Monthly Archives: November 2012

Development proposal sign posted at 625 Yonge

625 Yonge Street

November 21 2012 : Development proposal signs, like this one on Isabella Street, were posted this week outside the latest condo project site on Yonge Street

 

Sign posted: In my October 11 2012 post, I reported that a developer had filed an application with the City for authorization to build a 40-storey condo tower at the southeast corner of Yonge and Isabella Streets. At that time, however, few details had been available about which municipal addresses were part of the property for which redevelopment approval is being sought. This week, the City finally posted development proposal signs that offer that information.

According to the signs, YI Developments Ltd. wants to build the tower on property presently occupied by two separate buildings. The larger of the two is the 3-storey corner building that houses  Yonge Street Fitness Club as well as street-level retail and restaurant space at the municipal addresses of 625-637 Yonge and 1-7 Isabella. The second is a 2-storey structure at 9 Isabella Street which is home to a Rabba Fine Foods outlet on street level and other commercial businesses on the second floor. The development site does not include a two-storey retail and commercial building at 619-623 Yonge as some area residents had initially believed.

The application is still in the early stages of the city planning and approval process. One of the next steps will be a community consultation meeting at which full details about the development proposal will be presented to neighbourhood residents and other area stakeholders to obtain their comments and concerns. However, that meeting is unlikely to be arranged before February. Normal city procedure is for city planners to present a preliminary report to Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC), asking it to order that a community consultation be held. Since the next TEYCC meeting isn’t scheduled until January 22 (the council doesn’t meet during December), it appears a public feedback session is at least two and a half to three months away.

See my October 11 report for photos of the development site and its surrounding area.

 

Bridgepoint hospital construction & old Don Jail renovation on track for April 2013 completion

Bridgepoint Health

 October 16 2012: A southwest view of Bridgepoint Health‘s new hospital, seen here from the Gerrard Street bridge above the Don Valley Parkway. As construction nears completion, Bridgepoint expects to begin moving patients into the new building next April …

 

Don Jail

… while the historic Don Jail, which has been undergoing an extensive cleaning and restoration, inside and out, is expected to open at the same time. The fully renovated building will house administrative offices for around 100 Bridgepoint executives.

 

Completion in sight: With construction of the new Bridgepoint hospital continuing on schedule, patients and staff of Bridgepoint Health should begin moving into the state-of-the-art and environmentally-conscious new facility in only a few months’ time — April of next year, to be exact. Hospital administrators and executives are expected to start moving into their own new digs around the same time — office space in the fully restored and repurposed historic Don Jail building right next door. And by the end of next year, once the old hospital building and Toronto Jail addition beside it have been demolished, and new public park spaces, landscaping and streets have been put in place, the 10-acre Bridgepoint campus will have completely revitalized the northwest corner of Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street.

The $1.27 billion project was in the news today, with an insightful Globe & Mail report by Angela Kryhul — “Historic Don Jail buffed up, refitted for a new purpose” describing the transformation of the 148-year-old Don Jail building into the administrative headquarters for the adjacent 10-storey, 472-bed hospital. I highly recommend giving Angela’s interesting article a read; she spoke to two architects involved in the Bridgepoint project, Paul Sapounzi of the Ontario firm +VG Architects and Gregory Colucci of Toronto’s Diamond Schmitt Architects. The online Globe & Mail article is accompanied by a slideshow of 11 photographs of the Don Jail’s interior and exterior.

 

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Structure in place for first Pier 27 SkyBridge

The Residences of Pier 27

November 19 201: Construction is complete for the metal structure of the SkyBridge that links the two east buildings of the Residences at Pier 27  …

 

Residences at Pier 27

… while concrete columns indicate where the second SkyBridge will connect the two west condo buildings. Pier 27 is located on Queen’s Quay Boulevard East.

 

Linked up: When I last reported on construction progress for the Residences at Pier 27 project in my September 13 post, iron framework had just been installed for the SkyBridge linking the two east buildings. According to a November blog update by the developer, Cityzen Developments, the bridge is now “structurally complete with all the metal work finished.”

 

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Proposals for four skyline-changing towers set for review at Tuesday meeting of TEYCC

York/Harbour Street office & condo towers

This illustration, from a city planning department report, compares the heights of four towers proposed for the York Street/Harbour Street area to the two ÏCE Condominium skyscrapers currently under construction nearby. Click on the image to view it in a larger format.

 

1 York Street office building

The proposed towers include a 37-storey office building …

 

Harbour Plaza condo sign

… and two condo skyscrapers rising 62 and 66 storeys …

 

1 York Street / 90 Harbour Street

… on this surface parking lot property at 1 York Street and 90 Harbour Street, viewed here from York Street looking east.

 

 Ten York condo tower

Just across the road on the west side of York Street, this surface parking lot is the location for developer Tridel’s proposed Ten York condo tower …

 

 Tridel Ten York Condominium

 … which would soar 65 storeys from its wedge-shaped site, as depicted in this artistic illustration provided courtesy of Tridel. The developer recently launched sales previews for the 735-foot, 725-suite skyscraper.

 

Decision day: Two development proposals that would dramatically change the look of the city skyline are up for review at the monthly meeting of Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC) on Tuesday. 

The proposals — the Ten York condo tower by Tridel, and the 1 York office tower and two  Harbour Plaza condo skyscrapers by Menkes — both have the blessing of City planners, who have recommended “approval in principle” of Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendments that would permit the projects to proceed, subject to the provision of adequate parking space.

 

 

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Office & condo tower complex would revitalize under-used ‘island’ site at York & Harbour Streets

1 York/90 Harbour Street

City planners have suggested the City give an official thumbs-up to a massive multi-use development project Menkes Developments Ltd. has proposed for a 1-hectare site at 1 York Street/90 Harbour Street. Their report recommends approval of a 37-storey office building, one 62-storey condo tower, and one 66-storey condo skyscraper — a significant revision from the original plan described in the development proposal sign posted on the property.

 

1 York Street office & condo site

October 4 2012: Looking east from York Street. The development site extends to the property line near the historic 6-storey Toronto Harbour Commission building at 60 Harbour Street. The heritage building was constructed in 1917.

 

1 York Street / 90 Harbour Street

September 25 2012: CN Tower view of the 1 York/90 Harbour development site, presently a surface parking lot (near center of photo).  To its right is the construction site for the 30-storey RBC WaterPark Place office building. Visible in the bottom right corner of the photo are the two ÏCE Condo towers and the Infinity3 condo complex under construction between York and Lower Simcoe Streets. At left are the 50- and 54-storey condo towers of Maple Leaf Square. Click on the photo to view a larger-size image.

 

Island bridge: City planners are recommending approval in principle of a proposal to develop a piece of prime real estate on Harbour Street into an office and condo complex with three towers ranging in height from 37 to 66 storeys.

The planners’ September 21 2012 report to Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC) says redevelopment of the 1-hectare parcel at 1 York Street/90 Harbour Street — essentially an “island” of property between the Financial District and the Central Waterfront area — would “contribute to the City’s economic base, enhance the public realm of the Central Waterfront and help connect a key site in the downtown to its local context.”

The property already has been identified, in the City’s Official Plan as well as a Secondary Plan, as being “underused and in need of revitalization from its present use as parking lots and surrounded by highway ramps to something more vibrant and contributory to the community,” the planners observed in their 67-page report.

 

 

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Tridel previews trimmed Ten York condo tower as redesigned project goes to TEYCC for approval

Tridel Ten York condo tower

Making a strong point: The prow-shaped podium for the proposed Ten York condo tower will add tremendous visual interest and excitement for eastbound drivers emerging onto Harbour Street from the dark Lake Shore Blvd corridor beneath the Gardiner Expressway. This artistic rendering, provided courtesy of Tridel, depicts a view of the podium from its western point.

 

Tridel Ten York condo tower

This illustration, featured in current Tridel marketing promotions, depicts the dramatic impression the 65-storey, flatiron-shaped Ten York condo tower (center) would make on the Toronto skyline. Ten York was designed by Toronto’s Wallman Architects. Click on the image to view the illustration in a larger format.

 

Back in the spotlight: It was one year ago this month (November 22 2011, to be precise) that the announcement of plans to build Ten York, a 75-storey condo tower near the foot of York Street, became the talk of the town — and the focus of news headlines and discussion right across the country. Ten York remained a popular conversation topic for weeks afterward, with people continuing to comment as much on its soaring floor count as its unlikely location — a triangular site tightly wedged between three of downtown’s busiest traffic arteries, the Gardiner Expressway, Lake Shore Boulevard and Harbour Street. Ten York even dominated cocktail chat at holiday parties and get-togethers I attended throughout the holiday season  (asking the question: “Who would want to live so close to the Gardiner and Lake Shore?” always sparked a lively debate).

 

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2