Above is a link to my January 2013 Flickr album of building and construction photos I shot during walks in the downtown area. Click once on the image to view a small-format slideshow of the pictures, or click twice to access the album directly on Flickr and see full-size photos and captions.
Above is a link to my December 2012 Flickr album of building and construction photos I shot during walks in the downtown area. Click once on the image to view a small-format slideshow of the pictures, or click twice to access the album and see full-size photos and captions.
February 12 2013: A construction crew begins cutting holes where new windows and balconies will be installed …
… on the southeast side of the 26-storey apartment tower at 66 Isabella Street
The work is just the first phase of a project in which a 23-storey addition will be built next to the rental highrise (left) in place of the trees and lawn that have provided an open space at the northwest corner of Church and Isabella Streets for more than 40 years. Meanwhile, city approval is being sought for a 3-storey walk-up condo addition to the south and west sides of the Town Inn Suites at 620 Church (right) in a separate project that would fill in the remaining greenspace on the corner property between Charles and Isabella Streets.
Apartment tower add-on: The area around Church & Isabella Streets has been buzzing — literally — with the sounds of crews preparing a 42-year-old apartment tower for construction of a highrise addition that will contain 12 condo suites and 199 new rental units.
Workers started cutting holes in the south wall of the 66 Isabella Street building this week, the first step in reconfiguring apartments on the tower’s east side before a 23-storey addition is constructed only a few feet away.
The renovation work started last month, slightly more than two years after City planners released a preliminary report outlining issues that the project posed, and recommending that a community consultation meeting be called to get public input into the redevelopment proposal.
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September 3 2011: Construction has begun on the 8th floor of Couture Condos, seen here in a southwest view of the tower’s rear side …
… and in this front view from Ted Rogers Way (Jarvis Street)
Couture climbs: Last time I reported on Couture Condominium in my June 23 2011 post, the building was beginning its climb above grade, with forms for some of the walls on the first floor being put in place. By the end of the first week of August the first two floors were poured, and by August 19 crews were up to the fifth floor. Now they’ve begun work on the eighth level, bringing them more than one-sixth of the way to the tower’s ultimate height of 44 storeys. Meanwhile, design elements of the tower’s two-storey podium and indented front facade have already become apparent.
According to the Couture Condominium website, the project is 97% sold, with only 11 suites remaining. They range from a 590 square foot 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom “Tokyo” suite for $292,490 to a 665 square foot 1-bedroom + den and 1 bathroom “Milan” unit for $360,990.
Couture Condominium is a project of Monarch Group. The slender glass tower was designed by Graziani + Corazza Architects Inc. of Mississauga.
Below is a series of my photos showing Couture’s construction progress during July, August and so far this month, along with two building renderings from the project website.
From the Couture Condominium website, an artistic rendering of the sleek glass tower and its two-storey podium along Ted Rogers Way (Jarvis Street)
From the Couture Condominium website, an artistic rendering of the 44-storey tower designed by Mississauga’s Graziani + Corazza Architects Inc.
July 16 2011: First floor has been poured and construction starts on second level
July 17 2011: A view of Couture Condominium’s first floor construction from the east side of Ted Rogers Way (formerly known as Jarvis Street)
July 17 2011: Southwest view of Couture Condominium construction progress. The ground-level section of property behind the tower (left side of photo) will be a landscaped outdoor amenities area.
August 6 2011: Southeast view of construction starting on Couture’s third level
August 6 2011: Looking west at the front of the Couture tower. The glass building at upper left is Casa Condominium, two blocks west on Charles Street.
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August 6 2011: A view from Ted Rogers Way of Couture’s northeast corner. The entrance to the tower’s underground parking garage is located at this corner (it’s partly visible behind the two grey portable toilets).
August 6 2011: Couture’s two-storey podium takes shape. The black glass and steel tower to the south is the 44-storey X Condominium on Charles Street.
August 6 2011: Stacks of building materials at the building’s southeast corner
August 6 2011: Looking north at columns supporting Couture’s two-storey podium
August 13 2011: Couture construction viewed from the west on Hayden Street
August 13 2011: Southwest view as construction starts on the fourth floor
August 13 2011: A view of the first two floors on the tower’s south side
August 13 2011: Looking up the south side of the building
August 13 2011: Construction viewed from the building’s southeast corner
August 13 2011: Sidewalk view of the Couture Condos podium
August 13 2011: Looking to the south along the Couture podium
August 13 2011: Another view of the podium
August 13 2011: Construction forms on the podium’s east side
August 19 2011: Couture viewed from the southwest. In several months, the tower will rise above the 28-storey concrete apartment building to its north.
August 19 2011: Southwest view as construction starts on the fifth level
August 22 2011: A view of the northeast corner of Couture
September 3 2011: Couture Condos viewed from the southeast on Ted Rogers Way
September 3 2011: Looking up eight floors from the tower’s southeast corner
September 3 201: Street-level view of Couture’s southeast corner
September 3 2011: Looking up at the building’s southeast corner
September 3 2011: Couture podium viewed from the southeast
September 3 2011: Couture billboard inside the hoarding along Ted Rogers Way
September 3 2011: Looking to the south along Couture’s two-storey podium
September 3 201: Columns on the east side of Couture’s podium
September 3 2011: X Condominium looms large to the south of Couture
September 3 2011: The indented center section of Couture’s east facade
This rendering, provided courtesy of KPMB Architects in Toronto, illustrates a southwest winter view of the new offices to be built at Huntley & Isabella Streets for The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) …
…while this photo shows how the building site appeared this past winter on February 28 2011. The two brown brick buildings on the corner site are former Children’s Aid Society of Toronto facilities that are currently being demolished
May 9 2011: This is how the site appears today, now that one of the two former CAS buildings has been reduced to a heap of rubble
This KPMB Architects rendering depicts a northwest aerial view of the ETFO office building, showing its frontage along Huntley Street
The main Isabella Street entrance to the ETFO office building is shown in this rendering provided courtesy of KPMB Architects
New HQ for ETFO: Residents in downtown’s Upper Jarvis area are bracing for two more years of dust, dirt, noise and increased traffic as construction gets underway on a new office building for The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) at the northeast corner of Huntley and Isabella Streets. The four-storey structure will be built on the 15 Huntley Street site once occupied by the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (CAS), which five years ago moved into new offices of their own only three blocks west on Isabella.
Designed by Toronto’s KPMB Architects, the ETFO headquarters will stand four storeys tall with one level of underground parking for 50 vehicles. The building is being designed to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification. It will replace a pair of 2-storey brick buildings that have been sitting vacant, and in a visible state of disrepair, since the CAS relocated to its new premises in 2006. Demolition of those structures started two weeks ago and should conclude shortly. Kael Opie, the ETFO project architect at KPMB , said construction of the new headquarters is expected to begin within the next month. Completion is anticipated for May 2013.
The Huntley-Isabella neighbourhood is bounded on three sides by busy downtown thoroughfares: Jarvis Street on the west, Bloor Street on the north, and Sherbourne Street on the east. Isabella runs east-west, linking Jarvis and Sherbourne. Earl Street and Earl Place, to its south, are quiet cul-de-sacs on the east and west sides of Huntley Street, respectively. The area is predominantly residential in character, with several highrise and lowrise apartment buildings plus numerous semidetached three-storey homes on tree-lined Selby, Linden and Huntley Streets, as well as on Earl Street and Earl Place. The area also is home to the Casey House HIV/AIDS hospice, the Isabella Hotel & Suites, the Sacré-Coeur Catholic elementary school, a campus of the Msgr. Fraser College adult learning centre, and various offices (the massive Rogers Communications head office building looms large over the neighbourhood from the northwest, while the Greenwin Square office tower, highrise apartment building and shopping centre complex do the same from their location to the north between Bloor and Selby Streets).
Like many other downtown neighbourhoods, Upper Jarvis has witnessed a flurry of condo construction during the past three years. The dust is still settling at the new James Cooper Mansion condo tower at the corner of Linden and Sherbourne Streets, where occupancy began in February and exterior landscaping is still underway. Two other condo towers — X Condos at Jarvis and Charles Street, and 500 Sherbourne just below Earl Street — both opened last spring. Two more — Couture Condos and X2 Condos — are currently under construction at Jarvis & Charles, while several more condo highrises have been proposed for nearby locations. Now, the ETFO project is tossing office construction into the neighbourhood’s mix of ongoing building activity.
Some Upper Jarvis residents are wondering what impact the 20-meter-tall ETFO building will have on their neighbourhood. Besides the usual building-period irritants of noise, dust, and movement of heavy construction vehicles and equipment, they’re concerned about a potentially substantial increase in traffic along Isabella Street, especially at evening rush hour. The entrance and exit to the employee parking garage for the gargantuan Rogers building is on Isabella, and when the place empties out at quitting time, traffic often slows to a crawl between Jarvis and Sherbourne, making it difficult for southbound motorists to turn from Huntley onto Isabella Street. Residents are still waiting to see how much extra traffic the new James Cooper Mansion condo will draw to their streets (the tower is only half occupied at this point), and fear that dozens more vehicles for ETFO staff could only worsen the situation.
For the next two years, though, one thing is certain already: they’ll definitely see a sharp increase in the number of dump trucks, concrete mixers and heavy construction vehicles driving down their streets. The ETFO held a groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site last Wednesday and, since then, demolition teams have reduced one of the two former CAS buildings to rubble. I will continue following construction of the ETFO headquarters, and will be writing a “Neighbourhood Watch” report on building activity in the neighbourhood this summer. Below is a series of photos showing the old CAS buildings on 15 Huntley Street both before and during demolition. There is also a series of photos showing buildings on Huntley and Isabella Streets that will be neighbours to the new ETFO offices.
A Google map view of the Upper Jarvis area and the ETFO office site (circled)
ETFO office building development proposal sign outside 15 Huntley Street
November 2 2009: Looking southeast from Huntley Street at one of the former CAS buildings on the 15 Huntley Street site for the ETFO office building
November 11 2010: Looking northeast toward 15 Huntley Street
February 16 2011: Southeast winter view of 15 Huntley Street
February 16 2011: The former CAS building at the corner of Huntley & Isabella
February 23 2011: The huge Rogers Communications head office sits at left rear; the Greenwin Square apartment and office towers on Bloor Street stand at right
February 23 2011: One of the former CAS buildings at 15 Huntley Street
February 23 2011: The second former CAS building at 15 Huntley Street. The tower at right rear is the James Cooper Mansion condo complex
February 28 2011: The former CAS buildings viewed from the southwest corner of Huntley & Isabella Streets
March 19 2011: Huntley Street view of the old CAS building, looking southeast
April 2 2011: 15 Huntley Street, looking north along Huntley from Isabella Street
April 2 2011: Looking east along Isabella Street at the two former CAS buildings
April 2 2011: Dumpsters have been delivered for the crews that will demolish the old brick buildings at 15 Huntley Street
April 2 2011: The one-storey east wing of the former CAS building at the corner of Huntley & Isabella Streets
April 2 2011: The dilapidated west side of the building at Huntley & Isabella
April 2 2011: The brick buildings have sat vacant since the CAS relocated to new headquarters on Isabella Street five years ago
April 22 2011: Security fencing has been installed around 15 Huntley Street so demolition crews can knock down the old buildings
April 22 2011: Tree protection zones have been established along Huntley Street to ensure that trees on the boulevard aren’t damaged by demolition and construction machines
April 22 2011: Looking east from Huntley Street at the tree protection zones and security fences outside 15 Huntley Street
April 22 2011: Northeast view along Huntley Street
April 22 2011: A security fence along the Huntley Street perimeter of the demolition site
April 22 2011: Looking north at the tree protection zone along Huntley Street
April 22 2011: Looking south at the tree protection zone along Huntley Street
April 22 2011: Equipment has been brought in to knock down the old buildings
April 30 2011: Demolition of 15 Huntley Street is well under way
April 30 2011: Another view of the 15 Huntley Street demolition progress
April 30 2011 The former CAS building at the corner of Huntley & Isabella is the first to be razed
April 30 2011: The east wing of 15 Huntley Street will be torn down shortly
May 4 2011: Demolition equipment on the Huntley Street side of the site
May 4 2011: The ETFO building site viewed from the top floor of an apartment building on Huntley Street
May 4 2011: An overhead view of the north half of the ETFO building site
May 4 2011: Construction crews, ETFO staff and guests begin to gather on the property for last Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony
May 4 2011: These trees at the north end of the property will be destroyed to make way for construction of the new ETFO office. The buildings next to the trees are semidetached private homes on Huntley and Linden Streets
May 4 2011: A demolition machine near the northeast corner of the property
May 4 2011: A demolition machine near the northeast corner of the property
May 4 2011: The north side of one building has already been ripped down
May 4 2011: Demolition progress viewed from the groundbreaking ceremony site
May 4 2011: Demolition progress viewed from the groundbreaking ceremony location, looking west toward the enormous Rogers Communications building
May 9 2011: All that’s left of one of the old CAS buildings is a large heap of rubble
May 9 2011: Looking north at the mound of rubble at 15 Huntley Street
May 9 2011: The corner building is toast; the second building goes next
May 9 2011: Looking east from Huntley Street across the demolition site
May 9 2011: Southeast view from Huntley Street across the demolition site
May 9 2011: An excavation machine has dug itself into a hole next to the rubble
March 1 2011: These charming brick homes at 37 and 35 Huntley Street sit to the immediate north of the ETFO office building construction site
March 19 2011: Brick homes on Huntley Street, between Linden Street and the EFTO building construction site
February 28 2011: The northwest corner of Huntley and Isabella Streets, directly across the street from the ETFO building site
March 1 2011: The building on the northwest corner of Huntley & Isabella is the Samuel R Wickett House, built in 1901 at 122 & 124 Isabella Street. The Rogers Communications building and X Condos tower loom large in the background
March 1 2011: The Alfred R Williams House and Francis Despard House were built in 1884 at 30 & 32 Huntley Street. Now rental apartments, they sit directly across the street from the ETFO building site
March 1 2011: The Charles E Calvert house built in 1905 at 34 Huntley Street
March 1 2011: The George Morphy House at 38 & 40 Huntley Street
March 21 2011: The rental apartment building at 44 Huntley Street
March 1 2011: This Coach House at 119 Isabella Street was built in 1889, and is part of the Casey House hospice. It sits on the southwest corner of Huntley & Isabella, kiddy-corner to the ETFO office building site
April 2 2011: The Casey House Hospice at 9 Huntley Street sits directly across the street from the ETFO office building site
April 2 2011: Another view of 127 Isabella Street and the Casey House Hospice at 9 Huntley Street, on the south side of the street across from the ETFO site
April 2 2011: The Msgr Fraser College adult learning centre will be the ETFO building’s next-door neighbour on Isabella Street
February 8 2011: A Caterpillar 321C excavator digs at the top of a tall pile of earth in the southeast corner of the Couture Condos excavation site on Ted Rogers Way in the Bloor/Jarvis neighbourhood.
February 8 2011: Foundation construction for the 44-storey condo tower proceeds on the northern two-thirds of the project site while excavation continues on the southern section, next to the X Condos tower.
February 16 2011: The huge mound of earth doesn’t seem to be getting any smaller
March 16 2011: The pile of earth in the southeast corner has shrunk considerably, and foundation construction has commenced at the southwest corner of the site.
March 16 2011: The Cat excavator sits at the P4 level of the Couture site — the lowest parking level for the highrise condo building.
March 24 2011: The Cat excavator gets a helping hand from above the day after a late March snowfall.
April 2 2011: The excavation is nearly complete in the southeast corner as P4 foundation construction approaches the Cat excavator.
April 22 2011: With the excavation finished in the southeast corner, construction of the rest of the P4 level foundation proceeds quickly.
Couture Condos foundation construction progress on February 28 2011
Filling in: Winter weather has made it challenging for construction crews to stay on schedule, but the Monarch Group says it is pleased with building progress on the underground levels of its Couture Condominium tower going up at the corner of Charles Street and Ted Rogers Way (aka Jarvis Street).
If everything goes according to plan, construction should reach street grade by early June, Monarch’s High-Rise Division director of customer care, Ian H.H. Johnson, says in the condo project’s February newsletter. He said construction workers have finished shoring the perimeter of the site, and are now starting to remove the temporary ramp on the south side of the tower excavation.
“This will allow us to continue with footing installations, in order to complete the rest of the P4 level, which is the lowest parking level. The forming of columns, walls and concrete slabs is ongoing in stages, with the P4 mostly complete, the P3 level roughly 50% complete, and work starting on the P2 level.”
Below is a Couture website rendering that suggests how the 44-storey glass tower will look once construction is complete, along with photos I shot in February of progress on the tower foundation.
Website architectural rendering of the Couture Condominium tower
February 8 2011
February 8 2011
February 8 2011
February 8 2011: Excavation ramp removal begins
February 8 2011: Excavation ramp removal
February 16 2011
February 16 2011
February 16 2011
February 16 2011
February 16 2011
February 16 2011: Construction work at the east side of the tower site
February 16 2011
February 16 2011
February 16 2011
February 16 2011: Crews installing floor forms at the west end of the site
February 16 2011
February 16 2011
February 16 2011
February 16 2011: Workers set rebar on the forms to prepare for concrete pour
February 23 2011
February 23 2011
February 23 2011
February 28 2011
February 28 2011
February 28 2011
Couture Condos underground levels taking shape on January 24 2011
Frosty foundation: Their work keeps getting covered with snow, but contractors keep carrying on constructing Couture Condos at 28 Ted Rogers Way (the northernmost block of Jarvis Street between Charles and Bloor that was renamed in late 2009 in honour of the deceased media mogul; the Rogers Communications headquarters sit directly across the road). Designed by Graziani + Corrazza Architects Inc. and developed by Monarch Group, Couture will be a 44-storey glass tower wedged between a 30-year-old, 27-storey beige concrete apartment building and the new, recently-occupied black glass and steel X Condominium tower, itself 44 floors tall. Contrary to what the highrise development listing on the Monarch website has indicated for months, the Couture location is NOT in Etobicoke; I wish someone from Monarch would get around to correcting that glaring geographical mistake. What’s not mistakable is that Monarch picked a hot, in-demand downtown neighbourhood for its building. Besides X Condos, there are three other new condo towers within two blocks of Couture: Casa Condominium, Bloor Street Neighbourhood, and James Cooper Mansion Condos. And just a stone’s throw south, construction is set to start on the X2 condo tower. With even more condo projects proposed for the immediate vicinity, Couture will certainly stand in good company when it’s finished. While I’m not thrilled with the building’s boxy design, I’m convinced it will significantly liven up and greatly improve the streetscape — the site used to be a parking lot, and the whole Jarvis/Charles area has a rather uncomfortable and “dead” feel at night. That will definitely change with hundreds of residents going to and from Couture. But I’m more concerned about the tower’s potential wind tunnel impact on this part of Jarvis Street, which I walk at least once a week. Since X Condos has been built, I have noticed that winds blowing down upper Jarvis Street have become more powerful — there are more of those sudden, strong gusts that suck the air out of your lungs, or wrench your umbrella from your grip on rainy days, than I recall from the days before X. Once Couture is up, along with X2 half a block away, upper Jarvis Street might look great, but the canyon created by all the highrises could make it far from friendly to pedestrians. Below are renderings of Couture from the developer and architect websites, along with photos I’ve snapped showing recent progress on foundation construction.
Couture condo tower rendering from the developer’s website
Couture Condos foundation work on January 9 after a light snowfall
Couture Condos foundation work on January 9 after a light snowfall
Couture Condos foundation work on January 10
Couture Condos foundation work on January 10
Couture Condos foundation work on January 10
Construction crane on Couture Condos building site January 24 2011
Construction crane on Couture Condos building site January 24 2011
Couture Condos construction progress viewed through a safety fence along the rear grounds of X Condos on January 24 2011
Couture Condos construction progress on January 24 2011
No workers on site January 24 because of the bitter cold temperatures
Couture Condos construction progress on January 24 2011
Couture Condos tower renderings from the building architects’ website
2011 is getting off to a foggy, soggy start in Toronto (it’s 10 degrees Celsius and pouring rain as I write), but the wet weather won’t put a damper on the frenetic pace of building activity across the downtown area. When construction gets back to full speed next week once the holiday season has wound down, numerous projects will start, approach or reach significant stages of construction. At least five towers will make a major mark on the city skyline soon. In Yorkville, The Four Seasons Private Residences and Museum House on Bloor, both of which already have a substantial streetscape presence, will be pouring their top floors during the winter. Several blocks south, on Bay Street, the Burano condo tower is quickly climbing high, while the Living Shangri-La Torontoand Trump International Toronto hotel/condo skyscrapers are adding excitement to the Financial District skyline. Market Wharf is doing the same for the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood. In the next few weeks, streetscapes in several different areas will transform as construction climbs above ground level at 77 Charles Westin Yorkville, The L Tower on Yonge Street, Charlie Condos in the Entertainment District, The Modern at Sherbourne and Richmond, and the Clear Spirit tower in the Distillery District. Not too far behind are Aura at College Park on Yonge Street, Cinema Tower on Adelaide Street West, Three Hundred Front Street West, The Residences of Pier 27 on the waterfront, ICE Condos and Infinity3 Condos in the South Financial District, and Couture Condos on Jarvis Street; foundation work and underground levels are progressing fast at all seven sites. In the area bounded by Bloor, Bay, Wellesley and Jarvis Streets, demolition and excavation work should soon get in full swing for five key developments: U Condos, Five Condos, Nicholas Residences, X2 Condos, and the long-awaited One Bloor tower. Digging will get underway in earnest for the Ryerson University Student Learning Centre at Yonge and Gould Streets, and for the Delta Toronto hotel and Bremner Tower office complex in the South Financial District. Meanwhile, construction should soon conclude at the Sherbourne Common park at the waterfront, as well as for the 18 York office tower and seven major residential structures: the Ritz-Carlton Toronto, Crystal Blu Condos, Uptown Residences, James Cooper Mansion, Lumiere Condos, M5V Condos, and the YWCA Elm Centre. I’ll be taking a closer look at each of the above-mentioned projects — and many more hot construction spots — in the weeks ahead.
