Category Archives: AGO-Grange district

No. 210 Simcoe condo tower’s blue-hued glass facade brightens its east Grange neighbourhood

No 210 Simcoe Residences

November 14 2013: A view of the No. 210 Residences on Simcoe condo tower at the corner of St Patrick Street and Michael Sweet Avenue

 

 

No 210 Simcoe Residences

November 16 2013: As glass panels gradually get installed on higher floors, the colourful facade of the No. 210 Residences on Simcoe condominium highrise is really starting to stand out in the Grange area of downtown Toronto. This is a view of the building from half a block to the south, on St Patrick Street.

 

 

Shades of blue: It’s amazing to see how one colourful new condo highrise can brighten an entire neighbourhood and quickly improve the look and feel of a dreary street in the process.

The eastern section of Toronto’s Grange neighbourhood — in particular, the area bordered by Dundas Street to the north, St Patrick Street to the west, Queen Street to the south, and University Avenue to the east — has long been a dull landscape of brown brick and beige concrete buildings. 

Michael Sweet Avenue, a 1-block-long cross street in the middle of this zone, was anything but sweet. Until recently, two unsightly parking garages extended the full length of the avenue between St Patrick and Simcoe Streets, one on each side of the road.

A 5-level above-ground parking garage still occupies the entire south side of the street. Though its concrete walls aren’t solid, it’s still a hulking, dark and drab-looking structure that looms large above adjacent sidewalks.

Two windowless walls used to dominate the north side of the street. One, its dirty white paint peeling off, was part of a narrow, low-rise parking facility built next to the sidewalk. Rising 54 meters behind it — roughly the height of a 14-storey residential highrise — was the solid textured wall of a Bell Canada utility building.  Thanks to the unattractive blank walls and the pair of parking garages, Michael Sweet Avenue has never been a pleasant pedestrian environment, but only a convenient way to move between Simcoe and St Patrick Streets. Functional, but ugly.

But all of that is quickly changing as construction continues on the No. 210 Residences on Simcoe condo building.

 

Michael Sweet Avenue Toronto

February 18 2011: The view from St Patrick Street, looking east along Michael Sweet Avenue. At left is the future 210 Simcoe condo site — at this time still a low-rise parking garage that extends all the way to Simcoe Street. Beside it is a Bell Canada building at 220 Simcoe. On the right is a 5-level above-ground parking garage that also extends all the way to Simcoe Street. Toronto City Hall, located just a few blocks to the east east, is visible in the background.

 

 

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Ground floor construction underway at 210 Simcoe condo highrise near Queen West & University Ave

210 Simcoe Street condo

April 4 2013: Construction crews assemble forms into which concrete will be poured to build ground-floor walls and support structures for the No 210 Residences on Simcoe condo highrise

 

210 Simcoe condo

This artistic illustration depicts a view of the 210 Simcoe condo building from street level at the corner of Simcoe Street and Michael Sweet Avenue. The rendering appears on the website for Toronto developer Diamondcorp, which has partnered with Sorbara Development Group on the project.

 

210 Simcoe Street

This was how the condo site looked in July 2011, viewed from the same perspective as the rendering above.

 

 

Ready to rise: Construction of a new condo tower in the AGO-Grange District near Queen Street West & University Avenue will soon climb as high as the ugly low-rise parking garage that formerly occupied the narrow, block-long property.

Work on the No 210 Residences on Simcoe has reached street level, and yesterday construction crews were assembling building forms for the building’s ground floor walls and supports.

A joint project of Diamondcorp and Sorbara Development Group, No 210 Simcoe Residences will rise 25 storeys when finished, and contain 290 condo units. The building was designed by Sol Wassermuhl of Page + Steele/IBI Group Architects.

 

 

 

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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.

 

Winter building pics: January 2013

Above is a link to my January 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.

 

Narrow 23-storey condo building proposed to replace eyesore parking garage on Simcoe Street

210 Simcoe Street

A developer has proposed a condo highrise for a site currently occupied by a long, narrow parking garage that stretches from Simcoe Street to St Patrick Street.

 

Nice tower, ugly street: One of the most unsightly streets in downtown Toronto could look substantially better in a few years, if a developer gets approval to build a condo highrise on a site currently occupied by an ugly parking garage. Unfortunately for the building’s residents, their homes would overlook another parking garage that’s almost as much an eyesore as the one their condo highrise would replace.

The 23-storey project has been proposed for 210 Simcoe Street, directly behind the U.S. Consulate General. The parking facility occupies a long, narrow piece of land that extends along the entire north side of Michael Sweet Avenue from Simcoe to St. Patrick Street.  A Bell Canada utility building occupies the adjacent north lot, extending from Simcoe to St Patrick as well. Meanwhile, another parking garage occupies the entire south side of Michael Sweet Avenue.

 

Development application filed in 2008

Plans to redevelop the 210 Simcoe site date have been in the works for the past three years. A developer filed an application with the city in April 2008 seeking approval to construct a 19- to 25-storey mixed-use building with three levels of underground parking, retail and commercial space at street level, and 290 residential units above that. Drawings submitted to the city in support of the proposal suggested that the slender highrise would be designed with a curvy, wavy facade.

An October 23 2008 preliminary report from city planners to the Toronto and East York Community Council raised numerous concerns about the proposal, which you can read by clicking on the link to the document. That document is of course quite dated now, but I couldn’t find anything more recent describing what’s been happening with the proposal. Ward 20 councillor Adam Vaughan’s website still indicates that the October 2008 report is the most recent update available for the project.

Early last month, however, another developer applied to the city for site plan approval for a 19- to 25-story mixed-use residential building, so it’s obvious plans for a condo highrise here are moving along once again. We’ll just have to wait and see if the same wavy building design as the original is still being proposed.  I’m sure that any building would be a huge improvement for the site compared to the hideous parking garage sitting there now. But unless something is done with the other ugly parking garage, Michael Sweet Avenue will remain an incredibly unattractive street. 

Below are some pics I’ve taken of 210 Simcoe and Michael Sweet Avenue, along with building and site plan drawings contained in the planning department’s 2008 preliminary report.

 

210 Simcoe Street

210 Simcoe Street development proposal sign on the parking garage wall

 

210 Simcoe Street

Southeast view of 210 Simcoe Street and the Bell Canada utility building

 

210 Simcoe Street

210 Simcoe Street parking garage on February 18 2011

 

210 Simcoe Street

A view of the east end of the parking facility along Michael Sweet Avenue

 

210 Simcoe Street

West view down Michael Sweet Avenue of the 210 Simcoe Street parking garage

 

210 Simcoe Street

The windowless parking garage wall has a horrible presence on the streetscape

 

210 Simcoe Street

Michael Sweet Avenue, looking east toward the U.S. Consulate General building

 

Michael Sweet Avenue

St Patrick Street eastward view of the parking garages lining Michael Sweet Avenue

 

210 Simcoe Street parking garage

The 210 Simcoe parking garage and Bell building viewed from St. Patrick Street

 

210 Simcoe Street

Another view of the parking garage and Bell building on Simcoe St.

 

proposed 210 Simcoe Street condo building

Building illustration from a city planning department preliminary report in 2008.

 

proposed 210 Simcoe Street condo building

Another illustration from the city’s preliminary planning report in 2008.


proposed 210 Simcoe Street condo building

 

From the 2008 report, a building site and landscape plan for the condo highrise development proposal for 210 Simcoe Street