Tag Archives: Uptown Residences on Balmuto

Neighbourhood Watch: Photos of Bloor-Yorkville area condos and construction activity (Part 1)

Crystal Blu condo tower and Uptown Residences Condo tower

April 30 2011: The Crystal Blu condo tower (left) and Uptown Residences Condo tower (right) soar skyward above Balmuto Street

 

High neighbours: As residents gradually move into the new 35-storey Crystal Blu condo tower at 21 Balmuto Street, buyers of luxury condos at The Uptown Residences anxiously await their own move-in dates. Exterior construction activity on the 48-floor Uptown Residences tower at 35 Balmuto has been finished for a few months, but finishing touches are underway and the front entrance is still being built. Information and photos of The Uptown Residences are provided in my March 2 2011 post about the project; below are several more pics I took of it and Crystal Blu last month.

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

April 7 2011: A work crew applies finishing touches halfway up the west side of The Uptown Residences condo tower

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

April 7 2011: A closer view of the workers on their swing stage

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

April 22 2011: The Uptown Residences front entrance at 35 Balmuto Street

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

April 22 2011: The Uptown Residences front entrance features a revolving door

 

Crystal Blu condo tower

April 22 2011: The Crystal Blu Condos front entrance isn’t 100% finished yet

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

April 30 2011: The Manulife Centre across the street reflects in The Uptown’s shiny black and grey granite podium…

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

…while a worker performs finishing touches on the lower southwest corner

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

April 30 2011: A long look up the north side of The Uptown Residences

 

36 Hazelton luxury condo

April 23 2011: The 36Hazelton luxury condo project location and presentation centre opening this month at 36 Hazelton Avenue

Exclusive enclave: The presentation centre for 36Hazelton is being readied for an opening expected sometime this month. Only 18 residences will be available in the boutique condo development, which will rise seven storeys above the historic St Basil’s Catholic School at 36 Hazelton Avenue. Prices for the posh condominium suites, which will boast spacious outdoor terraces overlooking the quiet tree-lined street, range from $1.6 million to more than $10 million. See my March 26 2011 post for further information about 36Hazelton as well as numerous photos of the project site.

 

36 Hazelton luxury condo

April 23 2011: 36 Hazelton will incorporate the facade of the 83-year-old St Basil’s schoolhouse into the boutique condo building

 

The Florian Residences of Upper Yorkville condo tower

April 23 2011: Exterior brickwork and window installation on the east side of The Florian Residences of Upper Yorkville condo tower on Davenport Road

 

Florian facade fills out: Brickwork and window installation at The Florian Residences of Upper Yorkville continues to climb higher up the 25-storey condo tower. My February 12 2011 post describes The Florian project and includes numerous building photos, while my March 18 2011 post provides further construction pics. Below are several more photos from last month, along with a pic showing The Florian’s location before construction of the condo tower commenced.

 

The Florian  Residences of Upper Yorkville condo tower

April 23 2011: Another view of The Florian’s brick and glass exterior

 

The Florian Residences of Upper Yorkville condo tower

April 23 2011: A view of the western point of The Florian’s long curved podium along  Davenport Road (at the top of Bay Street)

 

The Florian Residences of Upper Yorkville condo tower location

August 14 2008: An Infinity car dealership and a Premier Fitness gym previously occupied the site where The Florian is presently under construction

 

Toronto Reference Library

April 23 2011: Toronto Reference Library new main entrance construction

Corner cube: The dramatic new entrance “cube” for the Toronto Reference Library is gradually taking form on the northeast corner of Yonge Street and Asquith Avenue. That, plus an expansion of the library’s Yonge Street facade, are among the highlights of a five-year, $34 million makeover scheduled for completion next year. Construction photos and an architectural rendering of what the library will look like post-renovation can be viewed in my January 27 2011 post; additional photos and another rendering are provided in my March 24 2011 update post. Below are several recent photos of a construction worker atop the giant steel frame for the cube.

 

Toronto Reference Library

April 23 2011: The steel frame for the library’s glass entrance cube

 

Toronto Reference Library

April 23 2011: A construction worker sits astride one of the steel beams

 

Toronto Reference Library

April 23 2011: The entrance cube will stand about three storeys tall

Toronto Reference Library

April 23 2011: The library’s website explains that the bold glass entrance is intended to encourage “a dynamic interface” between the library and the community, “connecting the interior more directly to the street.”

 

One Bloor condo tower

April 30 2011: A billboard advertising the One Bloor condo tower sales centre

 

Number One: I’m still waiting on tenterhooks, figuratively speaking, for shovels to hit the ground at the One Bloor condo tower site on the southeast corner of Yonge & Bloor. Since my January 10 2011 post, the project developer has opened a new sales centre for the much-anticipated condo skyscraper right next door to the building site, at 33 Bloor Street East. But I haven’t yet seen any preliminary construction activity on the property, which remains a rubble-strewn vacant lot. Below are some pics of it from earlier this week.

 

One Bloor condo tower location at Yonge & Bloor

April 30 2011: Colourful marketing banners adorn security fencing around the One Bloor condo tower location at Yonge & Bloor

 

One Bloor condo tower site

May 1 2011: The One Bloor Condo tower site, looking southwest toward the corner of Yonge and Hayden Streets

 

One Bloor condo tower site

May 1 2011: The One Bloor site viewed from the west entrance to the Xerox building at 33 Bloor Street East

 

One Bloor condo tower site

May 1 2011: Northwest view of the One Bloor condo tower site

 

 

Yorkville awaits the Uptown girl’s grand entrance

 Uptown Residences condo tower

The Uptown Residences condo tower on Balmuto Street February 23 2011

 

Deco darling: She’s waiting patiently for the installation of her main entrance, and the shiny black granite facade of her six-storey podium needs some polish and a few finishing touches. A small crane must be disassembled and removed from her rooftop, and concrete traffic barriers cleared off the street out front.  But the belle of Balmuto Street looks like she will be ready for her big reveal to the Yorkville condo community very soon.

She is The Uptown Residences and, with her impressive 48-storey height and her elegant Art Deco-inspired design, she has already been cutting a distinctive silhouette on the city skyline for the past eight months. Now that her construction is winding down, I’m eager to see how she’ll look once she’s fully occupied and lit up at night. That shouldn’t be much longer.

Work has nearly finished on the exterior of the gracefully tapered tower, and tradespeople are inside, putting together the posh private residences and luxurious building amenities. From all accounts, the interiors will be opulent. But unless I win a lottery, or someone I know holds a lucky ticket, I’ll have to be content admiring this exclusive enclave from the outside.

However, I probably wouldn’t want to live there even if I could afford it. I like space and views, and The Uptown Residences is  situated far too close, to my liking, to other condo and office towers.

The recently-constructed Crystal Blu condo building sits right next door to its south, with a service lane merely two vehicles wide separating the podiums of the two towers. The 51-storey Manulife Centre stands directly across the street to the west, the Yonge & Bloor office towers are one block to the northeast, and the 70-storey One Bloor condo tower will be built only one block away to the east.

But maybe it’s just me who doesn’t like living in such close quarters. Since almost all of The Uptown’s 300 suites have been sold (a few upper-level units are supposedly still available), there’s obviously plenty of people who don’t mind having company close by.

A project of The Pemberton Group, The Uptown Residences was designed by Toronto’s Burka Architects Inc.

Below are some of the photos I have taken of the tower during the past two and a half years of construction.

 

The Uptown Residences

November 13 2007: The “Uptown girl” billboard on the building site

 

The Uptown Residences

August 6 2008: Construction of the tower foundation is well underway

 

The Uptown Residences and Crystal Blu condos

September 28 2008: A south view of the side-by-side foundations under construction for The Uptown Residences, left, and Crystal Blu

 

The Uptown Residences

March 15 2010: The crane that built The Uptown Residences

 

The Uptown Residences

July 20 2010: A sunset view of the crane atop The Uptown Residences

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

November 2 2010: CN Tower view of The Uptown Residences

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

December 5 2011: The Uptown Residences on the Yorkville skyline

 

The Uptown Residences and Crystal Blu condo towers

January 24 2011: The Uptown and its shorter neighbour, Crystal Blu

 

The Uptown Residences on Balmuto Street

January 24 2011: Southeast view of  The Uptown’s upper floors

 

The Uptown Residences and Yorkville skyline

January 24 2011: The Uptown and some of its highrise neighbours

 

The Uptown Residences and Crystal Blu condos

January 29 2011: West view of The Uptown and Crystal Blu

 

The Uptown Residences and Crystal Blu condo tower

January 29 2011: From this unusual perspective on the west side of Bay Street, the Manulife Centre towers (left and right) appear to completely dwarf The Uptown Residences and Crystal Blu condo towers

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

January 29 2011: Balconies under construction on the tower’s west side where two external construction elevators had been installed

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

January 29 2011: Southwest view of The Uptown Residences

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

January 29 2011: North side of the tower viewed from Yorkville Avenue. Not quite sure why, but I find the tower’s north profile to be considerably less attractive than its east, south and west sides.

 

The Uptown Residences Condo Tower

January 29 2011: Some of the west side balconies under construction

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

January 29 2011: The tower’s top floors catch some late afternoon sunshine

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

February 12 2011: Bloor Street view of the Uptown Residences podium

 

The Uptown Residences

February 12 2011: Yonge Street view of Crystal Blu and The Uptown Residences

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

February 12 2011: Another Yonge Street view of the condo tower’s east side

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

February 15 2011: Sultan Street view of the condo tower’s west side

The Uptown Residences condo tower

February 23 2011: Balmuto Street view of the granite-clad condo tower podium

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

Another view of the six-storey black and grey podium

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

February 23 2011: Facade still needs some finishing touches

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

The Manulife Centre building on Bloor Street reflects on the Uptown’s facade

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

February 23 2011: A construction worker literally at the end of his rope!

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

February 23 2011: Some gaps on the granite facade

 

The Uptown Residences and Crystal Blu condo tower

February 23 2011: The Uptown Residences and Crystal Blu condo tower

 

 The Uptown Residences condo tower

February 28 2011: The podium viewed from the northwest side of Balmuto Street

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

March 2 2011: The crane atop the tower will be disassembled and removed soon.

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

March 2 2011: Construction workers building the main entrance on Balmuto St.

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

March 2 2011: I have read that the entrance will have a revolving door

 

The Uptown Residences condo tower

March 2 2011: Another view of The Uptown Residences and Crystal Blu towers

 

City Scene: Condo tower catches sun’s golden glow

Uptown Residences

Upper floors of the 48-storey Uptown Residences condo tower, nearly finished construction on Balmuto Street, glow in late afternoon sun on Jan 29 2011.