The Hat | 88.08m | 28s | Cidex Group | NORR

General rating of the project

  • Great

    Votes: 2 4.1%

  • Good

    Votes: 16 32.7%

  • So So

    Votes: 18 36.7%

  • Not Very Good

    Votes: 9 18.4%

  • Terrible

    Votes: 4 8.2%
  • Total voters
    49
maestro said:
The funds hiring full service design, build, and, manage companies like Cidex to develop rental real estate assets are as clueless as renters and they have a lot more input on the direction being taken. Al they care about is Cidex delivering on their promises as far as asset value and income. It either doesn't compute that Cidex is providing the bare minimum and they could do better with potentially longer term stability by putting more emphasis in design and livability or they are not truly invested for the long term. My take is that it's another real estate bubble.
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Mountain Man said:
Their success is definitely dependant on people buying (or renting) the units they build. The problem with that is most people are completely clueless about how to look for quality and have no understanding about anything other than the appearance and layout of the units they buy. The same problem exists in the SFH market, lots of really shady developers throw things together with shoddy labour and cheap materials, but disguise it well with nice looking finishes. Not sure there is a solution to that though, people will buy what looks nice and shady developers will always focus on the finishes and not mention the bad foundations or leaky roofs.
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I find it amazing that you guys are able to determine this is a poor quality building because they chose a certain color/% of spandrel glass.

Again, realizing that spandrel = higher thermal values and increased building performance (when compared to vision glass); it indicates the inverse of what you're suggesting.

Not to mention this particular developer appears to hold their properties in their portfolio (Aura, Arch, so on), as opposed to flipping to a REIT and leaving the downstream owner holding the bag. High-quality design and build seems apparent to me and an obvious incentive.

The level of negativity in this forum is really disheartening. This is starting to sound like a NIMBY-fest.
 
Walked by this today and I have to say I actually like the podium. There is texture in the red that is a nice touch and doesn't really show up in the photos. Does it blend with the rest of the tower? Nope, not at all, but walking past I don't think I looked up beyond the first two floors anyways until my inner skyscraper geek forced me to stand to take it all in. I still don't like how the tower turned out due to the spandrel colour/amount but my wife was with me and she commented she liked the look of it so the average person may also feel the same.
 
As always with forums there tends to be a bit of group think. I've always thought the quality of the building was fine and TBH I don't really dislike this building. There are buildings with nicer designs, but this is what I would expect for a rental tower. Nothing too fancy... and despite the flak that Cidex takes, they are filling a need by adding a good amount of rental units around the core. This is the only rental project in EV.
cowGaryBerta said:
I find it amazing that you guys are able to determine this is a poor quality building because they chose a certain color/% of spandrel glass.

Again, realizing that spandrel = higher thermal values and increased building performance (when compared to vision glass); it indicates the inverse of what you're suggesting.

Not to mention this particular developer appears to hold their properties in their portfolio (Aura, Arch, so on), as opposed to flipping to a REIT and leaving the downstream owner holding the bag. High-quality design and build seems apparent to me and an obvious incentive.

The level of negativity in this forum is really disheartening. This is starting to sound like a NIMBY-fest.
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cowGaryBerta said:
I find it amazing that you guys are able to determine this is a poor quality building because they chose a certain color/% of spandrel glass.

Again, realizing that spandrel = higher thermal values and increased building performance (when compared to vision glass); it indicates the inverse of what you're suggesting.

Not to mention this particular developer appears to hold their properties in their portfolio (Aura, Arch, so on), as opposed to flipping to a REIT and leaving the downstream owner holding the bag. High-quality design and build seems apparent to me and an obvious incentive.

The level of negativity in this forum is really disheartening. This is starting to sound like a NIMBY-fest.
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You're confusing criticism with negativity. Increased building performance is part of the new national building code. Painted metal panels or back painted glass in a window wall system is about the cheapest and least attractive way of achieving the minimum code. Appearances are deceiving you. They flipped Aura and Arch to a pension fund attracted to the rental bandwagon and continue to provide management services for that fund. The Hats are part of a full service design, build management agreement for another pension fund owner that doesn't have its own real estate company.

What else are pension funds going to invest in? Stocks? Commodities? Office Towers?
 
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The Hat could have looked much better if the spandrel were more varied. Simply painting some of the white glass in the same gray as other parts of the facade would have been a huge improvement.
 
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cowGaryBerta said:
I find it amazing that you guys are able to determine this is a poor quality building because they chose a certain color/% of spandrel glass.

Again, realizing that spandrel = higher thermal values and increased building performance (when compared to vision glass); it indicates the inverse of what you're suggesting.

Not to mention this particular developer appears to hold their properties in their portfolio (Aura, Arch, so on), as opposed to flipping to a REIT and leaving the downstream owner holding the bag. High-quality design and build seems apparent to me and an obvious incentive.

The level of negativity in this forum is really disheartening. This is starting to sound like a NIMBY-fest.
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So what position at Cidex or NORR do you hold then?
 
I actually like the podium. If they had kept the white and grey theme all the way up the tower I think it would have been an improvement. As of now the tower looks completely disconnected from the podium and not in a good way.
 
outoftheice said:
I actually like the podium. If they had kept the white and grey theme all the way up the tower I think it would have been an improvement. As of now the tower looks completely disconnected from the podium and not in a good way.
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Agree. I don't mind the podium either, particularly the grey and white section.
 
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