Category Archives: Wellesley-Sherbourne area

Downtown skyline views from the Toronto Islands

The downtown Toronto skyline as seen from Ward's Island

A Ward’s Island view of the downtown Toronto skyline earlier this month

 

Pics and video: A lunchtime bikeride on the Toronto Islands earlier this month gave me a chance to check out how much the downtown skyline has changed in the one-year period since my last trip to the islands.

Although there are dozens and dozens of condo towers and several office highrises under construction in downtown Toronto, only a handful of projects have so far made a significant impact on the skyline views.

The southwest downtown core is now dominated by the two ÏCE Condominium towers which are still under construction on York Street, while the nearby Delta Hotel tower at Southcore Financial Centre on Bremner Boulevard also makes a big impact from some perspectives. 

Off to the west, the Library District Condominium tower is a noteworthy addition to the Concord CityPlace skyline; a year ago, only its construction crane was visible.

Over on the southeast side of the downtown core, The L Tower is the most eye-catching new building, with the water’s edge Residences of Pier 27 also commanding attention even though it’s only a midrise condominium project.  Much farther east, the Distillery District is easier to locate now that construction is drawing closer to completion on the Gooderham Tower.

 

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Wellesley/Sherbourne condo tower proposal gets rough ride at city meeting with area residents

159 Wellesley Street East Toronto

This artistic rendering depicts the 38-storey condo tower that Toronto developer Diamondcorp has planned for 159 Wellesley Street East, at the southwest corner of Sherbourne and Wellesley Streets. The image appears on a development proposal sign posted on the property.

 

159 Wellesley Street East Toronto tower renderings

These illustrations of the tower proposed for 159 Wellesley Street East appeared on the Diamondcorp website

 

Strong opposition: A proposal for a 38-storey condo tower at the intersection of Wellesley and Sherbourne Streets has drawn fire from area residents who think the project is too tall, sorely lacks green space, family-sized units and adequate parking facilities, and will seriously worsen congestion in what is already one of the world’s most densely-populated downtown neighbourhoods.

“This is a monster building. Can we chop it off, please, at the root?” asked a woman who lives in a co-op apartment building directly across the street from the project site. She was one of more than 20 neighbourhood residents who spoke during a community consultation meeting that city planners and Ward 27 Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam held last night to get feedback on the Diamondcorp development plan.

The “monster” comment struck a chord with many of the 40 people who attended the meeting: only one person spoke in support of the condo plan, while everyone else who addressed the meeting voiced complaints and criticisms about specific elements of the project as well as its perceived negative impact on the community.

 

City notice didn’t reach residents

Held in a cramped meeting room in a Catholic church one block north of the project site, the city feedback session probably would have attracted a bigger crowd had more neighbourhood residents received official city notice of the event. However, much to the disappointment and dismay of Councillor Wong-Tam and city planner Giulio Cescato, the city’s bulk mailing was not delivered to many addresses in the immediate area, including the 39-storey Verve condominium and the 34-storey 500 Sherbourne condo tower across the street. Visibly angry residents gave the city planner and Councillor an earful about the lack of notice, and were told another meeting might be scheduled to get input from people who failed to receive the mailing. [A similar delivery problem occurred with city notices mailed out to advise of a community consultation held last week for a tower development at 2-8 Gloucester Street; many residents on nearby streets did not receive word about that meeting.]

 

326 units with street-level retail space

Diamondcorp has proposed a 38-storey tower with 326 condos, of which 216 would be 1-bedroom and the rest 2-bedroom units. There would be no 3-bedroom suites. The building would have a 4-storey podium with 2,300 square feet of street-level retail space and three residential floors, topped by a 34-storey point tower. A gym, party room, lounge and outdoor amenity space would be situated atop the podium on the fifth floor.  The entrance to the condo would be from Sherbourne Street, as would vehicular access to the building’s garbage and loading zones. Access to the underground parking garage, which would hold 126 private parking spots and four visitor spaces, would be from Wellesley Street East. The building would have 195 bicycle parking spaces.

Designed by Quadrangle Architects Limited of Toronto, the 116-meter highrise would feature gentle curves, a masonry-clad podium, and distinctive coloured glass panels on its corner windows. The tower would be set back 3 meters from Sherbourne Street, 4 metres from Wellesley Street, 5 meters from the laneway to its west, and 3.5 metres from the 3-storey retail and apartment building to its south.

 

Site poses environmental legacy issues

Diamondcorp acquired the 159 Wellesley East site in December 2010, and is developing its condo project in affiliation with Kilmer Brownfield Equity Fund L.P.

Kilmer managing partner David Harper told the community meeting that, until 1930, a residential building sat on the corner site. From the early 1930s until late last year, vehicle fuel service stations carried on business there; in fact, the Shell corporation owned the property from 1935 to 2010. Most recently, a Beaver gas station and a Baker’s Dozen donut shop occupied the site.

Since gas stations operated at 159 Wellesley East for 80 years, there are significant environmental “legacy issues” requiring remediation before the site can be redeveloped, Mr. Harper said. The underground gasoline tanks and “gas product infrastructure” have already been removed, and soil and ground water testing has been undertaken in consultation with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. This remediation activity is “highly regulated” by the province, Mr. Harper said.

 

‘Exciting’ infill development project

Les Klein, a principal of Quadrangle Architects, described the project’s architectural elements. He said he was “very excited” by 159 Wellesley East, which he called a “classic City of Toronto infill development project” featuring “high quality urban design.”

“We have taken the incredible challenges of the unique shape of the site,”  he said, and designed a tower that is “very different from the typical glass boxes” seen throughout the City. Quadrangle’s tower design features “gentler curves” instead of “sharp edges,” and wherever the building curves, “we’ve introduced a series of coloured panels,” Mr. Klein said. He added that the four-storey podium is “in keeping” with the height of the elementary school just south of the site, as well as the Wellesley Central Place/Rekai Centre for long-term care on the north side of Wellesley Street.

 

Parking, transportation and congestion concerns

But neighbourhood residents weren’t enthusiastic about the design, and in fact were upset merely by the prospect of a condo tower of any height rising on the site.

The first speaker, a senior citizen named Olive who lives two blocks away on Maitland Place, received a hearty round of applause and numerous complimentary comments after spending five full minutes criticizing multiple aspects of the proposal. “Esthetically, it doesn’t fit in with nearby buildings,” while the tower is “out of proportion” for the corner, she said. She slammed the design for failing to provide landscaping and greenery at street level, and for failing to take into account serious “parking and transportation issues” in what is “already a busy area.” She said she thought 126 parking spaces for owners was insufficient, while a mere four spaces for visitors was woefully inadequate. Jim, another Maitland Place condo resident, agreed that four visitor spaces “seems sparse.”

Karen, an owner in a 34-unit condo complex on nearby Jarvis Street, said the tower “is far too tall. I think it should be half that size.” She agreed with Olive that the condo poses problems for transportation, particularly since vehicles making left-hand turns into the underground parking garage will cause lengthy backups along Wellesley Street, which is often clogged with traffic.  “I think we need to reduce congestion in this area,” she said.

Gord, a resident in the 500 Sherbourne condo tower, criticized the proposal for failing to meet many of the highrise building design criteria outlined in the city’s Tall Buildings Downtown Project (which I reported on at length in my May 20 2011 post). “We need thoughtful, careful planning, not a tower that brings more congestion,” he added.

Herb, a resident at the Verve condo tower, said he and many of his neighbours “have great objections to this buildings. It’s way over-developed.” He said Verve’s developer had to make concessions to get that complex built, including setting back the tower, building a low-rise wing with townhouses, and adding landscaping and greenery. Here, however, “the developer makes no concession to the community as far as I can see,” he said, pointing out that 159 Wellesley East would have no greenery, and would create “parking access problems.”

 

Tower height, lack of landscaping criticized

Many in the audience objected to the fact the condo building will extend right to the edge of the property line, against the Wellesley and Sherbourne Street sidewalks, offering absolutely no landscaping or greenery of any kind at street level. Only the fifth-floor amenity space would have landscaping.

A woman who lives on nearby Ontario Street said the tower design is “not attractive,” and complained that there will be no trees on the property — just “a very selfish 5th floor garden.”

Another woman who lives nearby complained that the proposed coloured window panels “are my least favourite colours,” and added: “I think the height is terrible on that corner. We need green space terribly. Why not put [the building] on pillars like OCAD and have a public park underneath?” she suggested.

A woman named Ava called the project “a monster building” and agreed that green space is desperately needed on the property. “We need a community that allows us to grow in that space. We don’t need retail. We need imagination. You are not bringing imagination — you are bringing a monster to us.”

Mark, a resident in the nearly 100-year-old Ernescliffe co-op apartment buildings across the street on Sherbourne, said Ernescliffe residents have “serious concerns about the nature and scope of the project,” particularly the fact the tower will cast shadows over the co-op’s outdoor common elements. He, too, decried the lack of green space in the project,” and complained that “the developer hasn’t mentioned bringing anything of substantial value to the community,” such as a swimming pool badly needed at the nearby Wellesley Community Centre.

Other speakers echoed those sentiments, pointing out that the neighbourhood lacks green space and public amenities, while those that do exist — including the relatively new community centre and the St James Town branch of the Toronto public library — are already being used to full capacity.

 

Increased neighbourhood noise?

Several commentators, including Bill from the 17-storey rental apartment building at 155 Wellesley East, worried that the condo’s rooftop mechanical equipment will increase noise nuisance in the neighbourhood and “add to the hum of the city.” A woman from 200 Wellesley East agreed that “the noise level is going to go up tremendously.”

Only one person, Ken from 40 Homewood Avenue, voiced support for the project. “That corner needs something,” he said, pointing out that the gas station and donut shop that previously occupied the property had been a haven for drug and prostitution activity “night and day” for years.

However, the woman from 200 Wellesley replied that the tower “is probably the very worst thing that we could have in that area. That highrise will be filled with drugs, pimps and prostitutes.”  A man concurred, saying that condos with many small units like the proposed tower “creates a transient population” and “brings in an element that won’t be part of the community.” [The city planner, Mr. Cescato, interjected to say that statistics actually show that “80% of Toronto’s condos are owner occupied.”]

 

Children’s health at risk?

Several women, including Ava, expressed fears that removal of the contaminated soil from the site will expose residents living nearby to serious health risks when toxins are exposed and released into the air.  They also said they worry that hundreds of high school and elementary schoolchildren who pass the site each day could develop disease and health problems from inhaling the toxic fumes. Glaring at Diamondcorp executive Bob Blazevski, one of the women said: “I hope you can sleep at night.”

Various speakers chided the city for allowing rampant development without taking into account how adding hundreds more residents to a neighbourhood in each new condo tower overstrains limited public amenities and infrastructure, and exacerbates downtown congestion.

“We’re sick and tired of developers driving the zoning,” Connie said, while a man who did not give his name said “It’s an interesting building, but it’s in the wrong place. We need to look at the community, not one building at a time.” And Mark from the Ernescliffe Co-Op said residents are “fed up” with the “ongoing construction” that has disrupted the neighbourhood for the past five years. With the city expected to overhaul Sherbourne Street in 2012 (to accommodate permanent bike lanes), along with the soil remediation and construction likely to take place at 159 Wellesley within the next several years, there is no relief in sight for frustrated area residents, he said.

Below are some photos I’ve taken at the 159 Wellesley East site in recent months. More photos can be viewed in my June 8 2011 post and in my April 19 2011 post about the condo tower proposal. Full details of the Diamondcorp project can be found in a May 16 2011 city planning department preliminary report submitted to Toronto and East York Community Council.

 

159 Wellesley Street East Toronto

The condo tower development proposal sign at 159 Wellesley Street East, seen during this past summer after the gas station and donut shop that formerly occupied the site had been demolished

 

159 Wellesley Street East Toronto

August 20 2011: The north half of the oddly-shaped 159 Wellesley Street East development site, looking east toward apartment towers in St James Town and the Ernescliffe co-op building at 477 Sherbourne Street

 

159 Wellesley Street East Toronto

August 20 2011: Looking east across the southern half of the development site. A three-storey building with upper-level apartments and ground-level retail and restaurants on Sherbourne Street sits to the south of the fence

 

159 Wellesley Street East Toronto

August 22 2011: Wooden hoarding was installed in place of the chain link fence that had surrounded the site while the gas station facilities and donut shop that previously occupied the property were being demolished

 

159 Wellesley Street East Toronto

 September 26 2011: The development proposal sign on hoarding along the Wellesley Street perimeter of the development site

 

159 Wellesley Street East Toronto

September 26 2011: Children from the Art City St James Town program created a mural that appears on hoarding around the 159 Wellesley East site

 

159 Wellesley Street East Toronto

 September 26 2011: 30 children between the ages of 6 and 13 worked on the Art City mural project, which was profiled in an article in the Toronto Star and the Star‘s yourhome.ca website

 

159 Wellesley Street East Toronto

September 26 2011: Sherbourne Street view looking west toward the proposed condo tower site. The apartment building at left is 155 Wellesley St. E., while the condo tower at right rear is the 39-storey Verve at Wellesley & Homewood Ave.

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159 Wellesley Street East Toronto

September 26 2011: Sherbourne Street view of the proposed condo tower site along with its neighbours to the north, the Verve condo tower (left) and the long-term care facility Wellesley Central Place/Rekai Centre

 

159 Wellesley Street East Toronto

September 26 2011: The Wellesley Central Place/Rekai Centre is a long-term care facility at the northwest corner of Wellesley & Sherbourne Streets

 

159 Wellesley East Toronto

This architectural illustration depicts the west elevation of the proposed condo tower. It appears in a May 16 2011 city planning department preliminary report to Toronto and East York Community Council

 

159 Wellesley East Toronto

 

 This site plan, also from the May 16 2011 preliminary city planning report, shows how the proposed tower would fill the corner site

 

 

38-storey condo tower will bring colour & curves to former gas bar site at Wellesley & Sherbourne

159 Wellesley Street East condo tower illustration

This artistic illustration of the 38-storey condo tower planned for 159 Wellesley Street East appears on a development proposal sign posted on the property

 

159 Wellesley Street East condo tower site

May 31 2011: This is how the 159 Wellesley Street East condo tower site presently looks when viewed from the same perspective as the artistic illustration (above). The building at right is Wellesley Central Place, a long-term care facility.

 

159 Wellesley Street East condo tower

Development proposal sign on security fencing around 159 Wellesley Street East

 

Corner condo: Another condo tower has been proposed for the northeast downtown residential neighbourhood at Wellesley & Sherbourne Streets. This latest development proposal — a 326-unit, 38 -storey building with street-level retail space and four levels of underground parking — would rise on the southwest corner of Wellesley and Sherbourne, the former site of a Beaver gas station and Baker’s Dozen donut shop. It would be similar in height to two recently-constructed condo towers right across the street: Verve, just one block west at the corner of Wellesley Street and Homewood Avenue, and 500 Sherbourne, one block north at the corner of Sherbourne Street and Lourdes Lane. The site sits kitty-corner to St James Town, a densely-populated neighbourhood with nearly 20 rental apartment highrise buildings, and is just two blocks west of the popular Cabbagetown residential district.

Area residents expected that a condo tower would be proposed for the site when for sale signs were posted on the gas station/donut shop location last year. Demolition of the buildings and facilities for those two businesses took place during April and May; the vacant lot that remains has been closed off by security fencing ever since. Neighbours have been wondering if the three-storey building next door on Sherbourne Street — currently home to a Domino’s pizzeria, a restaurant and a convenience store, plus two floors of rental apartments upstairs — also will be demolished to make way for the condo tower. That building is not part of the condo development — yet. However, city planners have suggested that the condo developer look into purchasing that property to create a larger site that would be more appropriate for a tower 38 floors tall.  The planning department hasn’t yet announced the date on which a public meeting will be held to get feedback on the condo proposal.

I published photos of the 159 Wellesley Street East site and other buildings in the immediate area, along with pictures of the gas bar and donut shop demolition, in my April 19 2011 post. Below are several more photos showing the final stages of demolition and the vacant property that now awaits building approval from the city.

 

159 Wellesley Street East

April 22 2011: A view of the 159 Wellesley East condo tower development site from outside Wellesley Central Place, the long-term care facility on the northwest corner of Wellesley and Sherbourne

 

159 Wellesley Street East

April 22 2011: Most of the former Beaver gas station has been demolished but, at this point, the underground gas tanks haven’t yet been pulled out

159 Wellesley Street East

April 22 2011:  Looking south at 159 Wellesley Street East from across the street

 

159 Wellesley Street East

April 22 2011: Site demolition at 159 Wellesley Street East is nearly complete

 

159 Wellesley Street East

April 22 2011: The three-storey apartment and retail building next door is visible in this view from Wellesley Street.


Buildings next door to 159 Wellesley Street East

The building next door — with street level businesses at 462, 464 and 466 Sherbourne Street, and two floors of rental apartments upstairs — is not part of the condo development for now. But city planners have urged the condo developer to try to acquire this property to create a larger site for its proposed tower.

 

159 Wellesley Street East

April 22 2011: A pile of rubble is all that remains of the Baker’s Dozen Donut shop that once sat on this location next to the gas station

 

159 Wellesley Street East

April 29 2011: The underground gas tanks for the former Beaver gas station have now been removed from the property

 

159 Wellesley Street East

April 29 2011: The tanks had been located under the site’s northeast corner

 

159 Wellesley Street East

April 29 2011: Looking south at what used to be a busy Beaver gas station

 

159 Wellesley Street East

May 9 2011: Northeast view towards St James Town of what is now just an odd-shaped vacant lot at 159 Wellesley Street East

 

159 Wellesley Street East

May 9 2011: Looking east across the vacant 159 Wellesley Street East property

 

Sherbourne Street view toward 159 Wellesley Street East

May 31 2011: A view of the condo development site, looking south on Sherbourne

 

 

Condo highrise expected for former gas station and donut shop site at Wellesley-Sherbourne corner

159 Wellesley Street East

Area residents expect that a condo highrise will be proposed for the southwest corner of Wellesley and Sherbourne Streets, seen here on November 11 2010.

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

March 22 2011: The 159 Wellesley Street East site viewed from Sherbourne Street. At left rear is the rental apartment building at 155 Wellesley St. E.; at right rear is the green and white 40-storey Verve condo tower.

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

August 29 2010:  The boarded up gas bar and donut shop at 159 Wellesley Street East, viewed from the north side of Wellesley Street

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

April 19 2011: Demolition of the former Bakers Dozen donut shop

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

April 19 2011: Demolition of the former Bakers Dozen donut shop

 

Corner condo? A condo highrise project is apparently in the works for an oddly-shaped parcel of land formerly occupied by a gas station and donut shop at the southwest corner of Sherbourne and Wellesley Streets.The site, at 159 Wellesley Street East, had been occupied for well over a decade by a Beaver Gas Bar and a Baker’s Dozen donut shop. After the two businesses ceased operations when their leases expired early last summer, the site was fenced off and “for sale” signs were posted on the property. The signs came down a few months ago, and word on the street was that the land recently sold for more than $2 million.  Today, a small work crew was busy demolishing the donut shop.

I do know that a developer has discussed potential plans for the site with City planning staff; however, no formal development proposals have been filed yet.  Nevertheless, area residents fully expect that the developer will apply sometime this year for rezoning approval to build a condo tower. This northeast downtown neighbourhood, already home to numerous apartment and condo towers built between the 1960s and mid 1980s, has been a hotbed for residential construction in recent years. Two major condo highrise complexes, Verve and 500 Sherbourne, as well as a lowrise loft condo, Steam Plant Lofts, have opened across the street from 159 Wellesley on the site of the former Wellesley and Princess Margaret hospitals. Just one block to the east, the Star of Downtown midrise condo tower and townhouse complex opened two years ago, while residents recently started moving into the new James Cooper Mansion condo complex four blocks north, at Sherbourne and Linden Streets. Five more residential towers have been proposed for the area, including a rental tower one block north on Sherbourne, and four condo skyscrapers for a North St James Town location between Sherbourne and Parliament Streets, at Bloor Street.

I live nearby, and would welcome a condo on the Wellesley-Sherbourne corner — especially if the developer were to propose building a stunning, unique design that takes full advantage of the property’s unusual shape (the north side of the lot follows the curve on Sherbourne Street). It would further enhance a popular residential area which has already improved considerably with the addition of the other new condo towers and townhouses I mentioned above. I definitely won’t miss the donut shop and its sleazy clientele, and I’m glad I no longer have to dodge the taxi cabs and other vehicles that used to barrel across the sidewalk as drivers rushed to and from the gas pumps. Heck, if I had a dollar for every time I was nearly struck or sideswiped by a car while I walked past the Beaver Gas Bar, I could probably make a down payment on a condo in the building that might go up there.

Below are recent photos of the 159 Wellesley site, as well as other buildings in the immediate vicinity.

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

March 22 2011: Former gas bar and donut shop viewed from the northwest corner of Sherbourne and Wellesley Streets

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

March 22 2011: The Bakers Dozen donut shop at 159 Wellesley St. E.

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

March 22 2011: The former gas bar viewed from the north side of Wellesley St.

 

477 Sherbourne Street apartment building

March 22 2011: An apartment building at 477 Sherbourne Street

 

Rosar-Morrison funeral home at 467 Sherbourne Street

March 22 2011: The Rosar-Morrison funeral home at 467 Sherbourne, directly across the street from the former gas bar and donut shop

 

St James Town community centre

March 22 2011: The St James Town community centre and library on the northeast corner of Wellesley and Sherbourne Streets. At rear are several of the apartment towers of the St James Town neighbourhood including 200 Wellesley St. E., scene of a spectacular highrise fire last September.

 

Sherbourne Street north of Wellesley Street

March 22 2011: Looking north on Sherbourne Street from Wellesley Street

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

March 22 2011: Northwest view from Sherbourne Street toward the 159 Wellesley Street East potential condo site. At left is the Verve condo tower; at right is the 500 Sherbourne condo tower.

 

Wellesley Central Place Rekai Centre

March 22 2011: The Wellesley Central Place long-term care facility on the northwest corner of Wellesley and Sherbourne Streets.

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

March 22 2011: Sherbourne Street view of 159 Wellesley Street East

 

159 Wellesley Street East  potential condo development site

March 22 2011: View from Sherbourne Street toward the corner site

 

West side of Sherbourne Street below Wellesley Street

March 22 2011: The building immediately south of the 159 Wellesley site

 

west side of Sherbourne Street below Wellesley Street

March 22 2011: Commercial businesses and the Our Lady of Lourdes elementary school at 444 Sherbourne Street, just south of Wellesley.

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

April 19 2011: Demolition of the former Bakers Dozen Donuts building

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

April 19 2011: Demolition of the former Bakers Dozen Donuts building

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

April 19 2011: Demolition of the former Bakers Dozen Donuts building

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

April 19 2011: Demolition of the former Bakers Dozen Donuts building

 

159 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

April 19 2011: Demolition of the former Bakers Dozen Donuts building

 

59 Wellesley Street East potential condo development site

April 19 2011: Demolition of the former Bakers Dozen Donuts building


City Scene: 17 balconies at The 500

Balconies at The 500 condos & lofts on Sherbourne Street

Southern exposure: Rows of balconies along the south side of the condo tower at 500 Sherbourne Street, seen here on February 28 2011. Called The 500 Condos & Lofts, the 34-storey building was designed by Paul Northgrave of Northgrave Architect Inc.  in Toronto.