Category Archives: Hotels

Keeping tabs on … Delta Hotel & Bremner office tower construction at Southcore Financial Centre

April 21 2011: Pile driving and shoring activity continues as crews prepare the Delta Toronto hotel and Bremner Tower office site for excavation.

Shore thing: The site for downtown Toronto’s next new hotel and office tower — part of the Southcore Financial Centre (SFC) at the northwest corner of Bremner Boulevard and Lower Simcoe Street — continues to be prepared for excavation. Drilling rigs have been working on the property since the beginning of this year, installing steel I-beams to shore up the north side of the site next to the railway tracks. Excavation for the 45-storey Delta Toronto hotel and the 30-storey Bremner Tower office building should commence within a few months. Meanwhile, the 26-storey PricewaterhouseCoopers office building — the first SFC tower to be built — is 86% leased, with occupancy expected to be begin this fall. Below is a rendering from the Southcore Financial Centre website, showing how all three towers will appear once completed, along with a series of photos I took of the construction site on Thursday.

From the SFC website, a south view of the hotel & office towers

April 21 2011: Bremner Boulevard north view of the construction site

April 21 2011: The site sits south of the railway tracks, and across Lower Simcoe Street from the Toronto Convention Centre (left)

April 21 2011: North view from Bremner Boulevard of the SFC site

April 21 2011: The west half of the site, along Lower Simcoe Street

April 21 2011: Northeast view of the construction zone from Bremner Blvd.

April 21 2011: North view of the construction area from Bremner Blvd.

April 21 2011: An excavator and a pile driver on the site

April 21 2011: A steel I-beam sunk into the ground to shore up the south perimeter of the two-tower building site

April 21 2011: One of the drilling rigs preparing the site for excavation

April 21 2011: Drilling rig parts next to a pile of steel I-beams

April 21 2011: East view of the Southcore Financial Centre construction site from the Simcoe Street steps to the Toronto Convention Centre

April 21 2011: A view of the row of steel I-beam foundation supports next to the railway tracks at the north end of the construction site

April 21 2011: The north half of the hotel and office tower site

April 21 2011: Pile driving machines near the SE corner of the site

April 21 2011: I-beams along the north side of the property

April 21 2011: A pile driving machine on the west side of the site

April 21 2011: An excavator digging at the northeast corner of the site

Looking up at the new Four Seasons towers

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

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

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

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

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

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

February 23 2011: Yorkville Avenue view of the two towers

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

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

February 23 2011: Construction elevator on the West Residence tower

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

April 1 2011: Southwest view of the West Residence tower

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

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

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

Angular cube frame draws eyes to northeast corner of Living Shangri-la Toronto hotel/condo tower site

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The large metal frame at the Living Shangri-la Toronto construction site

University Avenue median view of the cube frame on March 29 2011

Big white cube: Downtown Toronto has been teeming with highrise building projects all winter, but the Living Shangri-la Toronto hotel and condo tower construction site has been grabbing my attention the most.

Its location — where the University Avenue median ends as the broad boulevard tapers and veers to the southeast at Adelaide Street — certainly helps; whenever I look south on University, my eyes are instantly drawn to the site. (Once the tower reaches its full 65 storeys, it will be impossible to miss.) The various bold shades of pink on construction hoarding and on-site billboards command my attention from blocks away, too. So do the angled, creased windows gradually being installed as the tower adds floors and climbs skyward. And, of course, there’s the Bishop’s Block of heritage row houses at the corner of Simcoe Street and Adelaide, shrouded under white protective wrapping while they are rebuilt and restored as part of the Living Shangri-la Toronto development.

Now there’s something else new and striking to see on the site — a large white cube-shaped metal frame that has been erected on the northeast corner of the property. According to floorplans for the Living Shangri-la’s luxurious amenities, this cube is where a third-floor restaurant and a fifth-floor “revitalization pool” (a feature of the building’s posh spa) will be situated. I’m anxious to see how the cube will be clad; building renderings suggest it could be a shimmering, transparent glass surface.

Meanwhile, the tower keeps climbing taller and is roughly halfway to its final 65 floors. I counted 33 storeys a few days ago, which means Living Shangri-la Toronto will soon start soaring above its neighbour, the 35-storey Boutique Condos building on the west side of Simcoe Street.

Below are more photos of the cube and tower construction progress this week, along with some other recent pictures of the building.

March 29 2011: The view toward Simcoe Street from Adelaide Street West. The Living Shangri-la Toronto tower will soon overtake the height of the 35-storey Boutique Condos building on Simcoe (top left).

March 29 2011: Northeast view of the tower, which has reached 33 floors.

March 29 2011: Tower and cube construction viewed from University Ave.

March 29 2011: Floorplans indicate a spa pool and restaurant will occupy the distinctively-shaped structure at the northeast corner of the hotel-condo complex.

March 29 2011: Another northeast view of the cube

March 29 2011: The condo-hotel tower and the cube add interesting angles to the University Avenue streetscape.

March 29 2011: Another view of the cube from the University Avenue median

March 29 2011: Pinks signs atop the Living Shangri-la Toronto tower reflect off the eastern glass wall of the Boutique Condos tower on Simcoe Street.

March 29 2011: The upper east side of the Living Shangri-la Toronto tower

March 29 2011: The top of the tower (so far), viewed from the northeast

March 29 2011: Tower construction viewed from the west along Adelaide Street

March 14 2011: Living Shangri-la Toronto construction viewed from a laneway between Nelson Street and Adelaide Street West, behind Boutique Condos

March 29 2011: Wraps on the Bishop’s Block heritage house being rebuilt

March 29 2011: West side of the Living Shangri-la Toronto tower

March 14 2011: Simcoe Street view of the west side of the complex

March 14 2011: Simcoe Street view of the Living Shangri-la Toronto lower levels

March 29 2011: Living Shangri-la viewed from University Ave. near Dundas St.

Trump l’oeil: Eyes on Toronto’s Trump Tower

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Reaching skyward: In this view from the depths of the Bay Street skyscraper canyon, the 13-storey office building at 302 Bay Street (top) appears to rise almost as tall as the still-under-construction Toronto Trump Tower, which is around 50 floors high so far and climbing steadily on its way to 60 storeys. Originally the Trust and Guarantee Building, 302 Bay was built in 1917 but received a rooftop addition in 1929. The building now bears the Bank of Montreal name above its front entrance. On the left is the 51-storey Bay Adelaide Centre, Trump Toronto’s neighbour on the north side of Adelaide Street, built in 2009. Part of the 68-storey Scotia Plaza tower built in 1988 is visible at right and in reflection on the south side of Bay Adelaide Centre.

The Trump Tower made the news today in a Toronto Star article that gives an “exclusive peak” inside the Trump Hotel section of the skyscraper, which received an occupancy permit from the City last Friday. The hotel is scheduled to open later this spring. The newspaper article also profiles the tower’s 42-year-old billionaire builder, Alex Shnaider, and hails his “noteworthy accomplishment” of having “built the tallest residential tower in Canada — and the second tallest building in Toronto, after the CN Tower.” Seems the Star is jumping the gun: the Trump isn’t even as tall as the Bay Adelaide Centre yet, and it’s far from “built.” Moreover, when complete, it still won’t rise as high as 72-storey First Canadian Place, so Trump will have to settle for third-highest place on the Toronto skyline. Below are some pics I’ve taken of the Toronto Trump Tower this month.

March 14 2011: Adelaide Street West view of Toronto Trump Tower construction

March 7 2011: Toronto Trump Tower viewed from Bay & Adelaide Streets

March 7 2011: Southwest view from Bay below Adelaide Street

March 7 2011: Upper-level construction viewed from the southwest

March 7 2011: Nathan Phillips Square view of the Toronto Trump construction

March 7 2011: West view of Bay Adelaide Centre and Toronto Trump Tower

March 7 2011: From left are the Bay Adelaide Centre, Toronto Trump Tower, Scotia Plaza and the Bank of Nova Scotia building at 44 King Street West.

March 7 2011: Trump Tower viewed from Bay Street outside First Canadian Place

March 7 2011: Toronto Trump Tower and the Bank of Nova Scotia building at 44 King Street West. The 27-storey bank building at the northeast corner of King & Bay Streets was constructed in 1951.

March 14 2011: Adelaide Street West view of Toronto Trump construction

March 14 2011: Toronto Trump Tower, Scotia Plaza and First Canadian Place

March 14 2011: When completed, the Toronto Trump Tower will stand taller than Scotia Plaza — when measured to the top of its spire. But Scotia Plaza’s roof will still be higher, as a diagram on skyscraperpage.com demonstrates.

March 14 2011: Toronto Trump Tower and Scotia Plaza

March 22 2011: Scotia Plaza, Toronto Trump Tower and Bay Adelaide Centre

March 22 2011: Northeast view of the Trump Toronto from King Street West

March 22 2011: Upper-level construction viewed from the northeast

March 22 2011: King Street view of the northeast corner of the Trump Toronto

March 22 2011: Toronto Trump Tower street level view from King Street

March 22 2011: Cement trucks at the tower’s King Street construction entrance

City Scene: South view of the Ritz-Carlton tower

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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.

1 up, 2 to go: Southcore office & hotel towers will change city skyline south of the railway tracks

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Artistic rendering of the three Southcore Financial Centre towers…

…and a southeast view of the Centre as it appeared on February 18. The 26-storey PricewaterhouseCooper head office building at 18 York Street (right) is nearing completion, but excavation is still in early stages for the Delta Toronto hotel and Bremner office tower office still to be built.

Trackside towers: As downtown’s newest office tower approaches the end of construction, site excavation has only just begun for its two younger siblings, who will gradually grow into prominent hotel and office towers standing proudly right next door.

Work on the 26-storey PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) office building at 18 York Street is winding down, and occupancy for most of its floors is scheduled for the third quarter of this year. (Four and a half floors of the PwC tower, which is 86% leased, won’t be ready for occupancy until early in 2013.)

Meanwhile, crews are preparing to build downtown’s next new highrise hotel, the Delta Toronto, as well as the city’s next new office block, the Bremner Tower, on lands along Bremner Boulevard just west of PwC.

But this young family of buildings, formally known as the Southcore Financial Centre (SFC), is already having a major impact on the city. Along with some newer neighbours (Telus Tower and Maple Leaf Square) who recently took up residence nearby, SFC is changing the look of the skyline and railway lands while at the same time drawing the Financial District to the south side of the train tracks.

And with construction currently underway for the ÏCE and Infinity3 condo towers just one block to the south, and construction expected to start later this year on the Ripley Toronto Aquarium one block to the west, this formerly derelict railway lands district is being transformed into a bustling and vibrant urban neighbourhood.

Sometimes I still can’t believe this is happening. Before I even moved to Toronto in the early 1980s, politicians kept promising new office and residential developments would revitalize the ugly railway lands between Union Station and Lake Shore Boulevard. As is typical for Toronto, it took so long for things to get going, I never thought I’d see construction actually get underway. But it has been happening, and the pace of transformation from blight to bright has been phenomenal.

For years, there wasn’t much more than a few parking lots and dusty, vacant fields on the vast swath of land stretching from the CN Tower in the west to the old Canada Post building at the corner of Bay Street and Lake Shore Blvd., in the east. Then the Air Canada Centre opened in 1999, followed in late 2005/early 2006 by the 35- and 16-storey Infinity condominium buildings at the corner of Bremner and Simcoe. Last year, both the Telus office tower and the Maple Leaf Square condo/office/hotel/retail complex opened on the east side of York at Bremner. This year, condos, offices and a hotel are under construction, and a major tourist attraction will be joining them soon. Whew! Three years from now, I might not even recognize the neighbourhood!

But let’s get back to Southcore, the new kids on the block bounded by Lower Simcoe Street to the west, Bremner Blvd. to the south, York Street to the east, and the railway tracks to the north. The Delta Toronto will be a 45-storey, 566-room, four-star hotel standing at the corner of Bremner and Simcoe, conveniently just across the street from the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The 30-storey Bremner Tower will sit between the Delta and PwC, on Bremner Blvd.

When I walked around the area last week, a construction crew and pile driver were working along the north perimeter of the site, right next to the rail tracks. Below are some pics I snapped from street level and from the Convention Centre stairs, along with some hotel and office tower renderings from the Southcore Financial Centre website.

Website illustration of the south elevation of the three Southcore towers

Rendering of the Southcore Financial Centre towers viewed from the southeast

Website rendering of the 45-storey Delta Toronto hotel tower

Website rendering of the Delta Toronto hotel tower courtyard

January 3 2011: West view of the PricewaterhouseCoopers office tower, left, the Maple Leaf Square complex and the Infinity condos (right)

January 3 2011: The top floors of the west side of the PwC office tower

January 3 2011: Southwest view of the PwC tower and Telus Tower

January 3 2011: PwC office tower construction gate on Bremner Blvd.

January 3 2011: Northwest view of the Southcore Financial Centre location for the Delta hotel and Bremner Tower. Overlooking the site are the PwC tower and Telus Tower at left, Maple Leaf Square towers (center), and the Infinity condos.

January 3 2011: Trailers and dumpsters on the hotel and office tower building site

February 18 2011: Delta Hotel and Bremner Tower site viewed from the southwest corner of Bremner Blvd and Lower Simcoe Street. Once built, the two towers will completely block this view of the Financial District skyscrapers.

February 18 2011: Another view of the hotel and office tower building site

February 18 2011: Yellow pile driving machine (center) on the Southcore site

February 18 2011: Toronto Convention Centre view of the Southcore building site

February 18 2011: Another convention centre view of the building site

Within months, full-scale excavation of this site will be in progress

February 18 2011: Pile driver at the site’s railway perimeter

While the pile driving machine prepares the Southcore site for excavation, another huge construction project is underway nearby — the Union Station railway platform revitalization project (the covered area at the rear left side of the photo).

The structure behind the pile driving machine is the north side of the PwC tower

Construction workers guide the pile driver

A closer look at the foundation-building machine

February 18 2011: PwC tower viewed from corner of York St. and Bremner Blvd.

A closer look at the top southeast corner of the PwC tower

February 18 2011: Simcoe Street view of the cranes atop the PwC office tower

Closer view of the upper west side of the PwC office tower

February 18 2011: A Simcoe Street view of the CN Tower reflecting in the west windows of the new PricewaterhouseCoopers office building.

Renovations will transform seedy budget motel into trendy boutique hotel at corner of Bay & Elm

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650 Bay Street, seen Sunday, was previously a budget motor inn…

…but after extensive renovations will reopen as a boutique hotel

From sketchy to trendy: A dilapidated budget hotel at the southwest corner of Bay and Elm Streets is undergoing a top-to-bottom transformation, and will re-enter the city’s hospitality market as a trendy boutique hotel.

The former Bay Street Motel at 650 Bay Street had been looking down-at-the-heel in recent years, and most of the people I saw going in and out looked equally sketchy. I’ve never been inside and, given the seedy look of the hotel and its clientele, never considered recommending it to out-of-town visitors seeking bargain accommodations. Although it offered reasonable rates and an excellent location, the place looked like a dive, and not surprisingly received poor reviews on travel websites. I always assumed the run-down building would get demolished and replaced by a condo tower, and when it appeared that the hotel had closed in late 2010, I kept expecting to see a development proposal sign posted outside.

Instead, I saw renovation activity, and noticed that the windows had been replaced. On Sunday, the sounds of hammering and drilling on the premises echoed two blocks up Bay Street, and I could see several contractors working on the roof and carrying renovation debris to a dumpster at the south end of the building.

When I got home, I did a quick Internet search and discovered that the building is being completely refurbished and converted into a boutique hotel. As described in a featured listing on Toronto real estate agent Addy Saeed’s website, 650 Bay “is currently undergoing an exterior and interior renovation and will re-open as one of Toronto’s most trendy boutique style hotels.”

The website says “[p]remium ground floor space is currently available and suitable for entertainment, retail, hospitality and food services,” while plans to create “Toronto’s largest rooftop patio” are underway. Saeed told me that the building owner still hasn’t chosen a name for the new hotel. Meanwhile, the renovation completion date and hotel opening are up in the air pending the search for a commercial tenant to run the food services operation, which Saeed said “could be a nice take out or sit in restaurant as well.”

Once the weather improves, the building will start getting a new limestone facade; Saeed says that work should be finished by summer. I’m glad to see the old brick building being spruced up and given a new lease on life. If the renovations restore the small building’s charm and character, I’m sure the boutique hotel will do brisk business — especially since its prime location is just a short walk from downtown shopping, hospitals, universities and offices.

650 Bay is just one of many properties bustling with construction activity in the immediate vicinity. One major building going up right across Elm street is the 21-storey SickKids Research and Learning Tower, while condo, apartment, university, and other hospital construction projects are all in progress or launching soon within less than a five-minute walk.

Below is an artistic rendering that appears on Saeed’s website, illustrating how the hotel should look after the renovations, along with several more pics I have taken showing the 650 Bay exterior viewed from several different angles.

An artistic rendering, provided by the building owner, which suggests how the 650 Bay boutique hotel will look with a new limestone facade.

650 Bay viewed from northeast corner of Bay and Elm Streets

Building viewed from the southeast corner of Bay & Elm

A contractor carries a sheet of plywood past the building…

…to a dumpster in the parking lot at the building’s south end

New windows were installed in the building recently

This photo from November 9 2010 shows 650 Bay Street, left, and two cranes on the SickKids Research & Learning Tower construction site

SickKids Research & Learning Tower construction on February 20 2011

City Scene: Wellington Street’s glass curtain wall

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Joined at the hip?: When viewed from certain angles to their north, the RBC Centre (left), Simcoe Place (center) and Ritz-Carlton Toronto towers (right) appear to form one huge H-shaped mass of glass and steel. When seen from some spots to their south (below), the Ritz-Carlton, Simcoe Place, RBC Centre and the Intercontinental Toronto Centre on Front Street West (foreground) all look fused together, too.

From Days Inn to Holiday Inn: Popular Carlton St. hotel gets a main entrance facade makeover

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Workers install signs on the renovated hotel facade February 17 2011

This photo, posted on TripAdvisor.com by TA member Kloetzchen, shows the former building facade when the hotel was still a Days Inn

Happier holidays ahead?: The Days Inn on Carlton Street was a popular hotel, particularly with bus tour groups, but in recent years travellers regularly complained online that the place was tired, worn, and in sore need of major renovations. I never saw any of the rooms myself, but friends who stayed there said the the accommodations were only “okay” — not great. They liked the hotel’s convenience to Yonge Street, downtown shopping and attractions, and the nearby Church-Wellesley gay village area, but that was about it. I did walk through the Days Inn main floor lobby about two years ago, though, and thought it looked extremely dated.

I’ll be keen to see how much the interior has changed when the hotel re-opens next month as the Holiday Inn Downtown Centre. The Days Inn closed last year and the hotel has been getting a makeover inside and out in preparation for its launch as a Holiday Inn on March 15.

For months the building’s facade along Carlton Street was hidden behind scaffolding and hoarding while workers gave the exterior an entirely new look. The old facade sported sloping glass canopies above the two Carlton Street entrances, as well as above the hotel restaurant, sports bar and coffee shop that used to occupy main floor. The recessed areas above the canopies always gave the front of the hotel a brooding, dark appearance, even on sunny days, while the glass was usually streaked with dirt, dust and city grime.

The hoarding was taken down several weeks ago, but the entrances remain boarded up. The new facade is sleek glass and steel; the canopies have been removed and replaced with vertical panes of glass that sit flush against the building wall. The result is a crisp, clean and neat front face, but the new look hasn’t grown on me yet. I used to walk past the Days Inn several times a week, and preferred how the old facade related to the street — it had a pleasant street presence that was friendly to pedestrians. By comparison, the slick Holiday Inn facade has a cold office-building-like feel that isn’t as comfortable to walk past. Maybe that will change once restaurants and coffee shops or hotel facilities have been set up inside, and there is actually something to see through the big front windows. So I’ll reserve final judgment on the renovations until then.

Below are some pics I snapped yesterday; when I walked past, workers were installing two Holiday Inn signs above the entrances.

Holiday Inn signage installation on the new facade

Finishing touches to the new facade February 17 2011

The new Holiday Inn’s next-door neighbour, Maple Leaf Gardens, is getting a massive makeover of its own. It is being converted into a multi-purpose facility featuring a Ryerson University Sports centre and a Loblaws grocery store.

Living Shangri-La Toronto hotel & condo tower construction site signs have the city seeing pink

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Just one of several hot pink signs atop the Living Shangri-La Toronto tower

Think pink: You can’t miss the Living Shangri-La Toronto construction at 180 University Avenue (at Adelaide Street West), even though the hotel & condo tower is only 20 storeys high so far. In-your-face fluorescent pink signs on several upper floors stand out for blocks, and will become even more widely visible across the downtown core as the tower climbs taller towards its 65-storey eventual height.

The building site is tickled pink at street level, too, but most of those signs get attention with a warmer, almost coral, shade that isn’t as bold, brash and loud as the signage higher up.

Hot pink is a colour I normally associate with tacky snowsuits and swimwear for five-year-old girls, not luxurious five-star hotels and condos. But since the high-end hotel and condo scene in Toronto is starting to get a little crowded, getting people to think pink is probably a great way to get noticed.

The Shangri-la Toronto is one of four glitzy and glamorous new five-star hotel/condo towers changing the city skyline this year.

Over on Wellington Street West, the Ritz-Carlton Toronto will be opening its doors to guests this month. Up in Yorkville, construction is moving right along for the two shiny glass towers of the Four Seasons Toronto Hotel & Residences. And just two blocks east of the Shangri-la, also on Adelaide, the Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto is three-quarters of the way to claiming its place as the second-tallest skyscraper in the city.

But the Shangri-la won’t need the pink signs to get attention once more of its striking blue windows are put in place. Glass has enclosed just part of seven lower floors so far, but already the windows are creating some eye-catching colours, textures and reflections. That’s especially the case on the University Avenue side of the tower, where just several panes of creased glass suggest how stunning the tower’s tall and sharply angled east and west glass walls will appear when finished.

A project of Westbank and Peterson Group, the building will feature a 220-room Shangri-la hotel and spa on the first 17 floors. There will be 279 condo residences on floors 18 to 48, and 73 “private estates” on floors 49 to 65. The project was designed by Vancouver’s James Km Cheng Architects with Toronto’s Young + Wright Architects.

Below is a rendering of the tower, along with photos I’ve taken at the project site between September 2008 and last week. To view more pics, check out the Living Shangri-la album on the Photos Sets page of the blog.

Artistic depiction of Shangri-La Toronto’s presence on University Avenue

Marketing billboard at Living Shangri-la Toronto excavation site on Sept 26 2008

A passerby watches the excavation activity from Adelaide Street

Site excavation progress on March 5 2009

Ritz-Carlton Toronto has a head start on construction at its location below the CN Tower, just a few blocks southwest of the Living Shangri-la Toronto site

Freezing rain delays installation of the Living Shangri-la Toronto construction crane on March 29 2009; the crane went up several days later

Construction crane awaits installation on a cold, rainy March 29 2009

Two construction cranes work the site on March 8 2010

Site’s southeast corner seen on March 8 2010

Construction progress viewed from Simcoe Street October 20 2010

Construction viewed from University Avenue on November 15 2010

Distinctive angular design element on the tower’s southeast corner

Southeast corner seen from Adelaide Street on November 15 2010

Simcoe Street view of construction progress on November 15 2010

West side of Living Shangri-la viewed from Neilson Street on November 15 2010

Hotel sign on hoarding along University Avenue’s west sidewalk

Tower viewed from University Ave. near Queen Street on Nov. 29 2010

Window installation on tower’s south side January 3 2011

Windows on tower’s south side January 3 2011

Tower viewed from Simcoe Street on January 3 2011

Tower viewed from Adelaide Street West on January 3 2011

Tower viewed from Metro Hall park on King Street January 3 2011

Blue glass, pink signs catch attention on University Avenue

Windows installed on lower floors above University Avenue

Signature design “crease” in windows above University Avenue

Looking up the tower from east side of University Avenue

Angled windows on east side of tower

Signature “creased” windows on east side of tower

Reflections in “creased” windows on east side of tower

Simcoe Street view of windows on west side of tower February 3 2011

West side of tower viewed from Simcoe Street February 3 2011

Pedestrians under construction hoarding on west side of University Avenue

City Scene: Hangin’ out at the Ritz

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Two contractors in bright fluorescent uniforms are seen on a swing stage hanging high above the new Ritz-Carlton Toronto tower Wednesday afternoon.

City Scene: Yorkville’s highrise building boom

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Davenport Road (near Bay Street) view of new towers being built in Yorkville

Growing up: Construction activity is apparent in practically every corner of downtown, and the Yorkville neighbourhood is no exception.

Pedestrians and drivers approaching Bay Street along Davenport Road are greeted by this view of three highrise towers currently under construction: The Florian condo building (left) and the two towers of the new Four Seasons Toronto Hotel and Private Residences.

Meanwhile, just beyond the bend in the road, east of Bay, there’s more construction in progress. Excavation is underway for the Milan condominium tower on Church near Yonge, while in a few years’ time there could be as many as three towers rising right behind The Florian on McMurrich Street.

Four Seasons Toronto hotel & condominium towers establish a new landmark for Yorkville district

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Four Seasons towers rising above the Yorkville Ave. fire station and library

Rapid rise: Even though it’s still under construction, the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences Toronto has already become a new landmark for the Yorkville neighbourhood. You can’t miss it as you approach the Yonge Street Canadian Tire store from Church Street. It’s obvious from the Annex and from many places along Avenue Road, Bay and Yonge Streets. You can even see it from the south side of Bloor across from Holt Renfrew. That’s no small achievement considering that views toward Yorkville are blocked by some of the area’s oldest skyscrapers (the Manulife Centre and the two bank towers at Yonge & Bloor) as well as several new towers (18 Yorkville, Crystal Blu and Uptown Residences, to name but three). It certainly will make it easy to help guide tourists to Yorkville (I won’t have to point at the CIBC tower at 2 Bloor West anymore and say “go there; Yorkville’s right behind it;” I’ll be able to point out the Four Seasons instead. Designed by hotshot Toronto firm architectsAlliance, the two-tower complex is a project of Menkes Developments. Below is an architectural rendering of the property, along with some pics I recently took of the Four Seasons complex from several different perspectives in and around Yorkville. You can view even more photos of construction progress on the blog’s Photo Sets page (just click on the red tab at the top of this page and scroll down to the Four Seasons album).

Architects’ rendering of the new Four Seasons Toronto hotel + condo complex

Four Seasons Toronto seen from Scollard Street January 9

Four Seasons Toronto seen from Church near Yonge on January 9

Four Seasons Toronto from Avenue Rd at Yorkville Avenue on January 9

Four Seasons Toronto seen from Bloor Street opposite Holts on January 9

Four Seasons Toronto seen from Scollard Street on January 9

Four Seasons Toronto seen from Bay Street at Davenport Road on January 9

Ritz-Carlton Toronto set to rock city’s 5-star hotel scene when guests begin arriving in February

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CN Tower reflects on Ritz-Carlton Toronto tower on November 29 2010

Lifestyles of the Ritz and famous: The soaring glass and limestone skyscraper with its distinctively sloped upper floors has already taken its elegant place on the city skyline. Now, with guests scheduled to begin arriving within just a few weeks, the Ritz-Carlton Toronto is set to make a spectacular splash on the city’s five-star hotel scene, too. Standing 53 storeys, the Ritz-Carlton is the first of four new high-end hotel/condo towers that should finally put Toronto on the radar of affluent travellers around the globe during the next two years. (The others, currently under construction, include the Trump International Toronto, the Four Seasons Toronto Hotel + Residences, and Living Shangri-La Toronto.)

Seems it wasn’t so long ago that members of the International Olympic Committee, when considering Toronto’s ultimately unsuccessful bids to host the 1996 and 2008 Summer Olympics, complained that the city was sorely lacking in upscale accommodations. Moreover, Toronto hotels have rarely appeared on any of the annual lists that top international travel publications compile of the world’s best hotels. In November, for instance, Toronto failed to get a single hotel on the Conde Nast Traveler “Best in the World 2010” list, and didn’t even make it onto the magazine’s “Top 20 Resorts in Canada” ranking. Toronto hotels similarly didn’t make the upper cut for Conde Nast’s “Gold List” of the world’s best hotels and resorts, released in January. And just this week, Toronto Star Travel Editor Jim Byers blogged that only one hotel in all of Canada made it onto the American Automobile Association’s list of five-diamond hotels in North America for 2011 — and it wasn’t in Toronto, of course (it was the Four Seasons at Whistler, B.C.).

But if the attentive staff at the Ritz-Carlton Toronto make an impression, the constant snubbing of Toronto’s hotels should come to an end. The hotel website says the Ritz-Carlton Toronto will open in February, offering “a world-class spa, exceptional dining, impeccable service and 267 luxurious guest rooms and suites.” I couldn’t find room availability for any February dates when I used the hotel website’s online booking form, but I did manage to find rooms starting as low as $455 per night in early March. (I didn’t book, so I’ll just have to settle for viewing the building from the outside.)

Some construction work is still in progress, as crews rush to complete the hotel entrance, lobby and lobby bar. Work continues on many of the ultra-expensive condo suites in the tower’s upper levels while, on the exterior, the hotel’s signage has still not been installed, and work is finishing up on a wide walkway between the Ritz-Carlton and the CBC headquarters to its west.

Two architectural firms collaborated on the project: Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) Associates Architects and Planners of New York and Page + Steeles Architects of Toronto.

Further details about the Ritz-Carlton Toronto building are provided in this fact sheet from the hotel. Below is an artistic rendering of the tower (from the Ritz-Carlton website), along with a series of photos I’ve snapped on recent walks past the building.