Tag Archives: Fly Condos

Winter building pics: January 2013

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.

 

Fly condo highrise climbs into its element in crowded tower cluster on Front Street West

Fly condos

August 15 2012:  Construction of Fly Condos viewed from Bathurst Street to the southwest. From this perspective, there appears to be considerable wide open space on the condo building’s north and west sides …

 

Fly Condos

… thanks to a large surface parking lot on Fly’s west flank …

 

Fly Condos

… and another large parking lot to its immediate north and northwest …

 

Fly condos Matrix condos and Apex condos

… however on its south side, Fly shares close quarters with three CityPlace condo towers, including the east Apex building, left, and the two oval Matrix towers on Front Street …

 

Fly condos and Element condos

… while Fly’s east side rises almost smack against the Element condo highrise to its east

 

Close quarters: At this time last summer, the underground parking levels of Fly Condos were still in the early stages of construction, with months to go before the building reached grade. As of this week, the building has climbed 23 stories above the street — just one level shy of its final floor count. In the process, Fly has made a mini condo tower canyon on Front Street West look and feel even more cramped and crowded than it had been before.

Right now, there’s lots of open space to the north and west of Fly, since the surrounding land is occupied by large surface-level parking lots (who knows for how much longer before they’re redeveloped into condos, too). But it’s a completely different story on Fly’s other two sides.

 

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Fly condo tower site ready for crane installation

fly condos construction site

The construction crane for the Fly condo tower will be mounted on this pad near the east side of the building excavation, seen here on March 29 1011

fly condos building excavation

The Fly Condos excavation, looking north from Front Street West


fly condos building excavation

The east side of the excavation pit for the Fly condo tower

 

Awaiting a crane: Looks like a construction crane will be installed on the Fly Condos building site on Front Street West near Spadina Avenue any day now. The excavation for the 24-storey glass, stone and precast tower is four levels deep on the east half of the site, and a concrete pad for the crane base has been prepared in the middle of the pit. A project of Empire Communities, Fly Condos was designed by Graziani & Corazza Architects Inc. Below is a billboard with a rendering of the Fly condo tower, followed by photos taken March 29 2011 of the excavation site.

 

Fly condos marketing billboard on front street west

Fly condos marketing billboard on Front Street West

Fly condos excavation

Ramp leading from Front Street into the Fly condos excavation

 

Fly condos excavation seen on March 29 2011

Front Street view toward the northeast corner of the Fly Condos excavation

Fly condos excavation seen on March 29 2011

A trailer at the bottom northeast corner of the pit

 

Fly condos building excavation

The ramp curves downward to the pad for the construction crane base

 

Fly condos building excavation

Southeast corner view of the excavation for the 24-storey condo tower

 

Fly condos building excavation

A view of the crane pad, near top left, and excavation equipment in the pit

 

east side of the fly condo site excavation

The excavation on the east side of the site is about four levels deep

 

fly condos building excavation

Three men make the long walk up the ramp at the end of the workday

 

fly condos building excavation

Looking west across the Fly Condos excavation


Big digs: A look at how the earth’s been moving for five condos and a new waterfront college campus

Hole-y moley! That’s my reaction to several mighty big excavations currently underway for a half dozen major construction projects in the southern half of downtown.

One of the biggest (above) is for the new waterfront campus of George Brown College, situated between Sherbourne Common and the Corus Entertainment head office, both of which opened in 2010.

Just down the road, an even bigger dig is in progress for the Waterlink at Pier 27 condo complex.

Meanwhile, York Centre is the site of an enormous L-shaped excavation where the two ICE condo towers (65 and 55 storeys tall, respectively) and their office highrise sister (31 floors) ultimately will rise alongside the new Infinity3 three condo building (35 storeys).

Finally, on nearby Front Street West, holes are gradually getting deeper for Fly Condos (24 floors) and the 300 Front Street West condo tower (49 storeys).

Here’s a set of photos I’ve taken of these project sites recently, including some aerial shots from the CN Tower.

 

New George Brown College waterfront campus site August 29 2010


George Brown College waterfront campus excavation August 29 2010


George Brown College waterfront campus excavation August 29 2010


Waterlink at Pier 27 excavation November 2 2010


Waterlink at Pier 27 excavation November 2 2010


Waterlink at Pier 27 excavation November 9 2010


ICE + Infinity3 condos excavation November 2 2010


ICE + Infinity3 condos excavation November 2 2010


ICE + Infinity3 condos excavation November 2 2010


ICE + Infinity3 condos excavation November 2 2010


ICE + Infinity3 condos excavation November 2 2010


Fly Condos excavation January 3 2011


Fly Condos excavation January 3 2011


Fly Condos excavation January 3 2011


Fly Condos excavation November 2 2010


Fly Condos excavation November 2 2010


300 Front Street West excavation January 3 2011


300 Front Street West excavation January 3 2011


300 Front Street West excavation January 3 2011


300 Front Street West excavation January 3 2011


300 Front Street West excavation November 2 2010


300 Front Street West excavation November 2 2010