Cobalt Luxury Residences On King | 97.5 & 97.5m | 2 x 30 fl | Complete - Page 49

urban_planner · #**961** Posted **Oct 24, 2021, 5:36 PM**

The for posting this. I hadn't seen an update from here is a while.

TheHonestMaple · #**962** Posted **Oct 24, 2021, 6:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by urban_planner

The for posting this. I hadn't seen an update from here is a while.

Here's a slightly zoomed in version of just the site.

TheRitsman · #**963** Posted **Oct 24, 2021, 7:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by urban_planner

The for posting this. I hadn't seen an update from here is a while.

Ive taken a few pictures but avoided posting them since they've been consistently around the thirdish floor for a few weeks now.

Innsertnamehere · #**964** Posted **Oct 24, 2021, 7:35 PM**

yup. This is still moving relatively slowly. Once they get onto the tower floors it should start flying up.

matt602 · #**965** Posted **Oct 25, 2021, 11:48 AM**

That close up aerial shot has some crazy density to it, not something you often see in the hammer. not a single parking lot in the photo, just buildings all right up against each other.

catcher_of_cats · #**966** Posted **Oct 25, 2021, 2:38 PM**

Love the aerial shot. Not related to this project but what should have been an amazing downtown park looks rather silly and parking lot like from above. Our city has always had huge potential but mediocrity keeps knocking us down.

Innsertnamehere · #**967** Posted **Oct 25, 2021, 3:22 PM**

It'll look better once the adjacent safe injection site moves, the tree canopy matures a bit, and adjacent parking lots are developed as planned.

Hopefully at some point they swap out the asphalt paving for actual pavers.

ScreamingViking · #**968** Posted **Oct 25, 2021, 3:37 PM**

That would make a really great ice skating park too. Not sure it's designed to be adapted that way though. Some "traditional" benches and a bunch of planters would make a world of difference on all that pavement.

It is a great aerial.

davidcappi · #**969** Posted **Oct 25, 2021, 4:48 PM**

This won't blast off until they complete the above ground parking.

John Rebecca park could have been so much better if they just kept it simple. They hired Forrec (who is doing pier 8 and is generally known more for their theme parks vs actual parks) but didn't give them any budget to work with. The money from fees to the designers should have gone to better materials.

The Gore Park redesign was done by city staffers in house, and shows that they're more than capable of designing something good if given the resources to do so. Fingers crossed the trees survive and manage to grow. There's no protection from salt around the beds, and with the paths mainly being asphalt I'm guessing they'll get salted heavily in winter. I don't think there's any irrigation either. Fingers crossed for lots of rain

Chronamut · #**970** Posted **Oct 25, 2021, 5:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

Taken October 24, 2021.

When will that parking lot at the top above the hydro building - the one that is ENTIRELY a block of parking lot ever get developed? Literally everything around it is proposed for development - is this always going to be kept a parking lot?

Beedok · #**971** Posted **Oct 26, 2021, 3:35 AM**

Obviously prime real estate for Hamilton’s first super tall. (I’m kidding…)

Innsertnamehere · #**972** Posted **Oct 26, 2021, 10:24 AM**

Anyone know who owns that block?

ScreamingViking · #**973** Posted **Oct 26, 2021, 2:07 PM**

Whoever they are is probably salivating at the prospect of being "last one standing" when the surrounding lots are developed.

There are two separately run parking lots though (Canada Wide Parking and Impark) so I wonder if the ownership is split.

mikevbar1 · #**974** Posted **Oct 26, 2021, 9:36 PM**

I'd wager that the owner(s) know they're sitting on prime real estate and are waiting to get an opportunity to maximize the site potential, whether It's one site or two. In the event that it is split and a potential developer can only acquire one half, then even better. It'll apply pressure to the other owner/developer, who will likely respond in kind with something impressive as well to not be outdone.

The longer this sits, the better IMO. I imagine this sea of parking will follow the sequence of the Toronto waterfront, where the tallest projects are being built now, two decades after waterfront rejuvenation began. And, the longer this site stays vacant, the better the odds big $ developers pick it up too.

I do think that these lots, along with a few others across downtown, are just waiting for others to test and break the 30-floor limit in a meaningful way so they can build taller. Considering where we are seeing proposals and construction lately, I have a feeling developers just don't want to do the heavy lifting of fighting council themselves and would rather have someone like Vranich do it first. Sites I think people are just waiting to scoop up and go all-in on would include:
-This parking lot
-John/Main st. E (things have changed a lot since the last proposal here...)
-Bowen/Main st. E (directly next to the above lot, has the Coco's bubble tea spot)
-King/Bay st. S (there's a few lots adjacent depending on what you look at here)

And there's a whole host more of prime parking lots downtown sandwiched between our tallest buildings. At this point, I'm quite convinced the only reason they aren't getting developed is because building them up would be an all-or-nothing scenario. Developers might look at these lots and decide that 'only' 30 floors isn't enough to become profitable or is just a waste of time. Realistically there are a whole host of lots that can host at least 40-floor buildings downtown, if not 50, without a significant impact on traffic or whatever the city's concerns are besides the escarpment height. The LRT, two GO stations, and decent walkability should guarantee that residents/workers in such locations would be pedestrians with minimal need for auto commutes. We aren't even seeing those prime lots get considered, but luckily that will probably change soon as pressure continues to come from the GTA and transit continues to improve here. It's already starting with the 40+38 floor proposal behind Landmark Place, and with precedents like that on the way, the city will be forced to allow taller buildings, even if that means the province has to step in.

TheHonestMaple · #**975** Posted **Oct 31, 2021, 5:34 PM**

Taken October 31, 2021.

Innsertnamehere · #**976** Posted **Oct 31, 2021, 5:49 PM**

Good to see columns up for the 4th floor. Last podium floor, then things should start flying here.

TheRitsman · #**977** Posted **Oct 31, 2021, 6:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Good to see columns up for the 4th floor. Last podium floor, then things should start flying here.

Looks like the third floor to me. The first floor is huge, it's nearly a normal 2 floor height. I took a picture a while back of the difference between Cobalt's first floor and a building next to it's 2 floors.

TheHonestMaple · #**978** Posted **Oct 31, 2021, 6:19 PM**

Looks the same as the one beside it no?

urban_planner · #**979** Posted **Oct 31, 2021, 8:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

Looks like the third floor to me. The first floor is huge, it's nearly a normal 2 floor height. I took a picture a while back of the difference between Cobalt's first floor and a building next to it's 2 floors.

I drove by yesterday and while trying to look with my wife telling me to watch the road it did look like the 4th floor.

TheRitsman · #**980** Posted **Oct 31, 2021, 9:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

Looks the same as the one beside it no?

Not on the John St side, this is the picture I took nearly a month back showing the scale of the first floor being almost identical to the first two floors of the building adjacent.