Monthly Archives: August 2012

Nice finishing touch: Garden terraces add colour & texture to MuseumHouse condo highrise

Museum House condos

August 31 2012: Plants adorn the spacious private terraces on the southeast corner of the MuseumHouse condo midrise on Bloor Street across from the Royal Ontario Museum

 

Museum House condos

August 31 2012: There are only 27 suites in the 19-storey limestone, glass and metal tower

 

Museum House condos

August 31 2012: A project of developer Yorkville Corporation, MuseumHouse was designed by Page + Steele IBI Group Architects

 

Sky gardens: I most envy the people moving into MuseumHouse on Bloor Street West not for their multimillion-dollar new digs, but for their spacious south-view garden balconies in the sky.

Today was the first time I’ve seen the 19-storey luxury highrise since its southeast corner terraces started sprouting plants and flowers, including lush green vines that cascade over the stainless-steel railings and glass balcony panels.

 

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RCMI condo tower nearly 1/4 of the way up

RCMI condos

August 25 2012: The RCMI Residences condo building on University Avenue below Dundas Street has climbed above 10 floors on its way to 42

 

RCMI condos

August 25 2012: Simcoe Street view of the west side of the slender tower

 

RCMI Condos

This artistic rendering of the RCMI Residences tower once appeared on the website for its developer, Tribute Communities. It shows how the condo tower will compare to neaighbouring office highrises and hospitals on the west side of University Avenue

 

RCMI on the rise: Now that construction has climbed more than 10 floors, the condo tower being built on the site of the historic Royal Canadian Military Institute is beginning to make a big visual impact on University Avenue.

RCMI Residences will rise 42 storeys at 426 University Avenue, just below Dundas Street, and will tower above the adjacent office buildings to its north and south. The 312-unit building will include new facilities for the military institute on its first six floors, and will incorporate the rebuilt heritage facade of the RCMI’s 100-year-old headquarters, which had to be dismantled in 2012 to make way for condo construction.

 

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First underground floor slowly starts taking shape at RBC WaterPark Place office construction site

RBC WaterPark Place

August 15 2012: A view of construction progress on the western two-thirds of the construction site for the 30-storey RBC WaterPark Place tower at 88 Queen’s Quay West

 

RBC WaterPark Place

August 15 2012: Building forms near the west end of the pit

 

WaterPark Place Toronto

July 3 2011: The tower will rise on the parking lot site west of the 24-storey WaterPark Place 1 tower, built in 1986 (left), and the 18-storey WPP 2 tower, built in 1990

 

RBC WaterPark Place

This artistic rendering depicts a southwest street-level view of RBC WaterPark Place from Queen’s Quay Blvd. The RBC tower was designed by Toronto’s WZMH Architects. The rendering appears on the project webpage for the tower’s developer, Oxford Properties.

 

RBC WaterPark Place site

 November 2 2010: This photo, taken from the CN Tower, shows the parking lot area where the RBC WaterPark Place tower is currently under construction

 

New bank tower: Construction crews have been busy laying the foundation this summer for the city’s newest downtown bank tower, RBC WaterPark Place.

The 30-storey glass tower, which was designed by Toronto’s WZMH Architects, will rise on what used to be a large surface parking lot immediately west of the two granite and glass WaterPark Place towers that have been fixtures at Toronto’s Harbourfront area for more than two decades. (The 24-storey WaterPark Place 1 tower was built in 1986, and the 18-storey WaterPark Place 2 tower was built in 1990.)

I recall that when the first two towers were constructed, people were predicting that a third — and possibly even a fourth — highrise would join them within just a few years. But nothing happened during the office building drought that ensued. Now, 22 years later, work is well underway on what will become RBC’s national headquarters for Canadian banking operations.

 

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Demolition of former nursing residence & hotel at 90 Gerrard Street West continues steady pace

90 Gerrard Street West

August 25 2012: Demolition progress on The Residence building seen from the southeast at the corner of Gerrard and Laplante Streets

 

Shell shock:  Judging by the correspondence I’ve received, and several comments on earlier posts, a lot of people are upset and dismayed that The Residence building at 90 Gerrard Street West is being dismantled.

The 19-storey concrete and glass tower at Elizabeth & Gerrard Streets, directly across the street from Toronto General Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children, was originally built as a residence for nursing students in 1969. More recently, it operated as The Residence, a budget hotel that was popular with patients (and their families) coming into the city for medical treatment at Toronto General and Sick Kids, and at the nearby Mt Sinai and Princess Margaret hospitals.

 

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Rally will urge Premier to create public park with vacant provincial land on Wellesley St W

wellesley green protest poster

This poster appears on the Save Wellesley Green Public Park Facebook page, and is being circulated by email by local neighbourhood associations and downtown residents

 

11 Wellesley Street West Toronto

Neighbourhood associations and city residents want the Ontario government to make government-owned surplus property behind the blue hoarding at 11 Wellesley St. W. available to the City for creation of a new public park

 

New park, please: Community groups and city residents concerned about the severe deficiency of downtown parkland have planned a rally for this afternoon to urge Ontario’s premier to make surplus government property on Wellesley Street West available for public green space.

At numerous public meetings I have attended during the past year, city planners, Ward 27 Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam and Toronto Centre MPP Glen Murray all have acknowledged that downtown Toronto is “parkland deficient” with insufficient green space available for a population that is growing considerably faster than expected, thanks to the city’s ongoing condo building boom.

An opportunity to establish a new park or green space of some kind on Wellesley Street West lies within the provincial government’s grasp — after years of litigation, the Ontario government is finally able to do whatever it wants with a large piece of land at 11 Wellesley West, between Yonge and Bay Streets, that has sat vacant behind hoarding for most of the past decade. However, with eyes at Queen’s Park focussed on reducing Ontario’s enormous budget deficit, politicians seem more prepared to cash in on the condo craze by selling 11 Wellesley West and other surplus government land for redevelopment, rather than keeping it to create new parks for present and future generations of Torontonians to enjoy.

 

 

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49-storey condo tower proposed for east block of Yonge Street between Dundonald & Gloucester

587-599 Yonge Street Toronto

August 25 2012: A 49-storey condo tower has been proposed for this block on the east side of Yonge Street, between Dundonald and Gloucester Streets

 

New proposal: As Torontonians and tourists enjoy the Celebrate Yonge festival on south Yonge Street between Gerrard and Queen Streets, some city residents are beginning to wonder if there will be anything left for them to celebrate along the north downtown section of Yonge, between Bloor and Wellesley Streets, by the end of the decade.

News that a 49-storey condo tower has just been proposed for the bourgeoning east side of Yonge, between Dundonald and Gloucester Streets, has left many area residents fearing that Yonge is on the verge of becoming another dark and drab condo canyon like the one on Bay Street. Residents are also worried about the overall impact that several more highrise condo projects nearby will have on the Church-Wellesley neighbourhood.

The latest skyscraper proposal involves properties from 587-599 Yonge Street, as well as adjacent business properties at 2 and 4 Dundonald Street, as well as 7 and 9 Gloucester Street. A search on the City’s development applications webpage shows that a redevelopment plan for the block-long site proposes a 49-storey tower with 514 condo units, street-level retail shops, and underground parking. 593 Yonge is the street address indicated for the application.

(The city’s website entry does not provide any further information about the proposal, and does not identify either the developer or the date on which the 593 Yonge rezoning application was submitted to city planners. The city overhauled its development webpage this summer, and entries no longer provide proposal submission dates. Prior to the format change, webpage entries provided more detail, as well as contact information for the city planner responsible for the file.)

 

 

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U Condos underground floors filling in

U Condos August 19 2012

August 19 2012: A view from St Mary Street of below-grade construction progress for the 50-storey U Condos east tower …

 

U Condos August 19 2012

… and for the 45-storey west tower

 

U Condos

August 19 2012: South view of below-grade progress on the the west tower, where the third underground parking level is taking shape

 

U Condos

August 19 2012: Looking toward the northeast corner of the U Condos site as the underground parking floors continue to take form

 

Parking progress:  When I last published photos of progress at the U Condos site back on March 4 2012, crews were preparing for the installation of the construction cranes while still excavating the vast L-shaped site next to the University of Toronto campus at Bay and St Mary Streets.

Since then, the underground levels for the two U Condos towers have steadily been taking shape, with work this month progressing to the third floor below ground.

 

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Demolition of rear half of 1873-era heritage house heralds construction start for Karma condo tower

Karma condo site

August 27 2012: Formerly a surface parking lot, the 9-21 Grenville Street site for the Karma condo tower has been fenced off for the past several weeks …

 

Karma condo site

… and work to prepare the site for construction of the 50-storey tower has finally started with the demolition of the rear half of the heritage house at 21 Grenville …

 

21 Grenville Street Toronto

… seen here on March 12 2011. The front half of the 139-year-old building will be relocated to the northeast corner of the property and incorporated into the condo development.

 

Karma condos

This artistic rendering, from the Karma condos website, shows how the heritage house will be positioned beside the northeast corner of the sleek glass tower …

 

Karma condos

… which will contain 495 units and  soar 50 storeys near the northwest corner of Yonge and College Streets. Karma was designed by architectsAlliance.

 

Construction karma: Demolition work on a brick house dating back to the early 1870s has signalled the long-awaited start of construction on the Karma condo tower near the northwest corner of Yonge and College Streets.

When I passed the Karma site this afternoon, I saw that the rear half of the John Irwin House, a city-designated heritage building, has been demolished. The 2 1/2-storey house was built around 1873 as a residence for John Irwin, a local contractor and municipal politician who developed a series of properties along Grenville Street. The house was added to the city’s list of heritage properties in 2007. A city background file, prepared as part of the listing process, explained that the property has cultural heritage value “as one of the last surviving examples of a house form building in this area, and for its Second Empire stylistic features.”

 

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Ivory on Adelaide condo construction underway

Ivory on Adelaide condo construction

August 22 2012: Drilling and earth moving machines work on the west side of the Ivory on Adelaide condo construction site at 400-406 Adelaide East

 

Ivory on Adelaide condo construction

August 22 2012: Looking toward the Ivory site from the southwest

 

Ivory on Adelaide condo construction

August 22 2012: Ivory site viewed from the south at the corner of Adelaide & Princess Streets

 

Ivory on Adelaide condo construction

August 22 2012: A concrete truck waits on Adelaide Street next to hoarding along the sidewalk at the southeast side of the Ivory condo construction site

 

Drilling for Ivory: Motorists have lost access to another downtown parking lot as construction gets underway on yet another condo building.

These days, only earth movers and drilling machines are allowed on the rectangular property at 400 – 406 Adelaide Street East, where foundation building work recently got underway at the Ivory on Adelaide midrise condo building.

A project of The Plaza Corporation, Ivory on Adelaide will feature 272 units in a 22-storey building designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects. Suites are available in four different floorplan configurations, including 1-bedrooms ranging in size from a 520 to 650 square feet; 1-bedroom + dens offering 650 to 702 square feet; 2-bedrooms with 721 to 983 square feet; and penthouses in a host of sizes from 665 square feet to 1,389 square feet. The project website doesn’t list prices, but indicates that parking and locker are included in the prices for the 1-bedroom + den, 2-bedroom and penthouse suites. The condo interiors were designed by Brian Patton Interior Design.

 

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Market Wharf tower balconies making waves as crews prepare condo for move-ins later this year

Market Wharf condos

August 22 2012: Windows and cladding still must be installed on the top six floors of the 34-storey Market Wharf condo tower, seen here from the west …

 

Market Wharf condos

… but glass panels, like these ones recently installed on the long wavy balconies along the tower’s east side, give the building exterior a wonderfully wonky and fluid form …

 

Market Wharf condos

… and juxtapose nicely with wedge-shaped balconies on the tower’s south face

 

Wedges and waves:  Half a dozen top floors still await windows and cladding, and glass panels have so far been installed on just the lower third of balconies on the Market Wharf condo tower. But with construction of the 34-storey tower quickly approaching conclusion, a large orange banner on the building’s east side prominently proclaims: “Move in this year.”

Even though work isn’t finished, the tower already stands out on the city skyline, thanks mainly to its eye-catching mix of wedge-shaped and undulating balconies that conjure images of whitecaps and waves.

 

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Balcony panels add flare to Clear Spirit tower

Clear Spirit condo tower

August 25 2012: Alternating lines of pale green and white translucent balcony panels add eye-catching appeal to the Clear Spirit condo tower in the Distillery District

 

Clear Spirit condo tower

August 25 2012: Balconies flare outwards on the tower’s southeast corner

 

Clear Spirit condo tower

August 25 2012: Glass panels have been installed on nearly 19 floors of balconies

 

Clear Spirit condo tower

August 25 2012: The 40-storey Clear Spirit tower is viewed from the southwest near Parliament Street and Queen’s Quay Boulevard

 

Nice stripes: Throughout construction of the Clear Spirit condo building in the Distillery District, I’ve been anxious to see how the 40-storey tower would look once its glass balconies were installed. Now that panels have been installed on most balconies on the lower 19 floors, my wait is over — and I’m really liking what I see.

The alternating stripes of pale green and white translucent glass panels add a subtle extra dimension of colour and texture to the wrap-around balconies, enhancing the visual appeal and interest of the tall slender tower.

 

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Theatre Park condo foundation filling in fast

Theatre Park condo

August 25 2012: Looking toward the north end of the Theatre Park condo construction site, where underground levels are fast taking shape

 

Theatre Park condo

August 25 2012: A view of construction progress on underground levels near the midsection of the Theatre Park site. The condo property extends from King Street on the south to Pearl Street on the north.

 

Theatre Park condo

 August 25 2012: Work has progressed the farthest at the King Street (south) end of the site, where only one more underground level remains to be built

 

Inching upwards: Construction drama should start moving above grade at the Theatre Park condo tower site this fall.

The underground levels for the 47-storey tower have been filling in fast this summer. Work on the southern third of the site — next to the Royal Alexandra Theatre on King Street — has progressed the farthest, and only one more underground level remains to be constructed before that part of the building reaches street level.  The northern two-thirds of the site has some catching up to do, but isn’t far behind.

 

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Fall move-ins as Trinity Lofts near completion

Trinity Lofts

August 22 2012: Trinity Lofts viewed from the southeast on Eastern Avenue …

 

Trinity Lofts

… from the southeast, on Trinity Street …

 

Trinity Lofts

… and from the southwest, on Eastern Avenue

 

Nearly done:  As construction on Trinity Lofts draws closer to completion, residents are expected to begin moving into the 8-storey, 83-unit building this fall.

A project of local development firm Streetcar, Trinity Lofts is situated at the corner of Eastern Avenue and Trinity Street, just a two-minute walk from Toronto’s historic Distillery District and a not-much-longer walk from the West Don Lands area where the athlete’s village and other facilities are under construction for the 2015 Pan Am Games. The building, which follows the natural curve of Eastern Avenue, contains 81 loft condos with 9-foot ceilings and open concept interiors, as well as 2 townhouse units.

 

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Crane installed at Post House Condos site

Post House Condos

August 22 2012: George Street was closed between Richmond and Adelaide Streets today while a construction crane was installed on the Post House Condos construction site …

 

Post House Condos

… seen here from the west side of George Street as the crane installation work neared completion this afternoon

 

Crane up: Construction of the 21-storey Post House Condos will rev up now that a construction crane has been installed on site.

A project of Alterra Group, Post House Condos derives its name from its George Street location directly behind Toronto’s First Post Office at 260 Adelaide Street East — a historic building that dates from 1833.

Besides the 179-year-old post office, the condo highrise site tucked is behind two other heritage buildings on Adelaide East– the Bank of Upper Canada Building and the de la Salle Institute Building.

 

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ÏCE gradually building up on city skyline

ICE Condos

August 15 2012: Lake Shore Boulevard view of the two ÏCE Condominium towers currently under construction at 12 and 14 York Street on the north side of the Gardiner Expressway

 

See the next page for more photos and information.

 

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