Military club makes way for condo construction: RCMI Residences set to rise on University Ave.

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Tower rendering on hoarding at the RCMI Residences construction site


The cannons will come back! Preliminary excavation work is underway for Residences at RCMI on University, the 42-storey condo tower that will rise on the site of The Royal Canadian Military Institute at 426 University Avenue (just south of Dundas Street).

When the  slender glass highrise opens in several years, it will house “a completely modernized RCMI [on] the first six floors, complete with its distinctive cannons dutifully rolled back to their guarding positions,” the RCMI notes in its website description of its novel construction venture with builder Tribute Communities.

The tower design incorporates the facade of the RCMI’s former building, which had occupied the site from 1890 until its demolition last fall. The RCMI is a private social club for former military officers and civilians with interests in the military; it also owns and maintains “Canada’s largest privately-held military library.” Its current membership “is drawn from all walks of life, including the Reserves, the Regular Forces, academe, and business across Canada and abroad. Increasingly, our new members are concerned with information technology and other business affairs related to security issues.” Undoubtedly, buyers at RCMI Residences will feel secure in their sleek new digs once they move into the completed condo complex.

Below are photos I snapped of the RCMI building before it was demolished, along with photos of construction progress to date and renderings of the RCMI tower.

 

The Royal Canadian Military Institute on March 11 2010


The Royal Canadian Military Institute on March 11 2010


The Royal Canadian Military Institute on March 11 2010


Hoardings around the RCMI Residences site on Nov 29 2010


RCMI Residences construction viewed from Simcoe Street Jan 3 2011


RCMI Residences construction viewed from Simcoe Street Jan 3 2011


RCMI Residences construction viewed from Simcoe Street Jan 3 2011


RCMI Residences construction viewed from Simcoe Street Jan 3 2011


RCMI Residences construction viewed from Simcoe Street Jan 3 2011


Hoarding at RCMI Residences construction site on Jan 3 2011


RCMI Residences tower rendering


RCMI Residences facade rendering


RCMI Residences tower rendering


SickKids Research & Learning Tower design details becoming evident in construction along Elm Street

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SickKids Research and Learning Tower taking shape along Elm Street


Artistic rendering of SickKids Research and Learning Tower


Beacon on Bay: Although foundation work is still below grade level along the Bay Street portion of its construction site, some design elements of the SickKids Research and Learning Tower are already obvious on the fast-progressing Elm Street section of the project — particularly a long, rectangular row of windows in what will be a patterned wall above Elm.

The $400 million facility will feature 750,000 square feet of space and 21 floors rising approximately 117 meters (383 feet). Sick Kids Hospital boasts that its new building, scheduled to open in 2013, will be not only “an architectural landmark,” but “a beacon in Toronto’s Discovery District and a magnet for the best and brightest child health professionals around the world.”

If the finished tower winds up looking like artistic renderings I’ve seen, it should be a beacon indeed — a bright, beautiful building that should drastically improve and enhance a rather unsightly stretch of Bay Street (the site itself used to be a parking lot).

I’m also fervently hoping that the tower will rise tall enough to block views of its next-door neighbour, the Enwave steam plant smokestack on Walton Street — especially views from the south, since the stack stands out like a sore thumb between the graceful curving towers of City Hall.

There’s a wealth of information about the Research and Learning Tower project, as well as renderings of the building interior, at the SickKids Foundation website.

The tower is a project of Toronto’s Diamond + Schmitt Architects. Below are several recent photos showing how far construction has progressed, as well as a rendering of the tower viewed from Bay Street.

 

SickKids tower construction viewed from Bay Street below Gerrard Street


SickKids tower construction viewed from Bay Street


SickKids tower construction progress at corner of Bay & Elm Streets


SickKids tower construction progress along Elm Street


Progress of foundation work for SickKids tower


SickKids tower construction progress along Elm Street


Artistic rendering of SickKids Research and Learning Tower


I’m hoping the SickKids tower will be high enough to block views of the Enwave steam plant smokestack between the towers of Toronto City Hall

New mayor’s budget cuts could affect elements of Nathan Phillips Square revitalization project

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November 2010: New skate pavilion and concession stand takes shape

 

No cash for tourist kiosk or restaurant? The two-year, $42.7 million revitalization of Nathan Phillips Square at City Hall is chugging along, but two of the project’s most appealing features might not get built because of budget cutbacks announced yesterday by Mayor Rob Ford.

According to an article in today’s Globe and Mail, the mayor’s budget cuts mean  “a planned tourist booth for the corner of Bay and Queen Streets likely won’t be built. Neither will a restaurant for the square, unless the city can find a partner to share construction costs.”

The plan to revitalize the 40-year-old square, which for years has looked worn, tired, dowdy and downright tacky in many places, has been controversial since it was originally proposed to and debated by City Council. Ford had been vocal about his opposition to the project and its cost while he was a city councillor, as well as throughout the mayoral election campaign last year. The good news is that his proposed 2011 budget doesn’t take money away from the program, so most of the revitalization work should continue as planned. However, there won’t be any cash to cover cost overruns.

The most visible revitalization progress to date has been the ongoing construction of a new skate pavilion and concession stand, replacing the hideous concrete structure that previously stood next to the square’s summer water fountain / winter ice skating rink. Also, the Peace Garden has been completely removed  (it will be relocated to the western side of the square).

A two-level restaurant proposed for the southwest corner of the square would have been a highlight of the refurbishment program, as would a tourist information kiosk planned for the southeast entrance to Nathan Phillips Square. Undoubtedly, both would have drawn more tourists and residents to the square; however, it’s been obvious for some time that our new  mayor isn’t the least bit interested in making Nathan Phillips Square a more welcoming, enjoyable place for either tourists or taxpayers to visit.

Below are some pics I shot in November of building progress on the new skate pavilion and demolition of the Peace Garden, as well as artistic renderings of the tourist booth, restaurant and skate pavilion. More renderings, along with full project details, can be viewed on the city’s Nathan Phillips Square Revitalization website.

 

Construction progress of new skate pavilion and concession stand

 

Construction progress of new skate pavilion and concession stand

 

Peace Garden demolition and removal

 

Rendering of new skate pavilion and concession stand

 

Rendering of restaurant proposed for square’s southwest corner

 

Rendering of proposed tourist information kiosk

 

Rendering shows location proposed for tourist info kiosk

 

Snow wonder: When will digging start at One Bloor?

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November 20 2008 view of snow-covered One Bloor condo tower site …

 

…and on January 9 2011 — over two years later — little has changed

 

Bloor Street blahs: I’m getting increasingly anxious for construction to start on the One Bloor condo tower. Every time I pass the One Bloor building site at the southeast corner of Yonge & Bloor, it bugs me to see a big empty lot — a site that the media and real estate agents for years have described as Canada’s “premier” and “most prestigious” address. If it’s such a hot and important spot, what’s taking developer Great Gulf Group so long to get shovels in the ground? C’mon, guys, get going already!

Actually, Great Gulf is getting there — and digging should start soon. Back in November, the company applied to the city for a permit to begin work on the building’s foundation. Meanwhile, it’s preparing to open a spiffy new condo sales centre in the Xerox tower right next door. So things are moving along, though seemingly at a snail’s pace to impatient people like me.

I know I won’t be the only one cheering when hoarding is installed around the site and excavation equipment finally begins breaking ground — there’s a lot of building and skyscraper fans who can’t wait to watch a tower soar into the sky here. But exactly how tall will it stand?

The excavation permit application refers to a mixed-use highrise tower with 67 residential floors, 2 commercial floors (including a “p1 level commercial concourse”)  and six underground parking levels. That suggests the developer is set to build a 69-storey skyscraper.

Personally, I’d prefer to see a much taller tower — something closer to the 80 storeys envisaged for the ill-fated condo + hotel + retail complex originally proposed and sold for the site. (For those who either don’t recall or aren’t familiar with the dramatic recent history of the 1 Bloor Street East site, the Toronto Star describes crucial events in this story from July 18 2009 and this follow-up article from August 21 2009, while The Globe and Mail offered an even more detailed account in this story from September 17 2009.)

Heck, I wish One Bloor would go even higher — if Melbourne, Australia can build a 91-storey skyscraper (the Eureka Tower), why can’t we? Hasn’t Canada (i.e. Toronto) traditionally held bragging rights to the tallest building in the Commonwealth?

I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that Great Gulf ultimately hikes the height of One Bloor to make it the tallest condo in Canada, but I won’t hold my breath just yet.

Below are several more photos I’ve taken of the One Bloor site, along with pics of Great Gulf marketing billboards featuring artistic renderings of their tower design. Additional renderings as well as more details about the project can be viewed on the project website, onebloor.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Museum House rises above its namesake on Bloor

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The Royal Ontario Museum’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal appears to point at the Museum House condo under construction across Bloor St.

 

Nearly there: With only three storeys left to build, and windows already installed on more than half its floors, Museum House on Bloor is drawing some attention away from its famous namesake across Bloor Street — the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). The slender luxury condo tower will top off soon at its full 19-storey height, offering a mere 26 “discerning residences” to its very well-heeled buyers (fully detailed descriptions of the building and its suites are provided on the Museum House website.) Below are some fresh Museum House construction pics I shot this afternoon, along with a slideshow of other photos taken since 2008. I hope Museum House enjoys its moments in the limelight, while they last, because a much taller condo project is waiting in the wings to steal its thunder. Right next door is the site for the proposed Exhibit Residences condo tower, which is currently accepting registrations from interested potential purchasers. Sales for that project haven’t been launched yet, but its website does give some sneak peeks at the dramatic design being considered for Exhibit, as you’ll see in the three images at the bottom of this post.

 

January 9 2011 view of construction progress at Museum House on Bloor

 

January 9 2011 view of construction progress at Museum House on Bloor

 

January 9 2011 View of newly installed windows in Museum House

 

January 9 2011 view of Museum House (right) and One Bedford condos

 

January 9 2011 view of construction progress at Museum House on Bloor

 

Museum House construction crane reflects in the ROM’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal

 

Bloor Street West site for proposed Exhibit Residences Condo Tower

 

Artistic rendering of proposed Exhibit Residences condo tower

 

Artistic rendering of proposed Exhibit Residences condo tower

 

Artistic rendering of proposed Exhibit Residences condo tower

 

Yorkville heritage buildings in jeopardy?

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Days numbered? A developer has submitted a rezoning application for permission to construct a 9-storey office structure on the site of these elegant brick buildings on Yorkville’s Sultan Street, one block south of Bloor Street.

The mansions, with street addresses of 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 Sultan Street, and 11 St. Thomas Street, currently house offices and a specialty book shop. They sit kitty corner to the tony Windsor Arms Hotel; the tall white building behind them, to the right, is the 29-storey luxury condo tower One St Thomas Residences, which opened in 2008. 

I love this peaceful little enclave tucked behind the busy Bloor-Bay intersection, and hope the city doesn’t give demolition approval. (No word yet on whether that’s what the developer plans, or if it will try to incorporate the brick buildings into their office project instead.) The buildings apparently have heritage designation from the city.

 

Heritage buildings at 1, 3 and 5 Sultan Street

 

Heritage buildings at 7 and 9 Sultan Street and 11 St Thomas Street

 

Rear view of heritage buildings at Sultan and St Thomas Streets

 

Lumiere condo tower awaits finishing touches

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Lumiere Condominiums on Bay viewed January 5 2011


Close to completion: I always find it exciting to walk past a building that has been under construction for several years and suddenly discover that construction hoarding and security fencing have been removed. It’s great to finally get an unobstructed view of the ground level, and to physically feel how the new building relates to and impacts upon the streetscape.

My most recent “big reveal” experience was in early November when I saw that hoarding had been dismantled from the streetfront at the Lumiere condo tower on Bay Street below College. All that remained was a security fence keeping pedestrians away from crews installing new sidewalks out front on Bay.

Lumiere is looking mighty good! I think it’s a nice addition to the block, and it feels like it’s always been there (actually, I can’t even remember what was there before. A parking lot perhaps?)

Lumiere needs a few finishing touches, though. Exterior cladding still hasn’t been installed on the west side of the three-level podium, while the canopy roof awaits some final cosmetic work, too. But plastic balcony panel wraps that had been flapping in the wind for months were removed in December, giving the Bay Street side of the building a sleek, clean look.

A Menkes highrise building project, Lumiere was designed by Toronto architect Rudy Wallman.

 

 

Lumiere Condos

Developer’s website rendering of Lumiere condo tower on Bay below College


Lumiere Condos

November 9, 2010 street view of Lumiere Condos


Lumiere Condos

November 9, 2010 street view of Lumiere Condos


Lumiere Condos

January 8, 2011 street view of Lumiere Condos


Lumiere Condos

January 8, 2011 street view of Lumiere Condos


Lumiere Condos

January 2011 view of Lumiere condos rooftop canopy


Lumiere Condos

November 2010 view of Bay Street side of Lumiere Condos


Lumiere condos

November 2010 view of Lumiere Condos rooftop canopy


Lumiere Condos

November 2010 view of Lumiere Condos balconies above Bay Street


Lumiere Condos

Lumiere balconies unwrapped in time for Christmas


Lumiere Condos

Lumiere Condos viewed from Elizabeth Street


Lumiere Condos

Lumiere Condos viewed from Elizabeth Street


Lumiere Condos

North side of Lumiere Condos viewed from Grenville Street


Going up: Burano makes a statement on Bay Street

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Burano Condos viewed from corner of Grenville and Bay on Jan. 5 2011

 

 

Bold new building for Bay: It’s only approaching one-third of its ultimate height, but the Burano Condos tower already makes a strong visual statement on Bay Street.  With its sharply-angled northeast and southeast corners, and freshly-installed reflective windows putting a shiny face on its six lower floors, Burano is attracting plenty of attention these days. Artistic renderings (below) show what the 50-floor tower is expected to look like when completed; the photos that follow show how far Burano’s construction was coming along this week.

 

 

Burano Condos construction entrance on Grosvenor Street

 

Concrete pumper and construction crane atop Burano Condos tower

 

Windows recently installed on southeast side of Burano Condos tower

 

Southeast corner of the Burano Condos tower

 

North side of Burano Condos tower viewed from Grosvenor Street

 

Northwest side of Burano Condos tower viewed from Grosvenor Street

 

A nearby building reflects in windows on the north side of Burano Condos

 

Looking up at Burano Condos tower from Grosvenor Street

 

Northeast corner of Burano Condos tower

 

Burano construction crane reflects in the Murano tower across Bay Street

 

Was heritage building deliberately torched?

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335 Yonge Street ruins viewed from Gould Street (top) and Yonge Street (below) today after investigators knocked down the top floor and began searching the rubble for evidence of arson. Bottom pic shows 335 Yonge after its top floor was removed.

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Police seeking “person of interest”: The search for the cause of Monday’s fire at 335 Yonge Street turned into a criminal arson investigation after Toronto police found evidence suggesting that someone had entered the property and left mere minutes before the blaze broke out. Nearby surveillance cameras captured pictures and video of a “person of interest” who spent nearly two and a half hours in the building in the middle of the night, leaving the scene shortly before someone saw flames and called the fire department.

Meanwhile, work crews used heavy machinery to tear down the top floor of the fire-charred structure today so pieces of rubble could be extricated and examined for evidence of arson (the ruins remain far too unsafe for investigators to enter). Still no word from the building’s owners or city officials as to what will happen with the site once the fire marshall’s office has concluded its investigation.

While speculation about arson and “demolition by neglect” continues to swirl in the local media, noted journalist Christie Blatchford examines the serious fire hazards posed by vacant and abandoned buildings in an insightful column in today’s Globe and Mail. Below: photos showing some of the demolition equipment in use at 335 Yonge today.

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Work crews laying a solid foundation for Aura

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January 7 2011 webcam view of construction progress at Aura


Growing closer to ground level: The huge hole in the ground at the northwest corner of Yonge and Gerrard Streets is filling in nicely. The foundation for Aura at College Park is rapidly taking shape as work crews continuing pouring concrete for the 75-storey condo tower’s extensive underground levels.

Work crews were easy to observe from the sidewalk on Yonge Street when I walked past the site’s entrance for concrete mixing trucks earlier this week. Last time I passed by, I couldn’t see any of the construction workers from the Yonge Street sidewalk because they were still too far down in the deep excavation.

Won’t be long before passersby get a clear view of the construction activity from the street. For now, they have to be content peering through the small observation windows in the hoarding along the north side of the site.

Below are several of my recent photos of the site, including a shot from the CN Tower which shows the top of one of the three construction cranes at Aura poking above the nearby Delta Chelsea hotel. That same view will look markedly different a year from now, at which point the tower’s frame will have an impressive presence on the city skyline.

Groundbreaking Women’s College Hospital busy breaking ground for new “Hospital of the Future”

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Innovative redevelopment:This is a big year for Women’s College Hospital (WCH), which is celebrating its 100th anniversary throughout 2011. But the hospital isn’t just looking back and proudly resting on its laurels — a full century of  medical milestones and important achievements in all facets of women’s health care. It’s also looking forward, and kicking off construction of a new building that it proudly proclaims will be  “The Hospital of the Future — a hospital designed to keep people out of hospital.”

The new facility, expected to launch in 2015, will give WCH a huge boost in capacity for its leading-edge urgent care services and ambulatory surgery. As the hospital explains on its website, “We’re providing the most advanced care for women living with the diseases and conditions that affect them throughout their lives — diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, mental illness, migraine and cancers. And we’re doing it all without overnight hospitalization.” That’s great news not only for women’s medical care, but also for neighbourhood rejuvenation, since the two-phase redevelopment project will drastically improve the appearance of an entire rather dreary-looking block in downtown Toronto.

WCH sits just east of the Ontario Legislature, bounded by Surrey Place and Grosvenor, Bay and Grenville Streets. (The Bay Street end of the block — once the Addison Cadillac dealership — is the site of the new Burano Condo tower currently under construction.) I’ve never liked the existing WCH complex which, in my view, has a hulking, bunker-like presence that isn’t the least bit friendly to the surrounding streets. In fact, WCB and its neighbours on the south side of Grenville Street — the Ontario Nurses’ Association headquarters and the former Archives of Ontario building — actually make Grenville a rather unpleasant street to walk along. The urgent care department entrance on Surrey Place is an ugly eyesore, and the hospital side of Grosvenor Street isn’t much better — its only saving grace was a tree-lined stretch alongside the low-rise Kenson apartment building that the hospital owned and has since demolished. But if artistic renderings are any indication, the new WCH building will vastly improve the neighbourhood and streetscape, especially since a landscaped, tree-filled park area is planned for the western end of the hospital property.

The five-year redevelopment project got underway last August when the hospital closed and then razed its multi-level parking garage next to Burano, along with the three-storey Kenson. Drilling and excavation work are presently underway. Below are several artistic renderings of what the new building will look like; they’re from a “building the hospital of the future” section of the WCH website that provided information about the redevelopment project. Also below are some photos I shot this week of the building site.

 

 

 

 

 

Excavation viewed from Grenville Street on January 5 2011

Excavation viewed from Grenville Street on January 5 2011

Excavation viewed from Grenville Street on January 5 2011

Excavation viewed from Grenville Street on January 5 2011

Excavation viewed from Grosvenor  Street on January 5 2011


 

 

President envisions burned heritage building as Yonge Street gateway to Ryerson U campus

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The remains of 335 Yonge Street two days after the big blaze

 

 

Ryerson to the rescue? While firefighters and investigators today kept busy probing the cause of Monday’s destructive fire at 335 Yonge Street, the president of Ryerson University reiterated his keen interest in acquiring the historic property.

As I mentioned in a blog post the other day, I’ve been wondering if the university still wants the site — the William Reynolds Block — for its campus expansion plans. Turns out, it definitely does.

University president Sheldon Levy told The Globe and Mail that he’d still like to obtain the property for a possible Yonge Street “gateway” to the RU campus. According to the Globe & Mail story, “Ryerson has eyed the property as a potential venue for an additional entrance to the Dundas subway station for years, but failed to persuade the owners, the Lalani Group, to sell the land.” Ryerson is just about to start construction of a new student services building just a stone’s throw away — directly across Gould Street, on the site of the former Sam the Record Man store. Obtaining the 335 Yonge building would give the university the opportunity to create an impressive, stand-out entrance that its compact downtown campus has been sorely lacking.

But the big question, now, is whether City Hall and the provincial government have the wherewithal to finally get any kind of redevelopment of the site going — especially since they have allowed the property to sit neglected since part of its brick facade fell down last April.

“You don’t sit back and watch a building fall down and burn and then say, ‘Let’s think about this for another six months or a year,” Levy told the Globe. Sadly, that’s the way all levels of government typically act in Canada. They love to spend years talking about things they’d like to do before actually getting around to  it — if they ever in fact do it at all.

Frankly, I’ll be amazed if any kind of redevelopment activity gets underway at 335 Yonge in the next year — whether it’s by Ryerson, the City, or by someone else. But I’ll be thrilled if the university does acquire the site and is able to restore the burned building as part of a new main entrance to its campus. Below are some pics I shot of 335 Yonge this afternoon.

 

Traffic was still restricted on two blocks of Yonge Street today

What’s left of the building’s Yonge Street facade

Firefighters surveying the ruins from an aerial platform

Firefighters hosing down the remains of the collapsed building

Site of Ryerson’s new student services centre, to start construction soon

Eaton Centre’s interior renovations make a splash

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The big squirt is back! The Eaton Centre’s famous “shooting fountain” is once again entertaining children and adult shoppers alike now that most of the flooring and handrail renovations in the mall’s Centre Court have been completed and scaffolding cleared away.

The interior of the 33-year-old Eaton Centre, one of Toronto’s top tourist attractions, has been getting spruced up and modernized in a two-year, $120 million revitalization project. So far, new flooring plus glass and stainless steel railings have been installed from Centre Court all the way south to the Queen Street end of the complex, while the Eaton Centre’s dingy public washrooms also have been overhauled and upgraded. During much of the past six months, tall scaffolding has limited traffic flow and sightlines in the shopping concourses as well as access to the fountain, which was turned off so it could get spiffed up, too. But when I walked through the south half of Eaton Centre this afternoon, there wasn’t any scaffolding in sight, and water was flowing in the fountain once more.

Meanwhile, renovators are gradually working their way toward the north end of the mall, where they are taking up the old floor and installing new railings between Centre Court and the galleria outside Sears. Construction of a new entrance from the mall to the adjoining 250 Yonge Street office tower also is underway. Below are some photos I took of Centre Court today as well as a pic from last August of the court and fountain; today’s pics show how markedly the floor and railing changes have improved the Eaton Centre interior. Still to come are redevelopment of the mall’s food court areas plus lighting enhancements and the installation of what promises to be a spectacular galleria ceiling light sculpture created by the U.K.’s United Visual Artists. You can read more about the Eaton Centre revitalization project here.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

New George Brown College waterfront campus site August 29 2010


George Brown College waterfront campus excavation August 29 2010


George Brown College waterfront campus excavation August 29 2010


Waterlink at Pier 27 excavation November 2 2010


Waterlink at Pier 27 excavation November 2 2010


Waterlink at Pier 27 excavation November 9 2010


ICE + Infinity3 condos excavation November 2 2010


ICE + Infinity3 condos excavation November 2 2010


ICE + Infinity3 condos excavation November 2 2010


ICE + Infinity3 condos excavation November 2 2010


ICE + Infinity3 condos excavation November 2 2010


Fly Condos excavation January 3 2011


Fly Condos excavation January 3 2011


Fly Condos excavation January 3 2011


Fly Condos excavation November 2 2010


Fly Condos excavation November 2 2010


300 Front Street West excavation January 3 2011


300 Front Street West excavation January 3 2011


300 Front Street West excavation January 3 2011


300 Front Street West excavation January 3 2011


300 Front Street West excavation November 2 2010


300 Front Street West excavation November 2 2010


Urban planning experts foresee Toronto growing up, rather than out, during the next 50 years

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Tall buildings. Lots and lots of tall, new buildings. That’s what experts foresee for Toronto in the year 2061 — and not just downtown. Four specific neighbourhoods — Bloor Street/Kipling Avenue in Etobicoke, Yonge Street/Highway 401 in North York, Yonge Street/Eglinton Avenue, and McCowan Rd./Highway 401 in Scarborough — will experience massive highrise building booms to accommodate hundreds of thousands of immigrants and new residents expected to move here, they say.

As part of a special project celebrating its 50th anniversary, CTV Toronto asked some leading Toronto urban planners, architects and designers to gaze into their crystal balls and predict how the city will look 50 years from now. The consensus: with as many as one million more residents, Toronto will have “only one way to grow — up.”

The skyline rendering at the top of this post, plus artistic conceptions of the future Toronto waterfront and the Yonge/Bloor neighbourhood (below), are from CTV’s website feature, “Toronto 2061: Toronto’s Evolving Skyline.”

Their full story, plus a videoclip with some intriguing skyline and building animations, can be viewed on the CTV Toronto website.