Tag Archives: Bay Street

U Condos townhouse & tower construction asserts strong visual presence along Bay & St Mary Streets

August 17 2013: Above-ground construction is still in relatively early stages, but the U Condos condo tower and luxury townhouse complex …

… has already drastically transformed the southwest corner of Bay and St Mary Streets, seen here on September 26 2008 when a surface parking lot still occupied part of the development site

Strong presence: Construction of the U Condominiums complex is really beginning to turn heads on Bay Street now that one of its two towers is climbing steadily higher above its 3-storey podium and the concrete shells for luxurious townhouses that will wrap around three sides of the property.

Although passersby have been able to see above-ground construction activity since January, it has been only in recent weeks that the huge scale of the project — and the tremendous visual impact it will have on the neighbourhood — have become apparent.

The project’s townhouse component has noticeably changed the pedestrian experience on Bay Street, while the west tower — which has climbed more than six storeys on its way to 45 — already hints at how drastically it and the even taller east tower will change the neighbourhood skyline. (Construction of the east tower has so far reached only as high as the townhouses.)

This artistic illustration, from an online promotional brochure that had been available on the U Condos website, shows how the completed towers will look when viewed from the same perspective as the two photos above.

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Builder donates $40 million to SickKids Tower

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Construction on the SickKids Centre for Research & Learning tower dominates the view north from the intersection of Bay and Queen Streets

Record gift: The head of the biggest home building company in Canada has donated a whopping $40 million to what will become the country’s biggest highrise research facility.

The gift from Peter Gilgan, the founder, president and CEO of Mattamy Homes, was announced publicly on Wednesday. The donation will support construction and operating costs for the 21-storey, $400 million Centre currently under construction at the northwest corner of Bay and Elm Streets.

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Winter photo walks: Bay/College area Part 1

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February 9 2012: The south side of Burano Condos, viewed from Grenville Street

Progress updates: I had the opportunity to pass through the Bay & College area on my way to some recent appointments, so I brought along my camera to catch up on construction progress in the neighbourhood. My “winter photo walk” series will show you what I’ve been seeing:

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Pedestrian hurt when glass falls on Bay Street from shattered balcony panel on Murano south tower

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August 15 2011: A wood panel indicates where glass broke and fell onto Bay Street from a balcony on the south Murano condo tower this morning

August 15 2011: Police closed the east traffic lane and sidewalk on Bay Street, as well as the intersection of Bay and Grenville Streets, after broken glass from a Murano condo balcony panel plunged to the ground and hit a passerby

August 15 2011: The driving restrictions cause traffic chaos on Bay Street below the Murano towers at 3 p.m. as police wait for crews to install scaffolding on the sidewalks. A pedestrian was injured by falling glass three hours earlier.

South tower’s turn: Local news media are reporting that a pedestrian suffered minor injuries this morning after she was struck by pieces of broken glass that fell from a balcony panel on the south Murano condo tower at the corner of Bay and Grenville Streets.

The woman was hurt shortly before noon when a glass panel shattered on an upper-floor balcony on the tower’s northwest corner, showering pieces of glass onto Bay Street. Although reports provide conflicting information about the nature of the woman’s injuries — with some stories saying she sustained injuries to her arm, and others describing a hand injury — all media accounts say the injury was minor and not life-threatening. Although it’s fortunate the woman wasn’t seriously hurt, the incident is bound to raise serious concerns about the safety of glass balcony panels not only because it marks the second time in three days that glass has shattered on a downtown condo tower, but because it’s at least the fourth tower to experience problems with panel breakage so far this summer.

On Saturday afternoon, a panel plunged off a 32nd-floor balcony at the recently-opened One Bedford condo tower in the Annex. According to an online Toronto Star report, police said “no-one was injured when the single, large pane of glass fell, bounced off the front-door overhang and smashed onto the ground” around 2.25 p.m. Police closed Bedford Road from Bloor Street to Prince Arthur Avenue for several hours while the incident was investigated. The broken panel was replaced with a temporary wood replacement (see photos below).

On August 2, a balcony panel on the Festival Tower condo highrise shattered and fell onto John Street. Nobody was hurt in that incident, but police closed John Street between King and Adelaide Streets as a precaution until Festival Tower’s developer, The Daniels Corporation, could get safety scaffolding installed on the sidewalk. Another panel had broken on Festival Tower only three weeks before that.

On August 1, two panels shattered and fell from the north Murano condo tower at the corner of Bay and Grosvenor Streets. Those incidents occurred mere days after City of Toronto building inspectors ordered Murano’s developer, Lanterra Developments, to remove and replace all of the balcony panels and railings from the north tower. That tower has been plagued with balcony breakage; in fact, the city ordered Lanterra to undertake the balcony remediation program after two panels broke and fell from the north tower on July 21. Panels had previously fallen from that tower on several separate occasions during the past year. Lanterra, incidentally, was One Bedford’s developer.

Online reports about today’s south Murano tower incident can be viewed on cp24.com, cbc.ca, and on the Toronto Star website, where there is a photo showing shattered glass in the balcony frame before it was cleared out and replaced with a piece of wood. [Additional updated coverage is provided in an August 16 2011 online story in the Globe and Mail.]

I have published extensive information and photos from previous balcony glass breakage incidents in earlier blog reports, including posts on August 4 2011, July 28 2011, July 21 2011, June 21 2011, February 2 2011, and January 18 2011. Below are photos I have taken in the past several days at Festival Tower and One Bedford, along with more pics I took this afternoon following the latest Murano panel break.

August 12 2011: Looking up the east side of Festival Tower, from which a balcony panel fell to the ground on John Street on August 2

August 12 2011: The circle indicates the Festival Tower balcony from which a glass panel plunged and smashed into pieces on John Street on August 2

August 12 2011: The broken panel has been replaced with a new one which appears to be a slightly different shade than the originals on the tower

July 13 2011: Looking up the west side of the One Bedford condo tower. On Saturday, a glass panel fell from a 32nd floor balcony on this side of the building.

August 14 2011: A piece of wood is temporarily replacing the glass panel that broke and fell from this One Bedford balcony on Saturday

August 14 2011: A closer view of the One Bedford condo balcony from which a glass panel fell on the weekend. Fortunately, no-one was hurt.

August 12 2011: The north side of the north Murano condo tower, from which all balcony glass panels, dividers and railings have been removed on order by the City of Toronto. The removal and replacement project will cost the condo building’s developer, Lanterra Developments, millions of dollars.

August 12 2011: The north Murano tower, sans balcony panels and railings, and the south tower rising behind it on Grenville Street

August 12 2011: Scaffolding protects the sidewalk outside the north Murano condo tower. For more than a week after the late July incidents, north tower residents had to enter their building through the south tower.

August 12 2011: Panels have been removed from about two thirds of the balconies on the south side of the Murano north tower

August 12 2011: Another view of the south side of the Murano north tower

August 12 2011: A closer look at the balconies from which glass has been removed on the north tower’s south face

August 15 2011: The two Murano condo towers, viewed this afternoon from the the SW corner of Bay and Grenville Streets. For the past two weeks, crews have been removing glass panels and railings from balconies on the north tower (left). Today, a panel fell off the south tower (right) for the first time.

August 15 2011: Glass shattered and fell this morning from a balcony (circled) on the upper northwest corner of the Murano south condo tower

August 15 2011: A replacement wooden panel has temporarily been installed on the balcony from which the glass fell this morning

August 15 2011: Another view of the replacement wooden panel

August 15 2011: A closer look at the balcony panel from which the broken glass fell

August 15 2011: Police enforce sidewalk and street lane closures on Bay Street below the north Murano condo tower.

August 15 2011: A Toronto police cruiser blocks vehicles from turning off Bay Street onto Grenville Street

August 15 2011: Police enforce traffic restrictions at the intersection of Bay & Grenville Streets below the Murano south condo tower

August 15 2011: The Bay and Grenville Street sidewalks below the Murano condo towers have been closed to pedestrians

August 15 2011: The sidewalk closure sign at the corner of Bay & Grenville Streets

August 15 2011: A Toronto police officer enforces the sidewalk closure at the southeast corner of Bay and Grenville Streets

August 15 2011: The east lane of Bay Street was closed to vehicles, as was the section of Grenville Street below the Murano south condo tower

August 15 2011: Police said the road and sidewalk closures could continue until scaffolding is installed below the Murano south tower

August 15 2011: Grenville Street is closed to vehicular traffic between St Vincent Lane and Bay Street, but the south sidewalk is open to pedestrians

August 15 2011: A crew continues to remove glass panels and railings from the south side of the north Murano tower

Sidewalk along east side of Bay Street taped off after glass falls from Murano condo towers — again

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3:15 p.m.: “Caution” tape blocks the east sidewalk on Bay Street, seen here looking south from Grosvenor toward Grenville Street. A security guard told me the sidewalk was closed as a safety precaution after glass fell from one of the Murano condo towers sometime today.

Overhead dangers: The sky isn’t falling this week, but you can forgive many Toronto motorists and pedestrians for thinking that it is. Yesterday, a 10-pound chunk of concrete fell from the Gardiner Expressway onto Lake Shore Boulevard near Bathurst Street, forcing the temporary closure of two lanes of traffic while crews cleaned the road and inspected the elevated expressway for additional loose pieces. (Further information about that is available in a Toronto Star article published today as well as a story that appeared in yesterday’s Globe and Mail.) Then, sometime today, glass apparently fell from one of the Murano condo towers on Bay Street, forcing building management to tape off pedestrian access to most of the sidewalk on the east side of Bay between Grosvenor and Grenville Streets as a safety measure.

Today’s broken glass/sidewalk closure incident is the latest in a series that have occurred at the popular downtown condominium complex for more than a year. A project of Lanterra Developments, Murano is a pair of attractive glass and steel condo towers that soar 45 and 37 storeys above the east side of Bay Street, between Grosvenor to the north and Grenville to the south. As I reported in a January 18 2011 post, there were three occasions last year on which glass balcony panels either shattered or loosened and fell from the towers. In April 2010, a balcony panel apparently plunged from one of the towers, smashing and cracking several panes of a glass canopy that extends along the condo building exterior above the Bay Street sidewalk. When two more balcony panels broke last September the local media took note, with the Toronto Star publishing a September 18 2010 report headlined “Shattered glass rains down from condo tower.” Just before Christmas, I noticed that a balcony panel on the south side of the North Tower had been replaced with a piece of wood, while in late January I saw a board on yet another balcony on the other side of the same tower (see my February 2 2011 post for photos of that, as well as pics of a temporary wood panel on a balcony at the 46-storey Casa Condominium on Charles Street East). There were no reports of injuries in any of the incidents. For most of 2010 and much of this past winter, however, scaffolding was kept in place to protect pedestrians using the sidewalks outside the Murano towers. Meanwhile, replacements for the broken and cracked panels on the canopy above the sidewalk were not installed until sometime in April of this year.

Early in May, I noticed that most of the scaffolding had been removed from the sidewalks, while just a week or two back I saw that the sidewalks were completely clear for the first time in many months. When I was heading north on Bay Street in midafternoon today, however, I encountered yellow and red “caution” tape that had been strung across the trees in front of the Murano complex, blocking most of the sidewalk from pedestrian use. Only a narrow section, with barely enough room for two pedestrians to pass each other, remained open alongside the curb. A disabled man in a motorized wheelchair came along and noticed, to his chagrin, that the section of sidewalk still open for passage was not wide enough for his chair. He proceeded to drive under the “caution” tape, which snagged on his headrest and ripped away from the trees as he rode up the middle of the sidewalk. A security guard wearing a white hardhat came racing toward him, gesturing for the man to drive his wheelchair along the edge of the sidewalk next to the road. “You can’t go up here! It’s dangerous!” he warned.

When I asked why the sidewalk was taped off, the security guard said it was because “glass fell from the tower.” He did not know whether the glass had fallen from a broken window or a balcony panel. All he could tell me was that glass had fallen to the street and the sidewalk had been cordoned off as a safety precaution. “It’s very dangerous for you here,” he told me, before scurrying down the street to replace the tape that had been torn loose by the wheelchair (several pedestrians had started walking up the middle of the sidewalk since the tape was no longer in place to indicate it was off-limits.) I didn’t see broken glass anywhere on the sidewalks; if there had been any, it had already been swept up. A police car was parked on Grosvenor outside the entrance to the Murano North Tower but, apart from the “caution” tape, there was nothing to suggest anything “dangerous” had happened. Nevertheless, I wonder if I’ll once again see scaffolding above the sidewalk next time I walk past the Muranos?

Below are two more pics showing the taped-off sidewalk today, along with photos I took during the winter of the missing and cracked canopy panels and their replacements.

June 21 2011: Red caution tape blocks the Bay Street sidewalk beside the Murano Condo towers, seen here looking north from Grenville Street.

June 21 2011: Red and yellow tape tied to trees blocks the Bay Street sidewalk next to the Murano condos, seen here looking south from Grosvenor Street.

March 29 2011: One glass panel is cracked and others are missing from the canopy that extends above the sidewalk from the west side of the Murano towers

March 29 2011: Looking up at the 45-storey Murano Condos South Tower through the space where a panel is missing from the canopy above the Bay Street sidewalk

March 29 2011: Looking up at the Murano’s North Tower, left, and South Tower

April 30 2011: New panels have recently been installed in the canopy

April 30 2011: The glass podium of the Murano towers reflects the Burano condo tower — another Lanterra Developments project — currently under construction on the west side of Bay Street

Sea of scaffolding rises at corner of Bay & Elm as SickKids Tower climbs toward third floor

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April 30 2011: Stacks of scaffolding rise more than two storeys high at the SickKids Research & Learning Tower construction site

April 30 2011: A construction worker walks the plank in a thicket of scaffolding at the SickKids Research & Learning Tower construction site

Going from ground to third floor: Since they reached street grade 46 days ago, crews at the SickKids Research & Learning Tower have maintained a steady pace of above-ground construction milestones. On April 19, they completed the placement of the ground floor slab, along with vertical walls and columns between there and the second floor. Two weeks ago, they finished pouring the second level concrete floor slab, and were well on their way to erecting formwork, reinforcing steel and concrete for the vertical walls and columns between the second and third floors. Meanwhile, progress continues on the southwest corner of the building site, where the SickKids Tower first began noticeably taking shape above Elm Street. About 14 days ago, the workers completed concrete placement for the second floor auditorium, then finished installing the acoustical floating floor. Plenty of activity has been happening where the sun doesn’t shine, too. The interior masonry walls of the P3 level were completed two weeks ago, with installation of mechanical and electrical rough-ins progressing well. Interior masonry walls were 75% complete on P2, while on P1 the mechanical and electrical overhead rough-ins were well underway and work on the interior masonry walls was beginning. But it’s above ground, of course, where the work is really starting to make an impact on the surrounding streetscape. With construction approaching the third floor, the building activity is obvious to passersby on Walton, Bay and Elm Streets, and is noticeable from a block away in each direction. Soon, the tower will start blocking some sightlines, including views of the CN Tower from the Bay & Gerrard area. Below is a construction webcam photo showing building activity at the Tower site this afternoon, along with photos I snapped at the beginning and the end of April.

May 3 2011: SickKids Research & Learning Tower webcam view of construction

April 8 2011: Forms for the second floor appear above the Bay Street hoarding

April 8 2011: North view of the tower site from the corner of Bay & Elm Street

April 8 2011: Forms are in place for the concrete pour for the second floor

April 30 2011: Second floor construction viewed from Walton Street looking south

April 30 2011: Construction progress viewed from the northeast corner of Bay & Walton Streets. Won’t be long before the tower blocks this view of the CN Tower.

April 30 2011: Vertical forms rise from the second floor of the tower, viewed here from the east side of Bay Street just below Walton Street

April 30 2011: West view of the site from the opposite side of Bay Street

April 30 2011: Construction view from the southeast corner of Bay & Elm Streets

April 30 2011: Elm Street view of stacks of scaffolding rising on the site

April 30 2011: Soon, the construction will block Elm Street views of the LuCliff tower at Bay & Gerrard Street (rear) and the College Park condo towers at 777 Bay Street (right rear)

April 30 2011: A construction worker is barely visible as he stands in one of the stacks of scaffolding at the southeast corner of the Tower construction site

April 30 2011: North view of the construction site from Elm Street

April 30 2011: The stacks of scaffolding viewed from Elm Street

April 30 2011: Elm Street view of the auditorium construction at the southwest corner of the SickKids Tower site

April 30 2011: Auditorium construction at the tower’s southwest corner

April 30 2011: Elm Street view of the auditorium construction progress

April 30 2011: Looking up from Elm Street at the southwest side of the building

April 30 2011: Looking east along Elm Street at the tower’s ground level

April 30 2011: Looking northeast on Elm Street toward Bay Street

April 30 2011: The SickKids Tower viewed from the southwest corner of Bay & Elizabeth Streets

Yorkville traffic snarled for hours after cement spills onto Bay Street from top of Four Seasons tower

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Looking south on Bay Street, from Scollard Street, shortly past 2 p.m. this afternoon. The entire block was closed to vehicles and pedestrians

With a television cameraman filming the action, two construction workers sweep debris from Bay Street while another crew inspects hoarding on the Bay Street sidewalk next to the Four Seasons hotel + condo construction site

Construction accident: It’s amazing nobody was hurt when a load of construction cement fell 53 storeys from the top of the Four Seasons hotel and condo tower and splattered onto Bay Street shortly after lunchtime today. The construction accident occurred around 1.20 p.m., but police and bystanders said no-one was injured and no vehicles or buildings damaged when cement showered onto the pavement between Yorkville Avenue and Scollard Streets. That section of Bay Street is typically busy with steady daytime traffic, including city buses, and dozens of pedestrians would have been walking along nearby sidewalks at the time. According to a story in the Toronto Star’s online edition, the mishap occurred when concrete was being poured into a mould on the 53rd floor of the tower, which will rise a total of 55 storeys once construction is completed. When the mould buckled, the concrete rained down onto the street. Police closed the entire block between Yorkville and Scollard so crews could clean the cement spill while staff from the provincial Ministry of Labour investigated the cause of the accident. A street cleaning machine was brought in to assist several construction workers using push brooms to sweep up the mess. Traffic throughout Yorkville was snarled as pedestrians and vehicles were forced to detour around the street closure. I arrived at the Bay/Yorkville intersection just as the crews finished sweeping the street, so there was little to see other than yellow “do not cross” tape and police vehicles barring access to the block, along with dozens of curious onlookers gazing upward at the tall glass tower and asking each other what had happened. Below are several photos I snapped at the scene. Additional photos of the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences can be viewed in my April 1 2011 post about progress on the construction project.

A view of Bay Street from the northwest corner of Bay and Yorkville Avenue, outside The Regency condominium building

A media photographer chats with police at the northeast corner of Bay & Yorkville

Television cameramen filming from the northwest corner of Bay & Yorkville

A TV cameraman films police standing a block away at Scollard Street

A TV cameraman shoots footage of the Four Seasons while pedestrians look up at the hotel/condo tower and traffic detours past the site

The police roadblock at Scollard Street, outside the Four Seasons West Residence

The Four Seasons’ East and West Residence towers viewed from the northwest

Two construction workers atop the Four Seasons’ 26-storey East Residence Tower

Cranes atop the West Residence tower, now 53 storeys tall on its way to 55

Looking up at the new Four Seasons towers

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Tall, sleek & slender: It’s the tallest tower in Yorkville, yet the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences hasn’t even topped off at its full 55 floors yet. But the sleek glass skyscraper and its 26-storey condo sibling have literally brightened up the east block of Bay Street between Scollard Street and Yorkville Avenue. When sunshine glints off the curtain glass walls of the East and West Residence towers on a clear day, it’s almost blinding. And even though the two-tower construction site is still surrounded by hoarding and scaffolding, and covered in dust and grime, it feels like it has significantly classed-up the corner at Bay & Yorkville already. I’m loving the look of these shiny towers, from all angles, and think the complex will be a stunning addition to the streetscape once construction is complete.

The five-star Four Seasons Hotel & Residences was designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance, and is being built by Menkes Construction Ltd. The West Residence is a mixed-use tower featuring a 253-room Four Seasons Hotel on the first 20 floors, and 101 private condominium residences on the upper 35 storeys. The East Residence will have 103 condominiums, and is linked to the west tower by an elevated pedestrian walkway about eight floors above the ground.

I previously published photos of the Four Seasons construction in a January 26 post; below is a series of photos from February, March and today which show how much progress has been made since then.

February 10 2011: Construction of the Four Seasons towers (and, to the right, the Florian condo tower) viewed from Yonge St. near Roxborough St. in Rosedale

February 23 2011: East view of the towers from Yorkville Avenue

February 23 2011: Southwest view of the East Residence condo tower

February 23 2011: Yorkville Avenue view of the two towers

February 23 2011: Looking way up the south side of the West Residence tower

February 23 2011: The southeast corner of the West Residence tower

February 23 2011: Construction elevator on the West Residence tower

March 16 2011: The Four Seasons Hotel & Residences complex viewed from the northwest corner of Bay and Scollard Streets

March 16 2011: A health club, spa, swimming pool, ballroom and conference centre will be situated in this eight-storey wing at the corner of Bay and Scollard Streets

March 16 2011: The Four Seasons complex shines in the late afternoon sunshine

March 16 2011: The West Residence tower viewed from Bay Street

March 16 2011: Looking up the West Residence tower from Bay Street

March 16 2011: The southwest corner of the West Residence tower

March 16 2011: The south side of the West Residence Tower

March 24 2011: The towers viewed from Hazelton Avenue at Scollard Street

March 24 2011: From Avenue Road, a view of the “old” Four Seasons Hotel, right, and the new tower rising two blocks to the east on Yorkville Avenue.

March 24 2011: The West Residence tower rises on the Yorkville skyline in this view from the intersection of Yonge and Wellesley Streets

April 1 2011: Southwest view of the West Residence tower

April 1 2011: Bay Street view of the West Residence tower

April 1 2011: A construction elevator rises up the side of the West Residence

April 1 2011: The West Residence tower seen from Avenue Road near the Museum subway station entrance outside the Royal Ontario Museum

Trump l’oeil: Eyes on Toronto’s Trump Tower

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Reaching skyward: In this view from the depths of the Bay Street skyscraper canyon, the 13-storey office building at 302 Bay Street (top) appears to rise almost as tall as the still-under-construction Toronto Trump Tower, which is around 50 floors high so far and climbing steadily on its way to 60 storeys. Originally the Trust and Guarantee Building, 302 Bay was built in 1917 but received a rooftop addition in 1929. The building now bears the Bank of Montreal name above its front entrance. On the left is the 51-storey Bay Adelaide Centre, Trump Toronto’s neighbour on the north side of Adelaide Street, built in 2009. Part of the 68-storey Scotia Plaza tower built in 1988 is visible at right and in reflection on the south side of Bay Adelaide Centre.

The Trump Tower made the news today in a Toronto Star article that gives an “exclusive peak” inside the Trump Hotel section of the skyscraper, which received an occupancy permit from the City last Friday. The hotel is scheduled to open later this spring. The newspaper article also profiles the tower’s 42-year-old billionaire builder, Alex Shnaider, and hails his “noteworthy accomplishment” of having “built the tallest residential tower in Canada — and the second tallest building in Toronto, after the CN Tower.” Seems the Star is jumping the gun: the Trump isn’t even as tall as the Bay Adelaide Centre yet, and it’s far from “built.” Moreover, when complete, it still won’t rise as high as 72-storey First Canadian Place, so Trump will have to settle for third-highest place on the Toronto skyline. Below are some pics I’ve taken of the Toronto Trump Tower this month.

March 14 2011: Adelaide Street West view of Toronto Trump Tower construction

March 7 2011: Toronto Trump Tower viewed from Bay & Adelaide Streets

March 7 2011: Southwest view from Bay below Adelaide Street

March 7 2011: Upper-level construction viewed from the southwest

March 7 2011: Nathan Phillips Square view of the Toronto Trump construction

March 7 2011: West view of Bay Adelaide Centre and Toronto Trump Tower

March 7 2011: From left are the Bay Adelaide Centre, Toronto Trump Tower, Scotia Plaza and the Bank of Nova Scotia building at 44 King Street West.

March 7 2011: Trump Tower viewed from Bay Street outside First Canadian Place

March 7 2011: Toronto Trump Tower and the Bank of Nova Scotia building at 44 King Street West. The 27-storey bank building at the northeast corner of King & Bay Streets was constructed in 1951.

March 14 2011: Adelaide Street West view of Toronto Trump construction

March 14 2011: Toronto Trump Tower, Scotia Plaza and First Canadian Place

March 14 2011: When completed, the Toronto Trump Tower will stand taller than Scotia Plaza — when measured to the top of its spire. But Scotia Plaza’s roof will still be higher, as a diagram on skyscraperpage.com demonstrates.

March 14 2011: Toronto Trump Tower and Scotia Plaza

March 22 2011: Scotia Plaza, Toronto Trump Tower and Bay Adelaide Centre

March 22 2011: Northeast view of the Trump Toronto from King Street West

March 22 2011: Upper-level construction viewed from the northeast

March 22 2011: King Street view of the northeast corner of the Trump Toronto

March 22 2011: Toronto Trump Tower street level view from King Street

March 22 2011: Cement trucks at the tower’s King Street construction entrance

City Scenes: Snowy Bay Street building sites

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Snow day: The calendar says it’s spring, but Toronto is getting another blast of winter with 5 cm. of snow falling throughout the day today. This photo, looking north from Queen Street on another snowy day earlier this winter, shows three major building sites on Bay Street. The orange construction crane is building the Sick Kids Research & Learning Tower at Elm Street; the crane in the middle of the photo is atop the Burano condo tower between Grenville and Grosvenor Streets; and the crane at the rear of the picture, on the east side of Bay, is atop the Four Seasons Toronto hotel and condo tower.

Snow motion: This photo was taken on the same day as the one above, a few blocks further north up Bay Street. It shows the Motion on Bay highrise apartment building construction site at left, along with the Sick Kids and Burano towers to the north.

Ice view: This was a view this afternoon of the Sick Kids Research and Learning Tower construction site from an ice-covered webcam high above the building.

Snowy Aura: Although it’s not on Bay Street itself, Aura condos is part of the College Park complex that occupies the entire eastern block of Bay between Gerrard and College Streets. This is a webcam view of the Aura condos construction site earlier this afternoon.

Historic Addison on Bay building reconstruction partially revealed at Burano condo site

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Part of the reconstructed Addison on Bay building was revealed this week when protective wrapping was removed from the facade on Grenville St.

This is how the building looked in September 2008 when it was being dismantled to make way for construction of the Burano condo complex

This artistic rendering from the Burano Condos website suggests how the reconstructed building will appear as part of the new condo complex

Addison’s back on Bay! The Addison on Bay Cadillac dealership closed four years ago, and the historic Addison building itself completely disappeared from the landscape during late 2008 and early 2009. But the building is right back where it had operated as a car dealership since 1925 — only now it’s going to have an entirely new life and function as part of the Burano luxury condo complex currently under construction.

The Addison showroom at 832 Bay Street was designated a historical property by the City in 1999. The dealership continued in business for another eight years after that, but finally shuttered its doors in the middle of March 2007. Despite its prominent, lengthy history downtown, the dealership was forced to close the Bay Street business because of “economic factors, including the increasing cost of maintaining a central downtown location,” dealership president Clarke Addison explained in a letter to customers. (Further details about the Addison site and the demise of the downtown dealership were reported in a Toronto Star story published on March 2, 2007.)

Though the downtown location ceased operations, the Addison car business continued — in Mississauga where, as Addison Chevrolet, it’s that city’s “youngest General Motors dealership.”

But the Bay Street property wouldn’t sit idle for long.

Addison had been operating not just the historically-designated showroom and a repair garage on the west side of Bay, between Grosvenor and Grenville Streets, but also a new and used car display lot on the east side of the street, also between Grosvenor and Grenville.

Lanterra Developments ultimately acquired the properties on both sides of Bay, and built the two-tower Murano condo complex on the east side. Since the summer of 2008, it has been building Burano on the west property. During the fall and winter of that year, the Addison showroom was dismantled so the site could be excavated for the condo tower. Once the foundation for the new complex had been built, reconstruction of the Addison building commenced.

Protective sheeting has blocked the facade from public view for the past three months, but a section of wrapping was removed from the Grenville Street wall of the structure late last week.

Below are some pics I took while the Addison building was being dismantled and then re-assembled. There’s also some pics of the newly revealed Addison facade on Grenville Street, along with other recent photos showing construction progress on the Burano condo tower. An album of Burano pics from the beginning of construction to this month can be viewed on the Photo Sets page of the blog.

October 13 2008: The Addison on Bay building gradually being dismantled

November 22 2009: Foundation work begins in the Burano condo excavation

May 2 2010: Addison building takes shape during reconstruction

May 2 2010: Another view of the Addison building reconstruction progress

July 26 2010: Grenville St. view of frame for new Addison building

November 9 2010: Rebuilding progress before the structure went under wraps

December 21 2010: Frame of building partly visible under wraps

February 9 2011: Murano tower, crane seen from College St. at University Ave.

February 9 2011: Burano viewed from Grosvenor Street near Surrey Place

February 20 2011: Burano construction progress viewed from College Street

February 20 2011: Burano viewed from southeast corner of Bay and Grenville

February 20 2011: The unwrapped Grenville Street facade viewed from Bay Street

February 20 2011: Reconstructed Grenville Street facade is exposed

Another view of the reconstructed Addison facade on Grenville

Here’s looking at U, Condos

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U’s Turn: In just a few short years, things will really be looking up for the St. Michael’s College campus at the University of Toronto. Way up. From the old ivy-clad stone and brick bastions of academia to the shiny new glass and steel towers of luxury condo living 45 and 50 storeys up. That’s how high the two towers of U Condos, currently starting construction, will soar above the college campus from their perch at the southeast corner of Bay and St. Mary Streets near Yorkville. It’s going to be a huge and dramatic change for a wedge-shaped piece of property that previously contained an unremarkable asphalt parking lot and a wide field of green grass. For people who were lucky to buy in when the buildings initially went on sale, U Condos undoubtedly will prove to be an incredibly wise investment. I’m willing to bet a substantial number of buyers are real estate- and personal finance-savvy parents who scooped up suites so their kids will have accommodations when they attend U of T; after graduation day, mom and dad will sell the units at a tidy profit, perhaps even paying off the kids’ substantial university tuition bills and other education expenses in the process. Contractors have been preparing the site for excavation since December; heavy machinery has been moving mounds of earth, while pile drivers have been punching away at several different places on the U Condos property. Below is an architectural rendering of the U Condos podium, along with photos I’ve taken in the U Condos neighbourhood at various times since 2008.

Architectural rendering of U Condos towers and podium

Billboards along U Condos Bay Street location November 14 2008

View towards Bay Street from west end of U Condos site November 1 2010

U Condos site viewed from St. Mary Street on November 1 2010

U Condos site viewed from Bay Street on November 11 2010

Billboard on U Condos site November 11 2010

View towards U Condos site from west end of St Mary Street on December 4 2010; in two years, the new towers will totally dominate this view towards Bay Street

Idle excavation equipment on U Condos site December 4 2010

Last glimpse of green: This lawn, seen December 4 2010, will soon be dug up

All quiet on the U Condos site on Sunday January 9

Snow-covered excavation machinery at the U Condos site January 9

U Condos site under a blanket of snow on January 9

Pile driving machinery on January 24 after a light snowfall

Pile driving machinery on January 24

U Condos billboards along Bay Street on January 29

Early stages of excavation at U Condos on January 29

Grass has been completely cleared from the western half of the site

U Condos hoarding along St Mary Street January 29

City Scene: Yorkville’s highrise building boom

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Davenport Road (near Bay Street) view of new towers being built in Yorkville

Growing up: Construction activity is apparent in practically every corner of downtown, and the Yorkville neighbourhood is no exception.

Pedestrians and drivers approaching Bay Street along Davenport Road are greeted by this view of three highrise towers currently under construction: The Florian condo building (left) and the two towers of the new Four Seasons Toronto Hotel and Private Residences.

Meanwhile, just beyond the bend in the road, east of Bay, there’s more construction in progress. Excavation is underway for the Milan condominium tower on Church near Yonge, while in a few years’ time there could be as many as three towers rising right behind The Florian on McMurrich Street.

Keeping tabs on … Lumiere Condos

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Lumiere Condos streetscape presence on Bay Street January 14 2011

Finishing touches: When I profiled Lumiere Condominiums on Bay in a post on January 9, I mentioned that the nearly-completed tower required some finishing touches. Well, when I passed by several days later, crews were busy working on some of those final details. Here’s several pics from January 14:

Falling glass balcony panels a “pane” in the neck for Murano condo owners, Bay Street pedestrians

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Murano condo towers under construction September 20 2008

Heads up! You don’t usually see scaffolding erected around a brand-new condominium tower to protect passing pedestrians after construction has finished and the building is fully occupied. But then, you don’t usually expect glass panels to shatter and fall off the balconies of new buildings, either. Yet that’s what seems to have happened four separate times in the past year at the Murano condos on Bay Street.

Designed by architectsAlliance of Toronto, Murano is a complex of two glass highrise buildings that opened in 2009: a 35-floor North Tower on Grosvenor Street and a 45-storey South Tower on Grenville Street, both linked by a two-storey podium extending along Bay Street.

According to posts in an online Toronto architecture and building forum, a glass panel broke loose from a balcony in early April of last year. It plunged to the ground, in the process shattering several other glass panels that create a canopy above Bay Street to protect pedestrians from rain and the elements. The sidewalk around the damaged panels was cordoned off with yellow safety warning tape while repairs were performed.

A similar incident occurred in September, when a tempered glass panel shattered and fell from an upper-level balcony on the Grenville Street side of the North Tower. Several days later, glass from another panel shattered and showered to the ground from a different North Tower balcony, also on the Grenville Street side. That incident made headlines in local papers; for example, the Toronto Star reported on glass falling from the Murano tower in a story on September 18.

The broken panels were replaced with sheets of wood while new panels were ordered; meanwhile, condo management called engineers in to try to determine what had caused the panels to break.

In early December, I noticed that the wood sheets were gone and the missing glass panels had finally been replaced; however, around December 21, another balcony panel shattered. Again, it was on a North Tower balcony, but this time on the south side. Scaffolding has protected sidewalks around the condo complex ever since, and up until the end of last week a piece of wood was still visible on the balcony in question. When I passed by this morning, however, the wood was gone and a new glass panel was in place; in fact, I could see a contractor working on the balcony, so he may have just finished the installation. On the other hand, the glass overhang above street level was still missing three panels.

The problem must be a source of embarrassment and frustration for the building’s developer, Lanterra Developments, which operates a customer service centre for its various condominium projects in a street-level office in the Murano podium along Bay Street (now partially obscured by the scaffolding).

But shattered glass hasn’t been the only thing dropping from the Murano towers. In a gruesome accident in May 2008, falling metal debris killed a 55-year-old construction worker while the complex was being built; details are provided in this Toronto Star story. And on March 15 last year, a man jumped to his death from a unit on the east side of the building. Could ghosts of the two deceased be responsible for the falling glass? Or is it merely a case of balcony panel defects or improper installation techniques?

It will be interesting to see how long the scaffolding remains in place; it really detracts from the streetscape and spoils views of the podium. Fortunately, it doesn’t block the colourful decorated glass windows (created by Toronto photographer Barbara Astman) on the podium’s second floor.

Missing glass panel on south side of North Tower December 21 2010

Closer view of the replacement wood panel on North Tower balcony

January 18 2011: New glass panel freshly installed

January 18 2011: Overhang above the sidewalk is still missing panels

Scaffolding on Bay Street sidewalk below Murano condo towers December 21 2010

Wood panel on a Murano North Tower balcony September 19 2010

Wood panel on another Murano North Tower balcony September 19 2010

Scaffolding on sidewalks around the Murano towers January 5 2011

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Tag Archives: Bay Street

U Condos townhouse & tower construction asserts strong visual presence along Bay & St Mary Streets

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Pedestrian hurt when glass falls on Bay Street from shattered balcony panel on Murano south tower

Sidewalk along east side of Bay Street taped off after glass falls from Murano condo towers — again

Sea of scaffolding rises at corner of Bay & Elm as SickKids Tower climbs toward third floor

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Looking up at the new Four Seasons towers

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City Scenes: Snowy Bay Street building sites

Historic Addison on Bay building reconstruction partially revealed at Burano condo site

Here’s looking at U, Condos

City Scene: Yorkville’s highrise building boom

Keeping tabs on … Lumiere Condos

Falling glass balcony panels a “pane” in the neck for Murano condo owners, Bay Street pedestrians

Tracking Downtown Toronto's AmazingBuilding Boom.

Tracking Downtown Toronto's Amazing
Building Boom.