Saskatoon | Baydo Towers | ??m - ??m | 25-25 Floors | U/C

[roryn1]

A Saskatoon-based developer is planning to start work on a what is expected to be the largest residential development in the city’s history next month.

Baydo Development Corp. vice president of finance said the twin 25-storey towers will provide a $100-million economic “shot in the arm” for the province.

Citing a higher threshold for mortgages and a shift toward high-density living, Chris Luczka said the company is banking on increased demand for high-end rentals.

“People are wanting to rent because it’s more affordable than home ownership at this time. You can get a nicer place for less money,” Luczka said Tuesday.

The proposed 426-unit megaproject on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 25th Street is larger than the twin 23-storey towers containing 364 units Baydo originally envisioned for the site.

Luczka said “huge, huge interest” in the company’s 10-storey apartment tower on Broadway Avenue led to the size increase of the project, which will cost “roughly” $100 million.
Baydo plans to build both towers simultaneously, but finish the interior of one about a year ahead of the second. Completion of the second tower will be based on absorption rate, he said.

According to Baydo, the building will contain units ranging from 501-square-foot one-bedroom apartments to two-bedroom units of 1,102 square feet.

Some of the apartments will include more than 500 square feet of private outdoor living space, while the building will also have a large rooftop patio as well as 11,000 square feet of commercial space.

One tenant it will not have is a grocery store, often cited as a roadblock for downtown living. But Luczka said the pandemic has shown grocery delivery to be more than feasible.

The developer bought the vacant lot from the City of Saskatoon for $4 million in 2018. The property is already zoned for apartments, meaning Baydo can avoid a potentially-contentious public consultation and rezoning process.

While the pandemic has created much economic uncertainty, Luczka acknowledged that borrowing is very cheap and after the virus is under control, “people (will) still need a place to live.”

“It’s been proven that as cities grow, the percentage of renters versus homeowners starts to shift, and I don’t see Saskatoon stopping growing,” he said.

Construction is expected to finish in late 2022.

[NotToScale]

I think if there were any current projects, at this density, in this particular location, that would make sense to have a grocery store this would be the one. Interesting choice to completely rule it out on their part, but it does simplify the design of the main commercial floor area. And Baydo is all about simple design work, so....

[roryn1]

None of the new articles say what the height is, but a CBC article from a few months ago says that the height limit is 76.9M @ 23 Stories and that it would be near the limit of 76M which was previously proposed. So it could be higher now...

[yveseluj]

Infill is good, but man is that design uninspiring. No bueno.

[Echoes]

An aerial perspective from CTV:


https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/saskato...tory-1.4925848


They're, umm, chunky.

[roryn1]

ooo i’d love to see a nice covered walking overpass there over 25th now. i live on the other side of 25th and walk to city park quite a bit to the rydeyxe and cityperks. would also help with traffic flow. i’m personally very very ok with this project and am super excited.

[Crisis]

While I agree that this Baydo development isn't likely to win any architectural awards, I don't find it terrible. As a point of comparison, the proposed Highpoint development at the top of the Broadway Bridge seems to be admired by most on this forum but I don't find it any more attractive than this Baydo building (or Baydo's builiding on Broadway, for that matter). Obviously, it's just a matter of personal preference and no point in belabouring the issue.

What intrigues me about these towers on 25th is what's happening on the 2nd & 3rd (or is it 3rd & 4th) floors in the blue "monolith" part of the building? I could see it housing amenities for the building (fitness area, multi-purpose rooms) and mechanical equipment but it appears to be an awfully large area for that stuff. Any ideas?

[Echoes]

A few floors of above-grade parking would be my guess.

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by Echoes

A few floors of above-grade parking would be my guess.

Yup. Makes perfect sense. I'd assumed an underground parkade, but above ground is far cheaper.

[Roquentin]

Well, it's nice to know a little more about this, at least. So according to the article, Baydo will be building both towers at the same time, but only finishing the interior of one of them right away (and waiting for the first tower to fill with renters before finishing the second one). I haven't heard of this approach before in a residential context. Is it common? It reminds me of how hospitals are sometimes overbuilt so that they have extra space to grow into over time. Anyway, it seems like a neat way to stagger the construction, and I'm sure the logistics of that decision are quite interesting. With any luck the first tower will rent quickly, and the second tower will be completed without much delay.

Also, I thought that this sentence in the StarPhoenix article was funny: "The property is already zoned for apartments, meaning Baydo can avoid a potentially-contentious public consultation and rezoning process." Are public consultations only required when land is rezoned? Hmm.

Anyway, it looks like they're building this as densely as they can. It would be nice to see renderings from other angles. The separation between the two towers looks like the minimum that's required (10m?). I'm not sure I'd want one of the apartments facing the adjacent tower. The podium is pretty bleak (I assume it's mostly a parkade), but there aren't many apartments in the city with podiums like this, so maybe the zoning bylaws are pretty lax? 11000 sq. ft. of commercial space is decent, and the staggered heights of the podium and retail block looks like a decent way to address 25th Street.

All in all, this is pretty rough, but there are some fine silver linings too. Saskatoon doesn't get projects like this very often, and this part of the core only stands to gain from the increased density. Anyway, it's nice to finally know a little more about this.

[roryn1]

I think you’re right. there might be better quality drawings to come and they almost rushed this project’s drawings to fit the timelines and scare away other condos similar to North Prairie’s gross strategy (ie. the original concept says 23 stories and now that it’s at 25 that would put it past height restriction based on their original drawings). I’m super curious to know how financing was put together as it’s definitely not at all local which is great to have an out of province injection of $100M. does anyone know how Baydo is financed?

[SaskE30]

Originally Posted by roryn1

does anyone know how Baydo is financed?

The rumors I keep hearing is that they have Chinese investors but these are just rumors.

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by SaskE30

The rumors I keep hearing is that they have Chinese investors but these are just rumors.

Rumours that would appear pretty sound.

From the Baydo website “Our Story” section:

Yufeng Wang (President and CEO), along with his partners Si Chen and Naifang Ji formed the concept and business plan for Baydo Development Corporation.

[Temperance]

The patio /amenity space between the towers is quite claustrophobic. Won't it be in the shade almost all the time?

[Spocket]

Really happy to see Saskatoon getting these but damn...they look cheap on the outside.

[SaskScraper]

I'm shocked and appalled that commie blocks are still being built in this day and age.
Porthole sized windows and institutional brown and blue looks straight out of the 1950's Stalingrad.
I'm not sure which building looks worse, Baydo tower number 1 or stubby number...uh huh 'tower' number 2.

[phone]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

I'm shocked and appalled that commie blocks are still being built in this day and age.
Porthole sized windows and institutional brown and blue looks straight out of the 1950's Stalingrad.
I'm not sure which building looks worse, Baydo tower number 1 or stubby number...uh huh 'tower' number 2.

International-style glass towers might be desirable from a purely aesthetic point of view (conventionally speaking), but I would bet that the Baydo Towers will be far more energy efficient in a place with such a variable climate as Saskatoon. Potential issues regarding materials quality aside, that is.... I would further hazard to say that speaking purely in the Saskatoon context, 25 stories would qualify a building as tower.

[905er]

oh how perfect.. they'll blend right in with their neighbours. seriously, it's 2020... that's the best design they could come up with?

[phone]

Originally Posted by 905er

oh how perfect.. they'll blend right in with their neighbours. seriously, it's 2020... that's the best design they could come up with?

It's cheap, and they probably could have done more with their money design-wise, but it helps build a critical mass of people downtown which will hopefully serve as a catalyst for nicer looking development. Speaking from a purely utilitarian perspective this project checks off most of the boxes (no pun intended), with respect to density, streetfront interaction, and in Saskatoon, the all important parking.

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by phone

International-style glass towers might be desirable from a purely aesthetic point of view (conventionally speaking), but I would bet that the Baydo Towers will be far more energy efficient in a place with such a variable climate as Saskatoon. Potential issues regarding materials quality aside, that is.... I would further hazard to say that speaking purely in the Saskatoon context, 25 stories would qualify a building as tower.

I bet they would be more energy efficient yet again if there were no windows at all.

Anything that is broad or thick set when it does not have to be qualifies as stubby or stubbed.
Also stubbing a cigarette automatically makes it shorter by default, makes cigarette safe but ugly too, yet another good analogy to the Baydo project. No one will ever call these buildings sexy (& slender).