[ericmacm]

First off, I sincerely apologize for the gigantic 11-year bump on this long-dormant thread, but I came across some interesting renderings that BBB posted on their master planning page and they were way too insane not to share. The renderings appear to have been uploaded in February of this year. I had seen many renderings of the GTA Centre in the past, but I had never seen these before. The greater development master plan showcased "Bell Centre", in addition to TSN, CTV, Bell, and RBC office towers along with a giant Marriott hotel, complete with a spire at the top. The age of the Bell logo also indicates that planning for this complex started before when they changed their logo to the current one in 2008, and prior to their joint acquisition of MLSE with Rogers in 2012. Additionally, being well in advance of the NHL expansion announcement in 2015, this general timeline and the heavy presence of Bell branding in these renderings suggests that they may have been involved in an NHL relocation bid at some point, possibly even trying to target the Penguins, Predators, Coyotes, and Thrashers, who were all in trouble from 2006-2011. Both RBC and Bell also have current Toronto offices in Waterpark Place and Bay-Adelaide Centre, respectively, which were both built well after this rendering, so it appears that both could have been early prospective tenants.

Either way, we all know what happened, and that this land is still vacant today. It's a fun window into the late 2000s and early 2010s of what could have been.