Category Archives: South Financial District

Tridel previews trimmed Ten York condo tower as redesigned project goes to TEYCC for approval

Making a strong point: The prow-shaped podium for the proposed Ten York condo tower will add tremendous visual interest and excitement for eastbound drivers emerging onto Harbour Street from the dark Lake Shore Blvd corridor beneath the Gardiner Expressway. This artistic rendering, provided courtesy of Tridel, depicts a view of the podium from its western point.

This illustration, featured in current Tridel marketing promotions, depicts the dramatic impression the 65-storey, flatiron-shaped Ten York condo tower (center) would make on the Toronto skyline. Ten York was designed by Toronto’s Wallman Architects. Click on the image to view the illustration in a larger format.

Back in the spotlight: It was one year ago this month (November 22 2011, to be precise) that the announcement of plans to build Ten York, a 75-storey condo tower near the foot of York Street, became the talk of the town — and the focus of news headlines and discussion right across the country. Ten York remained a popular conversation topic for weeks afterward, with people continuing to comment as much on its soaring floor count as its unlikely location — a triangular site tightly wedged between three of downtown’s busiest traffic arteries, the Gardiner Expressway, Lake Shore Boulevard and Harbour Street. Ten York even dominated cocktail chat at holiday parties and get-togethers I attended throughout the holiday season (asking the question: “Who would want to live so close to the Gardiner and Lake Shore?” always sparked a lively debate).

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ÏCE gradually building up on city skyline

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August 15 2012: Lake Shore Boulevard view of the two ÏCE Condominium towers currently under construction at 12 and 14 York Street on the north side of the Gardiner Expressway

See the next page for more photos and information.

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Window and cladding installation well underway as Infinity3 condo construction tops 30 floors

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August 15 2012: The CN Tower looms to the northwest of the Infinity3 condo tower, where construction has reached 30 storeys on its way to 35

Glassing in: The Infinity3 condo tower is starting to show some skin.

As construction passes the 30th floor, on its way to 35 in total, window and cladding installation is beginning to add shape, colour and texture to the building’s bare concrete frame.

Meanwhile, construction is reaching the third level of the Infinity4 building, which will ultimately stand 16 storeys tall and share a podium, four levels of underground parking, and amenities with its taller sibling.

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ÏCE and Infinity3 condo tower construction already making a significant visual impact on city skyline

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May 10 2012: South view from Bremner Boulevard of construction progress on the two ÏCE Condo towers, left and center, and the Infinity3 Condominiums, right

Changing views: Although construction of two neighbouring condo projects near the CN Tower still has a long ways to go before completion, it’s fast becoming apparent just how significantly the new towers will change the look of the city skyline.

The side-by-side ÏCE Condos and Infinity3 Condominiums rising on the north side of the Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard, between York and Lower Simcoe Streets, are already having a huge impact on sightlines and views in the South Financial District and Harbourfront areas. And that’s even though construction of the east ÏCE condo tower has so far climbed less than one-tenth of its ultimate 67-storey height, while the west ÏCE tower is just slightly more than one-third of its way to 57 floors. The main Infinity3 tower, meanwhile, is more than 20 floors high on its way to 34.

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Public meeting Tuesday for Ten York condo plan

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Images from developer Tridel’s website show the 75-storey Ten York condo tower that has been proposed for a former parking lot site wedged between Lake Shore Boulevard, the Gardiner Expressway, Harbour Street & York Street

Tight squeeze: A community consultation Tuesday evening will let members of the public tell city planners what they think of Ten York, the proposed 75-storey condo tower that made national headlines when the project was unveiled late last fall.

The public session starts with a 6.30 p.m. open house followed by a meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. at the PawsWay Toronto Centre at 245 Queen’s Quay West.

Typical community consultations include a brief presentation during which a representative for a developer (often, the building architect) describes highlights of a highrise condo proposal and shows slides illustrating the shadow impacts the tower is expected to have on its neighbourhood. That’s usually followed by a comment, question and answer period chaired by the city planner in charge of the file. City planners consider community input when making final recommendations on actions Toronto City Council should take with respect to planning applications.

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City Scene: Taking in an ÏCE view

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March 7 2012: A construction worker gazes at downtown Toronto from the curved west building of the 2-tower ÏCE Condos complex currently under construction at the southwest corner of York Street and Bremner Boulevard. Construction of the oval-shaped tower has reached more than 11 levels so far, on its way to 57 storeys. A project of Lanterra Developments, ÏCE Condos was designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance.

March 7 2012: Looking south from Bremner Boulevard towards the ÏCE Condos construction site. At left, construction of the 67-storey east tower has reached 3 levels while its sibling, center, has already climbed 11 levels on its way to 57. A 31-storey office building will eventually be constructed on the parking lots site in the foreground. The building under construction to the right is the Infinity3 condo tower, which has risen 9 floors on its way to 34. Infinity3 is a project of The Conservatory Group, and was designed by E.I. Richmond Architects Ltd.

Keeping tabs on … below-grade building progress at the Infinity3 and ÏCE condo tower projects

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July 1 2011: Looking down on the ÏCE Condos building site from the east side of Grand Trunk Crescent. I counted five below-ground floors under construction in the southwest corner (right) where a 57-storey tower is going up. Underground parking floors for its 67-storey sibling are taking shape in the foreground.

July 1 2011: Right next door to the ÏCE Condos site, the underground levels for the Infinity3 condo complex are gradually filling in. This is a view of the southwest corner of the property next to Lower Simcoe Street.

Big basements: The giant L-shaped excavation south of the railway tracks, between York and Lower Simcoe Streets, keeps filling in as construction proceeds on underground levels for the two condominium complexes that will tower above the Gardiner Expressway. The greatest progress appears to have been made in the middle of the site along the property line between the ÏCE Condos development to the east and the Infinity3 Condominium project to the west. There, construction work is visible for five underground levels for Phase I of the ICE Condos complex, a 55-storey cylindrical tower. Right next door, on the west side of the wall, at least three underground levels are in varied stages of construction for Infinity3, which is a project of Conservatory Group.

Meanwhile, since units in Phase I and the 65-storey Phase II tower have completely sold out, builder Lanterra Developments has demolished the ÏCE Condos sales centre that used to sit near the corner of York Street and Bremner Boulevard. A 31-storey office building is planned for the site, but a construction start date for that phase of the project has not been announced. Part of the property is now being used as a pay-and-display parking lot that’s proving to be popular with people driving to the area to attend concert and sports events at the nearby Rogers Centre and Air Canada Centre.

Below are photos showing construction progress on both projects in the last couple of weeks. Previous updates and pictures can be viewed in my April 23 2011 post and my February 25 2011 post.

June 20 2011: A red excavating machine (rear middle of photo) completes demolition work on the former ÏCE Condos sales centre. Units in the two-tower condo complex are completely sold out …

… so the site is now being used as a pay-and-display public parking area

June 20 2011: From Lower Simcoe Street, an eastward-looking view of the Infinity3 project (foreground) and the ICE Condos development (in the back below the blue, yellow and white construction trailers on York Street)

June 20 2011: The Infinity3 complex is going up directly across the street from Infinity1, a 35-storey condo at 30 Grand Trunk Crescent, and Infinity2, a 16-storey condo at 51 Lower Simcoe Street.

June 20 2011: Construction of Infinity3’s underground levels is more advanced on the east side of the property; the west half still has a long way to go to catch up.

June 20 2011: A view of work on two of Infinity3’s underground parking floors

June 20 2011: Progress on three levels is visible at the southwest corner

June 20 2011: A closer view of work on two of Infinity3’s underground floors

June 20 2011: Construction crews working on the ÏCE Condos project

June 20 2011: A worker stands in rebar rods set in place for a concrete pour

June 20 2011: Two Infinity3 construction workers stand on wall construction forms

June 20 2011: Two Infinity3 construction workers guide a bucket of concrete being lowered by one of the two construction cranes operating on the project

July 1 2011: A view of underground level construction toward the north end of the ÏCE Condos building site

July 1 2011: A southeasterly view across the ÏCE Condos site from the sidewalk along Grand Trunk Crescent

July 21 2011: A view of four floors at different stages of construction progress

June 20 2011: Rebar, wall forms and portable toilets on the ÏCE Condos site

June 20 2011: The southwest corner of the ÏCE Condos site is advancing at a significantly faster pace than elsewhere

July 1 2011: A view of the ÏCE Condos site, left, and the Infinity3 property, right

July 1 2011: A view of the western half of the Infinity3 construction site

July 1 2011: Overlooking the middle section of the Infinity3 construction site

July 1 2011: Infinity3 construction approaches street grade near the crane situated next to Grand Trunk Crescent

July 1 2011: Looking to the southeast across the Infinity3 construction zone

July 1 2011: Forms in place to build supporting walls for Infinity3

July 1 2011: Overlooking the eastern half of the Infinity3 construction zone

July 1 2011: Looking to the southeast behind one of the Infinity3 cranes

July 2 2011: Another view of Infinity3 from Grand Trunk Crescent

July 2 2011: There are several spots along Grand Trunk Crescent from which Infinity3 can be viewed through security fencing next to the public sidewalk

July 1 2011: The eastern section of Infinity3 next to the ÏCE Condos property

Pit stop: ÏCE & Infinity3 construction progress

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April 21 2011: Lower Simcoe Street view of bottom level construction progress at the Infinity3 and ÏCE condo tower construction sites

Lower floor poured: The giant pit between York Street and Lower Simcoe Street is starting to fill in, as construction of underground levels at the ÏCE Condos and Infinity3 Condo projects moves along. Five construction cranes are now working on the site — up from the three that I mentioned in my February 25 2011 post. Below are some photos I took of the construction progress on Thursday.

April 21 2011: Four of the five construction cranes working the site are visible in this east view of the Infinity3 and ÏCE condo building progress

April 21 2011: All five cranes — four white, one red — are visible in this view from Roundhouse Park above Lower Simcoe Street

April 21 2011: The vast excavation for the two condominium tower projects stretches from York Street at the east to Lower Simcoe Street at the west

April 21 2011: Freshly poured concrete floor near the site’s northwest corner

April 21 2011: Forms in place to pour the next underground floor for ÏCE Condos

April 21 2011: Building activity is currently concentrated on the center of the site

April 21 2011: A view of the curved southeast corner of the ÏCE Condos site

April 21 2011: Wall forms for ÏCE Condos underground levels

April 21 2011: Floor and wall forms for the ÏCE Condos underground levels

April 21 2011: Rebar and freshly poured concrete

April 21 2011: A construction worker smooths a freshly poured concrete floor

April 21 2011: Underground floors take shape in the middle of the site

April 21 2011: The Lower Simcoe Street entrance to the Infinity3 excavation

April 21 2011: A loo with an Infinity3 view

April 21 2011: Construction of the bottom underground level for Infinity3 approaches the west end of the site near Lower Simcoe Street

April 21 2011: The ramp from Lower Simcoe Street into the deep excavation for the Infinity3 condo development

April 21 2011: A view of the Infinity3 condo excavation from Grand Trunk Crescent

April 21 2011: A view of the Infinity3 construction zone

April 21 2011: Another Grand Trunk Crescent view of the Infinity3 condo site

April 21 2011: Lower floor construction progress near the western third of the site

April 21 2011: Lower floor construction progress in the middle of the excavation

April 21 2011: A red and yellow crane works the east side of the ÏCE Condos site

City Scene: Criss-crossed construction cranes

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Crossing paths: The boom of one construction crane appears to be resting atop another in this photo from February 18. The two cranes are building the new ICE Condos and Infinity3 condo towers in the former railway lands area south of the Financial District. The tower in the background is an old timer: it’s one of the Harbour Square condo buildings constructed in Harbourfront, at the foot of Bay Street, way back in the late 1970s.

Infinity views and ÏCE foundations

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Three white cranes rise from the massive South Financial district (aka railway lands) excavation where the Infinity3 and ÏCE condo towers are being built.

From black asphalt to green courtyard canopy: What was once a vast asphalt-paved open-air parking area near the foot of York Street is gradually being transformed into an environmentally-conscious urban courtyard, covered by a 6,000-square-metre green canopy that will surround the base of two slender cylindrical skyscrapers — the 55- and 65-storey ÏCE Condominiums.

At the same time, what used to be a scruffy vacant lot right next door has become the building site for a new highrise condo complex, too — the 35-storey Infinity3 condos off Lower Simcoe Streets. The parking lot, which sat to the north of Lake Shore Blvd. and the Gardiner Expressway, used to be popular with people driving into the city to attend events at the nearby Air Canada Centre and Harbourfront. But it’s now one of downtown Toronto’s largest condo building excavations, where foundations for underground parking levels are in the early stages of construction.

Three construction cranes operate high above the enormous, L-shaped pit, while the construction entrance ramps off Grand Trunk Crescent and Lower Simcoe Street handle a steady stream of cement and dump truck traffic.

Below are photos I have taken from the CN Tower of the ÏCE and Infinity3 locations both before construction started, and during the early stages of site excavation. There’s also several pics I snapped at the side-by-side condo building site on a sunny day last week, along with some artistic renderings, from the ÏCE Condos website, of the two ÏCE towers and their courtyard canopy. Above left is a website rendering of the Infinity3 building under construction; it will be a new sibling to the two Infinity condo buildings that were constructed several years ago at the corner of Bremner Blvd. and Lower Simcoe Street.

ÏCE Condos is a project by Lanterra Developments and Cadillac Fairview; the buildings were designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance. Infinity3 is a project of The Conservatory Group. The Infinity 3 website doesn’t name the project architects; however, the E.I. Richmond Architects Ltd. website includes the Infinity towers in its portfolio. Another rendering of the Infinity3 complex can be viewed on that site.

September 22 2008: CN Tower view of the two Infinity condo buildings and the site for the Infinity3 project — a vacant lot off Lower Simcoe Street

September 22 2008: A CN Tower view of the parking lot that is now an excavation for the two ÏCE Condos skyscrapers. The brown structure in the upper left corner is the foundation for the ÏCE Condos sales office being set up at the time.

September 22 2008: CN Tower view of the Infinity3 condo site off Lower Simcoe Street; the little square building was the Infinity3 condo sales centre.

November 2 2010: CN Tower view of substantial excavation progress at the construction sites for the ÏCE Condos and Infinity3 Condos

November 2 2010: ÏCE Condos and Infinity3 Condos site excavation progress

February 18 2011: The two existing Infinity condo buildings, left, overlook the deep Infinity3 excavation pit to their south.

February 18 2011: Worksite viewed from Lower Simcoe Street

February 18 2011: Eastward view of the Infinity3 and ICE Condos worksites

Infinity3 condo construction site entrance off Lower Simcoe Street

Infinity3 and ICE Condos foundations taking shape

A man standing outside the beige construction crew trailer (top center) supervises the ÏCE Condos building activity at the bottom of the pit

A closer look at the foundation forms taking shape in the pit

One of the construction crew building the condo’s underground levels

Construction workers at the bottom of the deep ÏCE Condos excavation

Surveyors at work near the construction entrance to the ÏCE Condos excavation. The building in the background is the new Maple Leaf Square complex.

The surveyors working above the ÏCE Condos excavation

ÏCE condos website rendering of the two condominium skyscrapers

ÏCE condos website rendering of the green canopy for the condo courtyard

The ÏCE condo towers depicted in an animated video on the project website

Website video suggests how the ÏCE towers might appear on the skyline

City Scenes: Looking up at Maple Leaf Square

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Design details: The various design patterns in the glass walls and balconies of the Maple Leaf Square south condo tower become evident in this photograph of the 50-storey skyscraper, shot from the east sidewalk on York Street. A project of Lanterra Developments, Maple Leaf Square was designed by Page + Steele IBI Group Architects and KPMB Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects.

Five towers: From left are the CN Tower, Maple Leaf Square south tower, a construction crane atop the PWC 18 York office tower, Maple Leaf Square north tower, and the Telus office tower. Photo was taken from a parking lot next to the Toronto Harbour Commission building on Harbour Street on February 18 2011.

High road: The Maple Leaf Square towers viewed from a parking lot located off Harbour Street beneath the Gardiner Expressway.

High life: The two Maple Leaf Square condo towers viewed from Harbour Street. The towers rise from a nine-story podium housing a Le German boutique hotel, offices, shops, restaurants, a grocery store and a bank. The South Tower, left, stands 50 floors, while the North Tower soars a little higher: 54 storeys.

Above the awning: Another view of the Maple Leaf Square south condo tower, this time from beneath the unique artistic awning that extends above the sidewalk along the east side of York Street. More pics of the entire complex — from both indoors and out — can be viewed in the Maple Leaf Square album on the Photo Sets page of the blog.

Big digs: A look at how the earth’s been moving for five condos and a new waterfront college campus

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Hole-y moley! That’s my reaction to several mighty big excavations currently underway for a half dozen major construction projects in the southern half of downtown.

One of the biggest (above) is for the new waterfront campus of George Brown College, situated between Sherbourne Common and the Corus Entertainment head office, both of which opened in 2010.

Just down the road, an even bigger dig is in progress for the Waterlink at Pier 27 condo complex.

Meanwhile, York Centre is the site of an enormous L-shaped excavation where the two ICE condo towers (65 and 55 storeys tall, respectively) and their office highrise sister (31 floors) ultimately will rise alongside the new Infinity3 three condo building (35 storeys).

Finally, on nearby Front Street West, holes are gradually getting deeper for Fly Condos (24 floors) and the 300 Front Street West condo tower (49 storeys).

Here’s a set of photos I’ve taken of these project sites recently, including some aerial shots from the CN Tower.