Tag Archives: Cecconi Simone Inc.

Nicholas & FIVE condos making big visual impact on Yonge Street; 1 Bloor tower set to follow suit

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north downtown Yonge Street

November 14 2013: Construction of FIVE Condos (left) and Nicholas Residences (center rear) is dramatically changing the landscape of north downtown Yonge Street. This is a view from the east side of Yonge just below Maitland Street, one block south of Wellesley Street.

 

 

Shifting landscape: Two condo tower construction projects are rapidly changing the look of Yonge Street’s west side, between College and Bloor Streets, while a third new building will soon make a dramatic impact on views up the east side of Yonge Street.

The steadily rising concrete frames for FIVE Condos and Nicholas Residences now dominate the views up Yonge from as far south as its intersection with Carlton and College Streets. Depending upon your particular vantage point along the 10-block stretch of what city planners call “north downtown Yonge,” FIVE and Nicholas already obscure or partially block from sight several skyscrapers in the Yorkville neighbourhood — including the 51-storey Manulife Centre tower, which has been a familiar landmark indicating the intersection of Bloor & Bay Streets since 1972.

But with a long way still to go before construction of FIVE and Nicholas is complete, it’s already obvious that both new buildings will exude an even more powerful presence on the landscape once they have attained their full height. As of this weekend, construction of Nicholas has reached the 27th level on the way to 35, with cladding and windows installed up to the 13th floor so far. Two blocks down the street, construction of FIVE Condos has climbed to the 16th storey — exactly one-third of its way to the building’s final 48 floors. Installation of that tower’s cladding has not yet begun.

Meanwhile, the One Bloor condo project is poised to begin an equally remarkable transformation of views up the east side of Yonge Street. Rising at the southeast corner of Yonge & Bloor Streets, One Bloor will ultimately top off at 75 floors, completely reshaping the Yorkville skyline and one of the country’s most famous crossroads in the process.

 

One Bloor condos

November 27 2013: Looking toward the One Bloor condo construction site from one block to the south, at the intersection of Yonge and Charles Streets.

 

 

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Peter Street condo tower continues to climb as nearby Tableau Condos gradually gets its legs

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Peter Street Condominiums construction progress

November 14 2013: Construction has reached the 12th floor of Peter Street Condominiums at the northeast corner of Adelaide and Peter Streets …

 

 

Tableau Condos construction progress

… while at the opposite end of the same block, the ground level of Tableau Condos continues to take shape at Peter & Richmond Streets. The two condo towers will bookend the 9-story office building that sits in the middle of the block at 111 Peter Street.

 

One block, two towers: The east side of Peter Street between Richmond and Adelaide Streets is changing dramatically as construction continues to progress on two new condominium towers that will also transform the Entertainment District skyline and streetscapes in the process.

At the southeast corner of Peter and Adelaide, work on the Peter Street Condominium tower has climbed above the 11th level, bringing the building nearly one-third of the way to its ultimate 40-storey floorcount.

Just a few meters north, at the corner of Peter and Richmond, construction is progressing on the ground level of Tableau Condos, a 36-storey tower that will stand atop a distinctive table-shaped podium supported by long, tall column “legs.”

Artistic illustrations of both buildings, along with construction progress photos shot this week, can be viewed on page 2 of this post.

 

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Fall photo update: One Bloor condo construction

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1 Bloor condo

December 5 2012: Two construction cranes soar above the One Bloor condo tower excavation at Yonge & Bloor. Click on the photo to view a larger-size image.

 

Digging nearly done:  Last time I reported about construction progress on the One Bloor condo tower, in my September 4 2012 post, crews still had a huge amount of earth to excavate from the building site. As winter approaches some excavation work remains, but the two white construction cranes soaring above the property are a sure sign that the pace of building activity is going to pick up significantly. And at the bottom of the big pit more than five levels below the southeast corner of the busy Yonge & Bloor intersection, the base of the elevator core for the 75-storey skyscraper has started taking shape.

 

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Charlie Condos climbs closer to completion

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Charlie Condos Toronto

February 20 2012: The east side of Charlie Condos soars above the Mountain Equipment Co-Op on King Street, just west of Peter Street/Blue Jays Way

 

Charlie Condos Toronto

January 31 2012 : Charlie Condos, far left, makes its mark on the city skyline, in this view from the Bathurst Street bridge

 

Nearly there: Construction crews are close to topping off work on the latest condo tower to rise on the Entertainment District skyline. When I passed by Charlie Condos on King Street West earlier this week, workers were busy building the 35th level of what will end up as a 36-storey highrise. They also were continuing to make progress with exterior cladding installation, having reached as high as the 28th floor.

 

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Site demolition clears way for construction to start on 40-storey Peter Street Condominiums tower

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Peter Street Condominiums

January 30 2012: Three weeks ago, crews were getting set to demolish two low-rise buildings on the northeast corner of Adelaide and Peter Streets …

 

Peter Street Condominiums site

... and by yesterday, a few piles of broken bricks and rubble were all that remained of the two nightclubs that formerly occupied the site

 

Peter Street Condominiums site

February 20 2012: Southeasterly view of the site from Peter Street

 

Peter Street Condominiums site

February 20 2012: A heap of bricks and broken concrete blocks on the site of what was once the popular Adelaide Street Pub

 

Peter Street Condominiums site

February 20 2012: Looking toward Peter Street from the southeast corner of the property. The Roosevelt Room Supper Club once occupied the 2-storey Art Deco-styled warehouse building that used to stand on this site.

 

Pub & club get clobbered: Over the years, countless funseekers got smashed during booze-soaked blurs of drinking, dancing and debauchery in the pub and nightclub that occupied two adjacent buildings at the northeast corner of Adelaide and Peter Street in the Entertainment District. This month, it was the buildings’ turn to get wrecked.

In January, I noticed signs for Delsan Demolition Services posted on the buildings at 328 – 340 Adelaide Street West, formerly home to the Adelaide Street Pub and the Roosevelt Room Supper Club. Two men wearing hardhats were taking notes as they wandered around the property, no doubt planning how to demolish the two low-rise structures so construction can start on the 40-storey condo tower that will take their place.

 

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Earth moving at Yonge & Bloor as excavation crews keep digging deeper on One Bloor condo tower site

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One Bloor condos Toronto

January 11 2012: Excavation has progressed to roughly one level below grade at the One Bloor condo site, a dramatic change from exactly one year ago …

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

… when the property was still just a snow-covered empty lot. This is a view of the southern third of the One Bloor site, looking west from the Yonge-Bloor TTC subway entrance at the adjacent Xerox tower on January 10 2011 …

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

… while this is a view of the northern two-thirds of the property, also taken from the west side of the Xerox building on January 10 last year

 

Digging deeper: Exactly one year ago, the southeast corner of Yonge & Bloor Streets was just a large, empty, snow-covered lot, bisected by a pedestrian entrance to the Yonge-Bloor subway station. Now it’s a bustling construction site where an enormous excavation is taking shape for the 70-storey One Bloor condo tower.  So far crews have dug deeper than one level below grade, making steady progress on moving earth out of what will ultimately become a five-level underground parking garage. One Bloor is a project of Great Gulf Homes. The tower was designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, with interior design by Cecconi Simone Inc. Below are photos I have shot of One Bloor’s excavation progress in the past two weeks. Renderings and illustrations of the tower can be viewed on the One Bloor East project page of the Hariri Pontarini website.

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

December 30 2011: Looking to the northwest across the construction site

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

December 30 2011: Digging still hasn’t started at the southwest corner

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

December 30 2011: Excavation at the north side of the site, along Bloor Street

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

December 30 2011: Construction equipment near the northwest corner

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

 December 30 2011: Idle excavating machines on the south end of the lot

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

January 11 2012: An excavating machine digs near the southwest corner of the lot, as seen here from the west side of Yonge Street

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

January 11 2012: The One Bloor excavation, viewed from the southeast corner of Yonge & Hayden Streets

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

January 11 2012: Looking from Hayden Street toward The Bay’s 44 Bloor Street East department store at the Hudson’s Bay Centre

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

January 11 2012: Overlooking excavation activity from the southeast

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

 January 11 2012: Two red dump trucks stand by for loads of dirt

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

January 11 2012: Excavation progress near the northeast corner along Bloor

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

January 11 2012: Excavation crews working near the northeast corner

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

January 11 2012: Construction entrance ramp off Bloor Street

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

January 11 2012: Excavation appears to be deepest at the northwest corner

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

January 11 2012: An excavating machine digs near the southwest corner

 

One Bloor condos Toronto

January 11 2012: In less than two weeks, several feet of soil has been excavated from virtually the entire site

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Going …

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FIVE Condos site on St Joseph Street

May 31 2011: Demolition is underway at the FIVE Condos site on St Joseph Street…

 

FIVE Condos site on St Joseph Street

… where this unsightly rear addition to a late 1880s-era Yonge Street heritage building is being destroyed…

 

Hariri Pontarini architectural rendering of FIVE Condos tower

… as part of the extensive FIVE Condos block redevelopment and condo tower building project at Yonge & St Joseph Streets, depicted in this illustration provided courtesy of Hariri Pontarini Architects in Toronto

 

Falling for FIVE: Wrecking crews have been busy on St Joseph Street, where this week they began knocking down parts of buildings that presently occupy a site where the 45-storey FIVE condo tower will ultimately rise. The structures being demolished sit to the rear of several 1880s-era historical buildings at the southwest corner of Yonge and St Joseph Streets, which will be preserved and restored as part of the FIVE Condos at 5 St Joseph redevelopment project.

First to go was a tacky two-storey rear addition to the charming building right at the corner of Yonge & St Joseph; a sports bar once occupied the upper level, while the ground floor was part of a Timothy’s coffee shop during the late 1990s and early 2000s and, most recently, a shawarma shop. Just to the immediate south, a boxy three-storey brick structure is also being pulled down. The good news is that six old brick buildings with storefronts along Yonge Street will be restored and incorporated into the FIVE Condos development, as will be the case with the facade of the former Rawlinson Cartage warehouse building on the corner of St Joseph and St Nicholas Streets. A senior city planner, Michael Hynes, has publicly described the FIVE Condos development as “the largest heritage building protection project in the country.”

FIVE is a team project by MOD Developments Inc., Graywood Developments Ltd., Tricon and Diamondcorp, along with Hariri Pontarini Architects, Cecconi Simone Inc. interior design, and Janet Rosenberg & Associates landscape architects. FIVE was a bigger winner at the 2011 BILD Awards, presented in late April by the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD). It won four major awards, including High-Rise Project of the Year, Best High-Rise Building Design, Best High-Rise Sales Office, and Best Model Suite.

Below are several photos showing demolition activity at the FIVE Condos project site this week. Additional information, photos and architectural renderings of the project are provided in my April  28 2011 post, while there are a few more pics of demolition equipment at the site in my May 12 2011 post.

 

FIVE Condos site at Yonge & St Joseph Streets

May 31 2011: Hoarding extends along Yonge Street outside the old buildings that will be incorporated into the FIVE Condos development

 

Construction and demolition equipment on St Joseph Street

May 31 2011: Construction and demolition equipment outside the former Rawlinson Cartage warehouse building on St Joseph Street

 

Demolition activity at the FIVE Condos site

May 31 2011: Demolition activity at the FIVE Condos site on St Joseph Street

 

Demolition activity on St Joseph Street

May 31 2011: The structures being demolished sit at the rear of the historic buildings being preserved on the Yonge Street flank of the FIVE Condos site

 

Demolition activity on St Joseph Street

May 31 2011: This former warehouse is quickly being reduced to rubble