I think Mr. 42 may have mentioned this, but I think it's a lot to do with the logistics of running such and liability these endeavours entail...especially with residents living below. I imagine the costs that incur would be prohibitive, so raising the price on products and services to meet such just may drive would be customers away. And so on...

...I agree with the romantic notion there still needs to be this, but it has to be balanced with the reality of making this work somehow.
 
UtakataNoAnnex said:
I think Mr. 42 may have mentioned this, but I think it's a lot to do with the logistics of running such and liability these endeavours entail...especially with residents living below. I imagine the costs that incur would be prohibitive, so raising the price on products and services to meet such just may drive would be customers away. And so on...

...I agree with the romantic notion there still needs to be this, but it has to be balanced with the reality of making this work
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IDK man...I mean I can understand it might be a bit of an inconvenience to residents, but since it's part hotel, extra traffic in this building should be expected. The top of this thing is going to be as high as the main observation deck of the CN tower, I think an extra observation deck in the city was much needed since many tourist complain about wait and line up for the CN tower. Some don't even end up going because of it. @ the 14:58 mark of this video is a perfect example of an American couple and I've seen many youtube videos where this happens.

 
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Something is brewing,
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Jayomatic said:
I wish Toronto would do more observation decks, bars or restaurants. You would think they might gauge the interest in the market as they go into planning stages tobsupport things like visitor entrances and facilities
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This would be an excellent opportunity to have a Toronto counterpart to the Top of the Rock attraction in New York City.
 
unrealestate said:
Should be legitimate competition for 360 / the CN tower
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360 has a big advantage in that it rotates once every 72 minutes, so you get to see the entire surroundings at least once during a dinner. Under the right circumstances, with a beautiful sunset and perhaps a Jays game underway 1,150 ft below, it can be a magical outing. However, 360 is priced at a level its food doesn't meet. It is a good restaurant, but priced in the fine-dining echelon. One goes there more for the experience and the view than the food per se, although, again, the food is certainly respectable. It would be fantastic if 360 hired a truly top-notch chef, and it became a renowned Toronto destination for fine dining. The problem with that is the collision with tourism. I have been in 360 and sat near slovenly American tourists wearing sports garments, including baseball caps at the dining table, more suitable for a tailgate party. 360 must balance a fine line between catering to the regular CN Tower tourists and providing a meal that is worth the substantial outlay.
 
Strange Advance said:
360 has a big advantage in that it rotates once every 72 minutes, so you get to see the entire surroundings at least once during a dinner. Under the right circumstances, with a beautiful sunset and perhaps a Jays game underway 1,150 ft below, it can be a magical outing. However, 360 is priced at a level its food doesn't meet. It is a good restaurant, but priced in the fine-dining echelon. One goes there more for the experience and the view than the food per se, although, again, the food is certainly respectable. It would be fantastic if 360 hired a truly top-notch chef, and it became a renowned Toronto destination for fine dining. The problem with that is the collision with tourism. I have been in 360 and sat near slovenly American tourists wearing sports garments, including baseball caps at the dining table, more suitable for a tailgate party. 360 must balance a fine line between catering to the regular CN Tower tourists and providing a meal that is worth the substantial outlay.
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I'd rather the opposite, as none of the high-in-the-sky restaurants are affordable at present. If not at Pinnacle, then somewhere else. Or just open more observatories... or have one floor that's more affordable and one that's higher end in the same space (the CN Tour has the layout for this already except they charge just to get up to the floor with more reasonable food options thus making it not reasonable). Heck, I'd settle for mall food courts at slightly higher elevations with views rather than in basements. I miss the one at The Tenor and the one at Yorkdale has no view despite being raised. I guess I can kind of see stuff from the Loblaw's on Lower Jarvis street except last time I went they didn't even have a microwave!
 
Strange Advance said:
360 has a big advantage in that it rotates once every 72 minutes, so you get to see the entire surroundings at least once during a dinner. Under the right circumstances, with a beautiful sunset and perhaps a Jays game underway 1,150 ft below, it can be a magical outing. However, 360 is priced at a level its food doesn't meet. It is a good restaurant, but priced in the fine-dining echelon. One goes there more for the experience and the view than the food per se, although, again, the food is certainly respectable. It would be fantastic if 360 hired a truly top-notch chef, and it became a renowned Toronto destination for fine dining. The problem with that is the collision with tourism. I have been in 360 and sat near slovenly American tourists wearing sports garments, including baseball caps at the dining table, more suitable for a tailgate party. 360 must balance a fine line between catering to the regular CN Tower tourists and providing a meal that is worth the substantial outlay.
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Yes, the food at the 360 Restaurant is pretty good and when you realise that dinner includes a visit to the observation deck the price is really very reasonable. We now normally take (or send) visitors there if they want a CN Tower experience. I think they have actually managed to price themselves very well and it is usually full.
 
It doesn't even have to be a restaurant. Just an outdoor/indoor space with windows to look at the city. Maybe a bar or something should people want to stay a while. I used to love having drinks at the top of the Hancock tower in Chicago.

Was it the CIBC tower 3 proposal that had a restaurant or observatory in the plans?
 
Amare said:
It was the HUB proposal, but I believe that was either neutered or cancelled before that project was put on indefinite hold.
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I just did a social post regarding The Hub on UrbanToronto’s IG. It seems Oxford is somewhat confident it could actually be built and are shopping around for an anchor tenant, they’ve already secured tenants for 400k sq ft. And I believe the proposal still has the observation deck, but I could be wrong.
 
UtakataNoAnnex said:
I think Mr. 42 may have mentioned this, but I think it's a lot to do with the logistics of running such and liability these endeavours entail...especially with residents living below. I imagine the costs that incur would be prohibitive, so raising the price on products and services to meet such just may drive would be customers away. And so on...

...I agree with the romantic notion there still needs to be this, but it has to be balanced with the reality of making this work somehow.
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What's needed, for security reasons, are separate elevator lobbies to access the commercial space, and in the past that would have meant a separate bank of elevators too...

...but with modern destination dispatch technology, elevators serving the top floor restaurant can serve residential floors too on normal runs, as the tech allows for an elevator taking diners to be dispatched to the restaurant only while blocking stops on the condo levels. A separate lobby at ground level can stops diners from getting on an elevator that will serve residents.

I'll be interested to see how they manage this here, but my bet is that they use what was otherwise simply going to be a corridor at ground level between the two banks of elevators (seen below, just south of the MID-BLOCK CONNECTION label), as the restaurant elevator access (just make openings in the concrete walls for whichever ones they want to use). Someone entering from the central corridor would get an elevator that will only open again once it reaches the 106th floor, whereas residents would enter from the east elevator doors off of the high-rise lobby for a regular run to the condo floors. Whether the elevators are serving restaurant guests or residents can vary depending upon demand.

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42
 
DSCToronto said:
Yes, the food at the 360 Restaurant is pretty good and when you realise that dinner includes a visit to the observation deck the price is really very reasonable. We now normally take (or send) visitors there if they want a CN Tower experience. I think they have actually managed to price themselves very well and it is usually full.
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I agree. I just checked CN Tower observation-deck pricing, and it hasn't gone up substantially in a number of years, which is a good thing. It should not, because it's really not a very interesting experience on its own, in my opinion. It's not worth $47 per adult, though the Family Pass is reasonably priced, I guess.
On the other hand, as you pointed out, since the admission price is folded into the cost of dining at 360, it's a much better deal, and well worth taking visitors there or advising tourists to do that as opposed to going to the observation deck by itself.
 
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