Toronto : Highrise and Urban Development News

[caltrane74]

Canderel has acquired 555 Richmond West

• One of the largest office blocks in downtown west
• Increasingly popular residential area, and live work area

Read the article here:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/can...est-2011-12-16

[urbandreamer]

Aura 2 here? Hopefully better architects are used although I'm not very optimistic....

Didn't I here rumours months ago about a couple of 15-20s towers here?

[taal]

I doubt it, they stressed the office building in particular and they've been acquiring other office buildings as of late. Maybe long term, but they're likely to sit on it for now.

[Andrewjm3D]

Finally a Toronto forum here!


I posted this over on SSC yesterday.
No longer 28 floors, it will now be 44 floors.


From Oxford Properties website -

[caltrane74]

Toronto Condo Market Collasping

• International Investors flee Toronto Condo Market
• Europe benefiting from stabalizing bond market
• Massive oversupply of Condos cannot be absorbed according to experts
• Toronto Condo prices to correct 15% or more
• Toronto no longer seen as safe haven for international cash
• Governement Montary policy will punish those trying to get rich buying Toronto Real Estate
• Bank of Canada warns it will raise interest rates dramatically to cool Condo Market
• Experts advise investors to proceed with caution in relation to real estate investments


Read the article here:
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/na...service=mobile

[Andrewjm3D]

How many times now have we heard this? Next week there will be an article by TD WaterHouse saying the exact opposite. I'm sure this article was written off the heels of that one Irish Millionaire who backed out of Trump. As long as the GTA continues to absorb upwards of 100,000 new residents a year I don't see any major slowdown in the foreseeable future.

The only tangible evidence we may see is a lack of High End proposals as developers look to switch to more entry level first time buyers. Even as the world markets tanked the Toronto market never stopped, and our influx of new Canadians didn't either.

[Tony]

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

Finally a Toronto forum here!


I posted this over on SSC yesterday.
No longer 28 floors, it will now be 44 floors.


From Oxford Properties website -

Cool.. Nice replacement for the dead proposal (formerly known as Richmond-Adelaide Centre III)

[caltrane74]

Preliminary results indicate best year yet : MARKET WATCH

1. The expansion of the 905
2. Less low-rise
3. Smaller suites
4. Investor action

So what can we expect from 2012? At press time, Mr. Vaccaro expected anywhere between 40 and 80 new condo projects to be released through the new year. Mr. Myers was still working on his final forecast, but offered his best estimate so far. “I don’t think we’re going to get another record next year but I certainly expect that things will continue on a fairly rapid pace,” he says. “Off the top of my head, I’m expecting probably around 20,000 sales.”

Read the Article Here:
http://life.nationalpost.com/2011/12...best-year-yet/

[caltrane74]

Oh Calgary! - you don't get all the fun

• HOOPP to build $300,000,000 complex at the connection between the new Eglinton LRT and the new Mississauga BRT
• Just south of Pearson International Airport
• Complex will be 1.1 million square feet
• First "Office Tower" begins next month
• 70,000 square feet of restaurant space
• Complex will be right next to caltrane's office


Read the article here
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/globe-i...service=mobile

[Travis007]

Festival Plaza (Exhibition Grounds revitalization)

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/lo...a-move-forward

Plans for plaza move forward

ERIN HATFIELD|Dec 27, 2011 - 7:00 AM

The idea is a multi-use space that could hold 100,000 people or a small fair, still accommodate the Canadian National Exhibition and the Honda Indy, and drastically improve a now barren corner of the Exhibition Grounds.
It is being called "Festival Plaza" and at their last meeting, the board of governors at Exhibition Place voted to take the next step in seeing this space come to life.

Festival Plaza would occupy a large parcel of land on the grounds, currently a parking lot south of BMO Field and the Direct Energy Centre, immediately south of Princes' Boulevard down to Ontario Place.

"We need a space where we can have 100,000 people for very large events," Berridge said, adding the space could be broken down for large concerts and then down again for smaller fairs. It would be landscaped, serviced and would have a permeable parking pad to absorb rainwater.

It would also be designed to make for a more pleasant pedestrian walk from the transit stop through the Exhibition Grounds to Ontario Place, with the anticipation that Ontario Place will become more active in the future.

...

The plans also include an ambitious bridge from the Exhibition Grounds to Ontario Place, which would be designed, most likely through a design contest.

Next steps in creating the plaza would include leveling the site and improving the eastern face of the Better Living Centre, and then work on landscaping would begin, he said.

The full cost of the plan is estimated at $11.3 million, which includes costing for the bridge to Ontario Place at $4.8 million and a covered walkway from the GO station to Festival Plaza, which would come later.

The first phase, which would include the leveling, installing electrical, water and drainage below the area, resurfacing and relining the parking area, upgrading landscaping and the construction of an amenity area, is estimated to cost about $3 million.

The first phase is anticipated to be completed by 2015.

The board voted to issue a request for proposal for a design-build contract for the first stage of work, which would be completed by the spring of 2015 in time for the Pan Am Games.

[caltrane74]

7000 Condos to get pushed through Toronto planning before feared Strike

- Toronto is not Calgary or Edmonton, there is no reason why they should be building this many condos
- Toronto market is due for a correction so says US Bank
- Brad Lamb, says US Bank has no clue about what's happening in the Toronto Market Place
- Real Estate Investment Network warns of condo oversupply in Toronto.
- Toronto on pace for a record year
- Currently there are 37,000 units under construction in Toronto
- outside of China, Toronto is the hottest Condo market on earth
- Labour Unrest at City Hall may be the nail that destroys the Toronto Condo market
- City Hall (both old and new) will be protected with new bylaws to prevent condos

Read the story here:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12...ur-disruption/

[caltrane74]

2011 - The Year of the Highrise!!

Read the article here

http://www.thestar.com/business/arti...f-the-highrise

[yaletown_fella]

The new RACIII is the best office Tower design since Telus House. I like it.

[urbandreamer]

Love 'em or loathe 'em, these were my picks for RenderPornStar-of-the-Year--everyone has their own opinion on what is good architecture, and with Renderpornstar I'm trying to promote the good and eliminate the bad.

[Andrewjm3D]

All of those renders look cheap and like they were done in sketch-up or some other low end 3D software. Neat idea for a site though.

[ACT7]

Originally Posted by andrewjm3d

how many times now have we heard this? Next week there will be an article by td waterhouse saying the exact opposite. I'm sure this article was written off the heels of that one irish millionaire who backed out of trump. As long as the gta continues to absorb upwards of 100,000 new residents a year i don't see any major slowdown in the foreseeable future.

The only tangible evidence we may see is a lack of high end proposals as developers look to switch to more entry level first time buyers. Even as the world markets tanked the toronto market never stopped, and our influx of new canadians didn't either.

+1!!

[ACT7]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

- Toronto is not Calgary or Edmonton

Read the story here:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12...ur-disruption/

Thank god!

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

How many times now have we heard this? Next week there will be an article by TD WaterHouse saying the exact opposite. I'm sure this article was written off the heels of that one Irish Millionaire who backed out of Trump. As long as the GTA continues to absorb upwards of 100,000 new residents a year I don't see any major slowdown in the foreseeable future.

The only tangible evidence we may see is a lack of High End proposals as developers look to switch to more entry level first time buyers. Even as the world markets tanked the Toronto market never stopped, and our influx of new Canadians didn't either.

Toronto is not immune to the cyclical nature of real estate investment. Prices rarely stagnate with high-rise apartments. Their volatility has a lot to do with lower average prices attracting all types of investors and the ability to build when demand is high regardless of the scarcity of buildable land. You just build higher and higher. So, you honestly believe they will continue to rise? The annual population argument has been defeated long, long ago or feel free to explain the mid-90s that saw almost zero condo apartment activity but still saw an annual growth of 95,000 persons a year. The trend to high-rise living is a weak response as it's hardly a recent occurance. About 800 highrise condos were built during the boom years of the 1970s all the way to the 1990s. (a lot of the apartment slabs you see were built as condominiums)

Pretty much everyone is on board with immigrants settling in Toronto dropping over the forseeable future . I don't see why you would believe otherwise. Our aging population doesn't help either.

We largely survived the world market crash because our banks are extremely localized due to our government protection from the free market. The entirely world now see our real estate like you do since we are one of the few to get by relatively unscathed . This has led to an insane amount of real estate speculation. It's completely out of control and can only lead to a correction; so massive it may take place as a "double" or "triple dip"

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

According to the 2010 census, there are 2,695,000 people in Chicago. They still kill us in metro population though.

MSAs (as used in the United States) and CMAs (as used in Canada) aren't comparable due to MSAs being far more liberal as to what constitutes a metropolitan area. Take the Chicago MSA and Toronto CMA as an example.

Chicago MSA
Area: 9,581 sq mi
Population: 9,580,567 (2010)

Toronto CMA
Area: 2,279 sq mi
Population: 5,741,400 (2010)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago...,_IL-IN-WI_MSA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Toronto_Area
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=188569

Chicago MSA takes in huge tracts of land and all the cities and towns located there. The Toronto CMA is at the other extreme as it doesn't take into account the entire built up metropolitan area. The Hamilton CMA and Oshawa CMA are omitted.

The MSA is too expansive while the CMA is too small. A better comparison would be to compare the Hamilton, Oshawa, and Toronto CMAs grouped together with various counties in the Chicago MSA that constitute a similar land area. Here's what you get:

Chicago: 8,503,325 (3,574 sq mi)
Cook County, IL: 5,194,105 (946 sq mi)
DuPage County, IL: 916,924 (328 sq mi)
Kane County, IL: 515,269 (520 sq mi)
Will County, IL: 677,560 (837 sq mi)
Lake County, IL: 703,462 (444 sq mi)
Lake County, IN: 496,005 (499 sq mi)

Toronto: 6,845,400 (3,158 sq mi)
Toronto CMA: 5,741,000 (2,279 sq mi)
Oshawa CMA: 364,200 (349 sq mi)
Hamilton CMA: 740,200 (530 sq mi)

Toronto and Chicago will be comparable in size in about 20 years.

[isaidso]

200 m or taller: 23
8 built
8 under construction
7 proposals

Between 100 and 199 m: 133
46 built?
15 under construction?
72 proposals