Tag Archives: College Park

Aura condo podium gradually getting glassed in

Aura condos Toronto

December 12 2011: Glass cladding on the Aura podium’s northeast corner

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: A closer view of the northeast corner cladding

 

Imposing podium: Only a fraction of the 75-storey Aura at College Park condo tower has been constructed so far, but sections of the building’s massive podium along Yonge and Gerrard Streets are already being enclosed in glass panels. Below are photos I shot at lunchtime today showing some of the cladding as well as views of the condo tower’s construction progress from three sides. There’s also a link to a short videoclip showing views of Aura’s podium from the corner of Yonge & Gerrard.

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: White tarps cover some of the newly-installed windows along the Yonge and Gerrard Street sides of Aura’s mammoth podium

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: Passersby get a peek at some of the windows through this gap in tarps along the podium’s Yonge Street facade

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: Another view of the glass cladding on the Yonge Street side of the podium, near Gerrard Street

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: Two Toronto police constables on horseback pass the Aura condo construction site as they head north along Yonge Street

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: Cladding at the northeast corner near the College Park complex

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: An Aura construction worker looks out over Yonge Street while taking his lunch break on the podium’s fourth floor

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

 December 12 2011: The Aura podium’s south side along Gerrard Street

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: A section of cladding on the podium’s south side

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: Windows above the construction site entrance near the building’s southeast corner at Yonge & Gerrard Streets

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: Looking up the south side of the Aura podium from Gerrard Street, outside the Delta Chelsea Inn

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: The Aura podium is so huge it poses an almost overwhelming presence along Gerrard Street

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: The south side of Aura’s enormous podium viewed from the Gerrard Street entrance to the Chelsea Inn, looking east toward Yonge Street

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: Construction platforms cantilever five and six storeys above Gerrard Street

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: A view of the podium’s northwest corner, looking towards the Delta Chelsea Inn on Gerrard Street

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: The north side of the Aura podium, viewed from Barbara Ann Scott Park at College Park

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: Construction progress at the northwest corner of the podium, overlooking Barbara Ann Scott Park

 

Aura condos at College Park Toronto

December 12 2011: The north side of the Aura podium, facing the College Park retail, office and apartment complex

 

 

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52-storey condo tower proposed for Grenville St. parking lot site near Yonge & College Streets

9 Grenville Street site for proposed condo tower

A northwest view of the proposed condo tower site at 9 – 21 Grenville Street on March 12 2011. Toronto police headquarters is the blue-domed building at left. In the middle background is the 35-storey Murano north condo tower.

 

9 Grenville Street proposed condo tower site

The condo development site viewed from Grenville Street, looking southeast, on March 12 2011.  At left is the 2 Carlton Street office building; in the middle background are The Met condo towers on Carlton Street.

 

9 Grenville Street proposed condo tower site

Grenville Street view of the development site, looking south on January 10 2011. The College Park office, condo and retail complex is just half a block to the south.

 

Intersection of Yonge Street and College Street Toronto

The proposed 52-storey condo building would tower above the northwest corner of Yonge and College Streets, seen here March 12 2011. The beige building at the left is The Gallery, a 27-storey apartment highrise at 25 Grenville Street.

 

Will Grenville Street grow up? What is now a side street parking lot near police headquarters could become the second-highest building in the Yonge & College area if Lifetime Developments gets City approval for its latest condo tower development proposal.

Lifetime wants to construct a 52-storey condo on the south side of Grenville Street, just a stone’s throw west of Yonge Street. The development is planned for properties at 9 – 21 Grenville Street, currently occupied by a parking lot and a three-storey brick heritage house.

Lifetime’s tower would rise 167 meters to the top of its penthouse-level mechanical facility, and would have 438 residential units in bachelor, 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom configurations. Part of the heritage building would be incorporated into the condo complex and would hold 120 square meters of retail space. There would be five levels of underground parking for vehicles and bicycles.

The condo would rise in a prime downtown location less than a block from the Carlton streetcar route and the College station on the Yonge subway line. At 167 meters, it would become the neighbourhood’s second-tallest tower (the 75-storey Aura condo, currently under construction just one block to the south at College Park, will stand 264 meters).

9 Grenville’s height, which is more than 3.5 times as tall as city zoning presently allows for the area, is just one element of the proposal with which municipal planning officials and neighbourhood groups take issue. A background file prepared for the Toronto and East York Community Council lists 15 different concerns with the proposal, including height, density, parking, heritage and traffic impacts, mix of unit sizes and the building’s relation to the streetscape.

Meanwhile, the neighbourhood’s Bay Cloverhill Community Association identified numerous practical issues that it planned to raise at a community consultation meeting last month.

Below are building elevation and site plan drawings that had been submitted to the City planning department, along with recent photos I’ve taken of the proposed tower site and surrounding area.

 

9 Grenville Street condo development proposal

Condo tower development proposal sign posted at 9 Grenville Street

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development proposal

North and east elevation drawings for the proposed condo tower

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development proposal

Site plan drawing for proposed 9 Grenville Street condo tower

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

Grenville Street view of the proposed tower site on November 15 2010

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

Grenville Street southeast view of the site on November 15 2010

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

The eastern half of the site, seen here on January 10 2011. The historic College Park building is visible on College Street just half a block south.

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

A January 10 2011 view of the heritage building at 21 Grenville St.

 

The heritage house at 21 Grenville Street

The designated heritage building at 21 Grenville Street,  the John Irwin House, was built in 1873. The front half would be kept as part of the condo complex.

 

9 - 21 Grenville Street condo tower development site

The development site viewed from the north side of Grenville St.

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

The parking lot where the tower would rise, seen here on January 10 2011

 

Wood Street view west toward Yonge Street

Wood Street westerly view toward the proposed condo site on March 12 2011. The 52-storey tower would rise directly in front of the beige apartment building, which has no windows on either its east or left walls.

 

Yonge Street view west down Grenville Street

Yonge Street view down Grenville Street on March 12 2011. From left are an office tower at College Park, a two-storey office building with an RBC bank branch, The Gallery apartment building, the 45-storey Murano South condo tower, the 16- storey Peregrine Co-Op apartments, and the 21-storey George Drew Building (the Ontario Coroner’s headquarters on Grosvenor Street).

 

Yonge Street view west toward Grenville Street

Another view from Yonge Street toward the proposed development site

 

Grenville Street looking west from Yonge Street

Looking west from the corner of Yonge and Grenville Streets

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

The 9 Grenville site viewed from the corner of Grenville Street and St Luke Laneway on March 12 2011

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

St Luke Laneway view of the proposed condo tower site, looking northwest

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

St Luke Laneway view of the site, looking to the west

 

21 Grenville Street heritage building

The three-storey half of the heritage building would be incorporated into the condo development, but the rear half would be demolished.

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

Northeast view from the back corner of the parking lot at 9 Grenville.

 

The Peregrine Co-Op apartment building

The Peregrine Co-Op apartment building on the north side of Grenville St.

 

Aura condo tower foundation reaching street level

Aura College Park condo tower

The Aura webcam captured this view of the construction site this morning


Aura College Park condo tower

This February 15 photo shows construction workers atop foundation forms level with Yonge Street near the north end of the condo tower construction site…


Aura College Park condo tower

…while this February 20 photo shows street-level forms in the middle of the site


Street view: Foundation construction activity for the 75-storey Aura at College Park condo tower has reached street level at the north end of the project site, while underground floors continue to take shape at a slower pace on the southern two-thirds of the property. When I passed Aura on February 15, construction crews were working atop street-level foundation forms between the north (orange) construction crane and the hoarding that protects the pedestrian entrance to the College Park mall. On February 20, forms extended farther south, creeping toward the white construction crane near the Gerrard Street side of the Aura property. Meanwhile, the southwest construction zone — on the west side of the truck ramp leading from Gerrard Street into the underground College Park loading docks — has considerable catching up to do. This area, where a third construction crane operates, is basically still a deep pit with just one underground level poured, far behind the progress achieved elsewhere on the Aura building site. Below are some of my recent photos of construction progress on the tower foundation.

 

Aura at College Park condo tower

February 15: Street-level foundation work at the north end of the site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 15: Street-level foundation forms extend to the first crane


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 15: Northeast corner of site viewed from Yonge Street


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 15: Another north view of the site from Yonge St.


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 15: Foundation work is still below grade south of the orange crane


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 15: Foundation forms begin filling in the south half of the tower site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 15 : Workers on top of foundation forms at the north end of the site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 18: Yonge-Gerrard view of the three cranes at the Aura site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Gerrard Street view of the east side of the construction site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Basement level construction beneath the truck ramp that leads from Gerrard Street into the underground loading docks for the College Park complex


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Underground levels on the east side of the site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Gerrard Street view toward the elevator block construction


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: The elevator block takes shape below the orange crane


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Gerrard Street view of the south half of the construction site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Construction progress along the Gerrard Street flank of the site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Gerrard Street view of the southwest corner of the project site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Gerrard Street view of the southwest corner of the project site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Foundation work at the southwest corner of the site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Foundation work at the southwest corner of the site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Foundation work at the southwest corner of the site


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: North view of the site from corner of Gerrard and Yonge


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Street-level foundation work viewed from Yonge Street


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Street-level foundation work viewed from Yonge Street


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Street-level foundation work viewed from Yonge Street


Aura at College Park condo tower

February 20: Northwest section of the site, looking toward Yonge Street


 

Keeping tabs on … Aura Condos at College Park

Aura CondosAura condos

Night and day: condo tower renderings from Aura’s website


Filling in fast: The giant excavation for Aura condos has been filling in fast, with considerable progress being made on the building’s underground levels since my last Aura construction update 10 days ago.  Below are several site photos from January 29, along with some renderings of the tower from Aura’s website.

Aura condos

Aura condo construction approaches grade level along Yonge Street


Aura condos

Once an enormous excavation, the site is filling in fast


Aura condos

In fine form: Underground floors and walls take shape


Aur condos

In fine form: Underground floors and walls take shape


Aura condos

In fine form:  Underground floors and walls take shape


Aura condos

Construction approaches the site’s north side observation windows


Aura condos

Website rendering of Aura condos retail levels


Aura condos

Website rendering of Aura condos lobby exterior