02-11-2021, 02:26 AM
Here's a math question for which I don't know the answer: How tall a building (or buildings) would a private developer want to build on that site in order to cover the cost of a $100 million station and still make their profit (typically 10-20%)? A 2019 Toronto Star article concluded that in order for private developers to pay for the Scarborough subway that:
I would also hate for the resulting train station be jammed underneath some hulking building which would end up with a platform area that was as hospitable as the Penn Station platforms.
Quote:At that value [price of land per buildable square foot in Scarborough is between $30 to $50 per square foot], the scale of development required to offset the cost of building one station at $500 million would be in the magnitude of 10 million to 17 million square feet.
That amount of development is equivalent to between eight and 13 Aura towers — the 78-storey condo at Yonge and Gerrard Sts., which is for now the tallest residential building in Canada. Looking at it another way, the development required would be equal to 12 to 19 times the Honest Ed’s redevelopment site at Bloor and Bathurst Sts.
I would also hate for the resulting train station be jammed underneath some hulking building which would end up with a platform area that was as hospitable as the Penn Station platforms.