Oxford Properties Group (of Toronto) has just joined forces with Related (of New York) to develop the 26-acre West Side Yards site in midtown Manhattan — the largest contiguous site in the city — according to the Financial Post. Oxford will be lead investor through a committment of US$475M. The mixed-use project is slated to contain 5,000 residences, a 300-room five star hotel, a 1000-room convention hotel, a 750-seat public school and a number of cultural amenities.
Image: Flickr
Another super simple, yet highly elegant design piece from Japan. Designed by BAKOKO Design & Development, this “mansion” apartment in Tokyo was completely gutted for a young couple.
Click here for a full gallery, including construction shots.
Images: Flickr via Apartment Therapy
Source: www.nytimes.com
More was revealed yesterday and today about Todd Williams and Billie Tsiens’ design for Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation – which is planning a controversial move from Suburban Merion to the City’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway. In two videos published on the Philadelphia Inquirer’s website, the architects explain the concept and describe the elements of their design. In a clever move, William’s and Tsien have kept the original galleries in-tact, while ‘inserting’ two contemplative spaces ‘inside the walls’ of the original galleries. While some may argue this changes the effect of viewing the collection as it stands today, the insertion of a reading room and sunken garden will allow visitors to reflect on the art – something that is difficult to do in the cramped Merion galleries.
Source: www.nytimes.com
Meanwhile, both Inga Saffron of the Inquirer and Nicolai Ouroussoff of the New York Times reviewed the design, bringing two different perspectives to the debate. Saffron praises the “rigorous clarity” of the organization of the building while Ouroussoff questions the move of the museum itself, citing the eccentricity of the original galleries as a refreshing attraction in the über-touristy world of blockbuster art.
Source: www.nytimes.com
The controversial move has been highlighted in the film “The Art of the Steal” which was a surprise hit at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
Finally, the LA Times ran a piece yesterday that highlights architect Robert Venturi’s disdain for the move, citing the integral relationship between the 12 acre site in Merion and the existing galleries.
Source: www.philly.com
Source: www.philly.com
Philadelphia’s fabled Barnes Foundation is set to move to a controversial new home in the City’s cultural district on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. While this will place the collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings only blocks from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Rodin Museum – thus creating one of the premier arts districts in the world – critics claim that the move will undermine the will of Albert Barnes. His collection is currently displayed in a specially built gallery just outside city limits in Merion, Pennsylvania, where Barnes hung the works not in chronological order, but in a way that related the works to one another.
The New York architecture firm of Todd Williams and Billie Tsien was commissioned to design the foundation’s new home in 2007. The design was a closely guarded secret until today. Plans were revealed, almost unceremoniously on Monday, two days before a scheduled hearing before the City’s Planning Commission. While the drawings released do not include the architect’s narrative, it appears they have kept the galleries in a similarly proportioned building fronting the Parkway. A new courtyard separates the galleries from the specialty exhibition space. The building’s proportions seem elegant, almost classical. With almost all of TWBT’s work, the devil will be in the details – the architects are known for their attention to craft and materials. One other note: it seems the designers chose to put the main entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue instead of the Parkway – which questions the urbanity of the plan. This is a challenging project steeped in controversy and until the architects present their full vision to the public, we will uphold final judgment.
A proposal for a 42-storey residential condominium on University Avenue in downtown Toronto — with absolutely zero parking spaces (okay, a few car share spots) — was recently tabled at the city. And it’s being dubbed as controversial.
Despite being located directly on the University Avenue subway line, the city claims that the proposal “runs counter to expert study and experience.” Who is the expert? Robert Moses?
What does it say when a market-driven real estate developer proposes a parking-less high-rise condominium downtown? The key words are market and driven. If a developer is proposing such a building it means he/she feels that market is okay without parking. Should this not be the case, and the market demands parking, the proposal will collapse all by itself.
What I fail to understand is why the city would ever consider a project like this controversial. How many North American cities do you think would love to be in a position to build an high-rise apartment without parking? Do you think one could build a tower like this in Dallas or Los Angeles?
The interesting thing about the development industry is that people complain about density and congestion; however, when one proposes no parking (meaning the only added congestion would be from people walking and biking) the city dubs it as “controversial.” What’s a developer to do?
First things first, I couldn’t imagine a better place in downtown Toronto for a residential building. University Avenue is such a sterile and post-5pm deadzone that any sort of life after dark should be hugely welcome.
Secondly, being able to build a condo without parking in a city should be considered a tremendous achievement. Whoever handles the city’s branding and marketing should be all over this. What it means is that Toronto is sufficiently urban, walkable, and accessible by public transportation that one doesn’t need a car just to live. To me, that’s the sign of a city that works.
How does that old saying go? New ideas are always challenged, or something like that. In any case, just because this runs counter to commonly held beliefs, doesn’t mean that it’s a bad idea. In fact, being controversial often means that you’re doing something right.
Image: Flickr
Here are some preliminary renderings for a planned hotel on the exhibition grounds in Toronto currently named “Hotel in the Garden.” The operator is expected to be HK Hotels; the present design is by Maragna Architect Inc and gh3.
It appears as if the design also includes a significant public space element, which would be a dramatic improvement to the large gaping parking lots that currently exist. While it’s certainly important to have large open spaces — for events such as the CNE — there’s no reason they shouldn’t be superbly crafted for year-round enjoyment.
Images: Exhibition Place Presentation
Remember that building called the Burj Dubai? It’s the world’s tallest building — despite being still under construction. Well that’s old news.
The Jeddah Tower planned for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is going to be over a kilometer tall (1000m+ compared to the Burj Dubai’s measly 818m) and it appears to be still moving forward. The Middle East Economic Digest has just announced that Kingdom Holding — the largest company in Saudi Arabia — has shortlisted 3 architecture firms for the project:
“U.S.-based Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture and U.S.-based Pickard Chilton with U.K.-based Hyder Consulting are in the running for the concept design for the planned Kingdom Tower in Jeddah.” [Bloomberg]
What’s so fascinating about the race to the top right now is that it’s happening primarily in cities that really don’t need buildings that tall. Let’s be clear though, building the tallest building in the world has always been strictly about ego.
But there are still rational economic reasons for building tall. When land is scarce, the only option is to build up. That’s one of the reasons why New York is tall and Houston is not.
I think it’s safe to assume, however, that if land values in Manhattan don’t demand a kilometer high skyscraper they almost certainly do not in Jeddah.
Image: Flickr
The Interlace Condominium in Singapore — designed by Rotterdam-based Office of Metropolitan Architects and being developed by a CapitaLand-led consortium — is going to be a 1,040 unit residential condominium with ground floor retail.
The architecture is comprised of a series of of 6-storey apartment blocks stacked on top of each other to form a series of inner courtyards and grand outdoor terraces.
Architect: Office of Metropolitan Architects (OMA)
Developer: CapitalLand Residential Singapore & Hotel Properties Limited
Gross Floor Area: 170,00 sqm (1.8M sqft)
Height: 24 stories
Image: CapitaLand Ltd & Hotel Properties Ltd via Archinect
D. Trump has just received backing to expand (add land) his £1 billion Scottish golf resort in Aberdeenshire — which has and continues to spur vehement opposition from local land owners. The Council voted 9 to 2 in favour of allowing additional land — land that Trump does not yet own — to be tacked onto the project.
Trump plans to build 450 hotel rooms, 500 homes and 950 short-term rental apartments around the golf course.
Image: Flickr
It has now been confirmed that the buyer of 1 Bloor East is Toronto-based developer Great Gulf Homes — whose property portfolio includes 18 Yorkville, which is situated just 2 blocks north of 1 Bloor East, and the Charlie condominiums, which are now in sales (ad shown above).
While it’s too early to tell what will happen to the $70 million of purchaser deposits that sit in escrow or what will be built at the site, it will almost certainly be another tower:
“We are working very diligently to see what is appropriate for that corner, which we envision to be some kind of mixed-use development,” said Jerry Patava, president and CEO of the company. [Toronto Star]
Image: CharlieCondos.com
The Verdura Golf & Spa Resort — which opened earlier this month — is one of the most impressive new developments on the island of Sicily, which over the past few years, has begun to see rising interest from foreign buyers and tourists.
The Financial Times recently called the area the “last of the real Italy” due to its preserved Italian culture and largely untouched beachfront. But with developments like the Verdura, which will eventually include 1.8km of beachfront and 60 for-sale villas priced from €2m to €5m, that is set to change.
Image: The Vedura Golf & Spa Resort
We’ve written before on why supply constraints are good for property values — particularly in the case of Hong Kong — but here is further evidence.
The International Commerce Center — still under construction but now the tallest building in Hong Kong at 490 m or 1,608 ft — is almost fully tenanted despite the fact that Hong Kong has been in a recession for the past year:
“What makes Hong Kong so extraordinarily expensive — and has helped Sun Hung Kai, the developer, to fill all but a dozen floors of the International Commerce Center tower — is that there is very little other new office space coming onto the market.
In part, this is because there is simply nowhere to put new buildings. Central, sandwiched between Hong Kong’s harbor and the steep hills in the island’s center, has for years had virtually nowhere to grow but up, sprouting ever taller buildings.” [New York Times]
Image: Flickr by Rmlowe
Image: Villa in Mallorca via Adelto
The man who once said he could sell 5,000 condos if he had them, developer Michael Gold, has just sold One Bloor East — arguably the most desirable piece of land in Toronto. How about just selling 612 condo units Michael?
All that is known right now is that a “reputable developer” has purchased the land, with closing planned for September. Until then, we probably won’t know anything regarding future development plans for the site.
The exact sale price is also unknown, but the Toronto Star is reporting that Bazis turned down the C$50.5M offer made by the consortium of lenders that tried to take the property into receivership.
Without question, this is the Toronto’s most high profile real estate failure of the last cycle.
1 Bloor Sold [Toronto Star]
Image from Flickr by Gary J Wood
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Image from Flickr by Scarletgreen
