22 Frederick St redevelopment | Completed

[TMKM94]

Section ThirtyOne
"Am I the only one who thought the building looked fine as is?"

I thought it looked fine the way it was too

[KevinL]

It's not what we think, it's what prospective tenants think. And not enough of them liked the old look, it would seem.

[tomh009]

It's not what we think, it's what prospective tenants think. And not enough of them liked the old look, it would seem.

Or at least the owner didn't think that prospective tenants would like that look.

But there is also the maintenance aspect. As I posted earlier in this thread, the brick has been deteriorating significantly in some areas (there are some photos, too). Doing a "proper" repair with brick, that would be effective and still good, might be significantly more expensive than doing a brute-force repair that needs to be covered with paint. No facts on this, though, just speculation.

[LesPio]

Drove by today and the building was in the process of being painted

[Spokes]

How much do tenants care about the look of the outside? If the interior is fantastic isn't that enough to draw them? I got the impression that was the thinking at 305 King

[taylortbb]

How much do tenants care about the look of the outside?  If the interior is fantastic isn't that enough to draw them?  I got the impression that was the thinking at 305 King

I think tenants care at least a little. First thing Perimeter did after buying 305 King was painting the outside, replacing windows, etc. In the case of this building the exterior isn't just ugly, but not functional. The windows are small (305 is floor to ceiling), and of an older tinted style that IMO wrecks the view out of them. Also, purely subjective here, 305 King looks nice. It's an older style, but older is fine, it's specifically the brick brutalist look of 22 Frederick that I think is ugly.

Speaking of which, the light grey paint between the windows has started. Somehow this is even worse than before IMO, and as I said, I already thought it was ugly.

   

[Lens]

How much do tenants care about the look of the outside?  If the interior is fantastic isn't that enough to draw them?  I got the impression that was the thinking at 305 King

I think tenants care at least a little. First thing Perimeter did after buying 305 King was painting the outside, replacing windows, etc. In the case of this building the exterior isn't just ugly, but not functional. The windows are small (305 is floor to ceiling), and of an older tinted style that IMO wrecks the view out of them. Also, purely subjective here, 305 King looks nice. It's an older style, but older is fine, it's specifically the brick brutalist look of 22 Frederick that I think is ugly.

Speaking of which, the light grey paint between the windows has started. Somehow this is even worse than before IMO, and as I said, I already thought it was ugly.

That's not subjective, that's fact. It's probably one of the nicest office towers in the province outside of Toronto

[ac3r]

I walked past this yesterday and did not expect the light grey to be so light. This is awful.

[panamaniac]

I walked past this yesterday and did not expect the light grey to be so light. This is awful.

I was going to say "nasty", but "awful" will do.  Still, an upgrade from the "hideous" that I had feared.

[Coke6pk]

As a tenant, I'd be unhappy with the different coloured support beams distracting from my giant logo.

Coke

[jgsz]

2019-10-13

The painters continue to work during this long weekend.  Why the rush?

So they decided to paint the recessed area in this awful light grey colour.  I assume the remaining exposed brick will also get the same paint.  I really didn't care for the previous look of this building but this is not an improvement.  It's just different.  But is it post-modern, pre-modern or current chic?

   

[tomh009]

I suspect the idea is that it should look like metal cladding instead of painted brick. And it kind of, sort of does, from a distance, a long distance, if you squint and the sun is setting ...

[panamaniac]

And it’s foggy ....
Actually, I drove right past it this afternoon and forgot to take a look. Anybody got a pic?

[ac3r]

I walked past this building this week and I am pretty sure I audibly mumbled to myself something about how ugly this is while strolling down King.

[robdrimmie]

A view from Benton and Charles, taken around 8:30 this morning.