40-storey condo tower proposed for nightclub site at corner of Peter St. and Adelaide St. W.

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A 40-storey condo tower will replace the two-storey warehouse-style nightclub, pub and office buildings that occupy this corner location

Sayonara, supper club: An Entertainment District corner perhaps best known as the location of the upscale Roosevelt Room Supper Club could be the site of a 40-storey condo tower in several years.

The northeast corner of Peter and Adelaide Streets presently is home to the Adelaide Street pub, at 340 Adelaide Street West. The Roosevelt Room is right next door, occupying the main floor of the two-storey Art Deco-style warehouse building at 328 – 338 Adelaide Street West. Upstairs is the Launch Pad “workspace hub” of office rental space. But the street-level pubbing and high-end dining will have to give way to high-up condo wining and dining instead.

A developer has plans to redevelop the site into a mixed-use building with an 11-storey podium topped with a 29-storey tower. The ground floor would be retail space, while the second and third floor would be offices. The rest of the tower would be condo, with 330 residential units. According to the ONE Development website, the tower “will include many innovative ‘green’ design features, targeting a LEED Gold rating. At-grade retail will reinforce the street front; office uses will complement the neighbourhood’s converted ‘brick and beam’ warehouses; and a slim residential tower will rise above a mid-level landscaped roof garden to provide light-filled open units with stunning city views.”

Although work on the building design continues, ONE Development says “[m]odern open space with high ceilings, generous natural daylight and high quality finishes will distinguish the building.”

The project application was originally filed with the city last August; full details were outlined in a November 4, 2010 preliminary report from the city planning department to Toronto and East York Community Council. The condo tower plan got positive feedback during community consultation meetings held last July and in January. When the Community Council failed to deal with the application within the required four-month period (things were delayed because of summer break and the municipal election that followed), the developer appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board.

But at its February 8 meeting, Toronto City Council adopted a motion supporting the project application, based on a settlement proposal that had been reached with the developer. Under that agreement, the developer will pay the city $1.5 million to be used for various public benefits, including improvements to John Street, parks and public housing, along with 500 square feet of “community space” in the new tower for the Toronto Arts Council. In addition, the developer has agreed to design at least 10% of the units in the condo building as three-bedroom suites.

Below are some photos I’ve taken of the tower location, along with elevation and site plan drawings that appeared in the planning department reports. The ONE Development website says “construction is slated to begin in 2014.”

The Adelaide Street pub seen on January 14 2011

Condo development proposal sign on the wall of the Adelaide Street Pub

South view from Peter Street of the proposed condo tower location

Southeast view from Peter Street of the proposed condo tower location

East view of The Adelaide Street pub building at 340 Adelaide Street West

Condo site viewed from the south side of Adelaide Street West

Northwest view of the Roosevelt Room and Launch Pad office location

A laneway called Drummond Place runs to the east and north of the condo site

South and west elevation drawings for the proposed condo tower

Site plan drawing for the proposed condo tower

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

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

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

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

Development application filed in 2008

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

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

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

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

210 Simcoe Street development proposal sign on the parking garage wall

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

210 Simcoe Street parking garage on February 18 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pit Stop: Work starts on Couture Condos P2 level

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Couture Condos foundation construction progress on February 28 2011

Filling in: Winter weather has made it challenging for construction crews to stay on schedule, but the Monarch Group says it is pleased with building progress on the underground levels of its Couture Condominium tower going up at the corner of Charles Street and Ted Rogers Way (aka Jarvis Street).

If everything goes according to plan, construction should reach street grade by early June, Monarch’s High-Rise Division director of customer care, Ian H.H. Johnson, says in the condo project’s February newsletter. He said construction workers have finished shoring the perimeter of the site, and are now starting to remove the temporary ramp on the south side of the tower excavation.

“This will allow us to continue with footing installations, in order to complete the rest of the P4 level, which is the lowest parking level. The forming of columns, walls and concrete slabs is ongoing in stages, with the P4 mostly complete, the P3 level roughly 50% complete, and work starting on the P2 level.”

Below is a Couture website rendering that suggests how the 44-storey glass tower will look once construction is complete, along with photos I shot in February of progress on the tower foundation.

Website architectural rendering of the Couture Condominium tower

February 8 2011

February 8 2011: Excavation ramp removal begins

February 8 2011: Excavation ramp removal

February 16 2011

February 16 2011: Construction work at the east side of the tower site

February 16 2011

February 16 2011: Crews installing floor forms at the west end of the site

February 16 2011

February 16 2011: Workers set rebar on the forms to prepare for concrete pour

February 23 2011

February 28 2011

Keeping tabs on … Nathan Phillips Square renewal

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Skate pavilion and concession stand construction progress on February 15 2011. More information, photos and renderings of the Nathan Phillips Square revitalization project are available in my January 11 post.

Another view of the new skate pavilion and concession stand

Workers on the site of what used to be the square’s Peace Garden

The garden is gone, and will be relocated to the square’s west side

A large excavation is all that remains of the Peace Garden

Regent Park revitalization creates massive construction zone on Dundas Street East

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May 2 2010: A view from the northwest of apartment and condo buildings constructed during Phase 1 of the multi-year Regent Park revitalization project

February 15 2011: Parliament-Dundas street view of apartment and condo buildings completed during Phase 1 of the Regent Park revitalization

February 15 2011: Revitalization project activity next to the Paintbox Condos and Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre construction site on Dundas Street East

A rendering of the Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre and Paintbox condo tower currently under construction on Dundas Street East

Tearing down & building up: One of the biggest construction zones in the city is along Dundas Street, east of Parliament Street, where the 50-year-old Regent Park neighbourhood is undergoing a tremendous transformation from an outdated social housing project into a modern “mixed-income, mixed-use community.” Regent Park Revitalization is an ambitious project that will take between 10 and 15 years to complete in six separate construction phases. Multiple city blocks of old low- and mid-rise public housing buildings are being systematically razed and replaced with new social housing units, rental apartments, townhouses and condominiums, as well as cultural and recreational centres, and retail shops and services. At the same time, the “long-isolated” Regent Park neighbourhood is being re-connected to the surrounding community with new through-way streets that replace the former warren of lanes that dead-ended in apartment parking lots.

Phases 1 and 2 involve a 30-acre area bounded by Gerrard Street at the north, Shuter Street at the south, Parliament Street at the west, and Sumach Street at the east. Phase 1 got underway in 2005 when tenants were relocated and demolition of several old apartment buildings began. In 2006, construction commenced on three new rental buildings: the Dundas-Sackville apartments at 246 and 252 Sackville Street, designed by Toronto’s architectsAlliance, the midrise Oak-Parliament Apartments at One Oak Street, designed by Toronto’s Kearns Mancini Architects Inc., townhouses along Oak and Cole Streets, and the One Cole condominium complex — a 19-storey east tower with 201 suites, and a nine-storey west building with 92 units — designed by Diamond and Schmitt Architects in association with Graziani & Corazza Architects Inc. Last year construction got underway on another new condo building, One Park West, at the northwest corner of Sackville and Oak Streets, as well as on 40 Oaks, an 87-unit affordable housing project of the Toronto Christian Resource Centre.

When I rode my bike around Regent Park last spring, the new apartment buildings were finished construction and fully occupied, people were moving into their brand-new One Cole condominiums, RBC had just opened its new bank branch in the One Cole complex on Dundas, and construction workers were busy building townhouses on Oak and Cole Streets. When I returned for a repeat visit just over two weeks ago, I was astounded by the scope of construction activity that was both recently completed, and in progress. The One Cole condo complex is fully sold out and completely occupied; dozens of the townhouses are occupied while even more are nearly finished construction; the One Park West boutique condo building is in the final stages of construction; the steel frame for 40 Oaks has been built; and the new Freshco supermarket, Rogers Communications retail outlet and Tim Hortons coffee shop are all open for business at the corner of Dundas and Parliament.

Meanwhile, Phase 2 construction activity is going gangbusters on both the north and south sides of Dundas Street. Several blocks of buildings are being demolished; large swaths of land are being excavated for more new apartment buildings and an aquatics centre; and the Paintbox Condominium highrise and the new Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre are both under construction. It’s an incredible amount of building activity happening all at once. A school crossing guard on Dundas Street told me she still can’t believe the pace of change; I could understand where she was coming from since I, too, felt stunned by the extent of construction since the last time I saw the area. Below are photos I took that morning.

One of the Regent Park apartment buildings, dating to the 1950s, which will eventually be demolished and replaced with new housing

New apartments, townhouses and condos along Oak Street in Regent Park

New townhouses along Oak Street

Toronto Christian Resource Centre sign on Oak Street

West view of the Toronto Christian Resource Centre building construction

Southwest view of the Toronto Christian Resource Centre construction

Northwest view of the Toronto Christian Resource Centre construction

Oak Street view of the Toronto Christian Resource Centre construction

New townhouses along the south side of Oak Street

Apartments and townhouses on Oak Street east of Parliament Street

A block of townhouses along the north side of Cole Street

Townhouses at the corner of Cole and Regent Streets

Townhouses on the north side of Cole Street

Cole street townhouses and the One Park West boutique condo building

The west side of the One Park West condo building under construction

Upper west floors of One Park West condo building

One Park West condo construction progress

One Park West condo building viewed from Sackville Street

Southeast view of One Park West condo building rom Sackville Street

Street-level view of One Park West condo from Sackville Street

Balconies on the east side of One Park West condos

252 Sackville Street apartments and One Park West condos

Northwest view of construction along Sumach Street; an aquatics centre and a new neighbourhood park are supposed to be built at this location

Southwest view towards downtown Toronto’s Financial District towers from the construction zone along Sumach Street

Another view of the construction site along Sumach Street

An apartment building being demolished on Dundas Street near Sumach Street

West view of the apartment building being demolished

Two apartment buildings being demolished near Dundas & Sumach Streets

The top floor has already been removed from this building

Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre and Paintbox Condos construction

Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre billboard on Dundas Street

Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre and Paintbox Condos construction

Apartment blocks that will be demolished stand behind the construction site for the arts and cultural centre and Paintbox condo highrise

Paintbox Condominiums billboard on Dundas Street

The Paintbox Condominiums construction site on the south side of Dundas St.

Condos go up while the old apartment blocks come down

Old apartment building being demolished on the north side of Dundas Street

Excavation activity just west of the Paintbox Condos construction site

Demolition, construction and excavation activity along Dundas Street

Excavator working on the construction site adjacent to Paintbox Condos

Red and white construction cranes above the arts & culture centre site

Huge excavation site at the corner of Dundas East and Pashler Avenue

Regent Park Phase 1 development at Parliament and Dundas

New Freshco supermarket at Dundas and Parliament

New Freshco supermarket entrance

Yorkville awaits the Uptown girl’s grand entrance

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The Uptown Residences condo tower on Balmuto Street February 23 2011

Deco darling: She’s waiting patiently for the installation of her main entrance, and the shiny black granite facade of her six-storey podium needs some polish and a few finishing touches. A small crane must be disassembled and removed from her rooftop, and concrete traffic barriers cleared off the street out front. But the belle of Balmuto Street looks like she will be ready for her big reveal to the Yorkville condo community very soon.

She is The Uptown Residences and, with her impressive 48-storey height and her elegant Art Deco-inspired design, she has already been cutting a distinctive silhouette on the city skyline for the past eight months. Now that her construction is winding down, I’m eager to see how she’ll look once she’s fully occupied and lit up at night. That shouldn’t be much longer.

Work has nearly finished on the exterior of the gracefully tapered tower, and tradespeople are inside, putting together the posh private residences and luxurious building amenities. From all accounts, the interiors will be opulent. But unless I win a lottery, or someone I know holds a lucky ticket, I’ll have to be content admiring this exclusive enclave from the outside.

However, I probably wouldn’t want to live there even if I could afford it. I like space and views, and The Uptown Residences is situated far too close, to my liking, to other condo and office towers.

The recently-constructed Crystal Blu condo building sits right next door to its south, with a service lane merely two vehicles wide separating the podiums of the two towers. The 51-storey Manulife Centre stands directly across the street to the west, the Yonge & Bloor office towers are one block to the northeast, and the 70-storey One Bloor condo tower will be built only one block away to the east.

But maybe it’s just me who doesn’t like living in such close quarters. Since almost all of The Uptown’s 300 suites have been sold (a few upper-level units are supposedly still available), there’s obviously plenty of people who don’t mind having company close by.

A project of The Pemberton Group, The Uptown Residences was designed by Toronto’s Burka Architects Inc.

Below are some of the photos I have taken of the tower during the past two and a half years of construction.

November 13 2007: The “Uptown girl” billboard on the building site

August 6 2008: Construction of the tower foundation is well underway

September 28 2008: A south view of the side-by-side foundations under construction for The Uptown Residences, left, and Crystal Blu

March 15 2010: The crane that built The Uptown Residences

July 20 2010: A sunset view of the crane atop The Uptown Residences

November 2 2010: CN Tower view of The Uptown Residences

December 5 2011: The Uptown Residences on the Yorkville skyline

January 24 2011: The Uptown and its shorter neighbour, Crystal Blu

January 24 2011: Southeast view of The Uptown’s upper floors

January 24 2011: The Uptown and some of its highrise neighbours

January 29 2011: West view of The Uptown and Crystal Blu

January 29 2011: From this unusual perspective on the west side of Bay Street, the Manulife Centre towers (left and right) appear to completely dwarf The Uptown Residences and Crystal Blu condo towers

January 29 2011: Balconies under construction on the tower’s west side where two external construction elevators had been installed

January 29 2011: Southwest view of The Uptown Residences

January 29 2011: North side of the tower viewed from Yorkville Avenue. Not quite sure why, but I find the tower’s north profile to be considerably less attractive than its east, south and west sides.

January 29 2011: Some of the west side balconies under construction

January 29 2011: The tower’s top floors catch some late afternoon sunshine

February 12 2011: Bloor Street view of the Uptown Residences podium

February 12 2011: Yonge Street view of Crystal Blu and The Uptown Residences

February 12 2011: Another Yonge Street view of the condo tower’s east side

February 15 2011: Sultan Street view of the condo tower’s west side

February 23 2011: Balmuto Street view of the granite-clad condo tower podium

Another view of the six-storey black and grey podium

February 23 2011: Facade still needs some finishing touches

The Manulife Centre building on Bloor Street reflects on the Uptown’s facade

February 23 2011: A construction worker literally at the end of his rope!

February 23 2011: Some gaps on the granite facade

February 23 2011: The Uptown Residences and Crystal Blu condo tower

February 28 2011: The podium viewed from the northwest side of Balmuto Street

March 2 2011: The crane atop the tower will be disassembled and removed soon.

March 2 2011: Construction workers building the main entrance on Balmuto St.

March 2 2011: I have read that the entrance will have a revolving door

March 2 2011: Another view of The Uptown Residences and Crystal Blu towers

City Scene: The Brick Man sentry at Vü condos

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Brickbats for the Brick Man: The Brick Man sculpture that stands sentry outside the Jarvis Street entrance to the Vü condominium complex seems to take a lot of flak.

When I was shooting Brick Man’s picture last November, several passersby were quick to comment on how “hideous,” “awful,” and “ridiculous” they thought he looks. And when I was standing next to Brick Man one evening in January, chatting with a friend who lives in Vü, a young woman heading into the condominium said: “Isn’t that the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen?” Her companion thought the sculpture was “a joke.”

From certain angles and in certain lighting I think he looks cool, but other times he does look cheap, tacky, or toy-like, and simply doesn’t suit the spot where he has been installed. Perhaps he’s not appreciated because he’s been put in the wrong place (though I’m not sure just where, on the Vü property, he might look better).

Clearly, he’s one of those public art installations that people will either love or absolutely hate. Like the Eldon Garnet wildlife sculptures at James Cooper Mansion on Sherbourne Street, which have drawn sharp criticism here in the blog since I posted their pics a month ago.

Either way, Brick Man looks like he’s a strong, thick-skinned guy, and I’m sure he can handle anything that gets thrown his way.

Will Chaz and a proposed new 64-storey tower turn Charles Street East into a condo canyon?

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West view down Charles Street from Church Street on February 23 2011. The Casa condo (rear left, 46 floors) and the Bloor Street Neighbourhood (BSN) condo (right, 32 storeys) soar high above all other buildings on the block.

A developer purportedly has plans to build a 64-storey condo tower on this location at 42 Charles Street East, currently a YMCA child care centre.

Too many towers? According to an old proverb, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. That’s supposed to describe the weather for a month that begins in the dead of winter but ends with the welcome arrival of spring. According to some Toronto real estate agents, however, there won’t be anything sheepish about this month at all. They’re fully expecting March to come in with a giant roar and keep on roaring — all the way through spring and for many months beyond. But the king of beasts whose arrival they are anxiously anticipating isn’t an animal, and doesn’t have anything to do with stormy weather. Instead, it’s a highrise building project for which the realtors are forecasting a fast and fierce storm of sales to condo-craving buyers eager to pounce on what’s being aggressively promoted as an incredible not-to-be-missed investment opportunity.

The project: a 64-storey condo tower that’s supposed to launch sometime early this month with spectacular gala preview sales events for VIP purchasers. The location: 42 Charles Street East, a property occupied by a nine-storey office building currently home to a YMCA child care (some years ago, it was more famous as the location of CTV headquarters and broadcasting facilities; back in the 1990s a developer — Harry Stinson, if I recall correctly — even proposed converting the building into condos, but that project never got off the ground). The developer: Cresford Developments, already a highly familiar presence on this block, having just recently built the Bloor Street Neighbourhood condo tower right next door at 38 Charles St. E. as well as the critically-acclaimed Casa Residenza Condominio tower across the street at 33 Charles East.

Interestingly, the city hasn’t approved a 64-storey tower for the site; in fact, as of this morning, the city’s development application and planning website didn’t even show any listings for 42 Charles East. But residents of Casa and Bloor Street Neighbourhood (BSN) have been buzzing about the condo tower project for weeks — especially BSN owners with east-facing suites who are pissed at the prospect of losing their views if a skyscraper gets built right next door. And dozens of “in the know” real estate agents have been hyping the project on their blogs and websites and even in videos posted on youtube.com, urging interested buyers to contact them ASAP for “exclusive” invitations to upcoming “preconstruction” VIP sales extravaganzas. Those agents have been quick to point out that units in Chaz on Charles, a 39-storey condo tower that’s going to be built directly across the road at 45 Charles East (currently the site of an eight-storey office building), have been selling briskly, and already earning impressive investment returns for their buyers. That’s great news for those agents and their lucky clients, of course. But is a 64-storey tower on the north side of the block, along with the new Chaz highrise on the south, going to be good for Charles Street, too? Will four towers crowded so close together in the middle of the block improve the immediate neighbourhood and nearby streets? Or could they encourage even more tower proposals for elsewhere on the block, ultimately creating a condo canyon on Charles?

I admit I’m not happy that Charles Street will be developed more densely. Although I’m not fond of BSN’s design, I’m glad it’s an L-shape that accommodates the charming Charles Court apartment building below it. On the other hand, I love Casa; it’s been one of my favourite downtown condo towers since it started construction in 2007 and then opened for occupancy last year. Its striking design is simple yet sophisticated, and I find it fascinating to watch how its streamlined windows and glass balconies change colour and texture under different sunlight and sunset conditions. But those two towers are enough for this block of Charles Street. Two more will be too many. Frankly, I’m not looking forward to seeing Chaz become Casa’s neighbour because I believe its close proximity will detract from Casa’s appearance, and I’m even more dismayed by the prospect of an even taller tower rising right behind them. Although the skyscraper cluster would undoubtedly create an impressive skyline, I fear a row of tall towers will spoil the streetscape and ruin what is presently a pleasant downtown residential street.

Since BSN and Casa were built, I’ve noticed a sharp increase in the volume of pedestrians and vehicles on the one-way road; the street feels particularly congested around the two condos because of the additional traffic from service, delivery, resident and visitor vehicles. Even the sidewalks feel too narrow. The tight feeling will only get worse once Chaz is built because its podium, regrettably, has been designed to “synch” with Casa’s, “adding significantly to the street wall,” to quote from the Chaz project website.

“Street wall?” Ugh. Sounds as bad as it will probably look and feel once it’s constructed. One of the redeeming features of the office building that Chaz will replace is its generous setback from the street; a taller new building with a podium closer to the sidewalk will likely make strolling down Charles Street as appealing as walking down Bay Street in the heart of the Financial District; in other words, not something you’d really want to do unless you had to do it. The skyscraper planned for 42 Charles will only make things worse. And if other developers jump on the “let’s build Charles Street” bandwagon, I think the low-rise apartment buildings and post office on the eastern half of the block will become targets for future highrise development. Last thing the neighbourhood needs is for Charles Street to become a busy, narrow and shadowy wind tunnel. Below are some of my photos of 42 Charles East and its neighbours which, I think, will help put the proposed developments and my comments about them in context. What do you think?

The Bloor-Yorkville skyline on April 4 2010. The Casa condo tower — still under construction, with the developer’s Cresford.com banner on its east penthouse level — already dominates the area. The BSN condo building stands at Casa’s right, blocking most views of The Bay office tower at Yonge & Bloor.

On this photo, shot today, I’ve marked my “guesstimate” of where Chaz and the 64-floor tower proposed for 42 Charles St. E. will stand on the skyline.

February 23 2011: This view from Charles Street West shows BSN and Casa towering above Charles Street just east of Yonge Street. The tower at center rear is the X Condo building at the northeast corner of Jarvis and Charles.

December 3 2010: Charles Street view of the south and west sides of BSN

November 1 2010: A west view of BSN and the YMCA building at 42 Charles Street East. If the rumoured 64-storey skyscraper goes up, it will soar high above BSN.

February 28 2011: Charles Court apartments and Bloor Street Neighbourhood

January 9 2011: BSN’s streetscape presence

February 12 2011: BSN and 42 Charles Street East

February 12 2011: 42 Charles Street East

December 3 2010: Looking up Casa’s sleek 46 storeys

December 21 2010: Southwest view of BSN and Casa

November 1 2010: BSN’s image reflects off Casa’s lobby facade

November 1 2010: Northwest view of Casa’s podium and the brick building that houses the Sanctuary Toronto ministry, to its immediate west

November 1 2010: Casa’s glass facade along Charles street, looking west

April 19 2010: A sidewalk-level perspective of Casa’s presence on Charles St.

November 1 2010: BSN reflects in Casa’s main entrance

October 3 2010: Casa’s facade reflects images of 42 Charles and BSN

August 29 2010: Another Casa reflection of 42 Charles and the BSN condos

February 28 2011: 42 Charles Street East

February 28 2011: Charles Street postal station next to 42 Charles St. E.

February 12 2011: Northwest view of the proposed condo tower site

February 23 2011: Hayden Street view of the rear of 42 Charles Street East and the east side of BSN. I don’t know if this parking area, used by the postal station next door, is part of the property on which the 64-storey tower may be built.

Another Hayden Street view of the rear of 42 Charles & BSN

February 23 2011: This brick house on Hayden Street sits in the northwest corner of the lot directly behind 42 Charles Street East and BSN.

January 10 2011: Hayden Street view of Casa, left, and BSN. Part of the building at 42 Charles is visible in the bottom left corner of the photo.

February 28 2011: The Chaz on Charles condo site at 45 Charles Street East

Another view of the Chaz site at 45 Charles Street East

January 29 2011: Isabella Street view of the Chaz condo site at 45 Charles St. E.

The 39-storey Chaz on Charles will tower above The Bromley apartment building on Isabella Street, seen here January 29 2011

February 28 2011: The Charlesview apartment building next door to the Chaz site

February 28 2011: An apartment building next door to the Charlesview

February 28 2011: The heritage houses at 62 and 64 Charles Street East

February 28 2011: The house at 66 Charles St. E., left, dates from the late 1880s

February 28 2011: The Manhattan apartments at the corner of Charles and Church

February 23 2011: Looking west on Charles Street from outside the Town Inn Suites at the southwest corner of Charles & Church

February 23 2011: This middle section of the block could become a virtual condo canyon once the Chaz on Charles condo highrise is constructed on the left, followed by another tower where the YMCA building sits on the right.

Turning back time: The Financial District in 1983

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CN Tower view of Toronto’s downtown Financial District in 1983 and, below, a similar view from the tower in November 2010.

Renovators tackle Eaton Centre’s Trinity Court

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Scaffolding stands three storeys high in the Trinity Court escalator banks while the 250 Yonge St. office tower entrance (top right) sports a sleek new look

Renovators move north: Now that Centre Court looks crisp and clean with its new flooring, handrails and refurbished escalator banks, Toronto Eaton Centre renovators have turned their attention to the northern half of the shopping mall area — specifically, in and around Trinity Court outside the Sears store.

The Centre’s two-year, $120-million revitalization project has been chugging along for months, and regular visitors have become accustomed to taking detours and dodging scaffolding en route to their favourite retailers. For the past few weeks, shoppers have had to wind around hoarding to access the Trinity Court escalators while contractors replace handrails on the upper levels, refurbish the lifts, and replace the old tile floors.

New glass and stainless steel handrails have been installed on Level 2 in the retail area between the information desk and Trinity Court, but the old floor tiles there haven’t yet been changed. But with the railing replacement work out of the way, the scaffolding and temporary artificial ceiling have been removed from Level 1 (the mall’s lower level), and traffic is back to normal down there.

For its part, Level 2 looks open and bright — it has lost the dark, almost claustrophic feel it had before.

Below are some recent photos; to see even more, check out the Toronto Eaton Centre revitalization album on the Photo Sets page of the blog.

February 3 201: The old handrails will be ripped out soon

North view of scaffolding being set up around the Trinity Court escalators

Level 2 view of scaffolding and hoarding around the Trinity Court escalators

Level 2 view of scaffolding in Trinity Court

The scaffolding in Trinity Court is stacked three storeys high

Hoarding on Level 1 (the Eaton Centre’s lower retail floor)

February 15 2011: Scaffolding is gone, but Level 1 floor still hasn’t been replaced

With the temporary ceiling removed, shoppers can look up to Level 2 once again

Escalator refurbishment at the Queen Street end of the mall

Someone shut the barn door: The Pottery Barn has moved out of the Eaton Centre

The Shooting Fountain in Centre Court is still popular with visitors

Level 2 (behind the information kiosk) feels far less confined and dark

The new railings on Level 2 provide a better view of Level 1

The new flooring looks good on Level 3, but it looks bare without the row of giant ficus benjamina trees that used to grace this stretch of shops

February 25 2011: The old metal handrails have been removed from Trinity Court

Level 4 view of the scaffolding in Trinity Court

Old railings and floor tiles on Level 4 eventually will be replaced

These stairs and escalator at Centre Court were refurbished recently

A closer look at the new stairs and refurbished escalator

Visitors check out the Level 4 south view over Centre Court

Toronto Eaton Centre south view from Level 4

Keeping tabs on …. 400 & 500 Wellington West

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400 Wellington condo construction progress on February 17 2011

Windows on Wellington: After I walked down Wellington Street West more than a month ago, I reported that construction at the 400 Wellington condo building had reached the fifth floor — almost halfway to its final height. Since then, construction workers have made considerable progress: eight floors have been poured, and windows are being installed on the lower levels. But just a short stroll down the street, the 500 Wellington West condo development didn’t look much different than it did in January. Photos of both projects, below, will let you judge for yourself how quickly these two new condo buildings are coming along.

Southeast view of 400 Wellington condo construction on Febuary 17 2011

Construction viewed from the south side of Wellington Street

Window installation on 400 Wellington’s south facade

Another view of 400 Wellington’s new south walls and windows

400 Wellington construction viewed from the southwest

Southeast view of 500 Wellington West construction on February 17 2011

Upper southview floors of 500 Wellington West condos

Middle south-facing floors at 500 Wellington West

The building boom at 500 Wellington West

City Scene: Wall of waves at the waterfront

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Red window frames accent a wall of blue waves at 77 Harbour Square

1 up, 2 to go: Southcore office & hotel towers will change city skyline south of the railway tracks

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Artistic rendering of the three Southcore Financial Centre towers…

…and a southeast view of the Centre as it appeared on February 18. The 26-storey PricewaterhouseCooper head office building at 18 York Street (right) is nearing completion, but excavation is still in early stages for the Delta Toronto hotel and Bremner office tower office still to be built.

Trackside towers: As downtown’s newest office tower approaches the end of construction, site excavation has only just begun for its two younger siblings, who will gradually grow into prominent hotel and office towers standing proudly right next door.

Work on the 26-storey PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) office building at 18 York Street is winding down, and occupancy for most of its floors is scheduled for the third quarter of this year. (Four and a half floors of the PwC tower, which is 86% leased, won’t be ready for occupancy until early in 2013.)

Meanwhile, crews are preparing to build downtown’s next new highrise hotel, the Delta Toronto, as well as the city’s next new office block, the Bremner Tower, on lands along Bremner Boulevard just west of PwC.

But this young family of buildings, formally known as the Southcore Financial Centre (SFC), is already having a major impact on the city. Along with some newer neighbours (Telus Tower and Maple Leaf Square) who recently took up residence nearby, SFC is changing the look of the skyline and railway lands while at the same time drawing the Financial District to the south side of the train tracks.

And with construction currently underway for the ÏCE and Infinity3 condo towers just one block to the south, and construction expected to start later this year on the Ripley Toronto Aquarium one block to the west, this formerly derelict railway lands district is being transformed into a bustling and vibrant urban neighbourhood.

Sometimes I still can’t believe this is happening. Before I even moved to Toronto in the early 1980s, politicians kept promising new office and residential developments would revitalize the ugly railway lands between Union Station and Lake Shore Boulevard. As is typical for Toronto, it took so long for things to get going, I never thought I’d see construction actually get underway. But it has been happening, and the pace of transformation from blight to bright has been phenomenal.

For years, there wasn’t much more than a few parking lots and dusty, vacant fields on the vast swath of land stretching from the CN Tower in the west to the old Canada Post building at the corner of Bay Street and Lake Shore Blvd., in the east. Then the Air Canada Centre opened in 1999, followed in late 2005/early 2006 by the 35- and 16-storey Infinity condominium buildings at the corner of Bremner and Simcoe. Last year, both the Telus office tower and the Maple Leaf Square condo/office/hotel/retail complex opened on the east side of York at Bremner. This year, condos, offices and a hotel are under construction, and a major tourist attraction will be joining them soon. Whew! Three years from now, I might not even recognize the neighbourhood!

But let’s get back to Southcore, the new kids on the block bounded by Lower Simcoe Street to the west, Bremner Blvd. to the south, York Street to the east, and the railway tracks to the north. The Delta Toronto will be a 45-storey, 566-room, four-star hotel standing at the corner of Bremner and Simcoe, conveniently just across the street from the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The 30-storey Bremner Tower will sit between the Delta and PwC, on Bremner Blvd.

When I walked around the area last week, a construction crew and pile driver were working along the north perimeter of the site, right next to the rail tracks. Below are some pics I snapped from street level and from the Convention Centre stairs, along with some hotel and office tower renderings from the Southcore Financial Centre website.

Website illustration of the south elevation of the three Southcore towers

Rendering of the Southcore Financial Centre towers viewed from the southeast

Website rendering of the 45-storey Delta Toronto hotel tower

Website rendering of the Delta Toronto hotel tower courtyard

January 3 2011: West view of the PricewaterhouseCoopers office tower, left, the Maple Leaf Square complex and the Infinity condos (right)

January 3 2011: The top floors of the west side of the PwC office tower

January 3 2011: Southwest view of the PwC tower and Telus Tower

January 3 2011: PwC office tower construction gate on Bremner Blvd.

January 3 2011: Northwest view of the Southcore Financial Centre location for the Delta hotel and Bremner Tower. Overlooking the site are the PwC tower and Telus Tower at left, Maple Leaf Square towers (center), and the Infinity condos.

January 3 2011: Trailers and dumpsters on the hotel and office tower building site

February 18 2011: Delta Hotel and Bremner Tower site viewed from the southwest corner of Bremner Blvd and Lower Simcoe Street. Once built, the two towers will completely block this view of the Financial District skyscrapers.

February 18 2011: Another view of the hotel and office tower building site

February 18 2011: Yellow pile driving machine (center) on the Southcore site

February 18 2011: Toronto Convention Centre view of the Southcore building site

February 18 2011: Another convention centre view of the building site

Within months, full-scale excavation of this site will be in progress

February 18 2011: Pile driver at the site’s railway perimeter

While the pile driving machine prepares the Southcore site for excavation, another huge construction project is underway nearby — the Union Station railway platform revitalization project (the covered area at the rear left side of the photo).

The structure behind the pile driving machine is the north side of the PwC tower

Construction workers guide the pile driver

A closer look at the foundation-building machine

February 18 2011: PwC tower viewed from corner of York St. and Bremner Blvd.

A closer look at the top southeast corner of the PwC tower

February 18 2011: Simcoe Street view of the cranes atop the PwC office tower

Closer view of the upper west side of the PwC office tower

February 18 2011: A Simcoe Street view of the CN Tower reflecting in the west windows of the new PricewaterhouseCoopers office building.

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

Aura condo tower foundation reaching street level

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The Aura webcam captured this view of the construction site this morning

This February 15 photo shows construction workers atop foundation forms level with Yonge Street near the north end of the condo tower construction site…

…while this February 20 photo shows street-level forms in the middle of the site

Street view: Foundation construction activity for the 75-storey Aura at College Park condo tower has reached street level at the north end of the project site, while underground floors continue to take shape at a slower pace on the southern two-thirds of the property. When I passed Aura on February 15, construction crews were working atop street-level foundation forms between the north (orange) construction crane and the hoarding that protects the pedestrian entrance to the College Park mall. On February 20, forms extended farther south, creeping toward the white construction crane near the Gerrard Street side of the Aura property. Meanwhile, the southwest construction zone — on the west side of the truck ramp leading from Gerrard Street into the underground College Park loading docks — has considerable catching up to do. This area, where a third construction crane operates, is basically still a deep pit with just one underground level poured, far behind the progress achieved elsewhere on the Aura building site. Below are some of my recent photos of construction progress on the tower foundation.

February 15: Street-level foundation work at the north end of the site

February 15: Street-level foundation forms extend to the first crane

February 15: Northeast corner of site viewed from Yonge Street

February 15: Another north view of the site from Yonge St.

February 15: Foundation work is still below grade south of the orange crane

February 15: Foundation forms begin filling in the south half of the tower site

February 15 : Workers on top of foundation forms at the north end of the site

February 18: Yonge-Gerrard view of the three cranes at the Aura site

February 20: Gerrard Street view of the east side of the construction site

February 20: Basement level construction beneath the truck ramp that leads from Gerrard Street into the underground loading docks for the College Park complex