Category Archives: Entertainment District

Planners studying revised design for mixed-use highrise complex proposed for King & Spadina

This artistic illustration, provided courtesy of Core Architects Inc., shows the 2-tower condo, retail and office development now being proposed for the southeast corner of King Street and Spadina Avenue …

… in place of the single 39-story tower complex originally proposed for the site, depicted in this rendering provided by Core Architects Inc.

The facade of this 6-storey listed heritage building at 401 King Street West …

… will still, as in the original plan, be incorporated into the new complex, as depicted in this rendering from Core Architects Inc.

The new complex of two towers – rising 21 and 37 storeys, respectively, on an 8- to 11-storey podium – will totally transform the corner site, currently occupied by the 6-floor heritage-listed brick building and a 1-level liquor store.

New proposal: Will a condo, retail and office complex with two highrise residential buildings better suit the King & Spadina neighbourhood than a project with only one tower? That’s one of the questions that city planners will be grappling with as they assess a revised development proposal for a property on the southeast corner of the busy King-Spadina intersection.

The site, most of which is occupied by a 1-storey liquor store constructed in 2009 at 415 King West, could clearly handle highrise redevelopment. But it’s the shape, size and density of any new structure to be built there that has been a sticking point with city planners, the local councillor and area residents.

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Demolition clears site for Tableau condo tower

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January 14 2011: This photo is a year old, but this was basically what the Peter & Richmond Street site for Tableau Condominiums looked like the last time I passed by a little less than two weeks ago …

… and this was how it looked like when I walked by on Friday evening

Tableau’s time has come: Back in February I noticed signs for Progreen Demolition outside the buildings on the southeast corner of Peter and Richmond Streets, where the 36-storey Tableau Condominium tower will be built. When I walked past about two weeks ago, I saw several contractors ripping apart the interior of the vacant Pizzaville store — one of three structures on the site. And when I passed by again this past Friday evening, all that I saw were piles of rubble, a few Liebherr excavation machines, and just a small section of the facade and former front entrance for what was once a four-level brick building at 117 Peter Street.

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City Scene: Cinema Tower on the rise

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March 16 2012: Construction progress on Cinema Tower as seen from Peter Street to the northwest, looking through a construction entrance to the Peter Street condominiums location at the northeast corner of Peter and Adelaide Streets. I published photo updates of Cinema Tower in a March 9 2012 post, and reported on demolition activity at Peter Street Condominiums on February 21 2012.

It’s showtime as Cinema Tower starts to climb

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March 7 2012: Cinema Tower construction viewed from the NW corner of Widmer and Adelaide Streets. The tower has started to rise above its 5-floor podium, which will hold four levels of above-ground parking.

March 7 2012: A closer view, from the northwest, of the tower segment of the condo project. Festival Tower stands to the rear left.

March 7 2012: Cinema Tower’s gently curved floorplates contrast sharply with the rectangular podium, viewed from Widmer Street

March 7 2012: Looking up the south side of the building from the laneway behind Festival Tower and the TIFF Bell Lightbox. The entrance ramp for the above-ground parking is situated at the bottom right corner of the podium.

Higher drama: Cinema Tower has started to display its elegant curves as the residential component of the 43-storey condo complex continues to climb above its base at the southeast corner of Widmer and Adelaide Streets.

For nearly six months since last summer, when the building began to rise above grade, construction of the podium took center stage. A large, rectangular concrete structure, the podium features four levels of indoor parking above street-level retail space and a ground-floor lobby and concierge area for the condo tower. (Below ground are four additional levels of parking. About 200 vehicle spaces there will be operated as a commercial parking facility, while the other 200 spots in the building will be private parking for residents.)

The construction action got a little more interesting in late January when the first of 38 condo floors began to take shape atop the podium. With four levels of condos now constructed, the tower is already developing a dramatic presence in the area, and will continue to bask in the limelight as it gradually grows taller on the Entertainment District skyline.

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Woof! Canine construction boss keeps close watch over excavation crew at Theatre Park condo site

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March 7 2012: This gruff-looking construction supervisor keeps his hardhat tipped over his eyes to cut the glare from the afternoon sunshine beaming down on the Theatre Park condo construction site on King Street West

Bulldog boss: I’ve occasionally seen dogs doing security duty at construction sites, but today marked the first time I’ve seen one wearing a white hardhat and supervising the humans working on an excavation for a condo tower project.

The stern-faced bulldog boss was sitting motionless on the roof of a black 4×4 parked at the south end of the Theatre Park condo construction site on King Street West, watching silently while workers in earth-moving machines continued making progress on the excavation for the 47-storey point tower.

While I was shooting the pooch’s picture through a security fence on the west side of the site, several passersby came over to see what had caught my attention. Within moments, half a dozen people were pressing cellphones against the chainlink fence, snapping their own pics of the catatonic canine. Some actually thought the dog was real, including one woman who exclaimed : “Oh, he’s so cute … but how does he manage to keep that helmet on his head?” One fellow started intently through the fence and said: “I think it’s fake. It can’t be real. I don’t think they’re allowed to bring pets to construction sites.” Another said to me: “That’s hilarious. It’s great to see these guys have a good sense of humour. They’ve got a rough job.” Or did he mean “ruff”?

Theatre Park is a project of Lamb Development Corp, Niche Development and Harhay Construction Management Ltd. The condo tower was designed by architectsAlliance.

Below are a few more photos I snapped of the construction crew’s bulldog mascot, along with a site photo I shot at the end of January when foundation drilling and shoring was underway. Those are followed by an artistic illustration, from the Theatre Park website, showing how the tower will look. More information, photos and illustrations of the project are provided in my January 5 2012 post and in my February 19 2011 post.

The plastic pooch basks in the sun from his perch on the roof of a truck

The 4×4 sits at the south end of the Theatre Park condo tower construction site, where crews have dug down more than six feet so far

Overlooking the excavation through a chainlink fence at the southwest corner of the site, next to the Royal Alexandra Theatre

January 31 2012: A drilling rig works on the Theatre Park construction site after a light snowfall, one of the few Toronto experienced this winter

The 47-storey point tower was designed by architectsAlliance. This illustration appears on the Theatre Park website.

Pop-up store hits its Target in King West condo zone

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February 20 2012: The east facade, along Blue Jays Way, for a Target Canada pop-up store open only 6 hours today for a special promotion

Here today, gone tomorrow: Condo towers aren’t the only buildings popping up all over the Entertainment District — so are stores. But while the highrises will be standing around for decades to come, one of the new stores definitely won’t; it will be open for less than one day.

For just six hours this afternoon, a former condo presentation centre at 363 King Street West (on the southwest corner of King and Blue Jays Way) was open for business as a “pop-up” store to promote a collection of Jason Wu women’s fashions for Target Canada. The Canadian division of the American retail chain won’t be opening stores until 2013, but today’s special sales event was intended to give Toronto shoppers an early peek at their products and competitive prices.

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Charlie Condos climbs closer to completion

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February 20 2012: The east side of Charlie Condos soars above the Mountain Equipment Co-Op on King Street, just west of Peter Street/Blue Jays Way

January 31 2012 : Charlie Condos, far left, makes its mark on the city skyline, in this view from the Bathurst Street bridge

Nearly there: Construction crews are close to topping off work on the latest condo tower to rise on the Entertainment District skyline. When I passed by Charlie Condos on King Street West earlier this week, workers were busy building the 35th level of what will end up as a 36-storey highrise. They also were continuing to make progress with exterior cladding installation, having reached as high as the 28th floor.

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Site demolition clears way for construction to start on 40-storey Peter Street Condominiums tower

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January 30 2012: Three weeks ago, crews were getting set to demolish two low-rise buildings on the northeast corner of Adelaide and Peter Streets …

... and by yesterday, a few piles of broken bricks and rubble were all that remained of the two nightclubs that formerly occupied the site

February 20 2012: Southeasterly view of the site from Peter Street

February 20 2012: A heap of bricks and broken concrete blocks on the site of what was once the popular Adelaide Street Pub

February 20 2012: Looking toward Peter Street from the southeast corner of the property. The Roosevelt Room Supper Club once occupied the 2-storey Art Deco-styled warehouse building that used to stand on this site.

Pub & club get clobbered: Over the years, countless funseekers got smashed during booze-soaked blurs of drinking, dancing and debauchery in the pub and nightclub that occupied two adjacent buildings at the northeast corner of Adelaide and Peter Street in the Entertainment District. This month, it was the buildings’ turn to get wrecked.

In January, I noticed signs for Delsan Demolition Services posted on the buildings at 328 – 340 Adelaide Street West, formerly home to the Adelaide Street Pub and the Roosevelt Room Supper Club. Two men wearing hardhats were taking notes as they wandered around the property, no doubt planning how to demolish the two low-rise structures so construction can start on the 40-storey condo tower that will take their place.

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The skyline and CityPlace on a sunny winter day

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Toronto growing taller

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, 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.

Drilling rig rumbles onto Theatre Park condo site

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January 2 2012: A Rumble Foundations drilling rig has little room to maneuver on the narrow 224 King Street West construction site for Theatre Park condos. Below is a photo of the property exactly one year ago, when it was still a parking lot.

Ready to Rumble: Construction activity has commenced on the Entertainment District’s much-anticipated Theatre Park condos, a slender 47-storey glass and steel point tower that will rise right next door to Toronto’s historic Royal Alexandra Theatre.

A Rumble Foundations drilling rig recently arrived on the construction site, which for decades had been occupied by a pay parking lot. The rig stands more than four storeys tall and is so big, it barely fits into the tight, narrow space from which the 234-unit condo skyscraper will eventually soar.

Lofty 10-foot ceilings

Designed by Toronto’s architectsAlliance, Theatre Park boasts a variety of condominium configurations with lofty 10-foot ceilings, including 1 bedroom, 1 bedroom + den, 2 bedroom, 2 bedroom + den, 3 bedroom and penthouse-level suites.

The Theatre Park project website shows that 1 bedrooms are available in four sizes from 530 to 920 square feet; the largest is a loft-style “Palace Theatre” unit on the tower’s fourth and fifth levels. Two of the 1 bedroom designs, the “Rudolfinum” and the “Musikverein,” have small (43 to 57 square foot) balconies. The 1 bedroom + den range from 625 to 920 square feet; the “Mariinsky Theatre” and “Festival Theatre” styles have balconies either 115 or 151 square feet.

The 2 bedroom units range from 815 to 1,145 square feet; the smallest, the “Teatro La Fenice,” has already sold out, but the other sizes are still available, including 7 of the 985-square-foot “Princes of Wales” model. The 2 bedroom + den “Moulin Rouge” offers a roomy 1,375 square feet, but no balcony, while the the 3 bedroom suites vary from 1,140 to 2,480 spacious square feet, and all come with generously-sized balconies. Two of the layouts, the “Radio City Music Hall” and the “Gershwin Theatre,” boast 397-square foot balconies.

Enormous penthouse already sold

The smallest unit in the “Penthouse Collection” is 850-square foot “Abbey Theatre” on floors 36 to 41, while the biggest is the 1,360-square-foot “Carnegie Hall” on the same floors. The “Sky Penthouse Collection” includes the aforementioned “Radio City Music Hall” at 1,990 square feet, and the “Gershwin” at 2,480 square feet. But the 47th-floor “Royal Alexandra” penthouse, with 3 bedrooms, a library and den in 3,270 square feet of interior space, plus a massive 2,026 square foot terrace, is already sold.

Theatre Park is a project of Lamb Development Corp, Niche Development and Harhay Construction Management Ltd.

Below is another photo of the Theatre Park construction site from this past Monday, along with a rendering of the tower from the project website. Additional photos and renderings can be viewed in my February 19 2011 post.

January 2 2011: The Theatre Park condo construction site, seen from the south side of King Street West. When complete, the 47-floor tower will block views of the 66-storey Living Shangri-La Toronto hotel + condo tower which is approaching the end of construction just one and a half blocks away, to the northeast.

From the Theatre Park website, a rendering of the sleek 47-storey glass and steel point tower designed by architectsAlliance of Toronto

Police close sections of downtown streets after more glass panels break on condo tower balconies

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November 29 2010: Glass balcony panels on the Festival Tower condo highrise in the Entertainment District. Two panels on the tower have broken this summer.

Danger zones: In the wake of media reports that more glass balcony panels have fallen from two different downtown condo towers this week, I’m beginning to wonder if I should start wearing a hard hat whenever I leave my building. Seriously. I’m not worried about walking below my own condo building — all of the balconies on our 30-year-old highrise have metal railings. But almost every day I do walk below new condo towers that have glass balconies, and I recently walked below two of the condo towers that made headlines with balcony glass breakage this week.

On July 19, I crossed a section of Grosvenor Street that, just two days later, was showered with pieces of glass that broke on two separate balconies at the Murano condo tower at 37 Grosvenor Street. This past Monday afternoon I nearly walked up Bay Street past the Murano, but changed my mind two blocks away and took a different route. It wasn’t until an hour or so later that I learned another Murano balcony panel had shattered that very afternoon, spilling glass onto Bay Street — and that yet another panel had broken on the building’s east side just 12 hours earlier. Police cordoned off one northbound lane of Bay Street as a precaution; they already had closed part of Grosvenor Street and nearby St Vincent Lane because of the July 21 incidents. Coincidentally, I had just been walking around the Entertainment District, where I stood below the Festival Tower condo building on John Street to take photos of daredevils doing the CN Tower’s EdgeWalk. Around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, a panel on one of Festival Tower’s 27th floor balconies shattered, raining broken glass onto John Street. I had not been aware that another balcony panel on the same tower had broken just three weeks before.

Monday’s double-break at Murano occurred mere days after contractors had started removing panels from the tower after City of Toronto building inspectors ordered Murano’s developer, Lanterra Developments, to replace the balcony glass — a multimillion-dollar remediation project that could take several months to complete.

Why has the balcony glass been breaking? Speculation is running rampant in public online discussion forums, with commentators blaming faulty manufacturing, installation, or balcony design, and some others conjecturing that developers or builders may have been “cheaping out” on materials to cut construction costs. Some blame the recent extreme heat, some say it’s caused by wind, but at this point experts can’t yet pinpoint the precise cause of the breakage at Murano and Festival Tower.

A story posted on the Toronto Star website Tuesday quotes Jim Laughlin, a senior City of Toronto building official, as saying the City ordered Lanterra to replace the Murano balcony glass following the building’s fifth consecutive breakage incident “because we don’t know why this is happening.” The story also quotes Lanterra president Barry Fenton as saying the company has engineers “performing an autopsy of the glass to figure out what happened.” According to Fenton, the glass and railings on the Grosvenor Street Murano condo tower were installed two years ago by a company that is no longer in business. A different company installed the balconies on the adjacent Murano south condo tower at 38 Grenville Street, where no panels have broken.

Meanwhile, the CBC reports that Festival Tower’s developer, The Daniels Corporation, will temporarily install scaffolding below the building as a precautionary measure to protect pedestrians in case any more glass breaks and falls. In the meantime, police have closed John Street to traffic between King and Adelaide Streets. The CBC quotes a Daniels executive as saying the company knows why a panel shattered three weeks ago — apparently a metal railing expanded during the hot temperatures, putting too much pressure on the glass — but doesn’t know what caused Tuesday’s incident. It’s suspected that something may have struck the glass, the executive said. “The way the balcony has been designed, it’s in accordance with all the codes and practice with construction technique but for some reason we seem to have this problem with the tempered glass is letting go,” Daniels senior vice president Tom Dutton told the CBC.

However, a University of Toronto engineering professor says glass breakage “happens all the time.” “It is known as a delayed spontaneous fracture,” Prof. Doug Perovic told the Toronto Star in a story published on the newspaper’s website Wednesday night. It could be caused either by imperfections that occur in the glass during the manufacturing process, or it could be related to the installation process. In both instances, stressors such as wind and temperature can later increase pressure on the glass, eventually causing it to fracture. Prof. Perovic is one of two engineering experts who discuss the breakage phenomenon in “Shattered glass: what causes panes to fall off,” an in-depth report posted on the CBC website today. [Note: Wednesday’s story in the Star includes a “Falling Glass” summary listing dates on which glass apparently broke on Murano and Festival Tower. It mentions June 17 as the date for one Murano breakage, an event I reported in my June 21 2011 post. In addition, the Star says Dec. 1 2010 was when the “first known pane of glass explodes and falls from the north tower of 37 Grosvenor Street”; however, in a story published on Sept. 18 2010, the Star itself reported on two breakage incidents that occurred one week apart last September. I reported on the December occurrence in a January 18 2011 post.]

It now appears that at least one more panel has broken on Festival Tower so far this year. A story in today’s Star quotes a Festival Tower resident, Omar Jabri, describing how a pane fell off his 16th floor balcony back in May. Jabri actually happened to be standing at the corner of King & John Streets on Tuesday evening when the panel on the 27th floor shattered; he told the Star he saw the glass fall onto John Street. I haven’t been able to get down to the area to take photos, but was surprised when I saw pictures in the Star and other media showing a Festival Tower balcony with a missing panel. In February, I snapped a photo of a Festival Tower balcony missing a panel, also on the east (John Street) side of the building. The pane was missing from the exact same part of the balcony railing as the pane that fell from the tower this week (see photo, below). Could that be just a curious coincidence?

Today I walked past the Murano condos to see how the glass removal project is progressing. Most of the balcony panels on the north side of the Grosvenor Street building have been removed, with four and a half floors still to go as well as several vertical rows of panes, rising about two-thirds of the way up the tower, for balconies near the northeast corner. No glass has been removed from the south side of the tower yet. Part of Grosvenor Street and St Vincent Lane are still closed to traffic, as is the right-hand northbound lane of Bay Street between Grenville Street and Grosvenor. The Bay Street sidewalk alongside the Murano complex is completely closed to pedestrians, and police officers are stationed at both ends of the sidewalk to ensure people detour around the site.

Here’s hoping that Lanterra’s glass “autopsy” and the Daniels investigations are able to quickly pinpoint the cause of the breakage — and determine an effective solution. I’d like to be able to walk our downtown streets without having to wear protective headgear, and I’m sure most Torontonians feel the same way.

Below are recent photos of the balcony removal work at the Murano condo on Grosvenor Street, along with some photos I’ve shot in the past showing the glass balcony panes on Festival Tower.

July 21 2011: The Murano north tower on Grosvenor Street, left, has suffered about eight incidents of balcony glass breakage this year.

July 24 2011: A crew on a swing stage inspects the Murano north condo tower as work begins to remove all balcony glass and railings from the building.

July 24 2011: Workers remove a glass partition from between two balconies on the north side of the Grosvenor Street Murano tower

July 27 2011: Crews remove balcony glass from the Murano north condo tower. The dismantling of all of the building’s balconies is expected to finish next week.

August 4 2011: Balcony glass removal progress on the tower’s north side

August 4 2011: Panels still must be removed from four and a half full floors, along with a vertical row of balconies near the northeast corner of the building

August 4 2011: A work crew removes balcony panels and railings on the north tower. The yellow signs posted on the balcony doors advise residents that they cannot use their balconies during the city-ordered remediation project.

August 4 2011: A contractor removes a balcony support pillar

August 4 2011: The right-hand northbound lane of Bay Street is closed between Grenville and Grosvenor Streets, as is the sidewalk. I counted seven Toronto police officers enforcing the street and sidewalk closures at lunch time today.

July 21 2011: The Murano south condo tower at 38 Grenville Street has not experienced any balcony panel breakage

March 8 2010: Balcony panel installation underway during construction of the Festival Tower condo highrise on John Street

February 3 2011: A Festival Tower balcony was missing one of its glass panels last winter. There had been no reports of glass breakage at the time.

November 2 2010: CN Tower observation deck view of the 42-storey Festival Tower that opened at King & John Streets last year. The podium is the TIFF Bell Lightbox, home to the Toronto International Film Festival

Laying foundations: Building progress at Pier 27, 300 Front West, Fly, and Cinema Tower Condos

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July 17 2011: A view of the Cinema Tower construction site, looking south from Adelaide Street West. Cinema Tower is a project of The Daniels Corporation.

From the Cinema Tower project website, an artistic rendering of the 43-storey condo designed by Toronto’s Kirkor Architects & Planners

July 17 2011: Looking across the east side of the Cinema Tower site at the corner of Widmer & Adelaide Streets. Construction is fast approaching grade.

July 17 2011: Cinema Tower is rising behind the TIFF Bell Lightbox (left) and the Hyatt Regency Toronto (right). Earlier construction photos can be seen in my February 17 2011 post about the project.

July 17 2011: Construction progress at the southwest corner of the site

July 17 2011: Along the east side of the property, the foundation has climbed close to little more than 1 meter below street level

July 17 2011: A white and orange crane rises from the excavation for the Three Hundred Front West condo tower. For earlier construction photos and information about this Tridel project, see my April 16 2011 post.

From the Tridel website, an artistic rendering depicting a night view of the 49-storey Three Hundred Front West condo tower designed by Rudy Wallman of Toronto’s Wallman Architects

July 17 2011: Foundation work observed from above the site’s southwest corner

July 17 2011: Looking to the northeast toward John Street

July 17 2011: A view of underground levels taking shape between the two construction cranes working the site

July 17 2011: Foundation progress on the east side of Fly Condos, a project by Empire Communities. Earlier construction photos appeared in my March 30 2011 post and my January 23 2011 post.

A rendering of the 24-storey tower appeared on this Front Street billboard. Fly Condos was designed by Toronto’s Graziani + Corazza Architects Inc.

July 17 2011: Overlooking the southeast corner of the construction site

July 17 2011: Looking toward the crane near the center of the site

July 17 2011: The bottom underground level is starting to take shape in the northeast corner of the excavation

July 17 2011: Looking toward the northwest corner of the property

July 17 2011: Machinery in the northwest corner of the excavation

July 17 2011: Wall forms on the south side of the site next to the crane

July 17 2011: Looking toward the northeast corner of the excavation from the west construction entrance on Front Street

July 17 2011: Excavation continues on the west side of the site

July 17 2011: Forms for supporting walls near the construction crane base

June 21 2011: Looking south from Queen’s Quay Boulevard across The Residences of Pier 27 waterside construction site, a project of Cityzen Developments and Fernbrook Homes

From the project website, a rendering of one of the buildings being constructed at The Residences of Pier 27 complex on the waterfront. The condos were designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance.

June 21 2011: Construction progress in the Pier 27 site’s southeast corner. Photos of earlier stages of construction can be viewed in my April 22 2011 post, my February 18 2011 post, and my January 4 2011 post.

June 21 2011: Construction progress on the east side of the massive building site

July 17 2011: Looking south from Queen’s Quay Boulevard as the foundation continues filling in the east side of the Pier 27 site

July 17 2011: Underground levels are fast taking shape on the east side of the site, but excavation work still continues on the west end of the Pier 27 property.

July 17 2011: The supporting wall in the foreground rises close to street level

Neighbourhood Watch: Condo construction activity in downtown’s King & Bathurst area (Part 1)

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July 17 2011: The 9-storey King Street facade of Six50 King West

Good fits?: They’re not skyscrapers, but the collection of low- and midrise condo buildings under construction on Adelaide, King and Wellington Streets, between Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street, are significantly transforming the vibrant west downtown neighbourhood nonetheless. Rising above, between and behind the old brick warehouse buildings that are characteristic of the area, they’re adding contemporary style, colour and flair — along with expensive “to die for” designer penthouses — to the once-gritty and now hot & trendy district.

I manage to visit what some call the “Central King West” area about once or twice a season. I still enjoy its general look and and atmosphere, and find it’s still a comfortable area to walk around. Although some of the new buildings do appear to loom rather large next to their neighbours, they don’t seem overwhelming or out of scale for the streets. So far, at least, the area hasn’t developed the sterile and impersonal “condo canyon” feel or annoying wind tunnel conditions of Bay Street and other downtown streets that keep sprouting skyscrapers. But since some of the projects are only in early stages of construction (three are still below grade, while one is just beginning to break ground), and just as many more are in the development pipeline, it’s possible my impressions of the neighbourhood could change significantly in several years’ time. Until then, I’m sure I’ll find it interesting to keep tracking the progress with each changing season. Below are photos I’ve taken recently of several different condo projects. Photos of additional neighbourhood projects will appear in Part 2.

Lofts 399 at 399 Adelaide Street West

A project of Cresford Developments, Lofts 399 is being built on the south side of Adelaide Street between the two Quad Lofts condos, and will sit back-to-back to the new Victory Condos on King West. My February 20 2011 post has several photos showing earlier construction progress at Lofts 399 and its proximity to the other condos.

From the Lofts 399 project website, an artistic rendering of how the 10-storey, 173-unit building will look when viewed from Adelaide Street.

July 17 2011: Looking from west to east across the Lofts 399 site

July 17 2011: The Lofts 399 foundation begins to take shape

July 17 2011: Looking along the south wall of the Lofts 399 site

July 17 2011: A closer view of the bottom underground level. Lofts 399 will have four floors of below-grade parking.

July 17 2011: Looking across the site toward Adelaide Street West

Victory Condominiums on King

This project by BLVD Developments is approaching completion on the north side of King Street just west of Spadina Avenue. Designed by Rudy Wallman of Toronto’s Wallman Architects, the L-shaped building is 12 storeys tall and has 175 units. My March 13 2011 post and my January 15 2011 post both include photos of Victory during earlier stages of construction.

From the Lifetime Developments website, an artistic rendering of the Victory Condominiums on King West building designed by Toronto architect Rudy Wallman

July 17 2011 : A street-level view of Victory Condos on King West

July 17 2011: The south side of Victory Condos, viewed from across King Street

July 17 2011: Balconies, windows and brickwork on the south facade

July 17 2011: Victory viewed from the southwest on King Street

July 17 2011: Victory Condos offers six penthouse suites. The smallest is an 800-square-foot 2-bedroom unit with 80-square-foot balcony; it was priced at $706,900. The largest is a 2,545-square-foot residence with a 530-square-foot balcony. It carried the eye-popping pricetag of $2,219,900.

July 17 2011: Victory rises behind the brick building at 500 King Street West

July 17 2011: Victory viewed from the intersection of King & Brant Streets

July 17 2011: Another view of Victory from Brant & King

July 17 2011: The upper four floors of south-facing balconies

Fashion House Condos on King West

One of several Freed Developments projects in the popular Central King West neighbourhood, Fashion House Condos was designed by Toronto’s Core Architects Inc. Its red colour accents and striking design are definitely going to make a bold architectural fashion statement on the street. As described on the project website: “a stunning 12-storey glass and steel staircase tower, the intricate platform design sets the stage for large terraces and balconies, while the glass showcases the massive floor-to-ceiling windows.” The 334-unit building is 85% sold. Photos of earlier construction progress at Fashion House can be seen in my April 2 2011 post and in my January 24 2011 post.

From the Fashion House Condos website, an artistic rendering of how the building will look when viewed from the south side of King Street

July 17 2011: King Street view of excavation progress at the Fashion House site

July 17 2011: Looking down on the southeast corner of the construction site

July 17 2011: Looking northwest across the construction site

July 20 2011: Excavation progress viewed from Morrison Street to the northeast

July 17 2011: Overlooking the excavation from the northeast corner of the site

July 20 2011: Morrison Street view toward the south side of the excavation

July 20 2011: A construction worker takes a rest on a woodpile in the pit

Six50 King West Condominiums at King & Bathurst

Another successful (80% sold) project by Freed Developments, Six50 King West is a 236-unit two-building complex with frontage on both King Street and Bathurst Street. The Bathurst wing will be the tallest, rising 15 floors, while the King section will have nine storeys. Like Fashion House, Six50 was designed by Core Architects Inc. Photos of earlier stages of construction can be viewed in my March 30 2011 post and in my January 20 2011 post.

From the Six50 King West condo project website, an artistic rendering of the two-building complex that will front on both Bathurst (left) and King Streets (right)

July 17 2011: Street-level view of the King side of the two-building complex

July 17 2011: The glass-fronted upper floors of the King Street building

July 17 2011: Northeast view of the building during streetcar track replacement work on King Street West

July 17 2011: Northeasterly view of the upper levels of the King Street wing

July 20 2011: Bathurst Street view of construction progress on the west wing

July 20 2011: West sides of the complex viewed from Bathurst Street

July 20 2011: The west wing will rise 15 storeys above Bathurst Street

July 20 2011: Adelaide Street view of the north and east sides of Six50 King West

July 17 2011: Balconies on the northeast side of the Six50 King complex

July 20 2011: Another view of balconies on the east side of the condo complex

July 20 2011: Balconies and windows at the northeast corner of the building

Thompson Residences on King Street West

Freed strikes condo gold — again. Thompson Residences is yet another Freed Developments project on the Central King West strip, just a stone’s throw from its hip Thompson Hotel & condo complex that opened at 550 Wellington Street West in 2010 (and scored a coveted spot on Condé Nast Traveler magazine’s Hot List Hotels 2011). According to the project website, Thompson Residences will offer “hotel inspired living” in 314 luxury condos, lofts and penthouses “loaded with the amenities and services of a top-tier hotel” — along with access to the Thompson Hotel on the other side of Stewart Street to the south. As such, it will be the polar opposite to the former motor hotel that once occupied the site at 621 King Street West.

For this project, Freed chose Saucier + Perrotte Architectes of Montreal, whose design for the 12-storey Residences (actually, two separate buildings situated parallel to each other) is described at length in a February 18 2010 Globe and Mail column by John Bentley Mays. But Freed had to battle the City for approval to build as high as it planned. City zoning permitted a maximum height of 20 meters for the site, but the Thompson Residences buildings will stand 36 and 40 meters tall, respectively. The height dispute wound up at the Ontario Municipal Board, which sided with Freed, and now the project is proceeding. (A short online story in the Toronto Star described the dispute and its outcome, as did a more extensive February 25 2011 Globe and Mail article available to online subscribers.)

Below are several photos showing the Thompson Residences site while the property was occupied by the condo project sales centre after the motel was demolished, and with recent pictures showing some preliminary site preparation and excavation activity.

From the Thompson Residences project website, an artistic rendering of the condominium, designed by Montreal’s Saucier + Perrotte Architectes

March 11 2010: The Thompson Residences site on King east of Bathurst Street. The Thompson Hotel complex at 550 Wellington Street stands at rear left.

November 23 2010: Sandwich board sign outside the showroom

January 14 2011: The Thompson Residences showroom reflects buildings on the north side of King Street in this view, looking east along King

January 14 2011: The old motel sign was re-purposed for the condo project

June 21 2011: Looking west along King Street at the Thompson Residences site

June 21 2011: Preliminary site preparation work is underway

June 21 2011: An excavating machine digging at the west end of site

June 21 2011: Marketing signs on hoarding along the east end of the property

July 17 2011: Looking across King Street toward the Thompson Residences site

July 17 2011: Looking toward the west half of the construction site

July 17 2011: Excavation work continuing at the west end of the property

July 17 2011: Two excavation machines at work on the site

July 17 2011: The Thompson hotel and condo complex on Stewart Street is visible across the Thompson Residences site

July 17 2011: A mound of demolition rubble at the east end of the property

Another 32-storey condo tower for Charlotte Street

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A rendering, from the King Charlotte condo project website, of the 32-storey tower proposed for Charlotte Street in the Entertainment District.

Another jewel in Clewes’ crown: It’s only two blocks long, but Charlotte Street has been getting more than its share of attention from architects and condo developers. The little north-south street, which links Adelaide and King Street in the Entertainment District, already boasts two condo buildings — Glas Condominiums and The Charlotte — and is getting a third, with Charlie Condos currently under construction. The sales centre for a fourth — Langston Hall — has been open several years; however, that development seems to have stalled, with no signs that construction might start anytime soon. Now, Lamb Development Corp. and Niche Development have proposed a fifth condo project for the street — King Charlotte.

Designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance, King Charlotte would rise at 11 Charlotte Street, a three-storey brick warehouse building that has been converted into offices. A 32-storey point tower (including six-storey podium) soaring 114 metres high, King Charlotte would offer 232 residential units in 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom configurations, plus four levels of underground parking. Part of the ground-floor level would be used for “community space.” A 33rd floor rooftop terrace will be an “entertainment oasis” with an outdoor pool and all-day sun “that will blow your mind,” Lamb Development CEO Brad Lamb promises. The tower design is basically a series of different-sized boxes stacked playfully atop each other. “The retail box protrudes from the podium box, the tower box appears to teeter and overhang the podium box, and the oversized rooftop amenity box actually does overhang the tower box,” Lamb explains on the King Charlotte website.

Full details of the proposed project are provided in a February 28 2011 city planning department preliminary report which recommended a community consultation meeting be held to gather local input. That recommendation was approved in a March 22 2011 motion by the Toronto and East York Community Council; that public meeting should take place sometime later this spring. (Local councillor Adam Vaughan has already held one constituency meeting, in January, to discuss the project with area residents.) If approved by the City (which appears highly likely), King Charlotte would match Charlie Condos in floor count (32) and tower above the street’s existing condo buildings: Glas, a 16-storey midrise at 25 Oxley Street on the southwest corner of Oxley and Charlotte, and The Charlotte, a 14-storey condo completed in 2002 on the northwest corner of Oxley and Charlotte. (If Langston Hall ever proceeds, it will have 12 storeys plus a penthouse.)

Meanwhile, the King Charlotte website has been launched, signs advertising the project have been affixed to the exterior of 11 Charlotte, and a marketing sales campaign is in full swing. A “coming soon to King & Spadina” King Charlotte Condos flyer I received in the mail this week says prices start at $241,900 for a 1-bedroom unit, $327,900 for a 1-bedroom with den, $435,900 for a 2-bedroom, and $558,900 for a 3-bedroom suite.

Looks to me like Lamb and Clewes have another winner on their hands. Charlotte Street is an in-demand area for condo buyers (a friend of mine sold his condo on the street in mere days, for a hefty profit), and I’m sure this project will be another Entertainment District sales success. Below are photos, taken at various times over the past three years, of the King Charlotte site and its neighbours.

King Charlotte Condos development proposal sign

King Charlotte Condos website rendering of the outdoor swimming pool and terrace on the tower’s 33rd floor amenities area

November 29 2010: A view of 11 Charlotte Street; the CN Tower and the new condo M5V condo tower stand in the background. The King Charlotte building would, of course, block this Charlotte Street view of the CN Tower.

March 29 2011: A view of 11 Charlotte from the west side of the street

March 29 2011: The Mountain Equipment Co-Op store on King Street West will be King Charlotte’s next-door neighbour to the south.

March 29 2011: King Street view of the 11 Charlotte Street condo development site; the Mountain Equipment Co-Op store on King is the brick building at right.

March 11 2010: King Street West view toward Charlotte Street. The King Charlotte condo site is the white building with the turquoise sign on its roof (in the middle of the photo). The construction crane is building Charlie Condos at the corner of Charlotte and King; the Glas condominium midrise stands to its immediate north.

November 23 2010: Charlie Condos construction site and Glas Condos

March 29 2011: The Charlie Condos construction site, left, Glas condos, center, and The Charlotte condos on the west side of Charlotte Street north of King.

March 29 2011: Looking north on Charlotte Street toward Adelaide Street from outside the King Charlotte condo development site (right).

September 26 2008: The Langston Hall condo sales centre at the northwest corner of Charlotte Street and Adelaide Street West

September 26 2008: Adelaide Street West view down Charlotte Street towards the Langston Hall condo sales centre, The Charlotte Condos, and Glas Condos.

March 29 2011: The Capitol Building at 366 Adelaide Street West (also known as the Hobberlin Building, from 1920) faces directly down Charlotte Street.

March 29 2011: Adelaide Street view of the east side of Charlotte Street. The 8-storey brick building at left is the MacLean Building at 345 Adelaide Street West, a city-listed heritage property dating from 1914.

March 29 2011: This 4-storey brick warehouse building sits at 19 Charlotte, next to the King Charlotte site. It’s home to a billiard hall, restaurant and offices.

March 29 2011: 19 and 11 Charlotte Street, viewed from across the road

March 29 2011: Front view of the King Charlotte development site

March 29 2011: South side of the King Charlotte development site. A laneway runs between the building and the Mountain Equipment Co-Op store to the south.

The two sides of Victory Condos

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Balconies on the north side of Victory Condos, viewed from a park below

Adelaide Street West view of Victory Condos and Quad Lofts, left

Victory Condos frontage along King Street West on February 17 2011

Both sides now: My January 15 post about Victory Condos included photos of the building site and construction progress as viewed from King Street West. A few weeks ago, I took a walk down Adelaide Street West so I could get some pics of the building’s north side. Here they are.

Victory Condos viewed from Spadina Avenue on February 17 2011

Victory Condos north side viewed from a lane on Adelaide St. W.

Adelaide Street West view of Victory Condos and its two Quad Lofts neighbours. The long excavation site in the foreground, along on the south side of Adelaide, is where the Lofts 399 Condos are currently under construction.

Victory Condos viewed from a driveway beside Quad Lofts

North side of Victory Condos viewed from a driveway behind the building

Victory Condos viewed from a park between the two Quad Lofts buildings

South side of Victory Condos seen from King Street near Brant Street

The upper levels of the 12-storey condo building approach completion

King Street West view of the Victory Condos entrance area

Victory Condos facade coming together above King Street West

Another view Victory Condos from King Street West

Another view of the Victory Condos ground level along King Street West

Looking up the front of the building from King Street West

Victory Condos construction progress on February 17 2011

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Building Boom.

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Tracking Downtown Toronto's Amazing Building Boom.

Category Archives: Entertainment District

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Demolition clears site for Tableau condo tower

City Scene: Cinema Tower on the rise

Woof! Canine construction boss keeps close watch over excavation crew at Theatre Park condo site

Pop-up store hits its Target in King West condo zone

Charlie Condos climbs closer to completion

Site demolition clears way for construction to start on 40-storey Peter Street Condominiums tower

The skyline and CityPlace on a sunny winter day

Drilling rig rumbles onto Theatre Park condo site

Police close sections of downtown streets after more glass panels break on condo tower balconies

Neighbourhood Watch: Condo construction activity in downtown’s King & Bathurst area (Part 1)

Another 32-storey condo tower for Charlotte Street

The two sides of Victory Condos

Tracking Downtown Toronto's AmazingBuilding Boom.

Tracking Downtown Toronto's Amazing
Building Boom.