Tag Archives: College Street

Waiting for the relaunch of the MaRS building mission … Phase II construction announcement coming soon?

MaRS Alexandria Phase II

The mothballed MaRS Phase II building site, seen on Jan. 18 2011


Will construction resume?: Downtown’s MaRS Discovery District — the bustling charitable research and innovation centre on College Street, next to the Toronto General Hospital campus — gets mentioned in the news quite regularly. It got some media attention slightly more than a week ago, when the provincial government announced Feb. 9 that MaRS “is now part of the Ontario Network of Excellence (ONE), a network of 14 regional innovation centres across the province that help local entrepreneurs bring innovative ideas to market.” And almost  every week or two, MaRS makes the news with proud announcements that clients have secured financing for new ventures, launched new technology products, or won major awards.

But the really big news I’m anxiously awaiting is word that MaRS is finally going to resume construction of its Phase II development at the corner of College and University Avenue — the building site that has been mothballed since November 2008.

That news could be coming soon, according to a recent story on OpenFile, the collaborative online news site.  The January 24 OpenFile Toronto story by Tim Alamenciak says MaRS and its real estate partner have been discussing terms for resuming construction, with a formal announcement expected shortly — possibly within just a few weeks. No details were available, but Alamenciak said a MaRS rep “confirmed that there have been no changes to the original building plan, which called for a twenty-storey tower that would add 750,000 square feet of space to MaRS.” The official also confirmed that “the existing foundation will still be used,” Alamenciak reported.

MaRS Phase II was the city’s first high-profile construction project to fall victim to the global economic crisis. When the plug was pulled and construction crawled to a halt, the building foundation — with a two-level underground parking garage and a direct connection to the College station on the University subway line — had already reached ground level. A National Post story from November 2008 described why building activity was stopped. I’ll be thrilled if the Post (or any other local paper) soon publishes a story reporting that construction activity has resumed on the dormant property, but I’m not holding my breath. Word on the street early last fall was that construction would restart by the end of October, but of course nothing happened. 

The site has been sitting eerily empty and silent, reminiscent of the infamous Stump that sat next to Adelaide Street in the heart of the city’s Financial District for nearly 15 years after an office building project fell victim to the economic recession of the early 1990s (the Stump ultimately got demolished when the Bay Adelaide Centre office tower was constructed several years ago). I’d hate to see the MaRS stump languish for that long, but suspect we will see workers back on the site in the near future.

The OpenFile story suggests that MaRS will continue with the Bregman + Hamann Architects building designs originally revealed for the project. Below are some artistic renderings of the MaRS building design that appear on the website of curtain wall engineering company Sota Glazing. 

I’ve also posted some pics I took at the building site in 2008 while construction of the foundation was underway, along with a couple of pics of the site taken earlier this week.

 

MaRS Phase II building

Artistic rendering of the MaRS Phase II tower design


MaRS Phase II

Artistic rendering of a street-level view of the Phase II building


MaRS Phase II building

Illustration suggesting how the MaRS building will appear on University Avenue


MaRS Phase II building

MaRS Phase II building construction site seen on Sept 3 2008


MaRS Phase II building

Site viewed from a construction gate on University Avenue on September 3 2008


MaRS Phase II building

Queen’s Park Crescent view of two cranes on the MaRS site on November 7 2008


MaRS Phase II building

MaRS site construction gate on College Street viewed November 7 2008


MaRS Phase II building

Another November 2008 view of the site from College Street


MaRS Phase II building

Ground level floor ready for concrete pour on November 7 2008


MaRS Phase II building

One of the cranes on the MaRS site November 7 2008


MaRS Phase II building

Elevator core taking shape on November 7 2008


MaRS Phase II building

MaRS Phase II building construction progress viewed on November 7 2008


MaRS Phase II building

Another November 7 2008 view of construction progress


MaRS Phase II building

MaRS Phase II building site viewed from College Street on February 15 2011


MaRS Phase II building

The elevator core “stump” is the most visible sign of construction progress at the site before building activity was stopped in mid-November 2008


42-storey “luxury” student residence for U of T?

U of T residence

Diamond and Schmitt Architects rendering of proposed U of T residence


Towering Dorm: The biggest university in Canada could lay claim to having the tallest and most expensive student residence in the country if the City approves a development application for property on College Street. But will community concerns about the project’s height and density derail the proposal or knock down the height of what would be a stunning, landmark tower for the neighbourhood?

The potential development site  — 245 – 251 College Street — is situated on the south side of College, just a stone’s throw east of Spadina Avenue and directly across the street from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). The university owns part of the property while a private developer, Knightstone Capital Management, owns the rest.

In an article published last July, the Globe and Mail reported that U of T had “quietly” begun plans for a new residence which Knightstone would finance and build near the university’s downtown campus. Just one month later, a rezoning application was filed with the city seeking approval to build a 42-storey tower with “academic residences” and a three-storey podium “containing retail, academic services and lecture halls for University of Toronto.”

In an article published in its online edition today, the Toronto Star offered more details about the plan. It said U of T has leased its land to the developer,  which will build a $120 million, 42-storey residence housing 1,000 students. However, the building will not be a typical university dorm housing “ordinary” Canadian students — they couldn’t afford to live there. Instead, the tower will offer expensive rental accommodation — costing approximately $15,000 per year — that is expected to appeal primarily to wealthy international students, along with some graduate and out-of-province students.  However, accommodation would not be restricted to U of T students; those attending the city’s other educational institutions could rent rooms, too, if they have the cash.

“The glass and panel tower, a series of wonky boxes stacked one on top of the other, would rise a dizzying 42 storeys above its Lilliputian neighbours on College St., commercial buildings that are two, three or five storeys at most,” the Star article says.

To the south, on the other hand, sits a vast residential area; in fact, Glasgow Street — a quiet, narrow road lined with small homes — runs north from Cecil Street, dead-ending at the proposed tower location. “If someone can get 40-storey buildings shoehorned into that neighbourhood, all of the (future development) sites will come back as 40-storey applications,” the Star quotes local city councillor Adam Vaughan as saying.

The newspaper says city staff have recommended that the developer reconsider the tower’s height, and that Vaughan hold consultation meetings with the landowners and residents. But Knightstone’s CEO,  David Lehberg, told the Star that U of T “needs bigger, shinier buildings to compete internationally.”

So, too, does the City of Toronto, in my humble opinion. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this project gets the A-OK; I think it would improve the look of the area immensely, not to mention put U of T on the radar of privileged students around the globe. With several new five-star hotel towers opening in Toronto over the next two years, the city will finally be able to attract elite tourists who have been travelling to high-end hotels in destinations elsewhere, at the expense of our local tourism industry. I say let the residence tower go up so all those wealthy parents will come visit, spend money and boost our economy while their kids attend U of T in style!

Below is another rendering of the proposed tower, by Toronto’s Diamond and Schmitt Architects, along with some photos I snapped of the project site this afternoon from College and Glasgow Streets.

 

U of T residence

Diamond and Schmitt Architects rendering of proposed residence tower


U of T residence

Proposed U of T residence tower site viewed from south side of College Street


U of T residence

Site viewed from the north side of College Street


U of T residence

Development proposal sign on College Street


U of T residence

Another site view from the north side of College Street


U of T Residence

A printing centre once occupied this two-storey building


U of T residence

A view of the proposed development site looking east along College Street


U of T residence

The tower’s neighbours include the LillianSmith library, left.


U of T residence

View towards the tower site from the corner of Glasgow and Cecil Streets


U of T residence

Glasgow Street view of the proposed tower location


U of T residence

Another Glasgow Street view of the proposed tower location


U of T residence

Proposed tower location viewed from the north end of Glasgow Street


U of T residence

Proposed tower location viewed from the north end of Glasgow Street


U of T residence

Proposed site viewed from a parking lot at the end of Glasgow Street


U of T residence

View south on Glasgow Street from the proposed tower location


U of T residence

View of the site (the short white building and the three-storey brown brick structure to its right), looking southwest from corner of College and Huron Streets


U of T residence

The CAMH building directly across College Street


U of T residence

Another view  of the CAMH building on College Street