Category Archives: Architecture & Construction

City Scenes: Snowy Bay Street building sites

Snow day: The calendar says it’s spring, but Toronto is getting another blast of winter with 5 cm. of snow falling throughout the day today. This photo, looking north from Queen Street on another snowy day earlier this winter, shows three major building sites on Bay Street. The orange construction crane is building the Sick Kids Research & Learning Tower at Elm Street; the crane in the middle of the photo is atop the Burano condo tower between Grenville and Grosvenor Streets; and the crane at the rear of the picture, on the east side of Bay, is atop the Four Seasons Toronto hotel and condo tower.

Snow motion: This photo was taken on the same day as the one above, a few blocks further north up Bay Street. It shows the Motion on Bay highrise apartment building construction site at left, along with the Sick Kids and Burano towers to the north.

Ice view: This was a view this afternoon of the Sick Kids Research and Learning Tower construction site from an ice-covered webcam high above the building.

Snowy Aura: Although it’s not on Bay Street itself, Aura condos is part of the College Park complex that occupies the entire eastern block of Bay between Gerrard and College Streets. This is a webcam view of the Aura condos construction site earlier this afternoon.

Great Gulf Homes plans 46-storey condo tower for corner in sketchy Dundas-Jarvis neighbourhood

7 Replies

Developer Great Gulf Homes has acquired this property at the southwest corner of Dundas and Jarvis Streets for its proposed 46-storey Pace Condos tower

On-site promotional billboard for the Pace Condos tower

Seedy site: I had been wondering when a developer was going to announce plans to build a condo tower at the seedy southwest corner of Dundas and Jarvis Streets. It’s not a nice neighbourhood by any stretch of the imagination, but real estate is all about location and that’s one of the few redeeming features for this prime piece of downtown property just a short walk from the Toronto Eaton Centre and the Yonge subway line. Late last year I noticed that the three businesses in the small commercial plaza on the corner had been closed and their windows papered over. I kept waiting to hear word about a development proposal for the property, but didn’t see any signs on the site in either January or February. But when I passed by the corner just over a week ago, and saw that chainlink fencing had been erected around the plaza, I knew an announcement was imminent. On March 14, it happened: prominent Toronto condo developer GreatGulf Homes filed a rezoning application with the City, proposing to build a 46-storey condo tower with 417 suites, five levels of underground parking and a 10-storey podium with street-level retail space. A billboard promoting Pace Condos — “downtown tower suites from the low $200s” — promptly went up on the corner where it’s certain to catch the attention of motorists driving along busy Jarvis Street on their way to and from the Financial District.

When I told some friends earlier this winter that I suspected a condo would be built on the site, they looked incredulous and said: “No way! Who the hell would want to live there?” Obviously, Great Gulf is confident they can find 417 potential buyers, and I’m sure they’ve done their research. After all, they know their stuff: they’re the company behind several of downtown Toronto’s hottest condo developments. Their X Condominium tower only eight blocks north of the Pace Condos site was a huge hit with buyers, and two other condo towers Great Gulf is currently constructing — X2 Condos at Jarvis & Charles, and Charlie condos on King Street West in the Entertainment District — were enormously successful, too. One Bloor Condos is destined to achieve similar stellar sales; construction of that tower is expected to commence later this year at Yonge and Bloor Streets.

Still, it’s fair to say that the area around the Pace Condos site is a helluva lot less desirable than the locations of GreatGulf’s other projects. Dundas & Jarvis sits on the periphery of one of the poorest residential areas in all of Canada, a vast downtown district with one of the country’s largest concentrations of homeless people and residents earning poverty-level incomes or collecting social assistance — people who have no hope of ever being able to live at Pace Condos or in a condo anywhere, for that matter. Meanwhile, if Pace Condos does get built, anyone who buys an east-facing unit will have views overlooking dozens of rooming houses, homeless shelters, government-subsidized apartments and social service agencies — all just a short stroll from their front door. And as the Toronto Star pointed out in a photo gallery on March 18, the epicentre of the city’s worst area for overall crime is the intersection of Dundas and Sherbourne Streets, just two blocks east. While I was taking photos on Dundas Street this afternoon, a young black man approached me. “Make sure you take pictures showing this place like it really is — me standing here drinking from a bottle of booze in a paper bag in broad daylight, those guys over on that corner dealing crack cocaine, all those homeless people over there and the guys doing drugs down there,” he told me, pointing at each corner of the Dundas-Jarvis intersection before taking a long drink from his bottle. He, along with all the street people who kept staring at me or asking for spare change, made me wonder why anyone would want to pay $200,000+ to buy a condo there. Until he added: “And make sure you take pictures of how everything looks like now so you can remember it because, in a few years, there’s probably gonna be lots of new buildings all around here. This is gonna be a good place to live. It’s not always gonna look like this.”

Maybe he’s right — maybe things are finally starting to look up for this down-on-hard-times district. There’s already several condo buildings close by, including the popular and pricey Merchandise Lofts, as well as two hotels — with a third hotel and more condos in the works. Right across the street, the Ontario government is retrofitting and modernizing the massive building at 222 Jarvis Street into a new workplace for the Ontario Public Service. And the rapidly-growing Ryerson University campus is just a block away. Could the arrival of Pace Condos herald a turn-around for this sketchy streetcorner? We’ll have to wait a few years to see. In the meantime, here’s some photos showing the Pace Condos site and its immediate neighbours as they look now.

January 3 2011: Looking west at the small plaza at Dundas & Jarvis Streets

January 3 2011: The office towers of the Financial District are only blocks away

February 18 2011: The Eaton Centre is just a 10-minute walk west

March 22 2011: Looking south on Jarvis Street toward the Pace Condos site. If built, Pace would obstruct this view of the 45-storey Spire condo tower on Lombard Street, visible in the center of the photograph.

March 22 2011: Pace Condos site seen from northeast corner of Dundas & Jarvis

Commercial tenants of this plaza — including a convenience store, two restaurants and a coin-operated laundry facility– closed up shop months ago. The parking lot was fenced off just within the past 10 days.

The buildings to the west and southwest include luxury condos, rental apartments, co-op apartments and government-subsidized rental accommodation

South view of the Pace Condos site from the opposite side of Dundas St. The brown brick building is 192 Jarvis, a 14-storey condominium built in 1985.

A billboard advertises Pace Condos to passersby on Dundas and Jarvis Streets

The 192 Jarvis condo rises above the fenced-off plaza on Dundas Street

A view of the exterior of two of the plaza’s former commercial tenants

These now-vacant properties — ICITS computer training at 155 Dundas East, New Moon Bar at 157 Dundas East, and Palmers West Indian Restaurant at 159 Dundas East — are all part of the site for the proposed Pace Condos tower

The Grand Hotel on Jarvis Street and the 192 Jarvis condominium building sit to the south and southeast of the site of the proposed Pace Condos tower

If approved by City Hall, Pace Condos would stand three times taller than these two buildings; it would be the highest tower in the neighbourhood

The Ho-Lee-Chow takeout restaurant on the southeast corner of Dundas & Jarvis; the Grand Hotel is situated a few doors south at 225 Jarvis Street

The Hilton Garden Inn on the northeast corner of Dundas & Jarvis. Years ago, before it was converted into a hotel, this building housed offices of the federal unemployment insurance department

222 Jarvis sits across the street from the Pace Condos site, directly to the north. At one time the headquarters for Sears Canada, the building is being retrofitted and modernized as offices for the Ontario Public Service

Mutual Street Deli on the north side of Dundas St. across from Pace Condos

New Lumiere highrise condo building on Bay Street finally getting its exterior finishing touches

Leave a reply

An idle lift machine and stacks of aluminum panel trim seen on the west side of Lumiere Condos along Laplante Avenue on Sunday March 20 2011

Aluminum panel installation on the west side of the Lumiere condo tower

Final touches? Major construction concluded a few months ago, residents have been moving into the building ever since, and now it appears that Lumiere Condominiums on Bay Street is finally getting finishing touches to its exterior. Or is it? In my first post about Lumiere on January 5, I noted that aluminum panels were missing from large, long sections of the building podium. About two weeks later, as I reported in a January 21 update post, I saw crews working on some of the unfinished areas. But they didn’t do much, and the podium’s exterior remained incomplete throughout the winter. However, aluminum panel installation has resumed, so it’s possible the podium cladding project could literally wrap up this spring. Crews are concentrating on the west side of Lumiere, along Laplante Avenue, but still have some small areas to attend to on the south side as well. Below are some pics I snapped Sunday afternoon of the podium work underway at Lumiere.

South side of Lumiere condo podium. The underground garage entrance is at left, while the moving & delivery bay is behind the women walking in the driveway.

East view toward College Park from the driveway between Lumiere condos (left) and The Penrose condo building at 750 Bay Street (right)

View toward The Residences at College Park North Tower on the east side of Bay Street from the driveway between Lumiere condos and The Penrose condos

Unfinished podium exterior outside the Lumiere parking garage entrance

Looking up the southwest corner of the Lumiere condo tower

Aluminum panels to be installed on the podium are stacked outside the rear of the tower along Laplante Avenue.

Curved aluminum panels to be installed on Lumiere’s round podium support pillars

Aluminum panels to be installed on the Lumiere condos exterior

Curved aluminum panels to be installed on Lumiere condos exterior

Unfinished areas on the northwest corner of the Lumiere condo tower

Support pillars remaining to be clad with the curved aluminum panels

Looking up the southwest corner of the Lumiere condo tower

Keeping tabs on … Clear Spirit condo construction

2 Replies

Above is a Cherry Street view of Clear Spirit condo tower construction progress at the Distillery District on March 17 2011. Below is a screenshot of a recent aerial view of the building site, captured by the condo project’s website webcam.

Prominent podium: With four floors of its large rectangular podium poured, and work underway on its 40-storey tower, the Clear Spirit condo building now has a noteworthy presence on the southeast side of the Distillery District. In several months’ time, as the tower climbs taller, Clear Spirit will start standing out on the city skyline, too. It will be joined in just a few short years by a sister tower, the Gooderham condominiums, a 35-storey condo building that will be constructed right next door at the corner of Cherry and Mill Streets. (Pre-excavation pile driving and other site preparation work have been in progress at the Gooderham location all winter.) Together, the two shimmering glass towers will demarcate the eastern perimeter of the historic 13-acre neighbourhood, adding a contemporary flare to the Distillery District’s mix of 19th Century brick and limestone buildings. Both buildings were designed by Toronto’s architectsAlliance. Below are renderings of the Clear Spirit and Gooderham towers (my apologies…in my February 16 post about the Clear Spirit, I incorrectly identified an illustration of the Gooderham building), along with recent photos of Clear Spirit’s construction progress.

Rendering of the Clear Spirit condo tower, from the project’s website

architectsAlliance website rendering of the Gooderham condominium tower

November 2 2010: CN Tower view of the Distillery District. The crane for the Clear Spirit construction site is visible near the middle of the photo. The glass tower toward the left is the 32-storey Pure Spirit tower, built several years ago.

March 17 2011: Clear Spirit condo podium progress viewed from the construction entrance at the southeast end of the Distillery District parking lot

March 17 2011: The south end of the Clear Spirit condo podium

March 17 2011: East view toward Cherry Street

March 17 2011: Southwest corner of the podium base

March 17 2011: Upper three floors of the podium’s southwest corner

March 17 2011: Clear Spirit podium construction progress

March 17 2011: A view of the south end of the Clear Spirit building site

March 17 2011: I have absolutely no idea what this concrete structure is!

March 17 2011: West view of the odd-looking concrete structure. If you know what it’s for, please let me know!

March 17 2011: West side of the podium viewed from Case Goods Lane

March 17 2011: Clear Spirit condo podium viewed from Case Goods Lane

March 17 2011: Construction progress on the west side of the podium

March 17 2011: Clear Spirit podium construction viewed from Tank House Lane

March 17 2011: The podium rises behind the Mill Street Brewpub

March 17 2011: Clear Spirit podium behind the Mill Street Brewpub

March 17 2011: Northwest corner of the Clear Spirit podium

March 17 2011: Cherry Street view of the podium’s east side

March 17 2011: Cherry Street view of the Clear Spirit tower construction

March 17 2011: The 32-storey Pure Spirit tower rises in the background

March 17 2011: The CN Tower is visible in the distance from the entrance to the Gooderham condo construction zone at the south end of Cherry Street

March 17 2011: Cherry Street view of the Clear Spirit condo podium

March 17 2011: I believe the tall round columns with the mustard-yellow sleeves will be supports for the 40-storey tower, which will rise at a slightly-skewed angle above the rectangular podium.

March 17 2011: The Clear Spirit podium and the construction entrance to the Gooderham condominium tower building site

March 17 2011: A construction crew builds a support pillar (left) while two more workers survey the construction site from a blue lift.

March 17 2011: Tall round support pillars on the east side of the podium

March 17 2011: The construction crane operator’s cab high above Clear Spirit

Developer proposes 32-storey apartment & condo addition to 40-year-old Isabella St. rental tower

Leave a reply

Two towers, two seasons: Photos taken November 1 2010 and January 29 2011 show the tree-shaded lawn where a developer has proposed building a 32-storey addition to the 26-storey apartment tower at 66 Isabella Street (left). At right is the 26-storey Town Inn Suites hotel at 620 Church St.

Big addition: A 26-storey rental apartment building at 66 Isabella Street could get a 32-floor addition to its east flank if the City approves an unusual mixed-use residential development proposal for the north end of the Church Wellesley Village area.

The site of the proposed new tower is a tree-shaded private lawn at the northwest corner of Church and Isabella Streets. The 66 Isabella apartments, built in 1970, stand at the west side of the lawn, while a “twin” tower built in 1972, the Town Inn Suites hotel, rises on the property’s north side. There are presently 200 apartment units in 66 Isabella. The proposed tower addition would contain 212 more units, which would include 196 rental apartments, four condominium townhouses at ground level on Isabella Street, 12 condominium suites on the top two floors, and 481 square meters of retail space at ground level along Church Street.

Addition would eliminate private greenspace

The development would eliminate one of the last open patches of green space in a neighbourhood that is already teeming with recently-completed condo towers; construction of two more highrises is either already underway nearby or expected to start soon, while at least two more tall condo buildings are in the proposal stage for the immediate area.

Construction of the addition to 66 Isabella also would require the removal of 11 trees, a prospect that alarms some area residents since trees have already become few and far between on Church Street.

The fate of those trees is just one many concerns that city planning staff raised in a November 15 2010 background report to the Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC). Other significant issues cited by planners include the project’s height and density, the building’s mass (particularly its length along Isabella Street), neighbourhood traffic and parking, impact on nearby buildings, and more.

In December, the TEYCC ordered city staff to hold a public consultation meeting to get feedback from area residents; that event took place at the beginning of February. There’s been no word since on any subsequent developments regarding this project. Below are some photos I’ve taken of the 66 Isabella site in recent months along with illustrations, from the planning department report, of the north and south elevations of the proposed tower.

Apartment and condo tower development proposal notice

Illustration showing the location for the proposed tower

November 1 2010: Church Street view of the site for the proposed tower addition

November 1 2010: Isabella Street view of the site on which the 32-storey addition would be built. Four condo townhouses would be constructed at street level here.

November 1 2010: Church Street view of the proposed development site, looking southwest toward 66 Isabella (right) as well as another rental apartment building that is situated on the south side of Isabella Street (left)

November 1 2010: View of the site from outside the Town Inn entrance. The white apartment building is the 14-storey Gramercy House at 59 Isabella Street.

January 24 2011: Church Street view of the site, looking west. The tall building at center rear is the 46-storey Casa condominium on Charles Street East.

January 29 2011: Southwest view of the 66 Isabella Street apartment building. The 26-storey tower was built in 1970 and has 200 rental units.

A semicircular driveway in front of the tower entrance would be eliminated and replaced with a pedestrian-only walkway and amenity space under the building redevelopment plan proposed to the city.

January 29 2011: The tall glass tower at right is X Condominium, situated at the northwest corner of Charles Street East and Ted Rogers Way (aka Jarvis Street). A taller sister tower, X2 Condos, is currently under construction on the south side of Charles Street just west of Jarvis Street.

January 29 2011: The proposed building addition would block this Isabella Street view toward the Town Inn Suites hotel (center) and the midrise concrete and glass condo building at 73 Charles Street East (right).

February 28 2011: Charles Street East view of the proposed development site. If built, the addition would block this view of the sky between the two towers.

Here’s the latest dirt on U Condos construction

Leave a reply

March 16 2011: Huge mounds of earth at the U Condos construction site block parts of St. Basil’s Church from view along St. Mary Street. Construction crews are in the early stages of excavation work for the two-tower condo project.

Prepping the perimeter: Piles of earth keep growing bigger on the U Condos construction site, as crews continue to prepare the property’s perimeter for site excavation and foundation building. Below are photos I’ve taken during the past month of the vast condo construction site at the corner of Bay and St. Mary Streets near Yorkville. Additional photos and a description of the project are provided in my February 4 post about U Condos.

February 12 2011: The U Condos site after a light dusting of snow

February 15 2011: Pile drivers preparing the U Condos Bay Street perimeter

February 15 2011: St. Mary Street view of U Condos site

February 15 2011: Activity at the northeastern corner of the U Condos site

March 13 2011: Foundation building machines on the U Condos site

March 13 2011: Enormous mounds of earth in the middle of the property

March 13 2011: Foundation construction machines on the U Condos building site

March 13 2011: Machinery and equipment on the east side of the property

March 13 2011: Mounds of earth keep piling up near St. Basil’s Church

March 13 2011: Pile driving equipment at the south end of the property

March 16 2011: Equipment, machines and steel beams on the east side of the site

March 16 2011: The beams will strengthen the retaining walls for the excavation

March 16 2011: One of the excavating machines on the U Condos site. The tower at the rear right of the photo is the One Bedford condominium on Bloor Street.

Florian condo tower getting window treatments

1 Reply

March 16 2011: Newly-installed windows are visible on the 5th floor

Glass going in: Window installation has commenced at The Florian highrise condo tower on Davenport Road in Yorkville. When I walked past the construction site the other day, I noticed a row of new windows on the south side of the fifth floor, along with frames for upcoming curtain wall installation on the tower’s southwest corner. Below are several pics I snapped of construction progress to date; there’s many more building photos in my February 12 post about The Florian.

March 16 2011: South-facing windows on The Florian’s fifth floor

Frames for the curtain wall to be installed on the tower’s southwest corner

The sharply pointed east corner of The Florian’s podium on Davenport Road

Lower levels of The Florian, viewed from the south side of Davenport Rd.

A long look up the south side of The Florian

The Modern condo reaches 11 floors

Leave a reply

Six floors to go: In a post on February 3, I reported that construction of The Modern on Richmond has reached seven floors. The photo above, taken yesterday, shows that the condo midrise is now two-thirds of the way to its final height of 17 storeys.

External repairs nearly finished at fire-damaged 200 Wellesley St. E. apartment highrise

Leave a reply

Brickwork back in place: Contractors have almost finished repairing the exterior of the St James Town apartment tower at 200 Wellesley Street East, which was severely damaged by a fire last September.

As I reported in a January 19 post, contractors had to remove part of the external walls and brickwork for at least three apartment units affected by the fire. (The photo below, from February 1, shows some of the extensive fire repair work that took place during much of the winter.)

The walls have since been rebuilt, and the brickwork replaced on the exterior. But the plastic sheeting on two balconies indicates that some other work is continuing on the units ravaged most severely by the seven-alarm blaze.

Mucking around at the Milan condo tower site

Leave a reply

Earth mover in the muck at the Milan condo tower excavation

Church Street view of the Milan condo excavation, looking northeast

Canadian Tire parking lot view of the Milan condo excavation, looking south

Messy mass of muck: At a property on the north end of Church Street, where the road makes a long sweeping curve to the northwest as it approaches Yonge Street, crews spent the entire winter digging out — literally. And they’re nowhere near finished yet. But it isn’t snow they’ve been shovelling; Toronto didn’t get much of the white stuff over the winter. Instead, the workers have been moving muddy brown earth by the truckload as they excavate the site where the Conservatory Group’s 37-storey Milan condominium tower will be built.

Designed by E.I. Richmond Architects Inc., the condo complex will occupy a wedge-shaped parcel of land bordered by the Canadian Tire store to the north and west, Church Street to the south, and the Yonge subway line to the east.

Below is a tower rendering from a billboard outside the Milan condo sales centre, along with another rendering — from the Milan website — suggesting how the condo’s podium rooftop terrace will look. There’s also a series of photos I’ve taken at the Milan site over the past three years, along with recent pics of some of Milan’s neighbours.

This rendering of the Milan condo tower appears on the exterior of the sales centre on Yonge Street. The condo tower will rise from a long podium that will stretch along the north side of Church Street.

Architectural rendering of Milan’s podium rooftop terrace

December 3 2008: Milan condo site viewed from Church Street looking north

December 3 2008: Milan billboard on the condo tower site

December 3 2008: Milan condo location viewed from Church Street looking north. A pay parking lot occupied the site until construction commenced

This notice, seen in September 2008, was posted next to the Milan site on Church Street for several years. If I recall correctly, stiff neighbourhood opposition to the two buildings originally proposed by a developer led city council to approve construction of only one taller tower instead

This sign also stood on Church Street next to the Milan site. My understanding is that, in the early 2000s, developers proposed building a complex of several condo towers and townhouses on the lands occupied by the big Canadian Tire store as well as on the parking area where Milan currently is under construction. However, Canadian Tire ultimately decided to retain and renovate its Yonge Street store instead, and sold off the parking lot property. Now only one tower is being built

December 3 2008: The Milan condo sales office in the two-storey building at left, and the Canadian Tire gas bar at the corner of Yonge & Church

December 3 2008: Milan will rise on the gas depot’s right side

July 25 2010: The parking lot has been closed and fenced off so the site can be prepared for excavation and construction of the condo tower

July 25 2010: Rubble remaining from structures demolished on the condo site. The Canadian Tire store and its parking lot are visible to the north

July 25 2010: Northeast view of demolition activity. A subway train can be seen passing the property (upper middle of the photo) along the Yonge subway line

November 1 2010: Preliminary site excavation work has begun

November 1 2010: Preliminary excavation work at the site’s northeast corner

November 1 2010: Pile driving and excavation equipment at work

November 1 2010: Eastward view toward the Milan site from a new parkette in front of the Lotus condo tower on Davenport Road at Yonge Street

January 9 2011: Eastward view of the Milan condo tower excavation

January 9 2011: Southeasterly view of the Milan condo excavation

January 9 2011: Snow-covered excavation at the west end of the site

March 16 2011: Excavation progress at the southeast corner of the site

March 16 2011: A sea of mud stretches all the way to the west end of the site next to the gas bar on Yonge Street, visible at the top left

March 16 2011: From Church Street, the Milan property slopes toward the TTC subway tracks and Aylmer Avenue in the Rosedale ravine

March 16 2011: The excavation is deepest on the north edge of the site

March 16 2011: The subway tracks run along on the other side of the wall

March 16 2011: Milan site looking northeast toward Rosedale

March 16 2011: Truck ramp from Church Street to the bottom of the pit

March 16 2011: Boots box in a muddy pit

March 16 2011: The ramp from the Church Street construction entrance

March 16 2011: Machines and equipment at the bottom of the ramp

March 16 2011: The deep pit below the Canadian Tire gas station

March 16 2011: The Milan excavation, looking south toward Church Street

March 16 2011: Foundation building machine at the bottom of the pit

March 16 2011: An earth mover in a muddy pool of water in the pit

March 16 2011: The entrance to the subway tunnel leading to the Bloor-Yonge subway station can be seen at the top left corner

March 16 2011: Canadian Tire view toward the Milan location

Milan’s neighbours to the south and east include several condo and apartment buildings, as well as The Bay and CIBC office towers at Yonge & Bloor (rear right)

March 16 2011: Canadian Tire southeast view of the Milan location

The Toronto Reference Library is situated directly across Church Street from Milan; the office towers at Bloor & Yonge are just a short walk south

March 16 2011: Davenport Road view toward the Milan site. The 37-storey condo tower will dominate this view once construction is complete

March 16 2011: One of Milan’s neighbours will be the MTV studios in the historic Masonic Temple building on the corner of Yonge Street and Davenport Road

Milan’s neighbours to the west are the two Four Seasons Toronto hotel and condo towers currently under construction (left), and the Lotus condos (right)

City Scene: South view of the Ritz-Carlton tower

Leave a reply

Rooms at the Ritz: Toronto’s newest five-star hotel, the Ritz-Carlton, opened to guests last month. The hotel boasts 267 luxurious rooms on the bottom 20 floors of the 53-storey skyscraper. The tower’s upper floors, seen above, are private condo suites still under construction. Below is a closer view of the southwest corner condo suite with canary-yellow walls.

12 floors finished, 60 more to lose their marbles as First Canadian Place gets a new glass face

Leave a reply

First Canadian Place office tower recladding progress viewed from the northwest corner of York & Adelaide Streets on March 14 2011

Fresh new face: I think it’s safe to say the First Canadian Place (FCP) office tower rejuvenation program is the city’s highest-profile construction project — simply since exterior work on the 72-storey building’s top floors has been visible across much of the city since the beginning of 2010.

When it opened in 1975, FCP instantly became a Toronto landmark — and the tallest skyscraper in all of Canada. But even though it has held the title as the country’s tallest building ever since, FCP started losing its lustre in the mid-1990s when its bright white marble wall began to discolour and deteriorate.

When built, the tower was clad in 45,000 white Carrara marble panels that looked striking, but lacked durability. Over the next 20 years, city smog and the harsh extremes of the Canadian climate took their toll, causing the panels to darken, crack and warp. The building’s owners inspected the marble regularly, replacing any panels that had become loose or damaged, but the stark contrast of shiny new marble slabs beside original, greyed panels gave the tower’s exterior a mottled, dirty appearance.

Marble panel plunged from 55th floor

What looked like merely a cosmetic concern became a safety issue in May 2007 when a panel weighing between 200 and 300 pounds fell from the 55th floor during a wind storm, plunging to the roof of FCP’s third-floor mezzanine. The incident made headlines after police closed surrounding streets as a precaution, disrupting streetcar service and causing severe traffic congestion throughout the downtown core. Things quickly got back to normal in the Financial District once repairs were made; meanwhile, engineers inspected the building exterior to ensure there weren’t any more marble slabs at risk of falling off the tower.

FCP wasn’t the only skyscraper having problems with its marble skin; in fact, the 83-storey Aon Centre in Chicago — designed by Edward Durell Stone, also the architect of FCP — experienced similar issues with its Carrara marble cladding, and ultimately replaced its entire facade with granite.

$100 million rejuvenation project started in 2009

In the late 2000s, the owners of FCP — Brookfield Properties — decided it was time to give their tower a facelift, too, as part of a multifaceted building rejuvenation program that would upgrade the building’s mechanical, electrical and lighting systems as well. With a total pricetag of more than $100 million, the rejuvenation project began in the late summer of 2009, and will continue until the end of 2012. The actual recladding work started in early 2010, and is scheduled to conclude at the end of this year. All 45,000 marble slabs are being replaced with white fritted laminated glass panels, a process that takes about three weeks per floor. (Ceramic fritting is a glazing that is baked onto glass.)

Meanwhile, the marble removed from the tower is being repurposed for landscaping and community arts projects. (In a December 31, 2010 article, “The upside of losing all your marbles,” the Globe and Mail revealed how some Toronto artists are incorporating pieces of FCP’s marble into sculptures and other projects.)

Below are some of my pics showing progress on the recladding progress during the past 13 months. A separate post below that features a series of photos I’ve taken of FCP and the downtown skyline at various times during the past 10 years, including some showing the tower before it began shedding its skin, of course, and others during the rejuvenation process.

This November 9 2010 photo shows how the mix of old and new marble panels has given the First Canadian Place exterior a mottled appearance.

Discoloured marble panels on the tower’s north side November 29 2010

January 9 2010: Rows of marble panels have been removed above the 72nd floor

March 9 2010: More marble panels have been removed from the top of the tower. Meanwhile, the variations between old and new marble tiles are starkly evident in this view of upper floors on the skyscraper’s north side.

April 13 2010: A bank of external construction elevators rises up the east side of the tower. There is another bank of elevators on the building’s west wall.

May 8 2010: Work on the tower exterior is visible throughout the downtown core.

June 11 2010: Movable scaffolding for the recladding project’s work team is being wrapped around the top two floors of the tower.

July 21 2010: The scaffolding looks like a crown atop First Canadian Place as the tower takes on a golden glow in the late afternoon sunshine.

August 6 2010: The scaffolding on the north wall has shifted down a few feet.

August 26 2010: New glass cladding is visible at the top of the north wall.

September 8 2010: The top row of fritted glass panels is now fully visible.

October 7 2010: More rows of the new glass panels have been revealed.

October 20 2010: The fresh new top floor is fully revealed.

November 2 2010: A CN Tower view of First Canadian Place. Notice that the scaffolding still covers half of the 70th floor on the tower’s south side…

… but within mere minutes, the right-hand section of the scaffolding has been lowered to the next level…

… and then the center section drops down. Two construction workers can be seen standing on the middle top of the metal structure.

November 15 2010: Nearly five full floors have been finished.

November 29 2010: Bronze panels accent the tower’s inset corners.

December 17 2010: The top eight floors of the tower have now been reclad.

January 3 2011: Early morning view of First Canadian Place

February 3 2011: The work elevators rising up the west side of the tower.

February 18 2011: Recladding has been completed on nearly 11 full floors.

March 7 2011: Top of the tower’s west side viewed from street level

March 14 2011: First Canadian Place viewed from York Street yesterday.

The skyline presence of First Canadian Place

Leave a reply

Canada’s tallest office tower, the 72-storey First Canadian Place, is seen in a photo shot on April 9 2004

Standing tall: First Canadian Place has always had a strong presence on the Toronto skyline, thanks to its height and its crisp white Carrara marble curtain wall exterior. But time and weather have taken their toll on the stately tower, and its owner is undertaking a $100 million project to replace the 45,000 discoloured and deteriorating marble tiles with fritted glass panels (see the post above for further details on that endeavour).

First Canadian Place still stands out on the skyline — it just doesn’t look as brilliant as it once did. But once work crews finish installing its full new glass facade, possibly by the end of this year, the 72-storey tower will gleam once again.

Below is a pic I took of First Canadian Place and the Financial District while visiting the CN Tower shortly after I moved to Toronto in 1983. I took the other photos below that at various times over the past 10 years.

Summer 1983: CN Tower view of First Canadian Place and the Financial District

September 30 2001: First Canadian Place has some new company on the skyline

July 21 2001: First Canadian Place and the CN Tower dominate the skyline

August 3 2002: First Canadian Place towers above the Financial District

August 5 2002: Humber Bay view of First Canadian Place

May 11 2004: First Canadian Place viewed from Nathan Phillips Square

July 4 2007: A Riverdale Park view of First Canadian Place and its neighbours

July 12 2007: First Canadian Place as a thunderstorm approaches

August 4 2007: First Canadian Place has lost its shine, and the discoloured marble wall panels are clearly noticeable on the skyline, even from the Toronto Islands.

August 27 2008: The Bay Adelaide Centre rises near First Canadian Place

March 11 2010: Bathurst Street Bridge view of the Financial District

April 24 2010: When viewed from this location in Riverdale, the bottom two-thirds of First Canadian Place appears to have a bluish grey cladding. That’s actually the Bay Adelaide Centre tower two blocks away.

July 3 2010: First Canadian Place at sunset

August 1 2010: The scaffolding on the top floors of First Canadian Place is obvious even from a distance; here, from Tommy Thompson Park on the Leslie Street Spit

August 1 2010: Another skyline view from the Leslie Street Spit

August 1 2010: Leslie Street Spit view of the skyline

November 2 2010: CN Tower view of the Financial District

January 14 2011: A winter skyline view from the Bathurst Street Bridge

February 12 2011: First Canadian Place viewed from Avenue Road at Bloor Street

February 18 2011: First Canadian Place viewed from the Metro Hall park next to Roy Thomson Hall (bottom right)

March 8 2011: Financial District in early evening

March 14 2011: First Canadian Place and nearby officer towers

Neighbourhood Watch: Developer asks city for 6-month hold on 25-storey Church St condo plan

1 Reply

Artistic illustration, from a former website for Church 18 Holdings, of the condo development proposed for the Church Street block between Gloucester and Dundonald Streets, now occupied by apartments, restaurants and a day spa.

A Dec. 21 2010 view of the Church Street block proposed for redevelopment

6-month wait: A developer has asked the City for a six-month hold on its controversial application to redevelop a block of property in the Church Wellesley Village.

Just under one year ago, a developer sought City approval to redevelop properties it owns along the west side of Church Street, between Gloucester and Dundonald Streets. The properties include several low-rise apartment buildings as well as two brick mansions, one built in 1878, which currently are home to two popular Village restaurants and a day spa.

The developer proposed to demolish some of the rental buildings and one of the mansions, constructing in their place a 25-storey condo tower atop a seven-storey podium. 35 replacement apartments would be built in the podium, while an additional 158 residences would be included in the condo complex.

The proposal drew considerable criticism and negative feedback at a community consultation meeting attended by more than 150 people in early December. A city planner drew cheers and applause from the audience when he told the meeting that the city did not support the application because of serious concerns with the project’s proposed height and density, among other issues.

According to the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association (CWNA), the developer recently requested a delay in the development application process. In a message to members of its Facebook page, the CWNA said the developer asked the city, at the end of February, to place a six-month hold on its application.

The CWNA message says the developer “has indicated that in 6 months time they will likely come back to the city with one of the following options: 1) withdrawing the application, 2) reducing the height on their revised option, 3) pursuing a totally different design scheme for the property, or 4) hiring a new team for a different design.” City planning rules specify that files can be put on hold for a maximum of six months. At that time, planners would have to advise the developer to either re-submit the application, or withdraw it. If the developer does nothing at that point, then the city could close the application.”

Below is a screenshot, from the CWNA website, of a building rendering and project details that city planners showed the audience at the December community meeting. There’s also a series of photos I’ve taken at various times of the properties involved in the redevelopment plan.

Condo development proposal sign posted on one of the Church Street properties

Project details and an artistic illustration of the proposed condo complex, from a city planning department presentation to a community meeting held in December to provide neighbourhood feedback on the developer’s plan.

67 Gloucester Street apartment building on December 21 2010. According to the developer, the building would be retained as part of the new condo complex.

71 Gloucester Street apartment building on December 21 2010

71 Gloucester Street at the corner of Church & Gloucester Street. Under the developer’s proposal, this building would be demolished and replaced by a 25-storey condo highrise with a 7-storey podium.

December 21 2010 view of 71 Gloucester Street and 67 Gloucester Street

Another view of the 71 Gloucester Street apartment buildings

November 1 2010 corner view of the Gloucester Mansions apartment building

Church Street view of the 596 Church Street Gloucester Mansions apartment building on December 21 2010

The Gloucester Mansions on November 1 2010

A November 1 2010 view of the 584 Church St. Salon & Spa, left, and one of the Gloucester Mansions apartments. Under the development plan, the spa mansion would be demolished and replaced with the main entrance to the condo, while the facade and part of the Gloucester Mansions building would be saved.

This elegant mansion at 580 – 582 Church Street was built in 1878. Much of the building, including the facade, would be incorporated into the condo development. The building currently is home to two restaurants: Fuzion, left, and Voglie.

Fuzion restaurant at 580 Church Street on December 21 2010. In summer, its patio is one of the most pleasant dining terraces in downtown Toronto.

November 1 2010 view of Fuzion on the corner of Church & Dundonald Streets

Fuzion restaurant building viewed from Dundonald Street on February 15 2011

Dundonald Street view of the Fuzion restaurant building on February 15 2011

A November 1 2010 view of the proposed condo development site

Crane up at Women’s College Hospital building site

Leave a reply

A recently-erected construction crane soars above the Women’s College Hospital redevelopment building site on Saturday. Behind the crane is the Burano condo tower, also under construction, and the Murano South condo tower (right).

Pit stop: The foundation for the new Women’s College Hospital building on Grenville Street should take shape at a quicker pace now that a construction crane has been erected on the site. When I last reported on the hospital’s building progress in a January 28 post, excavation had reached to more than one level below ground. During February, crews continued digging while building a base for the construction crane in the southwest corner of the site. The crane was installed sometime during the past week. Below are photos showing excavation progress during February, as well as foundation building progress around the crane.

February 12 2011: Grenville St. view of the excavation for the new hospital building. This site formerly was occupied by the hospital’s parking garage.

February 12 2011: Foundation shoring equipment at the northwest corner

February 20 1011: Southwest corner being prepared for the crane base

February 20 2011: Excavation continues while the crane base is constructed

Another view of the base being built for the construction crane

February 20 2011: Construction crane base taking shape

March 12 2011: Excavation is now two levels deep

March 12 2011: Considerable construction progress has been made on the west side of the site but a huge amount of earth still must be removed from the east

March 12 2011: Building foundation takes shape around the base of the crane

March 12 2011: Building activity is focussed on the west side of the construction site next to the existing hospital building.

Tracking Downtown Toronto's Amazing
Building Boom.

www.TheTorontoBlog.com

Tracking Downtown Toronto's Amazing Building Boom.

Category Archives: Architecture & Construction

City Scenes: Snowy Bay Street building sites

Great Gulf Homes plans 46-storey condo tower for corner in sketchy Dundas-Jarvis neighbourhood

New Lumiere highrise condo building on Bay Street finally getting its exterior finishing touches

Keeping tabs on … Clear Spirit condo construction

Developer proposes 32-storey apartment & condo addition to 40-year-old Isabella St. rental tower

Here’s the latest dirt on U Condos construction

Florian condo tower getting window treatments

The Modern condo reaches 11 floors

External repairs nearly finished at fire-damaged 200 Wellesley St. E. apartment highrise

Mucking around at the Milan condo tower site

City Scene: South view of the Ritz-Carlton tower

12 floors finished, 60 more to lose their marbles as First Canadian Place gets a new glass face

The skyline presence of First Canadian Place

Neighbourhood Watch: Developer asks city for 6-month hold on 25-storey Church St condo plan

Crane up at Women’s College Hospital building site

Tracking Downtown Toronto's AmazingBuilding Boom.

Tracking Downtown Toronto's Amazing
Building Boom.