February 17 2013: Construction of the bottom underground level of the One Bloor condo tower has made considerable progress …
… since I last photographed the site, back on December 5 2012
February 17 2013: A peek between the construction cranes at the northwest corner of the site
February 17 2013: Walls and support columns are gradually taking shape on the north side of the site at the base of one of the construction cranes
February 12 2013: A construction crew begins cutting holes where new windows and balconies will be installed …
… on the southeast side of the 26-storey apartment tower at 66 Isabella Street
The work is just the first phase of a project in which a 23-storey addition will be built next to the rental highrise (left) in place of the trees and lawn that have provided an open space at the northwest corner of Church and Isabella Streets for more than 40 years. Meanwhile, city approval is being sought for a 3-storey walk-up condo addition to the south and west sides of the Town Inn Suites at 620 Church (right) in a separate project that would fill in the remaining greenspace on the corner property between Charles and Isabella Streets.
Apartment tower add-on: The area around Church & Isabella Streets has been buzzing — literally — with the sounds of crews preparing a 42-year-old apartment tower for construction of a highrise addition that will contain 12 condo suites and 199 new rental units.
Workers started cutting holes in the south wall of the 66 Isabella Street building this week, the first step in reconfiguring apartments on the tower’s east side before a 23-storey addition is constructed only a few feet away.
The renovation work started last month, slightly more than two years after City planners released a preliminary report outlining issues that the project posed, and recommending that a community consultation meeting be called to get public input into the redevelopment proposal.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
January 10 2013: Charlie Condos (second tower from left) stands proudly on the Entertainment District skyline. Its nearby highrise condo neighbours include M5V Condos (with the bold red mechanical room box on its west side), Cinema Tower (with the construction crane) and Festival Tower (right).
February 9 201: Looking up at the 36-storey Charlie tower from King Street
Final few with a superb view: Looking for a brand-new condo with plenty of space and spectacular views — plus an immediate closing? If you’ve got $1 million or more to spend, a spacious upper-level suite at Charlie Condos could be yours today.
Four years ago, a parking lot occupied the northwest corner of King & Charlotte Streets in the Entertainment District. Today, Charlie towers 36 storeys on the site, with owners of its 314 suites gradually taking occupancy of their units as construction draws to a close.
But anyone who missed out on purchasing a suite either before or during construction still has an “exceptional opportunity” to buy a signature suite on one of Charlie’s top floors.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
February 12 2013: Already standing in place at the ChazYorkville condo construction site are the mast, operator’s cab, and machinery & counterweight arm of the tall white crane being installed today. The long boom that extends diagonally toward the upper right corner of the photograph …
… is part of this portable crane, parked on Charles Street. It hoists segments of the construction crane off flatbed delivery trucks …
… and maneuvers them into position so crews can assemble the jib (working arm) that will eventually be lifted and attached to the fixed-place crane.
Chaz gets its crane: The block of Charles Street between Yonge and Church Streets is closed to traffic today as crews from Total Crane Rental install a tall white construction crane on the building site for the ChazYorkville condo tower.
The crane’s arrival appeared imminent in recent days as construction crews created a concrete pad for the crane’s base at the bottom of the 5-level-deep excavation for the 47-storey condo tower.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
November 23 2010: Hoarding surrounds the historic Toronto Silver Plate Building at 570 King Street West before excavation commenced behind it for the new Fashion House Condos development. The city-designated heritage building will be restored and incorporated into the new condo complex for commercial uses.
January 10 2013: The L-shaped King Building of the Fashion House condo complex climbs above the north and east sides of the Toronto Silver Plate Building as construction reaches the 10th floor, with 2 floors still to be built
November 23 2010: A view of the Fashion House condo site from King Street shortly before foundation drilling and shoring work began.
February 6 2013: The concrete frame for the new building has reached 10 storeys, while window and cladding installation has begun on three floors
Designer digs: With construction of Fashion House Condos now up to 10 floors and just a few weeks away from topping off at 12, the building’s stacked platform design is becoming more apparent to passersby on King Street West. Installation of floor-to-ceiling windows on three floors, so far, also indicates that the condo interiors will be cheery, bright spaces regardless of whether the sky is cloudy or clear — unless residents choose to keep the building’s signature lipstick-red curtains closed.
The 334-unit complex is a project of Freed Developments, which had asked Toronto’s Core Architects Inc. to design a contemporary building that would celebrate King Street’s long history as a fashion district. (The area formerly was known as Toronto’s Garment District.)
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
February 6 2013: Construction progress on the Downtown condo midrise, viewed from the south at the intersection of Wellington Street West and Portland Street.
9 up, 2 to go: One year ago, excavation work was just in its early stages at the 508-516 Wellington Street West site of the boutique Downtown condo building. As of this week, concrete has been poured for 9 floors of the 11-storey midrise structure.
A project of Parallax Investment Corportion, the 89-unit condominium building was designed by Sweeny Sterling Finlayson & Co. Architects Inc. It’s the third new midrise condo building to be constructed on Wellington West, between Spadina Avenue and Portland Street, just in the past two years. (The other two, now occupied, are 400 Wellington and Five Hundred Wellington West.) But Downtown is the first building — both in Toronto, and possibly the entire world — to feature the innovative Flexnatür raised-floor building design that Sweeny Sterling developed.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
February 3 2013: You can’t see it from the street, but demolition is well under way inside the buildings behind the fences and hoarding at 192, 194 and 200 Bloor Street West, where developer Bazis Inc. will build its distinctive “twisting cube” Exhibit Residences condo tower
This artistic rendering depicts how Exhibit will appear when viewed from Philosopher’s Walk on the south side of Bloor Street. The 32-storey condo tower was designed by Rosario Varacalli of Toronto’s r. Varacalli Architect Inc.
Restaurant razing: Three Bloor Street West buildings that once housed busy budget-friendly restaurants, including a controversial McDonald’s outlet, are being razed to clear the site for construction of the Exhibit Residences condo tower, which will cut a distinctive figure on the Yorkville skyline with its striking stacked cube design.
Four popular restaurants once occupied the low-rise buildings: Pho Hung and China Garden at 200 Bloor West, a Gabby’s Bar & Grill at 194 Bloor West, and an open-all-night McDonald’s at 192A Bloor West. Gabby’s has since relocated two doors down the street to 192 Bloor West (which originally was expected to be part of the condo redevelopment property, but was dropped from the site plan during revisions to the project proposal). Pho Hung closed last June, but its sister Vietnamese restaurants remain open in Mississauga and on Spadina Avenue in Toronto’s Chinatown. As reported in the Toronto Star, the McDonald’s closed nearly a month ago — on January 6 — after operating on the site for 41 years. But it will eventually return to occupy new street-level premises in the forthcoming condo tower.
February 12 2011: The McDonald’s outlet operated for 41 years at 192A Bloor West. The City-owned property had been leased to McDonald’s for only $15,5000 in annual rent. The 192 Bloor West building with the Gabby’s Bar & Grill is not part of the Exhibit Residences condo property, and will remain as is, but the 3-storey structure with the Stretch Fitness centre sign at 194 Bloor West is part of the redevelopment site and is being demolished along with the McDonald’s building.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
January 26 2013: A view of the 77 Charles West luxury condo building from one block to the north at the intersection of Sultan and St Thomas Streets. Work on the building’s green glass exterior is nearly complete and, inside, model suites are available for viewing.
Nearly finished: When I last reported on the 77 Charles West condo project in an August 13 2011 post, windows and cladding were just being installed on the midrise building’s ground floor. Now, the midrise condominium is almost ready for occupancy.
As of this month, the building is completely glassed in, finishing touches to the exterior are nearly complete (apart from one northwest-facing balcony which appears to be getting a major alteration, and parts of the building frontage along Charles Street which still await landscaping), work on the condo suite interiors is well underway, and developer Aspen Ridge Homes has opened a model suite for exclusive private viewings. Residences are still available for purchase, at prices starting from $2.1 million.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
January 28 2013: This sandwich board sign with a rendering of the forthcoming 365 Church condo by Toronto developer Menkes …
… has appeared on the development site, currently a surface parking lot at the northeast corner of Church & McGill Streets …
… while this “pre-sale” promotional flyer has been distributed to hundreds of households in the area by a Thornhill, Ont.-based real estate brokerage firm.
Sales launch approaching: Promotional activity has begun to rev up for the 29-storey 365 Church condo tower that will rise in the heart of the McGill Granby Village low-rise neighbourhood near Church & Carlton Streets.
A “coming soon to this location” sandwich board sign, bearing an architectural rendering of the rectangular glass building that Menkes plans to build at 365-375 Church Street, was set up just in the past couple of days in the parking lot that presently occupies most of the development site. And last week, a Thornhill, Ontario real estate brokerage firm distributed flyers promoting a website and “pre-sale seminar” for the 365 Church project to hundreds of households in the surrounding area.
But an official full-scale sales launch for the project could be weeks or even several months away, since a legal proceeding concerning the development is due to be heard by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) in mid-March.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
This was how the U Condos construction site looked on January 21 of last year. As the yellow foundation drilling machine continued its work …
… an enormous mound of soil (upper right) still had to be excavated from the site …
… but one year later (January 26 2013, to be exact), underground parking levels have filled in the giant L-shaped excavation, and construction of the 2 condo towers and 19 town homes has reached ground level. Building forms for support columns for the ground level of the West Tower (left) already rise above grade.
Above is a link to a Flickr album containing three dozen photos of U Condos construction since the beginning of December. Click the image once to view a small-format slideshow, or click twice to access the album and view full-size photos instead.
January 19 2013: The former Bistro 990 restaurant building — once a popular Toronto International Film Festival hangout for celebrities and Hollywood movie industry moguls — is being prepared for demolition to make way for construction of a condo highrise
This development proposal sign, seen on the site one year ago, describes the 32-storey condo tower that Cresford Developments will construct on the property
This illustration, from the Cresford website, depicts how the 1Thousand Bay building will look. The condo was designed by Toronto’s architectsAlliance.
Bye bye bistro: The building that housed the once-famous Bistro 990 restaurant for nearly a quarter of a century will disappear from the Bay Street landscape soon to make way for construction of the 1Thousand Bay condo tower.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
January 10 2013: Looking up from the University Avenue median at construction progress on the RCMI Residences tower at 426 University Avenue
Approaching 30: Won’t be much longer before construction of the RCMI Residences condo tower starts to soar above Zurich — the Zurich Insurance Canadian headquarters at 400 University Avenue, that is.
When I passed by the RCMI Residences building site this afternoon, workers told me that tower construction is now up to the 29th floor, on its way to 44. (I am certain they were mistaken about the final floor count; the project was approved on October 26 2009 by Toronto City Council on the basis of a September 18 2009 city planning report for a proposed 42-storey mixed-use building.)
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
December 30 2012: Church Street view of construction progress on The Milan Condominium, which has climbed more than 15 floors near the northeast corner of the Church Street-Yonge Street-Davenport Road intersection. Only 8 months ago …
… construction was just beginning to approach ground level at the east end of the project site, formerly occupied by a parking lot for the Canadian Tire flagship store on Yonge Street (white building at rear left)
May 6 2012: Looking toward the Church-Yonge-Davenport intersection of Yorkville from the east end of The Milan Condominium construction site
Steady climb: The Milan Condominium continues to make its mark in Yorkville. As the tower steadily climbs taller on a former parking lot site near the northeast corner of Yonge and Church Streets, it is completely changing the look and feel of the area in the process.
Construction was still below grade last May, but during the summer the building began making its presence felt as The Milan’s podium reached three levels on its way to eight. The tower has since passed 15 floors, and now commands attention from the east, north and west. I have crossed the Church-Yonge-Davenport intersection several times in the past two weeks, and on each occasion have overheard other pedestrians making positive comments about how different the corner looks with The Milan on the rise. (I haven’t heard any negative feedback about the building, but have heard passersby remark that it’s a huge improvement over the unsightly parking facility that previously occupied the site.)
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
As 2012 drew to a close, some noteworthy downtown building projects had reached different stages of at- and below-grade construction progress. At some sites, like this one for the Picasso on Richmond condo tower, preliminary foundation drilling work was in full swing …
… while at others, like this one for the Studio on Richmond and Studio2 condo towers just two blocks east of Picasso, site excavation was ongoing.
Over the same period of time, underground parking levels were taking shape at some building sites, like this one for The Yorkville condo project on Davenport Road …
… while over on Charles Street East, construction had reached a milestone mark at X2 Condos, where building had started on the ground level of the tower
Fall photos: Until condo and office tower construction starts to climb above street level, it can be difficult to track how quickly work is progressing on the dozens of new buildings going up in Toronto’s downtown core. Ground-level views of building sites are often obscured by hoarding and security fences, plus concrete delivery trucks, dump trucks and other construction vehicles maneuvering into and out of staging areas adjacent to construction zones. I find it’s a big challenge to monitor ongoing progress at places where underground levels are taking shape, let alone keep an eye on sites where shovels are just breaking ground or preliminary work is being undertaken to prepare for full-scale construction. The vast number of projects scattered throughout the downtown core certainly doesn’t make the task any easier.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
December 14 2012: Early morning sunshine glints off the east face of the Aura condo tower under construction at the NW corner of Yonge & Gerrard Streets
48 of 78: Bright sunny days have been few and far between in Toronto lately. But thanks to the Aura condo tower under construction at College Park, I can immediately tell if the morning sky is clear without looking out a window or even getting out of bed, for that matter. That’s because my apartment gets completely flooded with brilliant sunlight reflected by the glass windows and cladding on Aura, several blocks to the southwest.
Last week, Aura passed the two-thirds point of construction when work started on its 48th floor. The tower will ultimately rise 78 storeys, becoming the tallest residential condominium building in Canada.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2