The reaction around the city seemed positive yesterday after theatre impresario David Mirvish and architect Frank Gehry announced their redesigned condo proposal for King West. The massive development which originally called for three 80-storey towers along with the demolition of the Princess of Wales Theatre and surrounding historic warehouses had previously been rejected by the city. The new design revealed at a public meeting Tuesday night shows a plan for two condo towers —instead of three —one at a height of 92 storeys, the other at 82 storeys. In addition, the heritage buildings will be preserved in the new design. The developer says New York City's "Rockefeller Center was an inspiration for the new Mirvish+Gehry design in terms of its skyline and use of public space." Torontonian's were quick to react to the news, most excited about the redesign while others not yet impressed.
There are no buildings in this city remotely similar to the project being proposed by @MirvishGehryTO. In Metro Hall you can see the model.
— jennifer keesmaat (@jen_keesmaat) May 27, 2014
Glad to see that the revised @MirvishGehryTO plans aim to save the Princess of Wales theatre. Yay for heritage preservation in Toronto!
— Gavin Liu (@Gliu_) May 27, 2014
This is the watered down base for @MirvishGehryTO. @ Metro Hall http://t.co/TNem0Ceht1
— #RobontoForSummer (@Robonto) May 27, 2014
Renewed Ghery Mirvish project at King & John to now include the Princess of Wales! Nice to see them keeping that beautiful theatre!
— Cheryl Batulis (@CherylBatulis) May 28, 2014
Mirvish + Gehry will be 2 towers, saved heritage, save theatre, and one will be 92 storeys? Tonight's meeting at Metro Hall will be a riot.
— Robert Ruggiero (@robert_ruggiero) May 27, 2014
@MirvishGehryTO this is impressive - both as a collective process and an outcome - congrats to mirvish and the city - very positive
— George F Dark (@GeorgeFDark) May 27, 2014
Toronto was robbed by @jen_keesmaat and @AdamVaughanSays of a #Gehry masterpiece #MirvishGehryTO. #horrible #backwards #NoVision
— Mark E Hernandez (@MarkEHernandez) May 28, 2014
· Don't Call Gehry a Fucking "Starchitect" During this Interview [Curbed Toronto]
· Will Frank Gehry Perform a "Facadectomy" to Save King St. Project? [Curbed Toronto]