Category Archives: Apartment buildings

Demolition of elevated podium segment marks start of apartment tower project on Sherbourne Street

545-555 Sherbourne Street

August 9 2013: Since 1977, this landscaped podium over Earl Street has linked the rental apartment highrise at 555 Sherbourne, left, with its sister tower at 545 Sherbourne (right), blocking views of buildings in St James Town to the east

 

 

545-555 Sherbourne Street

January 20 2014: Demolition of the podium link, which started one week ago, has already improved the streetscapes and views immensely

 

 

Long wait: Preliminary work has finally begun on a long-awaited construction project that will add a fourth tower plus 40 townhomes to a 37-year-old Sherbourne Street highrise apartment complex — drastically improving the look of three adjacent streets in the process.

Demolition began one week ago on an elevated concrete structure that had provided outdoor amenity space between the apartment towers at 545 and 555 Sherbourne Street. The landscaped deck, which passed over Earl Street, was part of a podium that contained a grocery store, retail shops and a fitness club, all linked to a third highrise apartment building at 565 Sherbourne.

Constructed in 1977 on the western flank of downtown Toronto’s heavily populated St James Town neighbourhood, the 545-565 Sherbourne complex contains 1,117 rental units in two 31-storey towers and one 28-storey highrise.

 

Redevelopment plan will revitalize 37-year-old complex

Once a vibrant and popular apartment enclave boasting a street-level Loblaws grocery store and other retail shops, a multi-level racquet sports and fitness centre, and a block-long landscaped podium roof deck with jogging track, 545-565 Sherbourne has not aged well and in the past decade has looked increasingly tired and worn, particularly at street level.

The Loblaws supermarket closed in the late 1990s and was replaced with a discount No Frills grocery store, while the fitness club shut down in the early 2000s and its large space has remained vacant ever since. A Shoppers Drug Mart was constructed beside 565 Sherbourne in 2007, slightly improving the appearance of the complex’s north side; however, the building frontage along Sherbourne has looked increasingly run-down in recent years, while the property’s street-level face along Earl and Bleecker Streets has long been dark, dingy and dismal.

 

565, 555 and 545 Sherbourne Street Toronto

April 10 2011: The rental apartment buildings at 565, 555 and 545 Sherbourne Street, as seen from the intersection of Isabella and Sherbourne Streets

 

 

 

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Phoenix mural brightens St James Town skyline

Phoenix mural on 200 Wellesley East

August 24 2013: It’s only partly complete, but the phoenix mural being painted on the south wall of 200 Wellesley Street East has already brightened the building — and the St James Town skyline. I shot this photo from three blocks to the southwest at the corner of Homewood Avenue and Maitland Place.

 

 Phoenix mural on 200 Wellesley Street East

August 24 2013: A view of the phoenix mural from one block east of the building at the intersection of Wellesley and Ontario Streets

 

 

Neighbourhood youth initiative: On September 24 2010, thousands of people in the northeast downtown area watched and worried as flames and smoke billowed from windows and a balcony at 200 Wellesley Street East, a Toronto Community Housing rental apartment highrise in St James Town. The intense six-alarm fire destroyed a 24th-floor apartment on the tower’s west side, and displaced more than a thousand building residents from their homes — some for many months.

The damage was repaired and residents returned to their apartments ages ago, but 200 Wellesley is once again attracting attention from people across northeast downtown. This time it’s a colourful giant mural, rather than smoke and flames, that has been turning heads and making people take a close look at the 43-year-old building.

Rising the entire 250-foot length of 200 Wellesley’s 29-storey south wall, the multicoloured painting of a bird soaring skyward will be the tallest public art installation in Toronto, and might even be the tallest in the world.

 

phoenix mural on 200 Wellesley Street East

This rendering provided by The STEPS Initiative shows how the phoenix mural will look once painting is complete.  A July 31 2013 report on the Torontoist website features another rendering that includes details from the base of the mural.

 

 

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Winter building pics: March 2013

 My March 2013 album on Flickr features more than 500 photos showing dozens of downtown construction projects and building sites. Click once on the image above to view a small-format slideshow of the pictures, or click twice to access the actual album where you can view individual full-size photos with captions.

 

 

Frozen fingers: It’s only a few days into spring and I’m still sorting through hundreds of building and construction photos I took during the winter. What has struck me the most is how gloomy and grey the city looked most of the time. Sunny, clear days were few and far between — and when they came, it was usually too bitterly cold and windy for me to risk freezing my fingers by wandering around with my camera.

I did manage a few long photo walks, though, and have been gradually posting the pics in albums on thetorontoblog.com’s Flickr photostream.  Above is a link to my fourth winter photo album, March 2013.

 

 

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Construction reaches top floor for One32 Berkeley rental apartment midrise in Corktown district

132 Berkeley

March 17 2013: Construction is underway on the top floor of the rental apartment building at 132 Berkeley Street. Windows have been installed on 4 levels so far.

 

 

Topping off: The project website and signs at the building site say summer move-ins are expected for the new One32 Berkeley rental apartment midrise in Corktown. But with construction still underway on the top floor, that might be a bit optimistic — unless Toronto’s dreary winter lingers longer than it’s supposed to.

Work was underway on the top level of the 10-storey building when I passed by on St Patrick’s Day, while window and cladding installation had reached the fifth floor.

The midrise building will offer 177 rental apartments in 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom configurations. Amenities will include a party room with outdoor terrace, a fitness studio and a library/meeting room. A 2-level underground garage will have parking for 72 vehicles as well as parking facilities for 180 bicycles.

A project of Concert Properties, One32 Berkeley was designed by Page+ Steele / IBI Group Architects.

 

 

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Winter building pics: February 2013

Above is a link to my February 2013 Flickr album of building and construction photos I shot during walks in the downtown area. Click once on the image to view a small-format slideshow of the pictures, or click twice to access the album directly on Flickr and see full-size photos and captions.

 

Winter building pics: January 2013

Above is a link to my January 2013 Flickr album of building and construction photos I shot during walks in the downtown area. Click once on the image to view a small-format slideshow of the pictures, or click twice to access the album directly on Flickr and see full-size photos and captions.

 

Work starts on highrise apartment/condo addition to 42-year-old rental tower on Isabella Street

66 Isabella Street

February 12 2013: A construction crew begins cutting holes where new windows and balconies  will be installed …

 

 

66 Isabella

… on the southeast side of the 26-storey apartment tower at 66 Isabella Street

 

 

66 Isabella Street and 620 Church Street

The work is just the first phase of a project in which a 23-storey addition will be built next to the rental highrise (left) in place of the trees and lawn that have provided an open space at the northwest corner of Church and Isabella Streets for more than 40 years. Meanwhile, city approval is being sought for a 3-storey walk-up condo addition to the south and west sides of the Town Inn Suites at 620 Church (right) in a separate project that would fill in the remaining greenspace on the corner property between Charles and Isabella Streets.

 

 

Apartment tower add-on: The area around Church & Isabella Streets has been buzzing — literally — with the sounds of crews preparing a 42-year-old apartment tower for construction of a highrise addition that will contain 12 condo suites and 199 new rental units.

Workers started cutting holes in the south wall of the 66 Isabella Street building this week, the first step in reconfiguring apartments on the tower’s east side before a 23-storey addition is constructed only a few feet away.

The renovation work started last month, slightly more than two years after City planners released a preliminary report outlining issues that the project posed, and recommending that a community consultation meeting be called to get public input into the redevelopment proposal.

 

 

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Motion on Bay construction rises past 20 floors

Motion on Bay apartments

September 7 2012: A view of the Motion on Bay Street rental apartment highrise from atop the podium green roof at Toronto City Hall to the south

 

Motion on Bay apartment highrise

September 7 2012: A look  up the tower’s east side, from Bay Street…

 

Motion on Bay apartment highrise

… and a view of Motion from the northwest, along Dundas Street

 

Photo update: Construction of the Motion on Bay Street rental apartment highrise has passed 20 storeys, on its way to a final floor count of 29.

A project of Concert Properties, the 463-unit building is scheduled for completion next spring.

 

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Construction of 29-storey Motion on Bay rental apartment highrise passes the halfway point

Motion on Bay Toronto

August 11 2012: Construction of the 29-storey Motion on Bay rental apartment building at Bay & Dundas Streets has reached 17 floors, with 12 more to go

 

Halfway there: If some of the emails I receive are a reliable indication, there’s a lot of people in Toronto who think that the Motion on Bay Street building currently under construction at Bay & Dundas Streets is going to be “yet another condo,” to borrow the words of one correspondent.  After I published some construction photos on May 5, I received several private messages from people requesting information about availability and purchase prices for 1- and 2-bedroom “condos” in the building. (For some reason, a lot of people also assume I’m a condo sales rep.) With this update post, I’m already bracing for another series of similar inquiries.

 

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Highrise condo cluster could threaten character of leafy low-rise street near Yonge & Wellesley

Dundonald Street Toronto

The lush trees and gardens adorning the front yards of these brick homes on the north side of Dundonald Street could be imperiled by construction of up to four condo highrises …

 

17 Dundonald Street Toronto

… including an 18-storey tower that would incorporate parts of the brick, travertine and glass facade of this Modern-style office building constructed in 1956 at 17 Dundonald …

 

31-37 Dundonald Street Toronto

… a potential 18-storey condo on the site of these three-storey houses at 31-37 Dundonald, currently being offered for sale as a block for redevelopment …

 

22, 40 and 50 Wellesley Street East Toronto

… and two more condo towers, each at least 28 storeys tall, that would loom above Dundonald Street from this location on Wellesley Street East to the immediate south ….

 

40 Wellesley Street East Toronto

… including a 118-meter-tall (32 storeys) condo tower that a developer wishes to build on the site of this 5-storey office building at 40 Wellesley Street East …

 

50 Wellesley Street East condo site

… and a 28-storey condo, now being marketed to prospective purchasers, on the site of what is currently an empty lot at 46-50 Wellesley Street East

 

Dundonald doomed?: A quiet, tree-lined residential street in north downtown’s Church-Wellesley neighbourhood could lose much of its appeal, charm and character — and possibly even much of its lush greenery — if proposals for four condo towers in the area come to fruition.

Only one block long, Dundonald Street runs east-west between Yonge and Church Streets, just one block north of Wellesley Street. It’s among my favourite downtown streets, one I walk several times each week to avoid the noise, steady vehicular traffic and busy sidewalks of Wellesley Street. But my alternative walking route might lose its quiet, pleasant appeal in several years’ time if two highrise condo buildings get built on the south side of Dundonald, along with two more right behind them on the north side of Wellesley Street.

 

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Work reaches 6th floor at Motion on Bay Street

Motion on Bay Toronto

May 5 2012: Construction workers were busy moving building forms today to prepare to build the 6th level of the Motion rental highrise

 

Motion on Bay Toronto

May 4 2012: The building will rise 29 storeys at the SW corner of Bay and Dundas Streets, and contain 463 units plus street-level retail shops

 

Form fitting: The Motion rental highrise at Bay & Dundas Streets reached a new level today, as crews repositioned building forms to prepare for construction of the 6th floor of what will ultimately be a 29-storey tower.

Toronto Police closed Bay Street to traffic for the length of the building site this afternoon while the construction crane hoisted forms from the building’s fifth level, and repositioned them directly above.

 

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More development planned for Church-Isabella site where controversial highrise addition will be built

66 Isabella Street Toronto

January 21 2012: These trees and the snow-covered lawn will soon disappear given that the City has approved a 23-storey addition to the 66 Isabella Street apartment building at left. The City is now being asked to approve construction of a 3-storey walk-up apartment building just a few feet north of the trees — on the site of the 1-storey podium that sits at the base of the Town Inn Suites (right).

 

620 Church Street Toronto development proposal sign

January 21 2012: This development proposal notice has been posted outside the Town Inn Suites podium next to Church Street

 

Town Inn Suites apartment building addition site plan

This site plan illustration shows how the proposed apartment building structures will wrap around the east, south and west sides of the Town Inn Suites property

 

Town Inn Suites apartment building proposed site

January 21 2012: These trees on the west side of the Town Inn Suites,  seen here looking south from Charles Street, will have to be destroyed to permit construction of one of the proposed walk-up apartment buildings

 

New infill trend?:  I’ve heard some downtown Toronto residents joke that surface parking lots should be declared an endangered species before they all get redeveloped into highrise condominium complexes. But parking lots aren’t the only pieces of prime real estate beginning to disappear from downtown streetscapes. Spacious private lawns and gardens surrounding  apartment towers built 30 to 50 years ago are also now being targetted by developers for lucrative apartment and condo infill construction projects.

On October 24 2011, Toronto City Council approved a developer’s proposal to build a 43-storey rental tower at Isabella and Sherbourne Streets, on the site of a 3-tower apartment and retail complex constructed on the western edge of the St James Town neighbourhood in the late 1970s. As I reported in an October 3 2011 post, the new tower will rise from the location of what is currently a No Frills grocery store as part of a major building overhaul that will redevelop the retail podium for the rental towers, as well as add townhouses to the east side of the complex along Bleecker Street. (The developer has not yet announced when construction will commence.)

Similar redevelopment plans are in the works just a few blocks west along Isabella, at the northwest corner of Church Street. On January 10 of this year, Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC) approved a developer’s proposal to construct a 23-storey addition to a 40-year-old apartment building at 66 Isabella Street. The proposal will be considered by Toronto City Council on February 6; however, Councillors are expected to rubber-stamp the plan now that it has already been given the nod by TEYCC.

 

Developments increase city’s supply of rental housing

In a December 13 2011 report, city planners had recommended that the addition to the east side of the existing 26-floor highrise be approved because it was an “appropriate … mixed-use development on an underutilized site and adds to the supply of purpose-built rental housing.” Many neighbourhood residents, on the other hand, were upset that the redevelopment would eliminate a stand of mature shade trees as well as a large private lawn — a treasured green space in an urban neighbourhood that City politicians and planners admit is sorely lacking in public parks. As I reported in a January 5 2012 post, many residents of 66 Isabella were angry not only because that they would lose their popular yard, but also since dozens of their neighbour tenants would be displaced during construction of the highrise addition.  Two Saturdays ago, they protested the development plan by organizing a “lawn occupation” that drew several dozen participants and attracted wide media attention (a photo and report on the event was published in the online edition of the Toronto Star on January 7).

Now, the bealeaguered residents and neighbours of 66 Isabella have yet another infill development proposal to deal with — right next door. In an application filed with the City on December 22 2011, a developer is seeking approval to build two 3-storey walk-up apartment buildings on green space surrounding the Town Inn Suites, a 26-storey hotel tower that is literally a twin to 66 Isabella, and stands only several dozen metres to its northeast. One of the rental buildings would wrap around the southeast corner of the hotel’s one-storey podium, which presently houses a swimming pool and outdoor sundeck. The second rental building would be constructed on the west side of the Town Inn Suites, currently the location of a tree-shaded side yard as well as the entrance/exit ramp to the hotel’s underground parking garage. The two apartment buildings would contain a total of 43 units.

 

Downtown residents fear loss of greenery

During conversations with a number of neighbourhood residents in recent days, people have told me they fear that the infill projects at Church & Isabella, along with the redevelopment proposal for Isabella & Sherbourne, could have a domino effect, encouraging more apartment building owners to seek to replace ground space on their properties with low- and high-rise additions. Lush gardens and tree-shaded lawns that presently beautify dozens of downtown rental buildings would be at risk if more property owners sense the potential for increased rental income and profits, and jump on the redevelopment bandwagon. “In just a few years, it might be rare to see trees and gardens downtown,” one worried neighbour told me. ” We could lose most of our greenery to look-a-like glass towers and building additions that extend right to the edge of the property line,” she said ruefully.

Below is a series of photos I shot this afternoon, showing the Town Inn Suites property that is proposed for redevelopment into low-rise apartments.

 

66 Isabella Street Toronto

This private yard at the northwest corner of Church & Isabella Streets will disappear when construction starts on a 23-storey addition to the building at left

 

Town Inn Suites at 620 Church Street Toronto

Looking toward the Town Inn Suites from the northwest corner of Church & Isabella Streets. The yard space and the 1-storey podium for the hotel are both slated for redevelopment into separate apartment housing projects.

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

Looking from the east side of Church Street toward the hotel podium that would be redeveloped into a 3-storey walk-up apartment building

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

The 46-storey Casa condominium tower soars skyward just half a block west of the proposed apartment development site, in this view from Church Street. Another condo skyscraper, Chaz.Yorkville, is currently under construction right next door to Casa, and will block much of this view of Casa once it is built. The City approved 39 storeys for Chaz.Yorkville; however, its developer subsequently sought zoning changes that would permit it to build 47 floors. It has since appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board because the city didn’t reach a decision on its request within the timeframe prescribed by provincial planning law.

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

The 1-storey podium is a hotel amenity space that includes a swimming pool as well as outdoor terraces and sundecks

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

A street-level view of the podium, from its southeast corner

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

A development proposal sign on the east side of the hotel podium

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

A view of the podium, looking southwest along the Church Street sidewalk. The apartment building at 66 Isabella Street rises in the background.

 

Town Inn Suites 620 Church Street Toronto

The Town Inn Suites main entrance at 620 Church Street. The hotel, which has 200 suites, will remain as part of the proposed new development.

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

The north side of the Town Inn Suites, looking west from the corner of Church and Charles Streets. Repairs to the building exterior are underway.

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

A development proposal sign at the southwest corner of Church & Charles

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

The north side of the Town Inn Suites along Charles Street. A city planner last summer said that the developer initially had been planning to build a row of townhouses along this side of the property. Now, two apartment buildings are being proposed on the south and west sides of the hotel instead.

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

This yard on the west side of the hotel is the proposed site for one of the new apartment buildings. That’s 66 Isabella  in the background.

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

A view of the “back” of Town Inn Suites from Charles Street  to the northwest

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

This ramp leads from Charles Street into the hotel’s underground parking garage. The ramp would be relocated and accessed from the laneway to the right once the new low-rise apartment building is constructed.

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

The underground garage has parking for 163 vehicles

 

Town Inn Suites Toronto

The addition to 66 Isabella will block this view of the sky from Charles Street, while the proposed 3-storey apartment building will dominate the foreground

 

 

Neighbours planning Saturday “lawn occupation” to protest highrise plan for Church-Isabella corner

66 Isabella Street Toronto

January 5 2012: Neighbourhood residents are planning to gather Saturday at this private green space on the northwest corner of Church and Isabella Streets to protest a proposal to build a 23-storey residential tower on the site

 

66 Isabella Street Toronto lawn occupation notice

 This notice was posted today on the private facebook group page for the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association (CWNA)

 

Occupy Isabella: Following on the heels of last autumn’s Occupy movement, a group of downtown residents is planning to gather at the northwest corner of Church and Isabella Streets for five hours on Saturday to protest a developer’s plans to construct a 23-storey residential highrise on the site.

As I reported in a December 14 2011 post, some residents in the Church-Wellesley area are angry that the city appears set to approve construction of a highrise addition to the 40-year-old apartment building at 66 Isabella Street. The addition — which would include 199 rental units plus 12 condominium suites in a 19-storey tower rising from a 4-storey podium — would be built on a 1,778-square-meter piece of property where a lawn and eight mature shade trees provide a private “park” atop the apartment building’s two-level underground parking garage. People in the neighbourhood are dismayed by the tower proposal because it would eliminate a sizeable, treasured green space in an area that city planners and politicians admit is sorely lacking in adequate public parkland.

 

Neighbourhood ‘green therapy’ jeopardized

“At present the lawn represents ‘green therapy’ for a wide community from as far away as Sherbourne Street and Bloor. Neighbourhood residents frequently choose to pass this corner on their way to and from work in order to enjoy the last bit of green space in an otherwise sterile landscape of steel, glass and pavement,” explains a notice posted on the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association facebook page today. (The CWNA’s facebook page is a “closed group” page accessible only by members who have been admitted to the group by moderators; currently, 350 people are signed up.)

Dog owners at 66 Isabella are disappointed they will lose a place to socialize while their pets enjoy the private “playground,” while tenants in 50 apartments on the east side of the building are upset that they will be forced to relocate for at least six months while their units are reconfigured to permit construction of the tower addition. “Many are seniors and have called it home for 30 plus years. Residents of the other 150 units who are already suffering deafening noise from the continuous construction of high rises on Charles Street will be exposed to another 18 months to two years of the same for 12 hours a day. Many of these residents are seniors, shift workers, home office workers or parents of small children,” the protest organizers state in the media release on the CWNA facebook page.

The organizers are calling for people to join residents of 66 Isabella in a “lawn occupation” being held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday to protest the apparently imminent destruction of the lawn and trees. “The City of Toronto and East York Community Council meet next Tuesday, January 10, to decide the project’s fate. If Mohican Holdings (owners of 66 Isabella) get approval the destruction of the lawn and trees will be almost immediate,” the organizers state.

 

$450,000 for local streetscape and park improvements

The fate of the green space is indeed on the agenda for the January 10 meeting of Toronto and East York Community Council,  at which time the TEYCC will consider approving zoning amendments that would permit construction of the 23-storey tower addition. Passage of the amendments was recommended by city planners in a December 13 2011 background report about the tower proposal. “The proposed zoning by-law  amendment application is appropriate for the development of this site as it provides for a mixed-use development on an underutilized site and adds to the supply of purpose-built rental housing. The site is within the downtown core along Church Street and near the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line.  There is already a mix of residential and commercial uses along Church Street and the proposed 23-storey addition to the east side of the existing building is an appropriate and compatible land use,” the planning report notes.

However, the planners recommended that the property owner be required to pay the city “$450,000 to be used toward local streetscape and park improvements” before  it can obtain its “first above-grade building permit for the development.”

 

66 Isabella Street Toronto

A view of the 66 Isabella private green space, looking to the northeast from Isabella Street this afternoon

 

 

Threat to corner green space alarms neighbours as approval of apt. tower addition appears imminent

66 Isabella Street Toronto

December 14 2011: This city notice, posted on the grounds of the 40-year-old rental apartment tower at 66 Isabella Street several days ago …

 

66 Isabella Street Toronto

… suggests that days are numbered for these eight trees and this open expanse of private green lawn at the northwest corner of Church & Isabella Streets …

 

66 Isabella Street tower development site

… which soon could be ripped up to make way for construction of a 23-storey addition to the apartment building rising behind the trees at left

 

Kiss the trees goodbye?: Church-Wellesley area residents are alarmed that the city appears poised to approve construction of a 23-storey addition to a rental apartment tower at the northwest corner of Church and Isabella Streets. Neighbours are upset not only since the construction will destroy eight mature trees and eliminate a large open green space in a downtown area that city planning staff admit is severely lacking in parkland, but also because they worry that the condo and rental unit addition to the 66 Isabella Street apartment tower could spark a wave of highrise development proposals for low-rise residential streets in the nearby Church & Wellesley village. And they fear for the fate of elderly tenants who will be displaced from their apartments on the east side of the apartment building, where suite layouts will have to be drastically reconfigured to accommodate hallways linking the addition to the existing structure.

 

32-storey addition initially proposed

The application for zoning amendments to allow construction of a highrise addition to 66 Isabella Street was filed with the city in late September 2010. Originally (and as I reported in a March 19 2011 post), the applicant proposed a 32-storey addition that would rise 95 meters (including mechanical penthouse), standing significantly taller than the 26-storey building to which it would be attached. The new wing would feature a 4-storey podium facing Isabella Street, with a 28-storey tower soaring above, with stepbacks at the 5th, 17th and 27th floors. The addition would include four condominium townhouses overlooking Isabella Street, 12 condominium suites on the top two floors of the tower, and retail stores along the Church Street flank of the complex. By adding 212 new suites, the addition would effectively more than double the number of residential units in the building. Most notably, the development would replace a large tree-shaded private yard which extends above the apartment building’s two levels of underground parking.

 

Private green space enjoyed by passersby

Although the lawn is private property, and signs advise that the yard is for the exclusive use of 66 Isabella residents only, people living, working and passing through the neighbourhood have long enjoyed its presence, particularly for its calm, cooling summer greenery and colourful fall foliage. But the greenery could be gone within weeks: a city notice was posted on the property last weekend, advising that an application to destroy the trees “to permit the construction of  a 23 storey addition” has been filed.

Though it now appears that the property developer has reduced the height of the proposed addition by 9 storeys, area residents remain dismayed at the prospect of any kind of development on the corner, and are disappointed by indications that the project will get the go-ahead from City Hall.

At a public meeting of the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association (CWNA) at the 519 Church Street Community Centre on Monday night, several area residents pleaded for people to strenuously oppose the proposal when it goes before the Toronto East York Community Council (TEYCC) for a statutory public meeting, which one Church Street resident said he has been told will take place on January 10. A man who identified himself as Morley urged the neighbourhood association to do whatever it can to “try to get [the project] killed.” If approved by the city, the addition to 66 Isabella will not only “kill the green space and stick a big huge block of building” in its place, he said, but will in turn spur further highrise development that will ruin “the character of the neighbourhood.”

 

City needs new rental accommodation

Another resident, who said he lives in the 48-unit Church-Isabella Co-Op across Church Street from the development site, said he has spoken to local City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam about the project, and is disappointed she isn’t supporting residents who object to the addition. He acknowledged, however, that the city desperately needs additional new rental accommodation, like the units proposed for the 66 Isabella addition, and said the project appears likely to get the nod from TEYCC no matter how strongly neighbourhood residents object. A woman told the meeting she was concerned for the welfare of senior citizens who have lived in apartments on the east side of 66 Isabella for decades, but will be forced to find new accommodation when construction commences. While several people at the meeting said they think losing the green space will be regrettable, they did concur with one man who said “we’re not anti-development, but we’re against development that takes away from the neighbourhood.”

As city planners noted in a November 15 2010 preliminary report, the original proposal for the tower addition offered to replace the 1,778 square meter (19,000 square feet) of ground-level green space with a 1,378 square meter (14,833 square foot) outdoor amenity area “on the private roof of the 4-storey podium and at the rear of the building at grade level.” It looks like area residents will have to wait until construction is complete in several years’ time to decide whether the building addition and its new amenity space adds to or takes away from the neighbourhood.

 

Proposal to add 43-floor apt tower + townhouses to Sherbourne Str. complex goes to TEYCC Tuesday

565, 555 and 545 Sherbourne Street Toronto

Rental apartment buildings at 565, 555 and 545 Sherbourne St. A fourth tower and townhouses would be added to the complex under a proposal being reviewed tomorrow (October 4) by Toronto and East York Community Council.

 

555 Sherbourne Street and 565 Sherbourne Street

A northeasterly view from Earl Street of the 28-storey rental apartment tower at 565 Sherbourne Street, left, and the 31-storey tower at 555 Sherbourne, right. A development plan calls for construction of a 43-storey rental tower between the two buildings, behind what is presently a No Frills grocery store.

xx

Earl Street between 555 and 545 Sherbourne Street Toronto

 This podium segment that crosses over Earl Street to link 555 Sherbourne, left, with 545 Sherbourne, right, would be demolished, creating an open “gateway” to the St James Town highrise neighbourhood to the east.

 

Rear of 545 Sherbourne Street Toronto

A row of townhouses would be constructed along the east (Bleecker Street) side of 545 Sherbourne Street, which currently features a deteriorating elevated podium above this unsightly loading zone and garbage storage area.

 

Rear of 555 Sherbourne Street Toronto

A row of townhouses also would be built along this stretch of Bleecker Street behind 555 Sherbourne and the site where the new apartment tower would rise

 

565 and 555 Sherbourne Street retail stores

Street-level retail shop frontage along Sherbourne Street would be expanded and improved under a plan to redevelop the podium for the apartment towers.

 

Spruce-up for Sherbourne?: At its public meeting tomorrow morning, Toronto and East York Community Council will consider an intriguing development proposal that would see a 43-storey rental building and rows of 2- and 3-storey townhouses added to a complex of three apartment towers constructed on Sherbourne Street in the late 1970s. The plan also would see the redevelopment and improvement of the retail space occupying the street level of the apartment complex podium along Sherbourne Street.

The development application, filed by community planning and urban design firm Bousfields Inc. on behalf of Medallion Properties Inc., would add 409 rental units to the Medallion-operated complex, which currently has 1,117 apartments on the northwest edge of downtown’s densely-populated St James Town neighbourhood. Although the proposed development would increase density in an already-crowded residential area likely to experience significant condo tower development in the next several years, it also would substantially improve the appearance of the tired and worn-looking complex as well as three adjacent streets — Sherbourne, Earl and Bleecker.

A background report prepared by the city planning department for Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC) has recommended that the redevelopment application be approved on certain conditions, including payment of $1 million — in what’s known as Section 37 benefits under the Ontario Planning Act — in exchange for the increased project height and density. Of that sum, $900,000 would be put towards the future construction of a swimming pool at the Wellesley Community Centre next door, while $100,000 would be earmarked for streetscape improvements on Bleecker Street.

The TEYCC will consider the report and recommendations as part of the agenda for its regular monthly meeting tomorrow. Subject to any decisions the TEYCC makes at that time, the proposal could wind up being considered for approval by Toronto City Council at its meeting on October 24 2011.

Although many nearby residents dread the thought of hundreds more people moving into yet another highrise building in an already crowded area  (ethnically diverse St James Town is one of the most densely populated districts in Canada), I welcome Medallion’s redevelopment plan and hope it gets the green light from City Council.

I have lived a short walk from the 545-565 Sherbourne complex for more than 20 years, and have always considered its badly-designed dark and dingy east side, along Bleecker Street, to be an egregious affront to the streetscape. The west side of the complex, which stretches for roughly a full city block along Sherbourne Street, isn’t much better. The buildings’ podium, which houses an extremely busy grocery store and other street-level retail shops and services, is an eyesore that has been long overdue for a major makeover. Medallion’s redevelopment plans would spruce up the buildings and greatly enhance the appearance of Sherbourne Street at the same time. The proposal to remove an elevated podium segment between 545 and 555 Sherbourne Street would vastly improve Earl Street by eliminating a dark and dreary passageway that looks more like a barrier than a gateway to the St James Town neighbourhood next door. Meanwhile, new townhouses along the building’s ugly east side would drastically improve what is possibly the bleakest stretch of Bleecker Street.

Below are photos I’ve taken of 545-565 Sherbourne at various times during the past year, along with some architectural illustrations submitted to the City’s planning department that depict how the apartment complex would appear with a taller fourth tower.

Full details of the proposed townhouses, apartment tower and podium redevelopment are provided in the city planning department’s September 13 2011 background report to the TEYCC.

 

 

545-565 Sherbourne Street Toronto

The 545-565 Sherbourne Street towers, viewed from the northwest at the corner of Sherbourne and Linden Streets. The towers were built in the late 1970s, but the 1-storey Shopper Drug Mart addition wasn’t constructed until 2007.

 

545-565 Sherbourne Street Toronto

The concrete and brown brick apartment towers at 545-565 Sherbourne, viewed from the west at the intersection of Jarvis and Isabella Streets. The new tower would rise in front of the white St James Town apartment building visible in the middle rear of the photo.

 

555 and 565 Sherbourne Street Toronto

The new tower would soar 120 meters — and stand more than 12 storeys taller than 565 Sherbourne Street, left, and 555 Sherbourne Street, right, seen here from the west along Isabella Street.

 

555 and 565 Sherbourne Street Toronto

Northeast view from Sherbourne Street of the podium for the apartment complex, including the elevated segment above Earl Street (right).  The podium would be completely redeveloped and improved.

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545-565 Sherbourne zoning amendment proposal sign

One of the zoning amendment proposal signs that had been posted outside the 545-565 Sherbourne complex for the past two years. The original plan called for a 38-storey apartment tower that would be connected to 565 Sherbourne by landscaped “sky garden” bridges at five-floor intervals …

 

public meeting sign at 545 Sherbourne Street

… but a standalone 43-storey tower ultimately wound up being proposed, and will be considered tomorrow by Toronto and East York Community Council. These signs appeared outside the complex on Sherbourne Street last month.

 

development proposal illustration for 545-565 Sherbourne Street

This illustration from a city planning report depicts how the 43-storey tower would appear viewed from the west …

 

illustration of east elevation for 545-565 Sherbourne Street

… while this illustration depicts the east elevation and indicates where 2- and 3-storey townhouses would be built along Bleecker Street.

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No Frills grocery store at 555 Sherbourne Street Toronto

Area residents aren’t happy that this No Frills store, situated at street level in the podium between 555 and 565 Sherbourne Street, would be closed for several years during redevelopment construction. It is one of only two grocery stores serving more than three dozen nearby highrise and lowrise buildings.

 

No Frills grocery store at 555 Sherbourne Street Toronto

A fitness centre — the Bloor Valley Club — once operated above the grocery store. The gym boasted a full-size swimming pool in the space with the large west-facing windows, as well as squash courts and rooms for aerobics, cardio and weights. The space has been vacant since Bloor Valley closed around 2001. 

 

555 Sherbourne Street Toronto

Stairs leading to the second-floor entrance to the former Bloor Valley Club space were removed from this corner of the podium several years ago. A Loblaws store occupied the street-level retail space beneath the gym from the 1980s until the late 1990s, when it was replaced with the No Frills.

 

545 Sherbourne Street Toronto

The street-level entrance to the 31-storey 545 Sherbourne apartment tower will be improved when the elevated podium (left) is demolished.

 

555 Sherbourne Street Toronto

The entrance to 555 Sherbourne Street is off Earl Street in the dark space under the elevated podium which will be demolished

 

545 555 and 565 Sherbourne Street Toronto

545, 555 and 565 Sherbourne Street viewed from the southeast

 

Rear podium of 545 Sherbourne Street

Bleecker Street view of the elevated podium behind 545 Sherbourne Street. Under the redevelopment plan, the podium will be replaced with townhouses.

 

The podium behind 555 and 565 Sherbourne Street Toronto

The podium behind 555 Sherbourne, viewed from Bleecker Street

 

rear of podium between 555 and 565 Sherbourne Street Toronto

Bleecker Street view of the dark and dreary loading zone under the elevated podium behind 555 and 565 Sherbourne. Under the redevelopment plan, a row of 3-storey townhouses will enhance this streetscape.

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Rear of 555 and 565 Sherbourne Street

The loading zone under the podium is a cold, dark void that creates a hostile streetscape along the west side of Bleecker Street. The new service area will be enclosed, situated behind townhouses, and accessed by large garage doors.

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The rear of the podium for 555 and 565 Sherbourne Street

Concrete steps lead from Bleecker Street to the elevated podium.

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Bleecker Street view of rear of podium for 555- 565 Sherbourne

Originally known as The Sherbourne Club, the Bloor Valley Club once occupied most of the podium building between 555 and 565 Sherbourne. The gym closed in 2001 after its owners extensively renovated the Bloor Park Club on Park Road and decided to discontinue operations on Sherbourne Street.

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Bleecker Street view of rear of 565 Sherbourne Street

A redevelopment proposal sign on Bleecker Street near the stairs to the podium.

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rear of 565 Sherbourne Street Toronto

A row of townhouses will revitalize this moribund stretch of Bleecker Street

 

rear of 555 Sherbourne Street

The Bleecker Street side of the podium looks dreadful year-round. The podium, which has long suffered from disrepair and neglect, will be revitalized.

 

Bleecker Street behind 565 Sherbourne Street

The tall trees are the only attractive elements on the entire Bleecker Street side of the complex. Unfortunately, aabout 10 trees will have to be destroyed to allow for construction of townhouses and revitalization of the podium.

 

555-565 Sherbourne Street  Toronto

Podium view looking south along Bleecker Street toward 555 Sherbourne

 

rear of 565 Sherbourne Street Toronto

The east side of the 565 Sherbourne tower, seen here looking north along Bleecker Street, will be drastically enhanced by a row of rental townhouses

 

East side of 565 Sherbourne Street Toronto

Townhouses will enliven this dreadful strip on the east side of 565 Sherbourne

 

east side of 565 Sherbourne Street

In total, 40 townhouses will be built along Bleecker and Earl Streets.

 

the east side of 565 Sherbourne Street

South view of the east side of 565 Sherbourne along Bleecker Street

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a street level unit on the east side of 565 Sherbourne Street

 The entrance to a street-level unit on the east side of 565 Sherbourne Street

 

parkette on Bleecker Street Toronto

This St James Town parkette is situated on the east side of Bleecker Street, directly opposite the 565 Sherbourne tower

 

Bleecker Street parkette

The parkette and one of four St James Town apartment highrises on the east side of Bleecker Street opposite the 545-565 Sherbourne complex

 

St James Town community centre and library

The Wellesley Community Centre and St James Town public library branch are situated immediately south of 545 Sherbourne. They opened in 2004.

 

Future swimming pool site on Bleecker Street

This grassed area off Bleecker Street, behind the Wellesley Community Centre, is where a public swimming pool will be constructed once sufficient funds become available. The pool will cost at least $10 million, but the City has collected only one third of that amount so far in fees from developers. Medallion Properties will have to pay $900,000 into the pool fund if it receives approval to redevelop the 545-565 Sherbourne apartment complex next door.

 

Future swimming pool site on Bleecker Street

The future swimming pool location viewed from the Bleecker Street sidewalk behind 545 Sherbourne