Tag Archives: Scollard Street

Yorkville traffic snarled for hours after cement spills onto Bay Street from top of Four Seasons tower

Bay Street closure between Yorkville Avenue and Scollard Street

Looking south on Bay Street, from Scollard Street, shortly past 2 p.m. this afternoon. The entire block was closed to vehicles and pedestrians

 

Television crews filming outside the Four Seasons Toronto construction site

With a television cameraman filming the action, two construction workers sweep debris from Bay Street while another crew inspects hoarding on the Bay Street sidewalk next to the Four Seasons hotel + condo construction site

 

Construction accident: It’s amazing nobody was hurt when a load of construction cement fell 53 storeys from the top of the Four Seasons hotel and condo tower and splattered onto Bay Street shortly after lunchtime today. The construction accident occurred around 1.20 p.m., but police and bystanders said no-one was injured and no vehicles or buildings damaged when cement showered onto the pavement between Yorkville Avenue and Scollard Streets. That section of Bay Street is typically busy with steady daytime traffic, including city buses, and dozens of pedestrians would have been walking along nearby sidewalks at the time. According to a story in the Toronto Star’s online edition, the mishap occurred when concrete was being poured into a mould on the 53rd floor of the tower, which will rise a total of 55 storeys once construction is completed. When the mould buckled, the concrete rained down onto the street. Police closed the entire block between Yorkville and Scollard so crews could clean the cement spill while staff from the provincial Ministry of Labour investigated the cause of the accident. A street cleaning machine was brought in to assist several construction workers using push brooms to sweep up the mess. Traffic throughout Yorkville was snarled as pedestrians and vehicles were forced to detour around the street closure. I arrived at the Bay/Yorkville intersection just as the crews finished sweeping the street, so there was little to see other than yellow “do not cross” tape and police vehicles barring access to the block, along with dozens of curious onlookers gazing upward at the tall glass tower and asking each other what had happened. Below are several photos I snapped at the scene.  Additional photos of the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences can be viewed in my April 1 2011 post about progress on the construction project.

Bay Street between Yorkville Avenue and Scollard Street

A view of Bay Street from the northwest corner of Bay and Yorkville Avenue, outside The Regency condominium building

 

Police and media cameraman conferring on Bay Street

A media photographer chats with police at the northeast corner of Bay & Yorkville

 

Television cameramen filming outside the Four Seasons construction site

Television cameramen filming from the northwest corner of Bay & Yorkville

 

Cameraman filming at corner of Bay and Yorkville across from Four Seasons construction site

A TV cameraman films police standing a block away at Scollard Street

 

Cameraman filming footage of the Four Seasons West Residence Tower

A TV cameraman shoots footage of the Four Seasons while pedestrians look up at the hotel/condo tower and traffic detours past the site

 

Police block traffic from moving south on Bay Street

The police roadblock at Scollard Street, outside the Four Seasons West Residence

 

Four Seasons Toronto towers viewed from Bay at Scollard Street

The Four Seasons’ East and West Residence towers viewed from the northwest

 

Two construction workers atop the East Tower at the Four Seasons Toronto

Two construction workers atop the Four Seasons’ 26-storey East Residence Tower

 

Cranes atop the West Tower of the Four Seasons Toronto construction project April 7 2011 IMG_4781

Cranes atop the West Residence tower, now 53 storeys tall on its way to 55

 

Looking up at the new Four Seasons towers

Four Seasons Toronto Hotel + Residences tower

 

Tall, sleek & slender: It’s the tallest tower in Yorkville, yet the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences hasn’t even topped off at its full 55 floors yet. But the sleek glass skyscraper and its 26-storey condo sibling have literally brightened up the east block of Bay Street between Scollard Street and Yorkville Avenue. When sunshine glints off the curtain glass walls of the East and West Residence towers on a clear day, it’s almost blinding. And even though the two-tower construction site is still surrounded by hoarding and scaffolding, and covered in dust and grime, it feels like it has significantly classed-up the corner at Bay & Yorkville already. I’m loving the look of these shiny towers, from all angles, and think the complex will be a stunning addition to the streetscape once construction is complete.

The five-star Four Seasons Hotel & Residences was designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance, and is being built by Menkes Construction Ltd. The West Residence is a mixed-use tower featuring a 253-room Four Seasons Hotel on the first 20 floors, and 101 private condominium residences on the upper 35 storeys. The East Residence will have 103 condominiums, and is linked to the west tower by an elevated pedestrian walkway about eight floors above the ground.

I previously published photos of the Four Seasons construction in a January 26 post; below is a series of photos from February, March and today which show how much progress has been made since then.

 

Four Seasons tower viewed from Yonge Street near Roxborough Street

February 10 2011: Construction of the Four Seasons towers (and, to the right, the Florian condo tower) viewed from Yonge St. near Roxborough St. in Rosedale

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto

February 23 2011: East view of the towers from Yorkville Avenue

 

Four Seasons East Residence tower

February 23 2011: Southwest view of the East Residence condo tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto towers

February 23 2011: Yorkville Avenue view of the two towers

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence tower

February 23 2011: Looking way up the south side of the West Residence tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence tower

February 23 2011: The southeast corner of the West Residence tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences West Residence tower

February 23 2011: Construction elevator on the West Residence tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto towers

March 16 2011: The Four Seasons Hotel & Residences complex viewed from the northwest corner of Bay and Scollard Streets

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto towers

March 16 2011: A health club, spa, swimming pool, ballroom and conference centre will be situated in this eight-storey wing at the corner of Bay and Scollard Streets

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto

March 16 2011: The Four Seasons complex shines in the late afternoon sunshine

 

Four Seasons Toronto West Residence tower

March 16 2011: The West Residence tower viewed from Bay Street

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence tower

March 16 2011: Looking up the West Residence tower from Bay Street

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence Tower

March 16 2011: The southwest corner of the West Residence tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence Tower

March 16 2011: The south side of the West Residence Tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto towers

March 24 2011: The towers viewed from Hazelton Avenue at Scollard Street

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto towers

March 24 2011: The towers viewed from Hazelton Avenue at Scollard Street

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto towers

March 24 2011: From Avenue Road, a view of the “old” Four Seasons Hotel, right, and the new tower rising two blocks to the east on Yorkville Avenue.

 

Four Seasons West Residence tower

March 24 2011: The West Residence tower rises on the Yorkville skyline in this view from the intersection of Yonge and Wellesley Streets

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence

April 1 2011: Southwest view of the West Residence tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence

April 1 2011: Bay Street view of the West Residence tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence tower

April 1 2011: A construction elevator rises up the side of the West Residence

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto

April 1 2011: The West Residence tower seen from Avenue Road near the Museum subway station entrance outside the Royal Ontario Museum

 

General sales starting soon for boutique condos on site of historic St Basil’s School in Yorkville

36 Hazelton condo building site

The 83-year-old St Basil’s Catholic School building, site for the 36 Hazelton luxury boutique condo project,  seen on March 24 2011…

36 Hazelton condo building site

…and on March 25, after a huge black banner was removed from the facade. The building sits on the west side of Hazelton Avenue just north of Scollard Street


Website rendering of 36 Hazelton luxury boutique condo building in Yorkville

This rendering, from the 36 Hazelton website, suggests how the luxury boutique condo complex will look once it is built on the St Basil’s schoolhouse site.

 

School’s out, condo’s coming: Exclusive VIP sales previews started last year, but a general sales presentation centre should be opening soon for 36 Hazelton, an exclusive seven-storey, 19-suite boutique condo building to be constructed on the site of the historic St Basil’s Catholic School in Yorkville. A project of Alterra Group and Zinc Developments, the 36 Hazelton development sparked considerable controversy in the Yorkville community when the proposal to redevelop the school property, a designated heritage site, was filed with the city several years ago. Area residents were alarmed by the developers’ plan to demolish most of the 83-year-old schoolhouse while retaining only its neo-Gothic facade on Hazelton Avenue. Residents worried that the height and density for the proposed 8-storey condo complex would look out of place on a street noted for its charming two- and three-storey Victorian houses. They also feared that City approval of the project would set a precedent that could endanger the Yorkville heritage district and put other historic buildings at risk of demolition and redevelopment.

In a March 2 2009 report to the Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC) and the Toronto Preservation Board, city planners recommended that the developer’s application to alter the St Basil’s School building be rejected. And in a March 30 2009 report to the TEYCC, planners described the development plan as “inappropriate and out of context,” and recommended that it be refused. When the developers presented a revised proposal, the TEYCC deferred consideration of the refusal report at its meeting in April 2009, and asked city planners to review the new plan. In a June 12 2009 final report to the TEYCC, planners recommended that the revised building application be approved. The TEYCC was supposed to consider that report at its June 2009 meeting; however, that meeting was cancelled after municipal employees went on strike. In July 2009, the developer filed an appeal with the Ontario Municipal Board, but the dispute got resolved when the TEYCC,  and then city council, approved the revised 7-storey project in the fall of 2009. 

With a project sales centre set to open soon, a construction start is possible later this year or early in 2012. As 36 Hazelton goes up, it should quickly become apparent if area residents were correct in claiming that the project wouldn’t be an appropriate redevelopment for the location — and, of course, if it will be too big, and look too out of place, on the leafy, quiet street. I’ve walked around the area numerous times recently, trying to get a sense of how 36 Hazelton might change the neighbourhood. Hazelton Avenue is one of my favourite downtown streets, and I’d be sorry to see its character destroyed by development. But since most of the new condo building will be set back from the street, occupying what is currently a parking lot, it’s quite possible it could fit in rather nicely, especially since it’s situated at the north end of the tony Hazelton Avenue retail strip (rather than being plunked farther down the block between semidetached two-storey brick houses). However, even if 36 Hazelton does wind up being a suitable and attractive addition to the streetscape, I really would hate to see further development of low- or midrise condos elsewhere on the avenue. Below are photos I’ve taken of the St Basil’s School and other buildings and homes in its immediate vicinity, along with condo illustrations that have appeared on the 36 Hazelton website and an illustration, from a city planning report, showing the new building’s east elevation.

 

Website illustration of 36 Hazelton condos

Website illustration of the 36 Hazelton boutique condo building

 

36 Hazelton website illustration of the St Basil's schoolhouse

36 Hazelton website illustration of the St Basil’s schoolhouse facade, which will be incorporated into the new luxury condominium complex

 

36 Hazelton condos

An illustration showing 36 Hazelton’s east elevation

 

36 Hazelton condos

January 9 2011: The St Basil’s Schoolhouse dates from 1928. Access to a large parking lot behind the building is through a laneway on the left side of the school.

 

36 Hazelton condos at St Basil's School

January 9 2011: The condo site is literally only a stone’s throw away from Yorkville’s chic Hazelton Lanes shopping centre

 

36 Hazelton condos site at St Basil's School

January 9 2011: Condo marketing signs and banners on the St Basil’s School site

 

36 Hazelton condos at St Basil's School

January 9 2011: Passersby examine the illustrations on the 36 Hazelton billboards

 

36 Hazelton condos at St Basil's School

January 9 2011: A large banner blocks most of the schoolhouse facade from view

 

36 Hazelton condos at St Basil's School

March 24 2011: The north half of St Basil’s School

 

36 Hazelton condos at St Basil's school

March 25 2011: The banner has been removed and the full facade is visible


36 Hazelton condos

March 25 2011: A closer view of the St Basil’s School facade on Hazelton Avenue

 

36 Hazelton condo site at St Basil's School

March 25 2011: St. Basil’s School viewed from the rear parking area. The Four Seasons Toronto hotel and condo tower, visible in the background,  is under construction on Bay Street, just one block to the east.

 

36 Hazelton condos at St Basil's School

March 25 2011: Another view of the schoolhouse from the rear of the property

 

36 Hazelton condos St Basil's School parking lot

March 25 2011: The Hazelton Lanes complex sits to the immediate west of the parking lot behind the St Basil’s School building

 

36 Hazelton condos site at St Basil's School

March 25 2011: Northwest view from the parking lot behind the schoolhouse

 

36 Hazelton condo site at St Basil's School

March 25 2011: Looking north from the parking area behind the school

 

36 Hazelton condos at St Basil's School

March 25 2011: Parking lot view of the back of buildings next door to 36 Hazelton

 

36 Hazelton condos site at St Basil's School

March 25 2011: Parking lot view to the south. A walkway on the opposite side of the brick building leads from Hazelton Avenue into Hazelton Lanes

 

40 Hazelton Avenue in Yorkville

March 25 2011: Apartments at 40 Hazelton Avenue

 

40 Hazelton Avenue in Yorkville

March 25 2011: St Basil’s School and 40 Hazelton Avenue

 

40 Hazelton Avenue in Yorkville

March 25 2011: The four-storey 40 Hazelton Avenue building next door to St Basil’s School. The 36 Hazelton condos will stand three storeys higher.

44, 46 and 48 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: The brick houses at 44, 46 and 48 Hazelton Avenue

 

56 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: The west side of Hazelton Avenue, looking north from outside #56

 

Hazelton Avenue looking south from 52 Hazelton

March 25 2011: Looking south on Hazelton Avenue from outside #52

 

West side of Hazelton Avenue south of Scollard Street

March 25 2011: The west side of Hazelton Avenue below Scollard St.

 

 

Homes on the east side of Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: Homes on the east side of Hazelton Avenue near 36 Hazelton

 

59 57 55 and 53 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: Brick houses at 59, 57, 55 and 53 Hazelton Avenue

 

55 53 51 and 49 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011:  Looking southeast toward 55, 53, 51 and 49 Hazelton Avenue

 

 

51 and 49 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: 51 and 49 Hazelton Avenue

 

53 51 and 49 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: The new Four Seasons Toronto tower looms behind the houses at numbers 53, 51 and 49 Hazelton Avenue

45 43 and 41 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: Numbers 45, 43 and 41 Hazelton Avenue

 

45 43 and 41 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: Yorkville’s upscale shopping district extends north to the buildings at 4, 43 and 41 Hazelton Avenue

Toronto Heliconian Club at 35 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: The Toronto Heliconian Club at 35 Hazelton Avenue

Toronto Heliconian Club at 35 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: The Four Seasons tower looming behind the Heliconian Club

Toronto Heliconian Club left and 33 Hazelton  Avenue

March 25 2011: Toronto Heliconian Club and 33 Hazelton  Avenue

33 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: 33 Hazelton Avenue at the northeast corner of Scollard Street

33 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: The upper levels of 33 Hazelton Avenue

33 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: The northeast corner of Scollard Street and Hazelton Avenue

33 Hazelton Avenue

March 25 2011: Another view of 33 Hazelton Avenue

33 Hazleton Avenue

March 25 2011: Hazelton Avenue view to the northeast at Scollard Street

Scollard Street looking east from Hazelton Avenue

March 24 2011: Scollard Street, looking east from Hazelton Avenue towards the two Four Seasons Toronto hotel and condo towers under construction on Bay Street between Scollard Street and Yorkville Avenue.