Category Archives: Charlie condos

$1.95 million penthouse still up for grabs as construction winds down at Charlie Condos

Charlie Condos

January 10 2013: Charlie Condos (second tower from left) stands proudly on the Entertainment District skyline. Its nearby highrise condo neighbours include M5V Condos (with the bold red mechanical room box on its west side), Cinema Tower (with the construction crane) and Festival Tower (right).

 

Charlie Condos

February 9 201: Looking up at the 36-storey Charlie tower from King Street

 

 

Final few with a superb view: Looking for a brand-new condo with plenty of space and spectacular views — plus an immediate closing? If you’ve got $1 million or more to spend, a spacious upper-level suite at Charlie Condos could be yours today.

Four years ago, a parking lot occupied the northwest corner of King & Charlotte Streets in the Entertainment District. Today, Charlie towers 36 storeys on the site, with owners of its 314 suites gradually taking occupancy of their units as construction draws to a close.

But anyone who missed out on purchasing a suite either before or during construction still has an “exceptional opportunity” to buy a signature suite on one of Charlie’s top floors.

 

 

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Charlie Condos climbs closer to completion

Charlie Condos Toronto

February 20 2012: The east side of Charlie Condos soars above the Mountain Equipment Co-Op on King Street, just west of Peter Street/Blue Jays Way

 

Charlie Condos Toronto

January 31 2012 : Charlie Condos, far left, makes its mark on the city skyline, in this view from the Bathurst Street bridge

 

Nearly there: Construction crews are close to topping off work on the latest condo tower to rise on the Entertainment District skyline. When I passed by Charlie Condos on King Street West earlier this week, workers were busy building the 35th level of what will end up as a 36-storey highrise. They also were continuing to make progress with exterior cladding installation, having reached as high as the 28th floor.

 

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The skyline and CityPlace on a sunny winter day

Downtown Toronto skyline

Toronto growing taller

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A view of the downtown Toronto skyline, looking east from the Bathurst Street Bridge this afternoon. The cityscape boasts three new skyscrapers, including Charlie Condos at King & Charlotte Streets (with crane, at left) Living Shangri-La Toronto at University Avenue & Adelaide Street (with crane, center rear), and the Trump International Hotel + Tower Toronto, partly visible to the left side of First Canadian Place. The Trump Toronto Hotel opened for business today.

 

CN Tower and CityPlace skyscrapers

CN Tower, CityPlace and the Puente de Luz bridge

 

A Bathurst Street bridge view of the CN Tower, some of the condo skyscrapers at Concord CityPlace, and the yellow Puente de Luz bridge which will connect City Place to Front Street West above the railway tracks. Below are videoclips I shot this afternoon showing the downtown skyline, construction activity at the Library District condominiums complex at the west end of CityPlace, and the various condo highrises at CityPlace. The latter clip includes views of the grey-and-white, 41-storey Toronto Community Housing apartment tower under construction at 150 Dan Leckie Way, as well as close-ups of the points where a 2-level bridge will link the round and rectangular Parade condo towers.

 

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Charlie condos catching attention on King West

Charlie Condos construction progress

With construction up to its second level, Charlie Condos on King West is no longer hidden from view by the hoarding around the building site.

 

Name blame: When I was snapping some pics of construction progress at Charlie Condos on King Street West a few weeks ago, a bicycle courier rushed toward me, a furious look on his face. I thought he was angry at me, perhaps thinking I’d been taking his photo (I wasn’t; he was standing far off to the side of the construction gate I was photographing at the time). Turned out he was actually pissed at Charlie’s developer, Great Gulf Homes, and its builder, Tucker HiRise Construction, instead.

Jabbing his index finger toward signs on the construction site hoarding, the courier yelled: “These guys should get their asses sued off for copyright infringement!” Totally surprised and confused, I asked, “What guys? Why?” Face turning beet red, he bellowed: “Tucker HiRise! They have no right to use Chris Tucker’s name for their company! And they have no right to use Charlie Sheen’s name for their condo, either! I happen to know a thing or two about copyright law, and I know for a fact that Charlie and Chris could take these guys to the cleaners for trying to make money off their name!”

He proceeded to explain that the developer and builder were running afoul of civil law because, in his expert legal opinion, they were misleading people into purchasing condominiums in the belief the two Hollywood actors were somehow connected to the building. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing; this fellow was dead serious, yet he knew absolutely diddly-squat about trademark law.

Just as quickly as he had come running towards me, he flew into another tirade, this time raging about the fact Charlie is being built on a site that used to be a parking lot. “Where are all the cars supposed to park now?” he shrieked. “I guess they’ll have to buy a condo if they want to park here,” I replied. “That’s exactly what those bastards want!” he exclaimed, once again gesturing toward the hoarding signs before quickly stomping away.

Below are some pics I took of Charlie after receiving my Trademark Law 101 lecture on the street corner.

To view pics of the parking lot that once occupied the site, as well as building renderings and photos of the early stages of Charlie’s construction, check out my first Charlie progress post on January 31.

 

Charlie Condos construction progress

Construction forms rise above the hoarding on February 17 2011

 

Charlie Condos construction progress

A construction worker atop one of the ground-level wall forms

 

Charlie Condos construction progress

Arranging the rebar rods before concrete is poured in the form

 

Charlie Condos construction progress

Charlotte Street view of the construction on February 17 2011

 

Charlie Condos construction progress

Charlie Condos construction viewed from a laneway to the north

 

Charlie Condos construction progress

Laneway view of Charlie Condos construction, looking to the southeast

 

Charlie Condos construction progress

M5V Condos on King is the tower with the bold red stripe behind Charlie

 

Charlie Condos construction progress

This way to the next level of construction

 

Charlie Condos construction progress

The crane lifts a bucket of concrete into place for pouring


Checking in on Charlie

Charlie Condos

Architectural rendering from the Charlie Condos website


From Chaz to Charlie: Yesterday I posted about Chaz on Charles Street. Today I’m taking a look at Charlie on Charlotte Street. (Far as I can tell, they’re not siblings — their names and street locations might be similar, but they’re separate projects by totally different developers.)

Now that she’s finally got an above-ground presence, passersby are starting to notice Charlie Condos in the Entertainment District.  Up until late last year, you couldn’t see much of her. Hoarding hid Charlie from public view on King Street West, so construction of her parking garage and underground levels could be seen only through a tall chain-link fence along a back lane off Charlotte Street. Work on Charlie’s below-ground floors reached street grade in early December, and now the building is beginning to rise above the bold blue hoardings that shield the sidewalk on the north side of King.

Designed by Toronto’s Diamond + Schmitt Architects, and a project of Great Gulf Homes, Charlie will “define mile-high style” (according to her website) — even though she’ll stand only 32 stories tall. But with her clear glass windows, aluminum frame, and heritage brick foundation, Charlie will look “elegant and evocative … classic and contemporary.” We’ll have to wait until at least several floors of windows and exterior finishing treatments have been installed to judge if that’s in fact the case. But by taking the place of what used to be a parking lot, Charlie is classing up the corner and already helping to boost property values in her immediate vicinity.

A friend of mine made a very handsome profit selling his Charlotte Street condo late last year, thanks to the interest that Charlie and other nearby condo projects, including M5V across the street on King, have stirred up in the area.

Below are some of my pics of construction progress at the Charlie site.

 

Charlie Condos

Charlie billboard at King & Charlotte Streets on September 26 2008


Charlie Condos

Charlie location at King and Charlotte Streets on September 26 2008


Charlie Condos

Charlie construction approaching street grade on November 23 2010


Charlie Condos

Charlie construction approaching street level November 23 2010


Charlie condos

Charlie construction approaching street level November 23 2010


Charlie Condos

Charlie construction approaching street grade November 29 2011


Charlie Condos

Charlie construction approaching street grade November 29 2011


Charlie Condos

Charlie underground levels approach street grade while the M5V condo tower nearby on King Street (left) is almost finished construction.


Charlie Condos

Charlie construction progress on January 14 2011


Charlie Condos

Charlie construction progress on January 14 2011


Charlie Condos

Charlie will block views from Charlotte Street of these nearby buildings