Vertikal (471-481 King St E) | 23 & 19 fl | U/C

[DK519]

I live nearby and honestly cannot wait for the new grocery store to be opened here.

Confirmed grocery store?? Nice!

I want to believe this so bad as I an see it from my deck.

Source please!

[tomh009]

They are planning to spend the next two weeks cleaning up the site, and then construction will finally restart from the beginning of August. And, yes, I was told that there will be a second crane very soon.

Did they restart?   Thank you.

A handful of people there this morning but certainly not a full-scale restart yet, so my source appears not to have had it quite right.

[BruceAshe]

Confirmed grocery store?? Nice!

I want to believe this so bad as I an see it from my deck.

Source please!

I'd love to believe it too because I'm a block away. The only grocery store I've heard mentioned was the relocation of B&T to the building that's supposed to be getting built across Madison from Drewlo. Wonder what's happening to that development? Haven't seen anything going on since they made the big sandpile last year.

[taylortbb]

The only grocery store I've heard mentioned was the relocation of B&T to the building that's supposed to be getting built across Madison from Drewlo. Wonder what's happening to that development? Haven't seen anything going on since they made the big sandpile last year.

They got permits issued earlier this year, at the end of January. I'm guessing the Covid shutdowns derailed their plans, as I don't think they'd pay to get permits issued unless they were planning to build soon.

18-129755 387 KING ST E Multiple Use Building Residential/Commercial Issued Permit is for a foundation, site servicing and underslab plumbing only for an underground parking garage for future two storey commercial and eight storey residential building. - See permit 18 131636 and 18 131638 for Balance of Construction. - REVISED JULY 25, 2019

18-131636 387 KING ST E Multiple Use Building Residential/Commercial Issued Permit is for a new 8 storey residential apartment with commercial on the ground floor and underground parking garage - Building B - See permit 18 129755 for Foundation and site servicing - See Permit# 18 131638 for Building A

18-131638 387 KING ST E Commercial Building Retail/Wholesale Store Issued Permit is for a new 2 storey commercial building with a grocery store on the ground floor and offices on the second floor - Building A - See permit # 18-129755 for Foundation and Site Servicing and 18 131636 for attached storage garage and Building B

[Spokes]

8 storey? Isn't that next door though?

[taylortbb]

8 storey?  Isn't that next door though?

Yeah, the permits are for next door. I was just replying to the post asking what was happening next door.

[Spokes]

Oh I just figured that out. I'm a little slow

[kwcc]

I guess everyone is different but not sure how you can care less about the design towers? Do you not live in the area or do you not travel to the downtown often? These towers will be a fairly visible part of our skyline.  Maybe I am the only one that cares about the look of a building? 

You are not the only one who cares about the look of the buildings absolutely not. I would have to agree that the street presence does absolutely outweigh the building design though. 

Take toronto for example, if you visit UT many members also complain about the ugliness or cheapness of the condos going up there, but you'll notice with the uptick in higher quality condos in recent years, the old ones that were a blight on the landscape no longer stick out. 

Assuming/hoping Covid doesnt mess things up too bad, maybe these buildings are prominent for 10 years, but I fully expect they will get drowned out by larger high rises in the core to the point that eventually no one will this development a second thought, so long as whatever is happening at street level is not an eyesore that is.

There are so many factors that will limit the development in that area that I don't see these towers being engulfed by other towers for decades. This development, in particular, avoided nearly $10m in DC's and got an additional 2X FAR bonus. The DC holiday is over, bonusing is removed from the By-Law and land prices have soared since this property was purchased. I think this site was originally envisioned as a townhouse development. 

I agree that more attention needs to be paid to the design of towers. Of course, grade presence is critical, however, towers can be seen by everyone and are the first impression a person will have as they approach the city/downtown. If the buildings are not inviting, by association, neither is the city/downtown.

The real reason I wanted to add a note to this thread is the street front. I am guessing that the street-fronting facade is done in a way to comply with the King st. shop front study that depicts the types of facades that are 'encouraged' on King st. It's not the most imaginative study...but it's part of the encyclopedia of requirements that we have to consider. I'm not sure if it applies in that area but my experience is that some developers/designers/architects/planners can latch onto those types of documents to push a projects through planning, especially under tight deadlines. Regardless, the document isn't really representative of what I would like to see on King st. but is currently the only reference to draw from so, expect more similar.

[Square]

I finally saw with my own eyes the crane working yesterday, lol Only 3 workers total tho Also the tarps were off on the Madison Tower.

[ac3r]

I know they closed down due to SARS-CoV-2 exposure risk, but they're sure taking their time getting this thing up and running again. I'm glad they're taking their workers safety into consideration though.

[panamaniac]

Is it known that the construction slowdown is related to covid? I've wondered if perhaps they're just not in a hurry to get this one to market.

[tomh009]

Is it known that the construction slowdown is related to covid?  I've wondered if perhaps they're just not in a hurry to get this one to market.

It was really a halt, not just a slowdown. And, yes, Drewlo shut down all their non-essential activities in March.

Some supervisors were on site again yesterday so it does look like they are planning to start up again -- but when will that be?

[Spokes]

I would be surprised if they didn't want to get this to market ASAP. As far as I know, there's still a fairly large shortage of high quality rental units, no?

[Momo26]

I don't know if the sentiment is changing overall - this project, in theory, should be in high demand due to rental shortfall - yet I'm sensing a lot of minds are shifting to living in places where a bit of 'social distancing' can be achieved (ie no elevators involved) and going towards townhouses/stand alone units. Different markets I know, but the builder could be sensing the same and reading the market. A little too late to cancel now (And any of the projects where digging has started) so hopefully things roll on time.

What are your thoughts folks?

[ac3r]

I don't think the pandemic is going to play that much of a role in where people live, except for certain things like roommates who you can't control. It's not going to go on forever, and if someone needs to rent a place they're going to jump on it. Drewlo was never the faster developer before all of this happened, this just slowed things down a bit more.