Tag Archives: Church Street

More development planned for Church-Isabella site where controversial highrise addition will be built

January 21 2012: These trees and the snow-covered lawn will soon disappear given that the City has approved a 23-storey addition to the 66 Isabella Street apartment building at left. The City is now being asked to approve construction of a 3-storey walk-up apartment building just a few feet north of the trees — on the site of the 1-storey podium that sits at the base of the Town Inn Suites (right).

January 21 2012: This development proposal notice has been posted outside the Town Inn Suites podium next to Church Street

This site plan illustration shows how the proposed apartment building structures will wrap around the east, south and west sides of the Town Inn Suites property

January 21 2012: These trees on the west side of the Town Inn Suites, seen here looking south from Charles Street, will have to be destroyed to permit construction of one of the proposed walk-up apartment buildings

New infill trend?: I’ve heard some downtown Toronto residents joke that surface parking lots should be declared an endangered species before they all get redeveloped into highrise condominium complexes. But parking lots aren’t the only pieces of prime real estate beginning to disappear from downtown streetscapes. Spacious private lawns and gardens surrounding apartment towers built 30 to 50 years ago are also now being targetted by developers for lucrative apartment and condo infill construction projects.

On October 24 2011, Toronto City Council approved a developer’s proposal to build a 43-storey rental tower at Isabella and Sherbourne Streets, on the site of a 3-tower apartment and retail complex constructed on the western edge of the St James Town neighbourhood in the late 1970s. As I reported in an October 3 2011 post, the new tower will rise from the location of what is currently a No Frills grocery store as part of a major building overhaul that will redevelop the retail podium for the rental towers, as well as add townhouses to the east side of the complex along Bleecker Street. (The developer has not yet announced when construction will commence.)

Similar redevelopment plans are in the works just a few blocks west along Isabella, at the northwest corner of Church Street. On January 10 of this year, Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC) approved a developer’s proposal to construct a 23-storey addition to a 40-year-old apartment building at 66 Isabella Street. The proposal will be considered by Toronto City Council on February 6; however, Councillors are expected to rubber-stamp the plan now that it has already been given the nod by TEYCC.

Developments increase city’s supply of rental housing

In a December 13 2011 report, city planners had recommended that the addition to the east side of the existing 26-floor highrise be approved because it was an “appropriate … mixed-use development on an underutilized site and adds to the supply of purpose-built rental housing.” Many neighbourhood residents, on the other hand, were upset that the redevelopment would eliminate a stand of mature shade trees as well as a large private lawn — a treasured green space in an urban neighbourhood that City politicians and planners admit is sorely lacking in public parks. As I reported in a January 5 2012 post, many residents of 66 Isabella were angry not only because that they would lose their popular yard, but also since dozens of their neighbour tenants would be displaced during construction of the highrise addition. Two Saturdays ago, they protested the development plan by organizing a “lawn occupation” that drew several dozen participants and attracted wide media attention (a photo and report on the event was published in the online edition of the Toronto Star on January 7).

Now, the bealeaguered residents and neighbours of 66 Isabella have yet another infill development proposal to deal with — right next door. In an application filed with the City on December 22 2011, a developer is seeking approval to build two 3-storey walk-up apartment buildings on green space surrounding the Town Inn Suites, a 26-storey hotel tower that is literally a twin to 66 Isabella, and stands only several dozen metres to its northeast. One of the rental buildings would wrap around the southeast corner of the hotel’s one-storey podium, which presently houses a swimming pool and outdoor sundeck. The second rental building would be constructed on the west side of the Town Inn Suites, currently the location of a tree-shaded side yard as well as the entrance/exit ramp to the hotel’s underground parking garage. The two apartment buildings would contain a total of 43 units.

Downtown residents fear loss of greenery

During conversations with a number of neighbourhood residents in recent days, people have told me they fear that the infill projects at Church & Isabella, along with the redevelopment proposal for Isabella & Sherbourne, could have a domino effect, encouraging more apartment building owners to seek to replace ground space on their properties with low- and high-rise additions. Lush gardens and tree-shaded lawns that presently beautify dozens of downtown rental buildings would be at risk if more property owners sense the potential for increased rental income and profits, and jump on the redevelopment bandwagon. “In just a few years, it might be rare to see trees and gardens downtown,” one worried neighbour told me. ” We could lose most of our greenery to look-a-like glass towers and building additions that extend right to the edge of the property line,” she said ruefully.

Below is a series of photos I shot this afternoon, showing the Town Inn Suites property that is proposed for redevelopment into low-rise apartments.

This private yard at the northwest corner of Church & Isabella Streets will disappear when construction starts on a 23-storey addition to the building at left

Looking toward the Town Inn Suites from the northwest corner of Church & Isabella Streets. The yard space and the 1-storey podium for the hotel are both slated for redevelopment into separate apartment housing projects.

Looking from the east side of Church Street toward the hotel podium that would be redeveloped into a 3-storey walk-up apartment building

The 46-storey Casa condominium tower soars skyward just half a block west of the proposed apartment development site, in this view from Church Street. Another condo skyscraper, Chaz.Yorkville, is currently under construction right next door to Casa, and will block much of this view of Casa once it is built. The City approved 39 storeys for Chaz.Yorkville; however, its developer subsequently sought zoning changes that would permit it to build 47 floors. It has since appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board because the city didn’t reach a decision on its request within the timeframe prescribed by provincial planning law.

The 1-storey podium is a hotel amenity space that includes a swimming pool as well as outdoor terraces and sundecks

A street-level view of the podium, from its southeast corner

A development proposal sign on the east side of the hotel podium

A view of the podium, looking southwest along the Church Street sidewalk. The apartment building at 66 Isabella Street rises in the background.

The Town Inn Suites main entrance at 620 Church Street. The hotel, which has 200 suites, will remain as part of the proposed new development.

The north side of the Town Inn Suites, looking west from the corner of Church and Charles Streets. Repairs to the building exterior are underway.

A development proposal sign at the southwest corner of Church & Charles

The north side of the Town Inn Suites along Charles Street. A city planner last summer said that the developer initially had been planning to build a row of townhouses along this side of the property. Now, two apartment buildings are being proposed on the south and west sides of the hotel instead.

This yard on the west side of the hotel is the proposed site for one of the new apartment buildings. That’s 66 Isabella in the background.

A view of the “back” of Town Inn Suites from Charles Street to the northwest

This ramp leads from Charles Street into the hotel’s underground parking garage. The ramp would be relocated and accessed from the laneway to the right once the new low-rise apartment building is constructed.

The underground garage has parking for 163 vehicles

The addition to 66 Isabella will block this view of the sky from Charles Street, while the proposed 3-storey apartment building will dominate the foreground

Threat to corner green space alarms neighbours as approval of apt. tower addition appears imminent

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December 14 2011: This city notice, posted on the grounds of the 40-year-old rental apartment tower at 66 Isabella Street several days ago …

… suggests that days are numbered for these eight trees and this open expanse of private green lawn at the northwest corner of Church & Isabella Streets …

… which soon could be ripped up to make way for construction of a 23-storey addition to the apartment building rising behind the trees at left

Kiss the trees goodbye?: Church-Wellesley area residents are alarmed that the city appears poised to approve construction of a 23-storey addition to a rental apartment tower at the northwest corner of Church and Isabella Streets. Neighbours are upset not only since the construction will destroy eight mature trees and eliminate a large open green space in a downtown area that city planning staff admit is severely lacking in parkland, but also because they worry that the condo and rental unit addition to the 66 Isabella Street apartment tower could spark a wave of highrise development proposals for low-rise residential streets in the nearby Church & Wellesley village. And they fear for the fate of elderly tenants who will be displaced from their apartments on the east side of the apartment building, where suite layouts will have to be drastically reconfigured to accommodate hallways linking the addition to the existing structure.

32-storey addition initially proposed

The application for zoning amendments to allow construction of a highrise addition to 66 Isabella Street was filed with the city in late September 2010. Originally (and as I reported in a March 19 2011 post), the applicant proposed a 32-storey addition that would rise 95 meters (including mechanical penthouse), standing significantly taller than the 26-storey building to which it would be attached. The new wing would feature a 4-storey podium facing Isabella Street, with a 28-storey tower soaring above, with stepbacks at the 5th, 17th and 27th floors. The addition would include four condominium townhouses overlooking Isabella Street, 12 condominium suites on the top two floors of the tower, and retail stores along the Church Street flank of the complex. By adding 212 new suites, the addition would effectively more than double the number of residential units in the building. Most notably, the development would replace a large tree-shaded private yard which extends above the apartment building’s two levels of underground parking.

Private green space enjoyed by passersby

Although the lawn is private property, and signs advise that the yard is for the exclusive use of 66 Isabella residents only, people living, working and passing through the neighbourhood have long enjoyed its presence, particularly for its calm, cooling summer greenery and colourful fall foliage. But the greenery could be gone within weeks: a city notice was posted on the property last weekend, advising that an application to destroy the trees “to permit the construction of a 23 storey addition” has been filed.

Though it now appears that the property developer has reduced the height of the proposed addition by 9 storeys, area residents remain dismayed at the prospect of any kind of development on the corner, and are disappointed by indications that the project will get the go-ahead from City Hall.

At a public meeting of the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association (CWNA) at the 519 Church Street Community Centre on Monday night, several area residents pleaded for people to strenuously oppose the proposal when it goes before the Toronto East York Community Council (TEYCC) for a statutory public meeting, which one Church Street resident said he has been told will take place on January 10. A man who identified himself as Morley urged the neighbourhood association to do whatever it can to “try to get [the project] killed.” If approved by the city, the addition to 66 Isabella will not only “kill the green space and stick a big huge block of building” in its place, he said, but will in turn spur further highrise development that will ruin “the character of the neighbourhood.”

City needs new rental accommodation

Another resident, who said he lives in the 48-unit Church-Isabella Co-Op across Church Street from the development site, said he has spoken to local City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam about the project, and is disappointed she isn’t supporting residents who object to the addition. He acknowledged, however, that the city desperately needs additional new rental accommodation, like the units proposed for the 66 Isabella addition, and said the project appears likely to get the nod from TEYCC no matter how strongly neighbourhood residents object. A woman told the meeting she was concerned for the welfare of senior citizens who have lived in apartments on the east side of 66 Isabella for decades, but will be forced to find new accommodation when construction commences. While several people at the meeting said they think losing the green space will be regrettable, they did concur with one man who said “we’re not anti-development, but we’re against development that takes away from the neighbourhood.”

As city planners noted in a November 15 2010 preliminary report, the original proposal for the tower addition offered to replace the 1,778 square meter (19,000 square feet) of ground-level green space with a 1,378 square meter (14,833 square foot) outdoor amenity area “on the private roof of the 4-storey podium and at the rear of the building at grade level.” It looks like area residents will have to wait until construction is complete in several years’ time to decide whether the building addition and its new amenity space adds to or takes away from the neighbourhood.

From NHL hockey shrine to food-lovers’ paradise: Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws store poised to open

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November 20 2011: Crews prepare to install a Loblaws sign on the south side of Maple Leaf Gardens at the corner of Church Street…

… a similar sign had earlier been installed just around the corner on the building’s east facade along Church Street …

… while yet another sign listing all the new tenants of the renovated heritage building sits on a flatbed truck, awaiting installation at the Gardens’ northeast corner at Church and Wood Streets

Month-end opening: The public will get its first peek inside the revitalized Maple Leaf Gardens on November 30 — the day the new flagship Loblaws grocery store will officially open its doors for business.

Scores of construction crews have been buzzing around the inside and outside of the building this week, hurrying to finish the store in time for its much-anticipated and months-overdue opening. Today, crews were installing Loblaws signage atop a new canopy at the southeast corner of the Gardens, where the grocery store entrance is situated, as well as working on the underground parking garage entrance at the southwest corner of the building. Work also is continuing on the new Maple Leaf Gardens marquee along Carlton Street, and inside the upper levels of the Gardens, where the new Ryerson University Athletics Centre is being built. (Unlike the grocery store, the sports & recreation complex is not scheduled for completion until next spring.)

8 a.m. opening on November 30

In a press release issued today, Loblaw Companies Limited said “Toronto’s new crown jewel of food stores” will open at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, November 30. Although the company is keeping most details about the new store under wraps for now, it did drop “some delectable tidbits about the food experiences that will be found on Food’s Greatest Stage^™under the legendary roof located at 60 Carlton Street.” The media release said some of the store’s highlights include a complete ACE Artisan Bakery, an 18-foot-tall “Amazing Wall of Cheese” boasting more than 400 varieties of cheese from around the world, a patisserie featuring handcrafted chocolate and a huge assortment of pastries baked in-store, a tea emporium, an omelet station, a sushi Bar, and an open kitchen preparing take-home breakfast, lunch and dinner meals.

From what I’ve heard, the Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws will be the most impressive grocery store in downtown Toronto, providing an unrivalled shopping environment that will dazzle and delight foodies who have been starved for alternatives to the congested and dumpy-looking food stores currently serving the fast-growing condo and apartment neighbourhood. Last week, I spoke to several newly-hired Loblaws employees who had just received their first tour of the historic building where they soon will be working. Since the site is still a construction zone, with crews putting finishing touches on the building’s interior and exterior, they had to wear hard hats and safety boots throughout their orientation tour. But they said the store basically looks set to open, with all shelves already fully stocked with merchandise. Describing the Loblaws as easily “the nicest grocery store” they’ve seen “in all of downtown,” they said customers will be amazed by both the look and feel of the interior as well as the extensive product line-ups that will tempt their tastebuds and pocketbooks.

According to the Ryerson University website, the architectural team for the Gardens transformation includes Turner Fleischer Architects Inc. for the “base building” and BBB Architects Inc. for the “Ryerson fit up.” Heritage consultant is E.R.A. Architects Inc.

Below are more photos I took outside Maple Leaf Gardens this afternoon. Photos of earlier construction activity at the iconic hockey shrine can be viewed in my posts on November 3, June 14, April 14, March 29 and February 2.

November 20 2011: Crews working outside the parking garage entrance at the southwest corner of the Gardens on Carlton Street

November 20 2011: Workers on a portable crane attend to details on the wall above the underground parking garage entrance.

November 20 2011 There is one level of parking underneath the grocery store

November 20 2011: Work continues on the Carlton Street marquee. The entrance to the Ryerson University Athletics Centre will be here.

November 20 2011: Sign installation above the Loblaws entrance

November 20 2011: The new canopy above the Gardens’ southeast corner

November 20 2011: Workers prepare to erect a vertical sign on the northeast corner of the building, at Church & Wood streets. A Joe Fresh clothing shop, an LCBO liquor outlet and a medical clinic will also be opening soon in the Gardens.

November 20 2011: The Gardens’ northeast corner, at Church & Wood Streets

November 20 2011: Construction cranes and elevators along Wood Street

November 20 2011: A crew prepares to install a vertical sign at the northeast corner of the building

November 20 2011: The slender sign is set in place

November 20 2011: The service entrance on the north side of the Gardens, along Wood Street, was punched into the brick wall of the historic building.

November 17 2011: Construction activity on the north and east sides of Maple Leaf Gardens. On weekdays, the building is constantly surrounded by cranes, equipment supply vehicles, and concrete delivery trucks and pumpers.

Pre-Thanksgiving opening in sight for Loblaws store under construction inside Maple Leaf Gardens

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June 14 2011: Carlton Street view of Maple Leaf Gardens, looking northwest

Talking turkey: If all goes according to plan for the Maple Leaf Gardens revitalization project, downtown residents will flock to the historic hockey shrine to shop for Thanksgiving turkeys this fall. Construction of a 70,000 square foot Loblaws grocery store inside the Gardens fell behind schedule this year (it was supposed to be open by now), but I’ve been told that Loblaws anticipates work will finish within the next three months. The goal is to open the store by summer’s end so Loblaws can cash in as shoppers rush to fill their kitchen cupboards for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. On the other hand, a completion date remains far from certain for the Ryerson University Sports and Recreation Centre, which is being built on two levels directly above the Loblaws store, since substantial construction work remains to be done there. When I got a peek inside the ground level of the Gardens a few days ago, I didn’t think the Thanksgiving target would be achievable. When I asked one of the site supervisors if work would be finished by October, he chuckled and said: “As we say in construction, ‘it will be finished when it’s finished.'” But another man in a white hard hat told me that once the “shell” of the grocery store is finished, which he said should happen soon, the grocery store interior will take shape rapidly.

Meanwhile, there’s a lot happening outside the Gardens, too. Scaffolding that has shrouded much of the building’s south wall along Carlton Street is gradually being dismantled as crews complete window installation and work on the brick facade. From street level, the most noticeable change has been the removal of the long blue and silver Maple Leaf Gardens marquee above the main entrance; it will be replaced. Just around the corner, southbound traffic on Church Street is disrupted frequently when portable cranes pull up to hoist steel bars and other building materials for the Ryerson sports complex onto the Gardens roof (a supervisor said that’s how most construction supplies must be loaded into the Ryerson section of the Gardens now that the grocery store has filled out most of the ground level). The dome atop the Gardens roof is being refurbished, too, and once that is done, a new maple leaf logo will be painted on the broad white surface and Canadian flags will be raised to flutter from the empty rooftop flagpoles. Below are photos I have shot since late April of construction activity outside and on top of Maple Leaf Gardens. To view photos of earlier stages of construction, check out my posts from April 14 2011, March 29 2011, and February 2 2011.

April 29 2011: Roof work underway on the north side of the Gardens’ dome

April 29 2011: Another view of revitalization work on the roof of the Gardens

April 30 2011: Scaffolding covers the middle third of the Maple Leaf Gardens south wall along Carlton Street. The Canadian flags and the blue and silver marquee above the main entrance will be removed as work proceeds on the building.

April 30 2011: Scaffolding rises from the marquee above the main entrance all the way to the top of the building’s south wall.

April 30 2011: A view of the main entrance before the marquee is removed

April 30 2011: Window replacement and brickwork is underway behind the shrouds

April 30 2011: The sidewalk and one westbound lane on Carlton Street have been closed so crews can finish exterior work on the Gardens

May 13 2011: Construction workers on the roof of Maple Leaf Gardens

May 13 2011: Workers atop the dome’s northeast corner above Church Street

May 13 2011: A truck pumps concrete through the Maple Leaf Gardens roof and into the Ryerson University sports complex being built on the upper two levels

May 13 2011: Concrete pumper above the southeast corner of Maple Leaf Gardens

May 13 2011: Pumpcrete vehicle delivering concrete for the sports complex

May 13 2011: The long boom of the Pumpcrete truck rises to the roof

May 13 2011: A closer view of the Pumpcrete machine

May 13 2011: A concrete truck outside the Gardens’ Carlton Street main entrance

June 1 2011: A crane hoists a load of steel bars to the roof of the Gardens

June 1 2011: A worker guides the load to the rooftop

June 3 2011: With the roof recovered, brickwork proceeds on the north wall

June 3 2011: Workers replace a window on the Wood Street wall of the Gardens

June 14 2011: A crane hoists building materials to the roof of Maple Leaf Gardens

June 14 2011: Another load of construction material rises to the rooftop

June 14 2011: Two construction workers watch as the crane hoists its load

June 14 2011: Workers watch and wait while the crane hoists supplies to the roof

June 14 2011: Scaffolding rises up the south side of Maple Leaf Gardens

June 14 2011: The scaffolding is gradually being removed as brickwork is finished

June 14 2011: A metal frame (bottom) is all that remains of the long blue and silver marquee that used to hang above the Gardens’ Carlton Street entrance

June 14 2011: Another view of scaffolding above the Carlton Street entrance

Mucking around at the Milan condo tower site

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Earth mover in the muck at the Milan condo tower excavation

Church Street view of the Milan condo excavation, looking northeast

Canadian Tire parking lot view of the Milan condo excavation, looking south

Messy mass of muck: At a property on the north end of Church Street, where the road makes a long sweeping curve to the northwest as it approaches Yonge Street, crews spent the entire winter digging out — literally. And they’re nowhere near finished yet. But it isn’t snow they’ve been shovelling; Toronto didn’t get much of the white stuff over the winter. Instead, the workers have been moving muddy brown earth by the truckload as they excavate the site where the Conservatory Group’s 37-storey Milan condominium tower will be built.

Designed by E.I. Richmond Architects Inc., the condo complex will occupy a wedge-shaped parcel of land bordered by the Canadian Tire store to the north and west, Church Street to the south, and the Yonge subway line to the east.

Below is a tower rendering from a billboard outside the Milan condo sales centre, along with another rendering — from the Milan website — suggesting how the condo’s podium rooftop terrace will look. There’s also a series of photos I’ve taken at the Milan site over the past three years, along with recent pics of some of Milan’s neighbours.

This rendering of the Milan condo tower appears on the exterior of the sales centre on Yonge Street. The condo tower will rise from a long podium that will stretch along the north side of Church Street.

Architectural rendering of Milan’s podium rooftop terrace

December 3 2008: Milan condo site viewed from Church Street looking north

December 3 2008: Milan billboard on the condo tower site

December 3 2008: Milan condo location viewed from Church Street looking north. A pay parking lot occupied the site until construction commenced

This notice, seen in September 2008, was posted next to the Milan site on Church Street for several years. If I recall correctly, stiff neighbourhood opposition to the two buildings originally proposed by a developer led city council to approve construction of only one taller tower instead

This sign also stood on Church Street next to the Milan site. My understanding is that, in the early 2000s, developers proposed building a complex of several condo towers and townhouses on the lands occupied by the big Canadian Tire store as well as on the parking area where Milan currently is under construction. However, Canadian Tire ultimately decided to retain and renovate its Yonge Street store instead, and sold off the parking lot property. Now only one tower is being built

December 3 2008: The Milan condo sales office in the two-storey building at left, and the Canadian Tire gas bar at the corner of Yonge & Church

December 3 2008: Milan will rise on the gas depot’s right side

July 25 2010: The parking lot has been closed and fenced off so the site can be prepared for excavation and construction of the condo tower

July 25 2010: Rubble remaining from structures demolished on the condo site. The Canadian Tire store and its parking lot are visible to the north

July 25 2010: Northeast view of demolition activity. A subway train can be seen passing the property (upper middle of the photo) along the Yonge subway line

November 1 2010: Preliminary site excavation work has begun

November 1 2010: Preliminary excavation work at the site’s northeast corner

November 1 2010: Pile driving and excavation equipment at work

November 1 2010: Eastward view toward the Milan site from a new parkette in front of the Lotus condo tower on Davenport Road at Yonge Street

January 9 2011: Eastward view of the Milan condo tower excavation

January 9 2011: Southeasterly view of the Milan condo excavation

January 9 2011: Snow-covered excavation at the west end of the site

March 16 2011: Excavation progress at the southeast corner of the site

March 16 2011: A sea of mud stretches all the way to the west end of the site next to the gas bar on Yonge Street, visible at the top left

March 16 2011: From Church Street, the Milan property slopes toward the TTC subway tracks and Aylmer Avenue in the Rosedale ravine

March 16 2011: The excavation is deepest on the north edge of the site

March 16 2011: The subway tracks run along on the other side of the wall

March 16 2011: Milan site looking northeast toward Rosedale

March 16 2011: Truck ramp from Church Street to the bottom of the pit

March 16 2011: Boots box in a muddy pit

March 16 2011: The ramp from the Church Street construction entrance

March 16 2011: Machines and equipment at the bottom of the ramp

March 16 2011: The deep pit below the Canadian Tire gas station

March 16 2011: The Milan excavation, looking south toward Church Street

March 16 2011: Foundation building machine at the bottom of the pit

March 16 2011: An earth mover in a muddy pool of water in the pit

March 16 2011: The entrance to the subway tunnel leading to the Bloor-Yonge subway station can be seen at the top left corner

March 16 2011: Canadian Tire view toward the Milan location

Milan’s neighbours to the south and east include several condo and apartment buildings, as well as The Bay and CIBC office towers at Yonge & Bloor (rear right)

March 16 2011: Canadian Tire southeast view of the Milan location

The Toronto Reference Library is situated directly across Church Street from Milan; the office towers at Bloor & Yonge are just a short walk south

March 16 2011: Davenport Road view toward the Milan site. The 37-storey condo tower will dominate this view once construction is complete

March 16 2011: One of Milan’s neighbours will be the MTV studios in the historic Masonic Temple building on the corner of Yonge Street and Davenport Road

Milan’s neighbours to the west are the two Four Seasons Toronto hotel and condo towers currently under construction (left), and the Lotus condos (right)

Neighbourhood Watch: Developer asks city for 6-month hold on 25-storey Church St condo plan

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Artistic illustration, from a former website for Church 18 Holdings, of the condo development proposed for the Church Street block between Gloucester and Dundonald Streets, now occupied by apartments, restaurants and a day spa.

A Dec. 21 2010 view of the Church Street block proposed for redevelopment

6-month wait: A developer has asked the City for a six-month hold on its controversial application to redevelop a block of property in the Church Wellesley Village.

Just under one year ago, a developer sought City approval to redevelop properties it owns along the west side of Church Street, between Gloucester and Dundonald Streets. The properties include several low-rise apartment buildings as well as two brick mansions, one built in 1878, which currently are home to two popular Village restaurants and a day spa.

The developer proposed to demolish some of the rental buildings and one of the mansions, constructing in their place a 25-storey condo tower atop a seven-storey podium. 35 replacement apartments would be built in the podium, while an additional 158 residences would be included in the condo complex.

The proposal drew considerable criticism and negative feedback at a community consultation meeting attended by more than 150 people in early December. A city planner drew cheers and applause from the audience when he told the meeting that the city did not support the application because of serious concerns with the project’s proposed height and density, among other issues.

According to the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association (CWNA), the developer recently requested a delay in the development application process. In a message to members of its Facebook page, the CWNA said the developer asked the city, at the end of February, to place a six-month hold on its application.

The CWNA message says the developer “has indicated that in 6 months time they will likely come back to the city with one of the following options: 1) withdrawing the application, 2) reducing the height on their revised option, 3) pursuing a totally different design scheme for the property, or 4) hiring a new team for a different design.” City planning rules specify that files can be put on hold for a maximum of six months. At that time, planners would have to advise the developer to either re-submit the application, or withdraw it. If the developer does nothing at that point, then the city could close the application.”

Below is a screenshot, from the CWNA website, of a building rendering and project details that city planners showed the audience at the December community meeting. There’s also a series of photos I’ve taken at various times of the properties involved in the redevelopment plan.

Condo development proposal sign posted on one of the Church Street properties

Project details and an artistic illustration of the proposed condo complex, from a city planning department presentation to a community meeting held in December to provide neighbourhood feedback on the developer’s plan.

67 Gloucester Street apartment building on December 21 2010. According to the developer, the building would be retained as part of the new condo complex.

71 Gloucester Street apartment building on December 21 2010

71 Gloucester Street at the corner of Church & Gloucester Street. Under the developer’s proposal, this building would be demolished and replaced by a 25-storey condo highrise with a 7-storey podium.

December 21 2010 view of 71 Gloucester Street and 67 Gloucester Street

Another view of the 71 Gloucester Street apartment buildings

November 1 2010 corner view of the Gloucester Mansions apartment building

Church Street view of the 596 Church Street Gloucester Mansions apartment building on December 21 2010

The Gloucester Mansions on November 1 2010

A November 1 2010 view of the 584 Church St. Salon & Spa, left, and one of the Gloucester Mansions apartments. Under the development plan, the spa mansion would be demolished and replaced with the main entrance to the condo, while the facade and part of the Gloucester Mansions building would be saved.

This elegant mansion at 580 – 582 Church Street was built in 1878. Much of the building, including the facade, would be incorporated into the condo development. The building currently is home to two restaurants: Fuzion, left, and Voglie.

Fuzion restaurant at 580 Church Street on December 21 2010. In summer, its patio is one of the most pleasant dining terraces in downtown Toronto.

November 1 2010 view of Fuzion on the corner of Church & Dundonald Streets

Fuzion restaurant building viewed from Dundonald Street on February 15 2011

Dundonald Street view of the Fuzion restaurant building on February 15 2011

A November 1 2010 view of the proposed condo development site

Demolition derby: Contractors busy ripping up and tearing down to build The Berczy condos

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Lower Church Street view of The Berczy condo site on March 7 2011: Demolition progress means much of the Flatiron building is now visible across the site…

…compared to February 3 2011, when the old 3-storey buildings on the corner of Church and Front still blocked sight of the Toronto landmark.

Demolition derby: It’s been two months since I first reported on construction progress at The Berczy condominium, a project of Concert Real Estate Corporation.

In my January 13 post, I noted that hoarding had been installed around The Berczy site, and demolition had started on the Church Street building that formerly housed one of The Keg steakhouse restaurants. Since then, demolition crews have been making steady progress clearing the site.

When I passed by in February, they were taking apart the three-storey building that sat on the southwest corner of Church and Front Streets. Last week that building was gone, and for the first time you could see most of Front Street’s famous Gooderham Flatiron Building from the bottom two blocks of Church Street at The Esplanade.

Below are photos showing the demolition activity on February 3 and March 7.

Lower Church Street view of demolition activity on February 3 2011. Only the rooftop of the Gooderham Flatiron Building on Front Street is visible.

Demolition at the south end of The Berczy site on February 3 2011

The middle of The Berczy site, looking west toward the CN Tower.

The CN Tower and Toronto’s Financial District skyscrapers loom to the west

Demolition work behind buildings that will be razed on the south side of Front St.

Top floor being removed from the building on the corner of Church & Front

Crews are busy demolishing the third floor behind the safety netting

The demolition site and the Gooderham Flatiron Building, seen February 3 2011

The Berczy condo construction site viewed from The Esplanade on March 7 2011. Most of the Flatiron Building is now visible from the bottom of Church Street.

Northwest view of The Berczy site and Flatiron Building on March 7 2011.

Two flagmen directing traffic in, out and past The Berczy construction site

The building at the southwest corner of Church & Front Street has been demolished; another is partially dismantled.

Demolition activity at The Berczy condo construction site on March 7 2011

Three backhoes arrange huge piles of debris from the demolished buildings

I’m sure it would have been contrary to the Fire Code and a violation of municipal bylaws, but these woodpiles would have made spectacular Berczy bonfires

The construction crews never block access to the portable toilets!

The crews are creating two huge heaps of brick and wood rubble

One of the buildings along Front Street that’s being torn down

Menkes proposing 30-storey condo tower for parking lot site at Church & McGill Streets

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365 – 375 Church Street development site viewed December 21 2010

Church Street growing taller? Sometimes it really ticks me off to see developers propose new office or condo towers for sites where attractive old or historic buildings are standing — especially since there are so many parking lots and empty parcels of land scattered throughout the downtown core where development would seem more appropriate or even necessary. Why not leave the nice old buildings and their charming streetscapes alone, I often wonder, and build on the underused empty lots instead?

So when a developer came along proposing to do just that — construct a condo tower where a parking lot now sits on Church Street — I should have been thrilled. Instead, I felt almost as upset as I get when I hear that a wonderful heritage building is going to be destroyed to make way for a new condo. The reason? The new highrise might block my beloved view of the CN Tower!

Now I admit it probably sounds silly to be fretting about losing views of the CN Tower. But those views are worth a lot of money: real estate agents are constantly pestering us to sell our condo because they have clients eager to buy places with the great skyline views we enjoy every day (and we really do love our view). We don’t plan to move in the foreseeable future but, when we do decide to sell, will potential buyers still be as keen for our place if the view is blocked? I doubt it, but that’s a problem we probably won’t have to worry about for several more years.

Condo would rise on parking lot site near Toronto’s Gay Village

The potential view-blocker would be a 30-storey condo tower the Menkes corporation has proposed for the parking lot that currently occupies the northeast corner of Church and McGill Streets (municipal address: 365 – 375 Church). The site is just a stone’s throw south of Toronto’s Gay Village, where two other condo tower plans have recently encountered some stiff community opposition (I’ll be posting photos and info about those projects soon).

Menkes proposes a three-storey podium with street-level retail space, and a 27-storey condo tower on top. The building would have 322 residential units plus five underground levels accommodating 161 parking spaces. The tower would be taller than zoning restrictions allow, so Menkes would have to obtain an exemption from City Hall before it could build.

City councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam told Xtra!, the newspaper for Toronto’s gay and lesbian community, that city planning staff believe the Church Street parking lot is an “underutilized” site “that can bear development.” However, she personally isn’t certain “if it can bear 30 storeys,” and promises that neighbourhood residents will get to provide input. A story in the January 13 edition of Xtra! offers further information about the project, as well as Ms. Wong-Tam’s plans for community consultation. Below are some of my photos of the proposed development site.

View of 365 Church Street, looking southeast from Granby Street, on January 18

Site viewed from the west side of Church Street on January 18

Northeast view of the site from McGill Street on January 18

Development proposal sign at 365 Church Street

Northeasterly view of 365 Church Street on December 21 2010

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Tag Archives: Church Street

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Pre-Thanksgiving opening in sight for Loblaws store under construction inside Maple Leaf Gardens

Mucking around at the Milan condo tower site

Neighbourhood Watch: Developer asks city for 6-month hold on 25-storey Church St condo plan

Demolition derby: Contractors busy ripping up and tearing down to build The Berczy condos

Menkes proposing 30-storey condo tower for parking lot site at Church & McGill Streets

Tracking Downtown Toronto's AmazingBuilding Boom.

Tracking Downtown Toronto's Amazing
Building Boom.