A light layer of snow covers the sharply-angled east side of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal on January 21 2012. Designed by “starchitect” Daniel Libeskind, the glass and aluminum-clad extension to the Royal Ontario Museum slices into the sky above Bloor Street. Below are several more wintertime views of the Crystal.
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Rising in the east: Construction cranes and condo towers old & new dominate the southeast downtown skyline, seen here from the south building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on January 6 2012. From left are: the green-windowed west tower of London on the Esplanade Condos, completed in 2010; The L Tower, a Daniel Libeskind-designed condo more than one-third of the way to its ultimate height of 57 floors; the 33-storey wedge-shaped condo tower at 25 The Esplanade, constructed 14 years ago; the 25-storey Market Wharf condo tower rising on Lower Jarvis Street; and, climbing skyward in the distance behind Market Wharf, the 40-storey Clear Spirit condo tower in the Distillery District. The yellow crane in the foreground is working on the $640 million Union Station Revitalization project.
January 25 2012: The Ontario Government is examining its options to make a prime piece of real estate on Wellesley Street West available for new city green space. The vacant property has been surrounded by navy blue hoarding for years.
More parks for downtown?: City planners and politicians alike have admitted that the central downtown area, and particularly the district between College and Bloor Streets, is woefully deficient in public parks and green space. But at least one new park — and possibly several more — could be in the cards for the city core, according to an Ontario Cabinet minister.
Glen Murray, the MPP for Toronto Centre and Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, says the province is examining its options for making a vacant parcel of property on Wellesley Street West available to the city for redevelopment into green space or a park of some kind. Other provincially-owned lands in the downtown core also might become available for additional parkland, Mr. Murray told the first annual general meeting of the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association (CWNA) last night.
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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).
January 21 2012: This development proposal notice has been posted outside the Town Inn Suites podium next to Church Street
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
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.
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
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.
Looking from the east side of Church Street toward the hotel podium that would be redeveloped into a 3-storey walk-up apartment building
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.
The 1-storey podium is a hotel amenity space that includes a swimming pool as well as outdoor terraces and sundecks
A street-level view of the podium, from its southeast corner
A development proposal sign on the east side of the hotel podium
A view of the podium, looking southwest along the Church Street sidewalk. The apartment building at 66 Isabella Street rises in the background.
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.
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.
A development proposal sign at the southwest corner of Church & Charles
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.
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.
A view of the “back” of Town Inn Suites from Charles Street to the northwest
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.
The underground garage has parking for 163 vehicles
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
January 19 2012: Demolition commenced yesterday on Odette House, a 3-storey Victorian-era mansion at 81 Wellesley Street East …
… seen here on September 27 2010 after the property was sold for a reported $4.5 million by its former occupant Wellspring, the cancer support organization
Demolition has also started on the coach house at the rear of the property …
… the building in which Wellspring initially launched its programs in 1992. The north side of the 2-storey coach house is seen here on September 27 2010
Ignominious end: Residents of the Church-Wellesley Village area are dismayed that a stately Victorian-era mansion that has stood for approximately 100 years near the corner of Church and Wellesley Streets is being destroyed just 12 weeks after their city councillor requested that the “architecturally significant structure” be considered for heritage designation.
Yesterday afternoon, a wrecking crew began tearing apart the 3-storey Odette House and the 2-storey coach house behind it at 81 Wellesley Street East. As I reported in a September 27 2011 post, the two buildings had been owned by Wellspring, a non-profit organization that describes itself as “offering psychological, emotional, social, spiritual and informational support to individuals and families living with cancer.” Wellspring had decided to sell the property and relocate not only since it had outgrown the site, but also because maintenance and repair of the two old houses had become too expensive.
Wednesday’s demolition activity took neighbours by surprise, since no safety fencing or scaffolding had been installed around the property before the wrecking commenced, nor had any signs been posted to warn that demolition was imminent. Debris from the top floor fell to a heap in front of the mansion’s former main entrance, landing mere steps from the public sidewalk on the south side of Wellesley Street. The gate in the wrought iron fence next to the sidewalk had not even been closed.
Heritage review requested in November 2010
The demolition had not been completely unexpected. Area residents were aware that, on December 1 2011, the City had accepted an application to demolish the two buildings. However, many were holding out hope that City Hall might be able to designate Odette House as a heritage property before its new owner could take any steps to redevelop the site. Just one month earlier, on November 2 2011, Toronto and East York Community Council had adopted a motion in which Ward 27 Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam requested that city staff consider designating 81 Wellesley East under Ontario’s Heritage Act. In a letter to the council, Councillor Wong-Tam explained that Odette House “is an architecturally significant structure but is not currently protected by heritage designation. The building is clearly a surviving part of the early neighbourhood development of this area. In order to preserve the building as an important heritage resource, I am requesting City staff undertake a process to review it for designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.” However, the heritage designation process typically takes months, if not years, largely since the City’s understaffed and overworked Heritage Preservation Services team is swamped with an extensive caseload.
Outraged neighbours vent on Facebook group site
After crews started smashing apart the two buildings at 81 Wellesley yesterday, outraged area residents posted photos of the wrecking work on the members-only Facebook page for the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association (CWNA), decried what one man called “another major heritage preservation failure in Ward 27,” and speculated about the motive for what appears to some people to be a suspiciously hasty demolition. One CWNA Facebook group member, who reproduced details of the demolition application from the City’s website, said: “It looks like the developer wants to demolish these buildings pronto before any action can be taken to save them.” “Without doubt,” said another, “it was [Councillor Wong-Tam’s] motion to have the property designated which provoked the demolition on this site.” A third man, observing that the demolition had begun from the rear of Odette House, wondered if this was a tactic “to hide work till last possible moment?” Whatever the real reason, another huge disapppointment is likely in store for Church-Wellesley Village residents. As one of the CWNA Facebook group commentators pointed out, “Aside from the terrible loss here, now we’ll be staring at a gravel lot come Friday for the next few years” and quite possibly “a whole lot longer” if there is a “correction” in the Toronto real estate market. Just one block along Wellesley Street, he noted, an empty gravel lot occupies the property where a former St John Ambulance building was demolished several years ago to make way for a condo highrise project that hasn’t materialized. The lot is an eyesore that irks many neighbours, who would like to see the City acquire the property to establish a public park — something they realize is highly unlikely to happen.
Condo development proposal expected
So far, there has been no public word on what 81 Wellesley’s new owner plans to do with the property, though it’s widely expected that a condominium tower will be proposed for the site. A Colliers International real estate listing had described Odette House as a “rare boutique building” with “development potential,” while a September 26 2011 Twitter post by real estate research firm Urbanation announced that 81 Wellesley had been sold for $4.5 million with a “future high-rise condo site planned.” In a quick Google search this afternoon, I found one real estate website touting “luxury condominiums” for 81 Wellesley. The website for Milborne Real Estate Inc. Brokerage sales representative Nadine Robbins includes several photos of the property and says it “is sure to be developed into a modern, luxurious and extremely convenient residential condominium.” Since the website provides an email address and phone number so people can “find out more about this exclusive pre-construction condominium,” I emailed to ask if Ms. Robbins could provide any details about the development plans for 81 Wellesley. She replied promptly, saying: “Unfortunately, I have no new information on the project.” Similarly, the development application status page on the City of Toronto website does not yet list any proposals for the site.
However, two things do seem certain at this point. One is that the former Wellspring buildings will soon disappear forever from the Church-Wellesley Village landscape. The other is that neighbours are mad as hell about it — and worried about what will take their place.
Below are photos I snapped this afternoon of demolition progress on Odette House and the coach house. Wrecking crews were not working either of the two times I passed by 81 Wellesley, so snow from today’s light flurries was beginning to accumulate on the rubble.
Odette House front window and porch demolition
A huge heap of rubble lies outside the main entrance to Odette House, just inside the front gate. Demolition started without any scaffolding being put in place.
Debris and a destroyed tree at the northeast corner of Odette House
Looking up the brick wall on the east side of Odette House. The building’s roof, and much of the third floor, have been knocked down
A pile of demolition debris at the southeast corner of Odette House
The wrecking machines were idle, and no demolition workers in sight, when I took these photos of 81 Wellesley this afternoon
An idle wrecking machine behind partially-demolished Odette House
Demolition site viewed from the apartment building parking lot next door
Half of the coach house’s second floor has been knocked down
A closer view of the coach house roof demolition
A view of the coach house from a service laneway leading south from the property to Maitland Street. Area residents are dismayed that a condo tower might ultimately rise on the site.
The south-facing side of the coach house is still intact — but for how long?
Graffiti tags on the rear brick wall of the coach house
Maintenance and repair of the coach house and Odette House had become too expensive for the former owner, Wellspring
Another view of the coach house, from a laneway to its southeast
The 46-storey Casa condominium tower on Charles Street is slightly visible in the background. Area residents worry that a similar tall glass condo tower might be built at 81 Wellesley.
The vast construction zone for the new West Don Lands Community is seen in this image taken by a Waterfront Toronto webcam this afternoon. The 80-acre site was blanketed with light snow this morning, less than 24 hours after Waterfront Toronto and Infrastructure Ontario announced that long-awaited construction is finally commencing on the new mixed-use residential community a short distance east of the downtown business district. The highrise under construction at upper left is the 40-storey Clear Spirit condo tower in the nearby Distillery District.
Construction progress on the 75-storey Aura at College Park condo tower is seen in this image captured from a webcam on the Aura website.
Excavation activity at the Nicholas Residences condo site near Yonge & Bloor
Shoring work continues on the FIVE Condos site at Yonge & St Joseph Streets
Snow-covered steel I-beams and construction equipment on the FIVE Condos site
A worker directs traffic past the ETFO office building site on Isabella Street
Another view of progress on the 4-storey ETFO office headquarters
Overlooking the long, rectangular excavation for the 49-storey X2 Condos tower under construction at the southwest corner of Jarvis & Charles Streets
Crews have nearly completed digging the deep excavaton for the X2 Condos tower. The construction crane is expected to be installed soon
Interior demolition work continues on the eight-storey office building at 45 Charles Street East, future site of the Chaz.Yorkville condo tower.
Despite the light snow cover, a drilling rig (rear right) was busy jackhammering a concrete pad at the northwest corner of the Chaz.Yorkville site
Two major construction projects at the southwest corner of Bay & Grosvenor Streets: Burano Condos, left, and the Women’s College Hospital redevelopment.
The new Women’s College Hospital building has risen five floors so far on what was formerly the site of the hospital’s multi-level parking garage
The soaring glass atrium on the north (Grosvenor Street) side of Burano Condos
A view of the atrium from the north side of Grosvenor Street
A publicly-accessible piazza, designed by landscape architects Janet Rosenberg + Associates, will be constructed next to the atrium
The sharply angled glass panels of the atrium provide a striking contrast to the condo tower that soars 50 storeys straight up above it
A Harbourfront Centre webcam image of progress on the new underground parking garage for York Quay Centre. Concrete floor slabs have been poured for the 3 below-grade levels, and work will start soon on the ground-level roof over the structure. New outdoor public spaces will be created on top.
January 7 2012: A midafternoon view of the Toronto Financial District skyline from Cherry Street, just outside the sprawling construction site for what will become the athletes’ village for the 2015 Pan Am Games.
January 11 2012: Excavation has progressed to roughly one level below grade at the One Bloor condo site, a dramatic change from exactly one year ago …
… when the property was still just a snow-covered empty lot. This is a view of the southern third of the One Bloor site, looking west from the Yonge-Bloor TTC subway entrance at the adjacent Xerox tower on January 10 2011 …
… while this is a view of the northern two-thirds of the property, also taken from the west side of the Xerox building on January 10 last year
Digging deeper: Exactly one year ago, the southeast corner of Yonge & Bloor Streets was just a large, empty, snow-covered lot, bisected by a pedestrian entrance to the Yonge-Bloor subway station. Now it’s a bustling construction site where an enormous excavation is taking shape for the 70-storey One Bloor condo tower. So far crews have dug deeper than one level below grade, making steady progress on moving earth out of what will ultimately become a five-level underground parking garage. One Bloor is a project of Great Gulf Homes. The tower was designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, with interior design by Cecconi Simone Inc. Below are photos I have shot of One Bloor’s excavation progress in the past two weeks. Renderings and illustrations of the tower can be viewed on the One Bloor East project page of the Hariri Pontarini website.
December 30 2011: Looking to the northwest across the construction site
December 30 2011: Digging still hasn’t started at the southwest corner
December 30 2011: Excavation at the north side of the site, along Bloor Street
December 30 2011: Construction equipment near the northwest corner
December 30 2011: Idle excavating machines on the south end of the lot
January 11 2012: An excavating machine digs near the southwest corner of the lot, as seen here from the west side of Yonge Street
January 11 2012: The One Bloor excavation, viewed from the southeast corner of Yonge & Hayden Streets
January 11 2012: Looking from Hayden Street toward The Bay’s 44 Bloor Street East department store at the Hudson’s Bay Centre
January 11 2012: Overlooking excavation activity from the southeast
January 11 2012: Two red dump trucks stand by for loads of dirt
January 11 2012: Excavation progress near the northeast corner along Bloor
January 11 2012: Excavation crews working near the northeast corner
January 11 2012: Construction entrance ramp off Bloor Street
January 11 2012: Excavation appears to be deepest at the northwest corner
January 11 2012: An excavating machine digs near the southwest corner
January 11 2012: In less than two weeks, several feet of soil has been excavated from virtually the entire site
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January 9 2012: Morning sunshine glints off windows on the southeast corner of the Casa Condominium near Yonge & Bloor Streets. The 46-storey tower at 33 Charles Street East was designed by architectsAlliance and built by Cresford.
January 2 2012: A Rumble Foundations drilling rig has little room to maneuver on the narrow 224 King Street West construction site for Theatre Park condos. Below is a photo of the property exactly one year ago, when it was still a parking lot.
Ready to Rumble: Construction activity has commenced on the Entertainment District’s much-anticipated Theatre Park condos, a slender 47-storey glass and steel point tower that will rise right next door to Toronto’s historic Royal Alexandra Theatre.
A Rumble Foundations drilling rig recently arrived on the construction site, which for decades had been occupied by a pay parking lot. The rig stands more than four storeys tall and is so big, it barely fits into the tight, narrow space from which the 234-unit condo skyscraper will eventually soar.
Lofty 10-foot ceilings
Designed by Toronto’s architectsAlliance, Theatre Park boasts a variety of condominium configurations with lofty 10-foot ceilings, including 1 bedroom, 1 bedroom + den, 2 bedroom, 2 bedroom + den, 3 bedroom and penthouse-level suites.
The Theatre Park project website shows that 1 bedrooms are available in four sizes from 530 to 920 square feet; the largest is a loft-style “Palace Theatre” unit on the tower’s fourth and fifth levels. Two of the 1 bedroom designs, the “Rudolfinum” and the “Musikverein,” have small (43 to 57 square foot) balconies. The 1 bedroom + den range from 625 to 920 square feet; the “Mariinsky Theatre” and “Festival Theatre” styles have balconies either 115 or 151 square feet.
The 2 bedroom units range from 815 to 1,145 square feet; the smallest, the “Teatro La Fenice,” has already sold out, but the other sizes are still available, including 7 of the 985-square-foot “Princes of Wales” model. The 2 bedroom + den “Moulin Rouge” offers a roomy 1,375 square feet, but no balcony, while the the 3 bedroom suites vary from 1,140 to 2,480 spacious square feet, and all come with generously-sized balconies. Two of the layouts, the “Radio City Music Hall” and the “Gershwin Theatre,” boast 397-square foot balconies.
Enormous penthouse already sold
The smallest unit in the “Penthouse Collection” is 850-square foot “Abbey Theatre” on floors 36 to 41, while the biggest is the 1,360-square-foot “Carnegie Hall” on the same floors. The “Sky Penthouse Collection” includes the aforementioned “Radio City Music Hall” at 1,990 square feet, and the “Gershwin” at 2,480 square feet. But the 47th-floor “Royal Alexandra” penthouse, with 3 bedrooms, a library and den in 3,270 square feet of interior space, plus a massive 2,026 square foot terrace, is already sold.
Theatre Park is a project of Lamb Development Corp, Niche Development and Harhay Construction Management Ltd.
Below is another photo of the Theatre Park construction site from this past Monday, along with a rendering of the tower from the project website. Additional photos and renderings can be viewed in my February 19 2011 post.
January 2 2011: The Theatre Park condo construction site, seen from the south side of King Street West. When complete, the 47-floor tower will block views of the 66-storey Living Shangri-La Toronto hotel + condo tower which is approaching the end of construction just one and a half blocks away, to the northeast.
From the Theatre Park website, a rendering of the sleek 47-storey glass and steel point tower designed by architectsAlliance of 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
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.”
A view of the 66 Isabella private green space, looking to the northeast from Isabella Street this afternoon
December 11 2011: The tower for FIVE Condos will rise up to 50 storeys from this location near the southwest corner of Yonge Street and St Joseph Street …
… where earth moving and drilling machines have been preparing the site for full-scale excavation, expected to commence early in the New Year
An enormous steel frame extends halfway across St Joseph Street to support the four-storey brick facade of the former Rawlinson Cartage Company warehouses at 5 St Joseph Street. The facade will be incorporated into the base of the tall glass condominium tower, with minor alterations to some of its ground floor openings.
The frame looms above the arched main entrance to 5 St Joseph Street …
… seen here, from the northwest corner of St Joseph and St Nicholas Streets …
… and here, from the public sidewalk at the west side of the structures
This row of designated heritage buildings from 606 to 618 Yonge Street …
… also will be incorporated into the FIVE Condos development. The buildings will be restored with retail shops at street level and condo suites on the upper floors.
The historic Henry Turner Building at the corner of Yonge and St Joseph Streets is presently home to the FIVE Condos presentation centre
The west (rear) side of the Yonge Street heritage buildings that will be restored and revitalized as part of the FIVE condo complex
Higher FIVE?: One of the most talked-about condo projects in downtown Toronto, FIVE Condos at 5 St Joseph, could wind up slightly taller than was originally envisioned if a city committee gives the developers approval to boost the tower’s total height.
Back in the fall of 2008, the owner of a .267-hectare site at the southwest corner of Yonge and St Joseph Streets applied to the city for zoning bylaw changes that would permit redevelopment of several historic buildings on the property into residential and retail uses, along with construction of a 49-storey condominium point tower. In August 2009, the developer revised its application after receiving preliminary feedback from city planners and Toronto’s Heritage Preservation Services. It trimmed the tower to 45 floors, and also reduced the height and size of the tower podium. On October 22 2009 the Toronto Preservation Board gave the nod to the heritage components of the proposal, while five weeks later Toronto City Council approved the project.
Graywood Developments Ltd. and Mod Developments Inc. subsequently launched sales for FIVE Condos in 2010, and the project proved immensely successful: suites sold swiftly, and FIVE Condos emerged a big winner at the 2011 BILD Awards in April, claiming honours for High-Rise Project of the Year, Best High-Rise Building Design, Best High-Rise Sales Office, and Best Model Suite. (Hariri Pontarini Architects designed the condo project, while E.R.A. Architects Inc. is overseeing the restoration of the heritage building component.) Now the developers are seeking approval to add 5 more floors to the tower, for a total of 50 storeys. They have submitted a minor variance application to the Committee of Adjustment, and anticipate that their application will be heard at the committee’s February 2012 meeting, Graywood’s development manager, Gabriel DiMartino, told me this week.
Yonge Street condo development trend?
Despite all the accolades and strong sales, some area residents are disappointed that the developers are seeking to add more floors to the tower. They worry that city approval for the extra height will set what they consider to be a disturbing trend for skyscraper development along the stretch of Yonge Street between College and Bloor Streets, where several condo tower projects have already been proposed and more are in the works. Last year, for instance, the developer of the Nicholas Residences condominium on St Nicholas Street two blocks north of FIVE Condos appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board after the city’s Committee of Adjustment denied its application for a “minor variance” permitting it to add six storeys to its popular tower project. (The city had approved a 29-floor tower, but the developer wanted to increase that to 35.) A residents’ group called Save St. Nick opposed the extra floors; they were concerned about the potential detrimental impact the tower could have on the livability of their quiet downtown neighbourhood and the quaint tree-lined and cobblestoned St Nicholas Street in particular. The case settled when the developer agreed to pay $750,000 towards projects intended to benefit the local community. (Construction of the 35-storey tower is now underway.)
Biggest heritage protection project in Canada
Although the extra height proposed for FIVE Condos irks some people, most neighbourhood residents seem pleased — and relieved — that the project will save a significant stretch of heritage buildings along Yonge Street while retaining the historic Rawlinson Cartage Company warehouse facade on St Joseph Street. Staff with the city’s planning and heritage departments are happy, too. At one public meeting I attended, for example, City of Toronto senior planner Michael Hynes praised FIVE Condos as “the largest heritage building protection project in the country,” and pointed out that part of the project will include substantial streetscape improvements to Yonge, St Joseph and St Nicholas Streets. Indeed, facades for two recently-demolished heritage buildings on the west (St Nicholas Street) side of the FIVE Condos site will be recreated from new brick matching the size and colour of brick on the original structures. Incorporated into the condo tower base, the rebuilt facades will maintain much of the unique look of the pre-construction St Nicholas streetscape. And at several public consultation meetings I attended this fall, members of local neighbourhood associations cited the FIVE Condos treatment of heritage properties and the placement of the tower 30 meters back from Yonge Street as an example of appropriate condo development that could complement and perhaps even enhance Yonge without destroying the street’s historic look and character.
Project praised in local newspaper reports
Meanwhile, FIVE Condos continues to attract positive public attention in local newspaper reports. In an October 27 2011 Globe and Mail article entitled “Yonge Street’s oldsters make room for a glitzy neighbour,” columnist Dave LeBlanc describes the “metamorphosis” the Yonge-St Joseph-St Nicholas block will undergo, and provides a brief history of the heritage buildings on the FIVE Condos site. In the November 9 2011 Metro newspaper article “Toronto’s old buildings get a second life as condos,” writer Duncan McAllister describes FIVE Condos as a project “heavy on the conservation,” and a development that “promises to transform this forgotten corner into a renewed urban zone.” And in the November 11 2011 National Post article “Follow the cobblestoned street to the city’s best new-but-old condos,” writer Suzanne Wintrob examines how the FIVE Condos project is retaining the historic integrity of the late 19th Century buildings on its site. She quotes Mary MacDonald, acting manager of the city’s Heritage Preservation Services, as saying that the FIVE Condos developers are “keeping all the exterior elements of the heritage property, adding their own tower, and they’re going the extra mile to make sure that the commercial character of Yonge Street as a main street — with a certain 19th-century character that we’ve kind of lost sight of these days — is restored. We’re hoping that will trigger a conservation movement and a restoration movement up the street.”
(Extensive information about the heritage properties and how they will be restored and incorporated into the condo complex can be reviewed in an October 1 2009 background report that the city’s planning department prepared for the Toronto Preservation Board and the Toronto and East York Community Council.)
Although the FIVE Condos application to the Committee of Adjustment won’t be decided until February at the earliest, preliminary construction activity continues. Shoring work has been underway for several months, and excavation has commenced. Full-scale excavation will begin in the new year once the shoring is finished, Mr. DiMartino said.
Below are several illustrations of the FIVE Condos project, provided courtesy of Hariri Pontarini Architects. The post previous to this one features photos of site demolition and pre-construction activity on the FIVE Condos site between April and today. (If some of the images seem familiar, it’s because they have appeared in my previous blog posts about FIVE Condos, including June 2 2011, May 12 2011, and April 28 2011).
This illustration suggests how the 19th Century heritage buildings at 606 to 618 Yonge Street will look once the project has been completed
This illustration shows the facade of the Rawlinson Cartage Company warehouse building at 5 St Joseph Street incorporated into the condo complex
This rendering shows how the west side of the FIVE Condos complex will appear along St Nicholas Street once the heritage building facades have been rebuilt
This drawing depicts a view of the FIVE Condos complex from the northeast
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April 9 2011: The FIVE Condos site viewed from Yonge Street, looking west along St Joseph Street. A 50-storey tower will ultimately dominate this scene
April 9 2011: Vacant retail premises in some of the heritage buildings at 606, 608, 610 and 612 Yonge Street that will become part of FIVE Condos
April 9 2011: Vacant retail premises at 614, 616 and 618 Yonge Street that also will be restored and incorporated into the condo complex
April 22 2011: The Henry Turner building at 618 Yonge Street, left, and its tacky rear addition that once housed a sports bar on the second floor, plus coffee and fast food outlets with a small patio on the street level.
April 22 2011: The Rawlinson Cartage warehouse at 5 St Joseph Street once housed nightclubs on its street level, and fitness clubs on its upper floors
April 22 2011: Looking south along St Nicholas Street at the west walls of the former Rawlinson Cartage buildings
April 22 2011: Looking north along St Nicholas Street at the west walls of the former Rawlinson Cartage buildings
April 23 2011: St Nicholas Street is closed so crews can locate gas, hydro and water utility lines servicing the old buildings on the FIVE Condos site
May 11 2011: Demolition equipment arrives at 5 St Joseph Street
May 13 2011: Crews begin destroying trees outside 5 St Joseph Street
May 13 2011: St Nicholas Street is closed to traffic between St Joseph Street and Phipps Street, and won’t reopen until the condo construction is complete
May 31 2011: Hoarding outside the former retail shops at 606 to 618 Yonge Street
May 31 2011: The rear addition to the Henry Turner building at 618 Yonge has been torn down, and demolition continues on the rear of 616 Yonge Street
May 31 2011: Drilling and shoring equipment outside 5 St Joseph Street
June 18 2011: Demolition at the rear of 616 and 618 Yonge Street is complete
June 21 2011: The west side of the heritage buildings at 606 to 618 Yonge Street, after their rear additions have been demolished
June 21 2011: Drilling and shoring equipment outside 5 St Joseph Street
June 30 2011: An excavator digs on the property between the Yonge Street heritage buildings and 5 St Joseph Street
June 30 2011: Drilling and shoring equipment outside 5 St Joseph Street
July 2 2011: Demolition of 15 St Nicholas Street viewed from Phipps Street
July 2 2011: A demolition machine at work on a heap of debris
July 2 2011: Rubble is all that remains of the former Shred Central indoor skateboard park at 19 St Nicholas Street
July 2 2011: Demolition viewed from St Nicholas Street, looking north
July 2 2011: Shred Central had occupied 19 St Nicholas for over 13 years
July 2 2011: Demolition at the southwest corner of 15 St Nicholas Street
July 2 2011: The south wall of 15 St Nicholas Street is pulled down
July 9 2011: Demolition continues at 19 St Nicholas Street
July 15 2011: Ongoing demolition of 19 and 25 St Nicholas Street
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July 18 2011: A demolition machine pulls apart 25 St Nicholas Street
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July 21 2011: Looking north from the corner of Phipps & St Nicholas Streets
July 24 2011: Demolition of 19-25 St Nicholas Street nears completion
August 6 2011: There is little left of the buildings at 15-25 St Joseph Street
August 6 2011: A demolition machine stirs up dust on the future tower site
August 14 2011: Drilling work continues outside 5 St Joseph Street
August 14 2011: Looking south along St Nicholas Street
August 14 2011: St Nicholas Street view of the FIVE Condos site
August 14 2011: Looking east across the site where the warehouse buildings at 15-25 St Joseph Street once stood
August 19 2011: Marketing billboards for FIVE Condos on hoarding outside the Yonge Street heritage buildings
August 19 2011: Excavating equipment outside 5 St Joseph Street
August 19 2011: The red targets and holes in the brockwork mark the spots where steel supports will be installed to hold up the 5 St Joseph Street facade during construction of the condo tower
September 3 2011: Foundation building equipment on the empty lot where the buildings at 15-25 St Nicholas Street once stood
September 12 2011: Crews will soon begin erecting the giant steel frame that will support the facade of 5 St Joseph Street
September 24 2011: The massive steel support starts taking shape
September 24 2011: The support structure will eventually extend the length of the building’s St Joseph Street facade
September 24 2011: The huge frame extends halfway across St Joseph Street
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October 8 2011: The supports will hold the 4-storey brick wall in place while the condo tower is being built
October 14 2011: The full support structure is now in position
November 20 2011: This wall along St Nicholas Street will be demolished soon
November 20 2011: A view of the east side of 5 St Joseph Street before the remaining rear section of the building is demolished
November 20 2011: The section of building with the windows will be demolished next, leaving only the front facade intact
November 25 2011: Demolition begins on the upper floor of 5 St Joseph Street
November 25 2011: The top three floors of the building were once home to gyms, including Epic Fitness, L3 Fitness, and Level Fitness
November 25 2011: Demolition viewed from the northwest along St Joseph Street
December 8 2011: All that’s left of 5 St Joseph is the 4-storey brick facade
December 11 2011: Sunlight streams through windows and the former main entrance doorway to 5 St Joseph Street
December 11 2011: Shoring work continues along the east side of St Nicholas Street behind the wrapped warehouse building facade
December 11 2011: The south-facing side of the 5 St Joseph Street brick facade is being kept under wraps
December 22 2011: Excavation has begun for the 50-storey tower that will rise in the center of this site
December 22 2011: A construction crew works at the edge of the excavation behind the Yonge Street heritage buildings
December 22 2011: Passersby often ask construction workers if the steel support is permanent. It eventually will be removed, of course.
December 22 2011: Shoring activity at the northwest corner of the site
December 22 2011: The wrapped facade looms above excavation and shoring machines on the condo site
December 22 2011: This site will be excavated for five underground levels
December 22 2011: Welders work on one of the I-beams that will be sunk into the ground to shore up the excavation site
December 22 2011: If only the facade could have been wrapped in festive colours for the holiday season!
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 …
… 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 …
… 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.
December 12 2011: Glass cladding on the Aura podium’s northeast corner
December 12 2011: A closer view of the northeast corner cladding
Imposing podium: Only a fraction of the 75-storey Aura at College Park condo tower has been constructed so far, but sections of the building’s massive podium along Yonge and Gerrard Streets are already being enclosed in glass panels. Below are photos I shot at lunchtime today showing some of the cladding as well as views of the condo tower’s construction progress from three sides. There’s also a link to a short videoclip showing views of Aura’s podium from the corner of Yonge & Gerrard.
December 12 2011: White tarps cover some of the newly-installed windows along the Yonge and Gerrard Street sides of Aura’s mammoth podium
December 12 2011: Passersby get a peek at some of the windows through this gap in tarps along the podium’s Yonge Street facade
December 12 2011: Another view of the glass cladding on the Yonge Street side of the podium, near Gerrard Street
December 12 2011: Two Toronto police constables on horseback pass the Aura condo construction site as they head north along Yonge Street
December 12 2011: Cladding at the northeast corner near the College Park complex
December 12 2011: An Aura construction worker looks out over Yonge Street while taking his lunch break on the podium’s fourth floor
December 12 2011: The Aura podium’s south side along Gerrard Street
December 12 2011: A section of cladding on the podium’s south side
December 12 2011: Windows above the construction site entrance near the building’s southeast corner at Yonge & Gerrard Streets
December 12 2011: Looking up the south side of the Aura podium from Gerrard Street, outside the Delta Chelsea Inn
December 12 2011: The Aura podium is so huge it poses an almost overwhelming presence along Gerrard Street
December 12 2011: The south side of Aura’s enormous podium viewed from the Gerrard Street entrance to the Chelsea Inn, looking east toward Yonge Street
December 12 2011: Construction platforms cantilever five and six storeys above Gerrard Street
December 12 2011: A view of the podium’s northwest corner, looking towards the Delta Chelsea Inn on Gerrard Street
December 12 2011: The north side of the Aura podium, viewed from Barbara Ann Scott Park at College Park
December 12 2011: Construction progress at the northwest corner of the podium, overlooking Barbara Ann Scott Park
December 12 2011: The north side of the Aura podium, facing the College Park retail, office and apartment complex
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