Tag Archives: Chaz on Charles

Demolition underway at Chaz.Yorkville condo site

December 8 2011: An excavator loads a dumpster with rubble collected from inside the entrance to 45 Charles Street East. The mid-1960s-era office building is being demolished to make way for construction of the Chaz.Yorkville condo tower

December 8 2011: Sections of windows and concrete walls have been removed from the north side of the office building

Coming down: Demolition crews have begun dismantling a distinctive Modernist office building on Charles Street East to make way for a sleek glass condo tower — the third new skyscraper to rise on the block between Church and Yonge Streets in the past several years.

The angular concrete building at 45 Charles East was designed by architect Macy Dubois, who died in 2007 at age 77. The 8-storey office complex, which was built 45 years ago, will be replaced by a condo that could be anywhere from 39 to 47 storeys tall. I say “could” because the final height is literally still up in the air. The project developers, 45 Charles Ltd. and Edenshaw Homes Limited, initially obtained city approval to build a 33-storey condo. Two years ago, City Council approved a request for permission to add six more floors, for a total of 39. In July, the developer sought approval to construct 8 more storeys, for a total of 47. As I reported in a November 8 2011 post, Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC) ordered city planners to hold a community consultation meeting last month to get public feedback about the proposal. The planners are expected to report back to TEYCC early in 2012.

The final floor tally for the tower isn’t the only part of the project that has changed — so has its name. Initially marketed as Chaz on Charles, the condo is now being sold as Chaz.Yorkville, reflecting its proximity to the tony Yorkville neighbourhood just two blocks to the north. The Chaz sales centre also has changed, recently moving from 45 Charles to 101 Yorkville Avenue.

Chaz.Yorkville was designed by Sol Wassermuhl of Page + Steele IBI Group Architects. The tower, however tall it winds up, will be built by PCL Constructors Inc., the developers revealed in a November 28 2011 annoucement.

Below are some building illustrations from the revamped Chaz.Yorkville website, along with several photos I shot this afternoon of demolition activity at 45 Charles.

December 8 2011: A portable crane stands outside 45 Charles, where crews have begun interior demolition work

December 8 2011: Another view of the crane and sections of the building where windows have been removed

December 8 2011: The Chaz condo sales centre has been relocated from this building to 101 Yorkville Avenue

December 8 2011: An excavating machine enters the former front door of the building to collect another load of rubble

This was how the building entrance, seen here on February 28 2011, used to look

December 8 2011: A closer view of one of the floors where demolition crews have begun dismantling the building

This rendering of the tower’s 5-storey, limestone-clad podium appears on the recently-revamped Chaz.Yorkville website

This rendering, also from the Chaz.Yorkville website, depicts the 2-storey Residents’ Private Chaz Clubon the 36th and 37th levels of the tower’s south side

Also from the Chaz.Yorkville project website is this illustration of the condo tower, which was designed by Sol Wassermuhl of Page + Steele IBI Group Architects.

Public meeting tonight for proposal to boost Chaz condo tower height from 39 to 47 storeys

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From the Chaz on Charles website, a rendering of the condominium tower and its signature 2-storey Chaz Club on the 36th & 37th floors

Taller tower: The city’s planning department is holding a community consultation meeting this evening to get feedback on a developer’s proposal to add eight floors to the Chaz on Charles condominium tower — the second height increase since the project was approved by City Council two years ago.

A venture of 45 Charles Ltd. and Edenshaw Homes Limited, Chaz on Charles will rise on a site presently occupied by an eight-storey concrete and glass office building constructed in 1966.

33 to 39 to 47?

In their original 2008 application to build the condo, the developers proposed a 33-storey tower with 325 units. City Council approved the project in a site-specific zoning bylaw, but the developers subsequently obtained Committee of Adjustment approval to increase the tower’s height to 39 storeys with 417 residential units. In July, the developer proposed adding 8 more storeys with 94 units to the middle of the tower — ultimately resulting in a 151.4-meter, 47-floor building with 511 suites. City planners and local Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam expressed concerns about the extra density and whether neighbouring roads could handle increased traffic, so they sought direction from Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC). At its November 2 meeting, TEYCC asked the planners to hold a public meeting to get community feedback.

An October 5 2011 background report by the city planning department describes the history of the tower project proposal, and identifies eight planning issues that must be resolved, including the proposed height in the context of the Bloor-Yorkville/North Downtown Planning Framework area; shadow, overlook and privacy impacts on adjacent properties; parking and amenity space.

City planners expect to issue a final report on the project, for TEYCC consideration, in the second quarter of 2012.

The community consultation meeting is being held at 7 pm in the auditorium at the Grosvenor Street YMCA.

Chaz on Charles was designed by Sol Wassermuhl of Page + Steele IBI Group Architects.

Below are some building illustrations that appear on the Chaz on Charles website, along with some photos and a videoclip I took recently of the 45 Charles Street East office building that will be demolished to make way for condo construction. Additional photos can be viewed in my March 1 2011 and January 30 2011 posts about the project.

From the Chaz on Charles website, a rendering of the two-storey Chaz Club, a private social club on the 36th and 37th floors

Another website image of the south-facing Chaz Club

Another website image of the tower and its glass exterior

November 5 2011: The 8-storey office building that currently stands on the Chaz on Charles site was constructed in 1966.

November 5 2011: The west side of the 45-year-old office building

November 5 2011: Triangular terraces on upper floors

November 5 2011: Rows of windows on the building’s east wall

November 5 2011: Rear laneway view of the building’s south side

November 5 2011: The angled east wall

November 5 2011: The 46-storey Casa Condominium looms high above the Chaz on Charles site. But if the city approves the proposed height increase, Chaz will soar 151 metres — 13 meters higher than Casa. Residents on the east side of Casa are probably peeved by the prospect of losing their views.

Chaz will soar above these Isabella Street apartment buildings

Built in 1931, the Brownley apartments at 40-42 Isabella Street sit directly south of the Chaz site.

New condo tower’s sky lounge, social amenities and limestone podium bring all that Chaz to Charles St.

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Architectural rendering of 2-storey sky lounge at Chaz on Charles condos

Watch me watch you: It’s been about five years since a developer announced plans to build a residential tower on the site of a Brutalist-style office building at 45 Charles Street East. Since then, I’ve been waiting patiently to see what the highrise that will replace it will look like. My wait is over.

Designed by Sol Wassermuhl of Toronto’s Page + Steele IBI Group Architects, Chaz on Charles will be 39-storey condo tower featuring a five-storey limestone-clad podium topped by a sleek glass tower with recessed balconies. To fit nicely on the current streetscape, the podium will be “synched” with that of the 46-storey Casa condo tower right next door (to its west).

Chaz will be so packed with appealing amenities, its residents probably won’t want to spend much time in their own units. Heck, they won’t need to. According to the Chaz on Charles website, the main floor will boast not one but two lobbies “literally brimming with activity.” One will be “a living room-style lobby lounge,” while the other will offer “a series of smaller spaces” that include a living room, wet bar, dining room with full catering kitchen, and a billiards room — all of which will open onto an outdoor landscaped terrace.

Chaz will have top of the line fitness and recreation facilities, of course, along with not one but two theatres (a movie screening room and sports viewing room), meeting room facilities, guest suites for overnight visitors, and a pet spa. Yes, no longer will you have to endure the embarrassment and humiliation of leading your muddy, smelly mutt through the lush lobby and elevators anymore, since there will be a special wash and blowdry room where you can give Fido a quick freshening-up after a walk in the grimy neighbourhood streets.

But wait, there’s more! What’s really going to put Chaz on the map — and instantly make it a midtown “landmark” (according to the website’s copywriters) — is the signature architectural detail that will appear three-quarters of the way up the south side of the tower. I’ll let the people at Chaz describe it in their own words: “Jutting out from the 31st and 32nd levels on the south side of the building is a two-storey cantilevered box, framed in white concrete and illuminated at night. This is the Chaz Club, a lounge and dining space for the building’s residents, and it is a dazzling architectural gesture. From miles around, Torontonians will look up to see residents of Chaz, and their guests, enjoying cocktails on the club’s spacious terrace or relaxing inside this glass box in the sky.”

Yes, without a doubt, jealous people throughout downtown Toronto and from points miles afar will spend their evenings staring at the lucky, privileged few who will get to call Chaz home. If they can even see them, that is. With all the other highrises and towers planned for the immediate vicinity, views of the Chaz Club will likely be blocked from most sightlines. But not from mine! So in just a few years’ time, I’ll be able to sit back, relax and enjoy a nice glass of wine on my balcony while watching Chaz residents looking back at me while they sip cocktails in their chic, comfy glass box in the sky. Some things are worth waiting for, n’est-ce pas?

Below are some photos I’ve taken of the Chaz location during the past four years.