an extension of Rebecca St?) would work if it could connect unimpeded with the farmer's market. Although, I see that it currently ends at a service entrance ramp.

Those downtown malls that Ontario cities built in the 1970s that busted blocks and eliminated side streets were all such urban planning disasters. We're really paying the price for all these blunders.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Hamilton has a height limit equal to the height of the escarpment downtown right now, so that's why they are all the same (relatively) short height. They did implement as of right zoning up to that height as well though, so this project is site plan approval only with no rezoning required.

These don't look as tall as some other of Hamilton's current buildings. Is this zoning bylaw somewhat new?

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

These don't look as tall as some other of Hamilton's current buildings. Is this zoning bylaw somewhat new?

maybe 3 years old now. The general limit is the 28-30 storey range depending on where you are downtown. The cities rationale was that they will give you 30 storeys as of right, but they generally don't tolerate applications for more than the as of right height. As a result most developers don't bother fighting it and just go in as of right which saves them 1-2 years of approvals.

A handful of existing buildings in the City are slightly taller than the limit already, including Landmark Place, the Marquee which was just completed, as well as two development applications that haven't been built yet. One was approved before the height limit, the other is a Brad Lamb project who managed to exceed it through an LPAT approval.

[TorontoDrew]

It looks like this proposal is now much closer to seeing shovels in the ground. The design Panel was impressed and enthusiastic about the design, and voted unanimously in support of the project. I know a few forumers here can't stand it, I'm not one of them.

From: urbantoronto.ca

Address 700 University Ave, Toronto, Ontario
Category Office, Public Space, Rental, Residential, Retail
Status Pre-Construction
Number of Buildings 2
Storeys 61, 5
Number of Units 531
Developer KingSett Capital
Architect KPMB Architects

The Panel was impressed by several aspirations of the project. First, the retrofit of the existing building is aiming to transform it into a carbon-neutral structure. Now approaching its 45th anniversary, the building systems are in need of an upgrade, and KingSett has seized the opportunity to set an example for sustainable rehabilitation of existing office towers. As well, the rental tower is targeting Passive House performance.

As part of the retrofit, 5 new floors are being added on top of the existing tower, creating 30,000 square feet of new office space. As well, the top level is a partial floor that will contain a conference and event centre, similar to that installed on the top floor of the Globe and Mail Centre, which has proven to be quite successful.







Hopefully the marketing team will have more high res and detailed renders of the tower soon.

[uzi]

i hope it gets built. Kingsett never builds, especially something of this scale. they flip properties.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

The hotel isn’t a federal building though - it’s a hotel. And a faux heritage one at that.

The addition is sensitive to it while still distinguishing itself from the original structure. It replaces an ugly surface parking lot. It’s fine.

I've made my peace with it. The project respects zoning regulations (or just about), so the City has no grounds to oppose it. A rejection would be met with an expensive losing battle at OMB (or LPAT, or whatever it's called today).

Focusing on the positive, it will push parking underground and greatly improve the ground level interaction with MacKenzie Avenue and Major's Hill Park. It will also add some green roof treatments to the interior courtyard of the old hotel and provide a great new outdoor space for the ballroom, which was hidden by the parking garage for half a century.

[Hawrylyshyn]

Another awful one for Hamilton -- when will we get well designed projects

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Rendering:

[TorontoDrew]

My eyes!

[craner]

Originally Posted by uzi

i hope it gets built. Kingsett never builds, especially something of this scale. they flip properties.

Didn’t Kingsett build Aura ?

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by craner

Didn’t Kingsett build Aura ?

That was Canderel. Kingsett owns about half of Yonge street and typically gets a site zoned then flips it. YSL, Clover on Yonge, etc. are Kingsett sites that got flipped.

They have started actually building some stuff now though. They have a new rental division from my understanding.

[uzi]

yeah they have started building 20-25 stories rental buildings. nothing big.

[Innsertnamehere]

They just finished 700 Bay, a 32 storey rental building.

It's not like they don't have the capital to build large, they just haven't had a project to do that with yet.

700 University would be surprising to see them flip to be honest given the mixed use nature of it, and given that their biggest buyer, Cresford, is no longer around. It's a very complex site that not many developers would want to take on. Also, they fact they used KPMB instead of Quadrangle is telling to me that they intend to build it instead of flip it. If they were flipping it they would go with their cheaper standard architect just to get the zoning envelope.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by Hawrylyshyn

Another awful one for Hamilton -- when will we get well designed projects

In my office we call those Speedwhiskers.