Category Archives: Trump Toronto

Winter building pics: March 2013

 My March 2013 album on Flickr features more than 500 photos showing dozens of downtown construction projects and building sites. Click once on the image above to view a small-format slideshow of the pictures, or click twice to access the actual album where you can view individual full-size photos with captions.

 

 

Frozen fingers: It’s only a few days into spring and I’m still sorting through hundreds of building and construction photos I took during the winter. What has struck me the most is how gloomy and grey the city looked most of the time. Sunny, clear days were few and far between — and when they came, it was usually too bitterly cold and windy for me to risk freezing my fingers by wandering around with my camera.

I did manage a few long photo walks, though, and have been gradually posting the pics in albums on thetorontoblog.com’s Flickr photostream.  Above is a link to my fourth winter photo album, March 2013.

 

 

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Winter building pics: February 2013

Above is a link to my February 2013 Flickr album of building and construction photos I shot during walks in the downtown area. Click once on the image to view a small-format slideshow of the pictures, or click twice to access the album directly on Flickr and see full-size photos and captions.

 

Trump taking a long time to P above Toronto

Trump Tower Toronto

 The first two letters of the TRUMP logo were installed atop the north side of the 65-storey, 900-foot Trump International Hotel + Tower Toronto by the end of May …

 

Trump Toronto Tower

… but as of the 2012 Labour Day Weekend, the P still wasn’t in place because construction hasn’t yet finished on the tower’s distinctive “quarter onion” and spire

 

 Waiting for a big P: When I last posted photos of the Trump International Hotel + Tower Toronto on June 8 2012, I wrote that installation of the giant Trump logo near the top of the building’s north side “signals that completion of exterior construction isn’t far off.”

I was wrong.

Although the hotel has been open for business since early this year, work on the exterior upper reaches of the 900-foot, 65-storey tower still isn’t complete. In particular, the P hasn’t been added to the rest of the Trump logo because crews are still finishing work on the signature “quarter onion” and spire segments of the building that rise from the tower’s northwest corner.

Several times on August 31, I saw construction workers climbing to and from the “crow’s nest” on the spire, so I know the contractors are hurrying to complete the building.

But even though the full Trump logo isn’t yet making its mark on the city skyline, the tower’s illuminated spire is. For several weeks in June, downtown residents saw test-runs of the spire’s lighting system, which reminded many Torontonians of the lightsabers in the Star Wars movies. Although the June testing showed the system’s multicolour capabilities, the spire has emitted a only a pale pink glow above the Financial District since then.

Fingers crossed that the logo will be completely installed by Thanksgiving.

 

Top of Toronto Trump Tower nears completion

Trump Tower Toronto

June 7 2012: Installation of the Trump logo continues on the 65-storey, 908-foot Trump International Hotel + Tower at Bay & Adelaide Streets

 

Waiting for a P:  The 261 hotel rooms in the bottom half of the Trump International Hotel + Tower opened to guests more than five months ago, but work on the exterior of the building’s uppermost levels and spire base still hasn’t finished. But installation of the giant Trump logo, which started over two weeks ago, signals that completion of exterior construction isn’t far off.

 

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Hotel open, but work continues atop Trump Tower

Trump International Hotel + Tower Toronto

March 15 2012: How the top of the Trump International Hotel + Tower appeared in this zoom view from my balcony this morning …

 

Toronto Financial District skyline

… and how it appeared in this wider view of the Financial District skyline

 

Nearly there: It has been six weeks since the hotel section of the Trump International Hotel + Tower Toronto held its “soft” opening, but work on the exterior of the skyscraper’s uppermost levels still isn’t finished. But it’s getting there.

The Trump Hotel Toronto began receiving guests on January 31 even though considerable work remained to be done on the building’s exterior, and particularly on the condo section of the 65-storey tower. But the hotel’s clientele have probably been too busy relaxing in their spacious, swanky suites, or savouring the $48 veal chops in the Trump’s Stock Restaurant & Bar, to even notice that construction is continuing. (Globe and Mail restaurant critic Joanne Kates reviewed the veal — and other menu items — in a March 2 2012 column, in case you’re interested in reading how Stock’s appetizers “taste as unexciting as they sound, and the mains are close behind.”)

 

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The skyline and CityPlace on a sunny winter day

Downtown Toronto skyline

Toronto growing taller

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A view of the downtown Toronto skyline, looking east from the Bathurst Street Bridge this afternoon. The cityscape boasts three new skyscrapers, including Charlie Condos at King & Charlotte Streets (with crane, at left) Living Shangri-La Toronto at University Avenue & Adelaide Street (with crane, center rear), and the Trump International Hotel + Tower Toronto, partly visible to the left side of First Canadian Place. The Trump Toronto Hotel opened for business today.

 

CN Tower and CityPlace skyscrapers

CN Tower, CityPlace and the Puente de Luz bridge

 

A Bathurst Street bridge view of the CN Tower, some of the condo skyscrapers at Concord CityPlace, and the yellow Puente de Luz bridge which will connect City Place to Front Street West above the railway tracks. Below are videoclips I shot this afternoon showing the downtown skyline, construction activity at the Library District condominiums complex at the west end of CityPlace, and the various condo highrises at CityPlace. The latter clip includes views of the grey-and-white, 41-storey Toronto Community Housing apartment tower under construction at 150 Dan Leckie Way, as well as close-ups of the points where a 2-level bridge will link the round and rectangular Parade condo towers.

 

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Work crews rushing to complete main floor as Trump Toronto Hotel prepares to open Tuesday

Trump International Hotel + Tower Toronto

This sign had been draped above the Adelaide Street entrance to the Trump Toronto Hotel for the past several weeks, but has been rolled up and taken away …

 

Trump International Hotel + Tower Toronto

… as crews hurry to finish work before the hotel’s opening this Tuesday

 

Final stretch: Construction crews were busy both inside the main floor of the Trump International Hotel + Tower Toronto as well as outside the building when I passed by this afternoon. There was a palpable sense of both urgency and excitement as the workers raced against the clock to finish the city’s newest 5-star hotel in time for its opening this Tuesday.

The hotel boasts 261 luxuriously-appointed guest rooms, a 2-level Quartz Crystal Spa and wellness centre, a lobby lounge called Suits, and Stock, a 135-seat restaurant on the 31st floor.

 

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Checking in on the new 5-star hotel/condo towers: The Trump International Hotel + Tower

Trump International Hotel + Tower Toronto

August 1 2011: The Trump Toronto Tower viewed from Adelaide Street West near the Living Shangri-La Toronto (left), another new skyscraper I will profile in an upcoming installment of “Checking in on the 5-star hotel/condo towers”

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: The north side of Trump Toronto, looking up from Adelaide Street

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: The tower’s west side, viewed from Bay Street

 

 

Putting up the penthouse:  Shouldn’t be too much longer before construction tops off on the Trump International Hotel + Tower Toronto.

From my balcony, I’ve been able to watch the penthouse levels of the 60-storey tower gradually take shape during the past two weeks, climbing into view above the top of the Bay Adelaide Centre. I expect completion of the mechanical floors above them to follow soon. And once its signature “quarter onion”-shaped turret has been built to cap the tower’s northwest corner, and in turn is topped with a spire, the Trump Tower Toronto will become the city’s second-tallest building, after First Canadian Place.

Designed by Toronto’s Zeidler Partnership Architects, the Trump Toronto will rise more than 900 feet on its compact site at the southeast corner of Bay and Adelaide Streets. According to the project website, the building will include 261 luxury hotel rooms on its lower levels in studio, 1- and 2-bedroom configurations, along with five Trump Executive suites. There also will be 118 condominium suites from floors 33 to 60, accessed via a Sky Lobby with concierge on the 31st floor. Condo residents will enjoy “full access” to the hotel’s amenities, including room service, housekeeping, concierge and valet. A five-star restaurant will occupy the 30th floor, while there will be an entire floor of executive meetings rooms in a “high-tech business centre.” A full-service spa with gym, exercise studios and swimming pool will occupy two levels of the building. The ground floor will feature a “sophisticated” lobby bar, while floors 2 through 7 will contain a valet-operated parking garage.

The Trump Hotel Collection website is currently accepting online reservations for Trump Toronto beginning November 1 of this year. Today, the site’s reservation system showed seven suites available for the night of Nov. 1; the lowest available price was $485 (plus tax) for either a superior king or superior double room, each 550 square feet in size. A 1,000-square-foot grand deluxe 1-bedroom suite with panoramic views was available for $885 (plus tax), while a 1,650-square-foot grand deluxe two-bedroom suite with city views and a kitchen was going for $1,785 (plus tax).

Below is a series of Trump Toronto photos I shot during the summer.

 

Toronto Trump Tower

June 6 2011:  The Trump Toronto crane stands prominently on the skyline

 

Scotia Plaza Trump Toronto and Bay Adelaide Centre

June 20 2011: Looking up at Scotia Plaza, the Trump Toronto, and Bay Adelaide Centre (right) from the sidewalk on Adelaide Street West

 

Trump Toronto Tower

June 20 2011: Trump Toronto viewed from the University/ Adelaide intersection

 

Trump Tower Toronto

June 26 2011: Trump Toronto’s ascent to the upper echelons of the Financial District is seen from Broadview Avenue above Riverdale Park

 

Trump Tower Toronto

June 26 2011: Another Broadview Avenue view of the Trump Toronto and other Financial District skyscrapers

 

Trump Tower Toronto

June 26 2011: A Broadview Avenue view of, from left, Commerce Court, CN Tower, TD Centre’s TD Bank Tower, Scotia Plaza, First Canadian Place, Trump Toronto and the Bay Adelaide Centre

Toronto Trump Tower

June 29 2011: My balcony view of Trump Toronto rising on the skyline

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 1 2011: Trump Toronto viewed from Shuter Street to the northeast

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 1 2011: Trump Toronto begins climbing above the 51-storey Bay Adelaide Centre (right), but won’t stand as tall as 72-storey First Canadian Place (rear)

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 1 2011: Trump Toronto viewed from the TD Centre Plaza off King Street

 

Toronto city skyline viewed from the west

July 3 2011: Trump Toronto joins the ranks of the tall bank towers in this city skyline view from the Humber Bay area

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 3 2011: Another view of Trump Toronto making its mark on the skyline

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 8 2011: Trump Toronto viewed from Nathan Phillips Square

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 13 2011: Spotlights on the Trump Toronto construction crane at sunset

 

Trump Tower Toronto

July 20 2011: Trump Toronto viewed from the SW corner of King & Bay Streets

 

Trump Tower Toronto

July 20 2011:  Southwest view of the Trump Toronto from King Street West

 

Trump Tower Toronto

July 20 2011: Southwest view of the tower’s upper floors. At this point, the Trump Toronto has reached 57 storeys

 

Trump Tower Toronto

July 20 2011:  Southwest view of the tower’s middle section

 

Trump Tower Toronto

 July 20 2011: A closer look at forms midway up the tower’s south side

 

Trump Tower Toronto

July 20 2011: The external construction elevator rises up the green glass curtain wall on the building’s south side

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 20 2011: A closer look at the exterior construction elevator

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 20 2011: Windows near the tower’s southeast corner

 

Trump Tower Toronto

July 20 2011: The construction entrance to the 54th floor. The exterior elevator climbs a total of 55 floors

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 20 2011: The tower’s northwest upper floors reach 57 storeys here

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 20 2011: Upper floors await their curtain wall installation

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 20 2011: Windows on the tower’s southwest corner

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 20 2011: Trump Toronto viewed from the west on Adelaide Street

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 20 2011: Upper floors on the tower’s west side

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 20 2011: Missing window panes and panels on the tower’s west wall

 

Toronto Trump Tower

July 24 2011: Trump Toronto viewed from Bloor Street near Varsity Stadium

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: Bay Adelaide Centre and Trump Toronto viewed from the west

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: Trump Toronto and Scotia Plaza viewed from the west

 

Toronto Trump Tower

 August 1 2011: Trump Toronto reflects in the Bay Adelaide Centre)

 

Toronto Trump Tower

 August 1 2011: Windows on the lower levels of the tower’s north wall. A valet-operated parking garage occupies floors 2 through 7.

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: Window and cladding details on the lower levels

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: The tower’s northeast corner awaits some missing panels

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: The Adelaide Street entrance to the tower’s porte-cochère

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: Adelaide Street view into the porte-cochère, which features a curved public art mural made of glass, stone and ceramics

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: An Adelaide Street view of upper floors on the tower’s north side

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 201: Bay Street view of the Bay Adelaide Centre and the Trump Toronto

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: Lower floors on the west side of the tower, viewed from Bay Street

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: Looking up from Bay Street at the tower’s west side

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011:  Progress on the penthouse levels viewed from the west

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: Green glass curtain wall on the tower’s west side

 

Toronto Trump Tower

August 1 2011: West view of Trump Toronto and Scotia Plaza