Sapphire Tower | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | Luxury hotel and condominium skyscraper |
Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Coordinates | 43°39′01″N79°22′56″W / 43.650391°N 79.382141°W |
The Sapphire Tower was a proposed luxury hotel and condominium skyscraper in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to be built by developer Harry Stinson. It was so named because all plans for it had deep blue glass curtain walls. [1] This site had been involved in numerous other proposals, including Stinson's own Downtown Plaza [2] concept, and an earlier proposal that would have incorporated the neighbouring Graphic Arts Building.
The first iteration of Sapphire Tower would have stood at 196 metres (643 ft) or 62 floors. Scheduled to begin construction in Spring 2007, the previous 90-storey proposal on Temperance Street, which would have stood at 342 metres (1,122 ft), was rejected because of shadow and height concerns.
According to a story in the February 16, 2007-edition of The Globe and Mail , after acquiring the property in 2003, high-profile Toronto developer Harry Stinson toyed with a skyscraper condo-hotel project for about a year. [3] However, after announcing the project and securing investors, Stinson was unable to secure the full amount he needed for construction and lost control of the property when lenders recalled their loans. [4]
On November 15, 2005, the Toronto and East York Community Council, a committee of Toronto City Council, refused permission for the tower to be built on its proposed site. [5] At issue was the thin shadow that would have been cast by the building over Nathan Phillips Square, site of Toronto's City Hall. The Council argued that it needed to "protect City Hall's public square". Stinson planned to appeal the decision to the Ontario Municipal Board.
The design evolved to its proposed height in response to the approval of the Trump International Hotel & Tower by the city council. Stinson intended to create a friendly rivalry for the tallest residential building in Canada. Sapphire Tower would have been 17 metres taller.
In early January 2006, Stinson announced his intent to compromise with city council. Instead of a more than 90-storey building, the focus shifted to designing a shorter building of approximately 70 storeys, with a slanted roof that would further minimize the shadow concerns.
Sapphire Tower was to be operated much like Stinson's earlier hotel project 1 King West. Each of the over 1,000 suites was to be individually owned by its purchaser, [6] with the opportunity of generating revenue through enrolment in a central management system.
Facing high levels of dissent from 1 King West owners at the hotel's lack of profitability, Stinson decided not to offer the same system to Sapphire Tower purchasers. Instead, the building would have consisted primarily of private residences, where the purchaser may occupy the suite or lease it out themselves in a traditional fashion. There would have been a small hotel component to the building of roughly 200 suites, but they would have been retained and operated by Stinson. With all the design and use changes, a new name to replace "Sapphire Tower" was expected but did not occur.
After numerous designs the finalized height for the second proposal had been approved at 196 metres (643 feet) or 62 floors and 58,993 m² (635,000 sq. ft.) in density. Construction was expected to start in spring 2007, with an opening in early 2009. Levels 2 through to 11 would have been office space, Level 12 would have been an amenity floor for residences, Levels 13-42 would have been 'house like apartments', Levels 43-60 would have been a long stay boutique hotel, and Levels 61-62 would have been the sapphire penthouse suites in the crystalline part of the tower.
On July 20, 2007, Sapphire Tower Development Corp., the parent company owned by Stinson, was approved for bankruptcy protection. All future plans of development for the Sapphire Tower were stopped. Sapphire Tower Development Corp. listed the development (including land) for sale to respective buyers in order to repay creditors.
A partnership of Israel Land Development Company and Skyline International Development Inc. (the Canadian division of Mishorim Development) purchased the site at 70 Temperance Street in December 2007 from the property's receiver for C$24.1 million. The partners announced plans to build a 55-storey office, hotel, and residential skyscraper on the site for an estimated C$138 million. [7] A 54-storey design by Page+Steele architects was later revealed.
By 2011, after several designs had been released, no construction had begun. In December 2011, Mishorim sold the undeveloped lot to CentreCourt Developments for C$39 million. [8] CentreCourt, in partnership with Lifetime, marketed as a new condo development on the lot. The 51-floor 179 metres (587 ft) INDX Tower was completed in 2016 is shorter than the planned Sapphire Tower.
The St. Regis Toronto is a mixed-use skyscraper located in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was built by Markham-based Talon International Development Inc., which is owned by Canadian businessmen Val Levitan and Alex Shnaider. The hotel portion of the building is owned by InnVest Hotels LP, which acquired it in 2017.
Harry Stinson is a Canadian real estate developer from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is president of Stinson Properties, Inc. He has been called Toronto's "condo king".
The Bay Adelaide Centre is an office complex in the Financial District of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The first phase, a 51-storey skyscraper known as Bay Adelaide West, was completed in July 2009. The second phase, the 44-storey Bay Adelaide East, was completed in October 2016. A third tower, Scotiabank North Tower, opened in 2022 and serves the new global head office of Canadian bank Scotiabank.
One King West Hotel & Residence is a condo hotel located at 1 King Street West in the financial district of Toronto, Ontario. It was completed in 2006 after a new tower was attached to the side of the heritage Dominion Bank Building (1914), itself an early 13-storey skyscraper. Four additional floors were also added on top of the heritage building. The site for One King West also included the neighbouring Michie & Co. Grocers & Wine Merchant at 7 King Street West which was demolished in 2001 to accommodate the residential tower.
The V Building was a proposed 51-storey residential skyscraper approved for construction on Broad Street on the Westside of the city centre of Birmingham, England. The tower was part of the larger Arena Central development scheme on the former ATV / Central Television Studios, closed in 1997. The entire development site covered an area of 7.6 acres (31,000 m2). On completion the development was set to include offices, shops, restaurants, cafes, leisure/entertainment, fitness centre and hotel. It was to have been built on the site of a multi-level underground car park next to Alpha Tower, one of the tallest buildings in Birmingham. The total cost of the entire scheme was expected to be £400 million and of the tower, £150 million.
Absolute World is a residential condominium twin tower skyscraper complex in the five-tower Absolute City Centre development in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The project was built by Fernbrook Homes and Cityzen Development Group. With the first three towers completed, the last two towers were topped off at 50 and 56 storeys.
The Texpark site is a prominent vacant lot in Downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Coast, a weekly newspaper, has called it "downtown's biggest gaping hole" and an "embarrassing missing tooth" in the urban fabric. Much of the site was once home to the Texpark, a city-owned parking garage, demolished in 2004.
Eaton's / John Maryon Tower was a proposed supertall 140-storey office skyscraper, to be built in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 1971, Eaton's was to partner with a developer named John Maryon to build a 503 metre tower in the College Park area of Downtown Toronto. With a 183-metre communication mast added to the roof of the triangular glass office tower, the total proposed height was 686 metres. Plans for the tower were cancelled, because building a structure of this height was considered impossible at the time of its planning. The skyscraper was planned two years before the Willis Tower was completed, and five years before the CN Tower was completed. Had the tower been built, it would have been the world's tallest building until 2008, when the Burj Khalifa surpassed its planned height.
The Paradox Hotel Vancouver, formerly known as the Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver, is a residential skyscraper and hotel in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The 60-storey, 188-metre (617 ft) tower in which the hotel is located is at 1151 West Georgia Street and was completed in 2016. The tower is the second tallest building in Vancouver, after the Shangri-La tower located across West Georgia Street.
The Minto Midtown is a residential complex on Yonge Street in Toronto in the Davisville neighbourhood near Yonge and Eglinton consisting of two towers, Quantum and Quantum 2 developed by Minto Developments Inc. The proposed project—which substantially exceeded existing height and zoning limits—was met with substantial neighborhood and city opposition, until Minto appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board and worked out a deal with the City of Toronto.
One Bloor, previously One Bloor East and Number One Bloor, is a mixed-use skyscraper at the intersection of Bloor Street and Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The project was initially launched by developer Bazis International Inc. in 2007, before being cancelled and re-developed by Great Gulf. As of 2018, it is the tenth-tallest residential building outside of Asia and the 40th tallest residential building in the world.
Aura is a mixed-use skyscraper completed in 2014 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the final phase of a series of condominium buildings near College Park in Toronto's Downtown Yonge district. It is part of the Residences of College Park project. Construction lasted from 2010 to 2014. With 79 floors, as of 2018 it is the tallest residential building in Canada and the 38th tallest residential building in the world.
Deansgate Square, formerly known as Owen Street, is a residential skyscraper cluster on the southern edge of Manchester City Centre, England, consisting of four towers, the tallest of which is 201 metres (659 ft). The site is just south of Deansgate railway station and north of the Mancunian Way, bounded by Deansgate, Owen Street and the River Medlock. The towers sit at different angles to each other, with a slight bevel, or 'cut back', on each side of each building which ensures the towers catch the light at different times of day.
The Royal Connaught Hotel is a 13-storey building in downtown Hamilton, Ontario. It was built by Harry Frost of Buffalo, New York in 1914, who also started up and owned the Frost Fence Company in Hamilton. It is located at the corner of King Street East and John Street South. From 2014-2018, it was converted to condominiums.
Regal Tower is a proposed skyscraper to be constructed on a site bounded by Broad Street, Oozells Way and Sheepcote Street in Ladywood, just outside of Central Birmingham, England. The proposal consists of a 56 storey tower, measuring 200.5 metres (658 ft) tall, housing retail units, a luxury hotel, residential apartments and car parking. Provision has been made for 256 serviced apartments, although these could make way for additional hotel space. The tower has been designed by Aedas and was proposed by Regal Property Group, with DTZ Debenham Tie Leung acting on their behalf. If completed as originally planned, the skyscraper would be the second tallest building in the UK outside of London.
Casa Condominio Residenza, or The CASA, is a high-rise condominium building at 33 Charles Street East near the intersection of Bloor Street and Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It features a New Modernist design by architectsAlliance emphasizing glass curtain wall, with balconies wrapped around the building from the podium to the top. An overhanging concrete slab concludes the design at the roof of the final floor. It is lit from underneath at night. The balconies themselves have transparent glazed balustrades, and the podium's main facade facing Charles Street also makes use of glass curtain wall extensively, framed with black brick.
Australia 108 is a residential supertall skyscraper in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Having officially topped out in June 2020, it became the tallest building in Australia by roof height, surpassing the Eureka Tower, and the second-tallest building in Australia by full height, surpassed by Q1 Tower.
One Queensbridge was a proposed mixed–used supertall skyscraper to be located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Australia. The skyscraper would have become the tallest building in Melbourne, surpassing the height of Australia 108, and the tallest building in Australia, eclipsing the height of Q1. In addition to being the tallest, the development would have been one of the biggest single–building projects in Australia, encompassing 300,376 square metres of floor area.
The One is a supertall skyscraper currently under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If completed, it will be the tallest building in Canada. At a revised 306.3 metres and a revised 85 storeys, it will be taller than First Canadian Place, which has been Canada's tallest building since 1975. It will also be Canada's first supertall skyscraper, as defined by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Construction of the building is estimated to be completed by March 2025.