Tag Archives: Front Street West

Neighbourhood Watch: Condo construction activity in downtown’s King & Bathurst area (Part 2)

July 17 2011: Rêve King West viewed from Bathurst Street. The building extends from Front Street all the way north to Niagara Street.

Three streets, five projects: Last week I profiled five different development projects in Part 1 of my Neighbourhood Watch focus on the King & Bathurst area: Lofts 399 on Adelaide Street West, plus Victory Condos, Fashion House Condos, Six50 King West and Thompson Residences — all on King Street between Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street. Today, Part 2 takes a look at another five projects on three separate streets in the same area.

Rêve King West

Construction is nearing completion on this midrise Tridel condominium project at 560 Front Street West between Bathurst and Portland Streets. According to the Rêve King West website, occupancy has been tentatively scheduled for this fall. Many floorplans have sold out; however, the website indicates there is still availability for a $341,000 1-bedroom + den in 650 square feet, a 970-square-foot 3-bedroom priced from $535,000, and several “Dream Collection” suites offering anywhere from 1,030 to 1,55 square feet of living space, at prices between $590,000 and $890,000.

Even with construction winding down, I’m still ambivalent about the building’s design. Rêve does have some striking design features that I like — especially the red trim highlights on the black cladding, and the opaque white balcony panels which really make the building stand out. Yet that’s also what I don’t like about Rêve: it stands out too much. The building’s sheer size seems completely wrong for the location since it totally dominates the block and overwhelms all of its next-door neighbours. It has an ominous, hulking appearance and, particularly when viewed from either the east or west side, looks far too big and way too black. I would hate to live in one of the townhouses at Portland Park Village and have that vast black building looming next door.

Photos of earlier stages of Rêve’s construction progress can be viewed in my April 14 2011 post and my January 21 2011 post.

June 21 2011: Workers install panels at the top of Rêve’s south side

July 17 2011: Rêve dwarfs the Portland Park Village condo complex immediately to its east at 550 Front Street West

July 17 2011: Balconies on Rêve’s south facade above Front Street

July 17 2011: Bathurst Street view of the upper south and west walls

July 17 2011: Balconies along part of Rêve’s extensive west wall

July 20 2011: A window on the upper south facade catches some sun

July 20 2011: A street-level view of Rêve’s south side

July 20 2011: This private driveway off Front Street leads to the lobby entrance

July 20 2011: Rêve rises only inches away from the Portland Park Village condos

July 20 2011: Looking up the building’s south face

July 20 2011: Some balconies are still missing panels …

… while other parts of the exterior await their own finishing touches

July 20 2011 : Balconies on the south side of the building

July 20 2011: Looking up at the southeast corner of the building

July 20 2011: Ropes for swing stages dangle down the building’s south side

July 20 2011: Rêve’s upper northeast floors viewed from Niagara Street

July 20 2011: Rêve looms behind the Portland Park Village townhouses

July 20 2011: Rêve viewed from the driveway for Portland Park Village

July 20 2011: The Portland Park Village midrise building (left) and Rêve tower above the four-level townhouses nestled below

July 20 2011: Rêve rises above the townhouses at Portland Park Village in this view from Victoria Memorial Park

Condo development proposal for Front & Bathurst

July 17 2011: A proposed four-building condo development site on the northeast corner of Bathurst and Front Streets. The new Rêve King West condo building (right rear) stands immediately next door to the east.

A rezoning application was recently filed with the city to construct a four-building residential community with nearly 1,000 condos at the northeast corner of Bathurst and Front Streets, right next door to the new Rêve King West condos profiled above. The June 30 2011 redevelopment proposal for 578 Front Street West encompasses a group of properties with frontage on Niagara, Bathurst and Front Streets. The plan calls for a mixed-use development with 970 residential units in four buildings ranging in height from 4 to 22 stories. There would be street-level retail space, along with 960 parking spaces in an underground garage.

The site itself has an intriguing history going back more than 150 years. In the late 1800s, the land was used as a coal and wood yard, and then became home to the Doty Engine Works machinery-building plant. Bertram Engine Works subsequently acquired the property, where it manufactured engines and boilers for its nearby shipyard. For a time, it was the location of a brick press manufacturer, and during the First World War operated as a munitions factory. Over the decades that followed, the land and buildings were occupied by a variety of different businesses, including the Rock Oasis indoor climbing gym which operated there until it relocated in June. (The property’s history is outlined in extensive detail and photos in a June 21 2011 post by Toronto blogger Nathan Ng. A shorter account of Mr. Ng’s historical essay can be read in The Architourist column by Dave Leblanc in the July 15 2011 Globe and Mail.)

Below are pictures of the development proposal notice as well as recent photos of demolition activity on the site.

The development proposal sign on the property

Site plan illustration on the development proposal sign

July 17 2011: Hoarding surrounds buildings at 33 – 49 Niagara Street that will be demolished to make way for the condo development

July 17 2011: The buildings at 33 – 49 Niagara Street, viewed from Victoria Memorial Park looking west toward Bathurst Street

July 20 2011: Demolition activity at the 578 Front Street West condo development site, viewed here from Front Street looking northwest toward Bathurst Street.

July 20 2011: From the late 1890s until 1940, the buildings on this site were home to several different machinery manufacturing companies.

July 20 2011: This building was the downtown Toronto location of the Rock Oasis indoor climbing gym for 13 years until the business relocated in June.

July 20 2011: Four buildings will range from 4 to 22 storeys tall

July 20 2011: The former downtown Toronto Harley-Davidson dealership occupies the eastern end of the proposed condo development site

Minto 775 King West

A project of Minto Group Inc., this development is currently under construction on a large site at the southwest corner of King and Tecumseth Streets. Designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, the 16-storey building has a variety of floorplans for studio, 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom suites that vary in size from 542 to 1,425 square feet and in price from $356,800 to $639,800. Suites in “The Penthouse Collection” range from an 821-square-foot 1-bedroom unit costing $580,800 to an 1,866 2-bedroom going for $1,288,800. Retail space will occupy the ground level of the five-storey podium along King Street. Below are recent photos showing construction progress on the site. Further information about the building design is available on the Harini Pontarini webpage for the Minto 775 King West project.

From the Minto 775 King West condo website, an artistic rendering of the Hariri Pontarini-designed building

August 23 2008: The Minto 775 King West location before construction commenced, looking southeast from King Street toward Tecumseth Street

July 20 2011: West view toward the condo site at King & Tecumseth Streets

July 20 2011: One of two cranes on the construction site, viewed here from the sidewalk on the north side of King Street

July 20 2011: Overlooking the L-shaped excavation from the NE corner

July 20 2011: Construction activity several levels below Tecumseth Street

July 20 2011: Underground levels take shape near the northeast corner

July 20 2011: Looking west from the Tecumseth Street side of the property

July 20 2011: Walls taking shape four levels below street grade

July 20 2011: Concrete delivery at the King Str. construction entrance

400 Wellington

This midrise building on Wellington Street just west of Spadina Avenue is a project of DesignSorbara, a family-owned and operated design development company. It’s essentially two buildings in one, with a 10-storey wing in front and a 12-storey section in back. The complex also blends two distinct architectural styles: The front building was inspired by the reddish-brown warehouses in the surrounding neighbourhood, while the rear structure features “a mid-1900s-inspired horizontal layout of windows and masonry,” according to the 400 Wellington website.

Below are construction progress photos I snapped during June and July. Photos of earlier stages of construction can be viewed in my February 27 2011 post and in my January 17 2011 post.

This artistic rendering of the 400 Wellington condo buildings appears on the condo project website

June 21 2011: 400 Wellington viewed from the southeast end of the block

June 21 2011: The front wing (left) stands 10 storeys; the rear section 12

June 21 2011: A closer view of the five upper levels of the rear building section

June 21 2011: Construction progress on the southwest side of the building

June 21 2011: A yellow construction garbage chute stands out against the blue insulation on the exterior wall of the front wing

July 17 2011: Brickwork has been installed on much of the building’s exterior

July 17 2011: Brickwork on the building’s southwest corner

July 17 2011: Street level view from the south side of Wellington Street

July 17 2011: Upper levels on the south side of the 12-storey wing

July 17 2011: Construction viewed from Wellington Street, looking northwest

July 17 2011: Brickwork on upper levels of the 10-storey front building

July 17 2011: 400 Wellington rises behind The Globe and Mail newspaper’s head office in this view from Concord CityPlace. The Globe site could become condos in several years’ time, too; the newspaper has announced it will begin construction in 2012 on a new building next door (at right, currently a Toyota dealership).

500 Wellington West

A project of Freed Developments, this 10-storey boutique condo building is nearing completion. Designed by Core Architects, 500 Wellington West has 17 luxury suites that occupy either half or full floors. It’s just a short walk west of the 400 Wellington project site (above), and even closer to the Victoria Memorial Park at Portland Street. Below are photos showing construction progress in June and July. Pictures of earlier stages of construction can be viewed in my February 27 2011 post and in my January 16 2011 post.

June 21 2011: A crew works on the exterior of the building’s south facade

June 21 2011: The building appears small from the outside, but offers incredible space inside. For example: Residence 6 offers 5,990 square feet of interior space on a full floor, along with a 975-square-foot terrace.

June 21 2011: A closer look at the crew working on the front windows

July 17 2011: Even the half-floor suites are spacious. Residence 5 offers 3,515 square feet of interior space along with a 535-square-foot terrace.

July 17 2011: Glass panels will be installed on the 3 balconies seen here

July 17 2011: Floor-to-ceiling windows line three sides of the top-level suites

July 17 2011: Construction progress viewed from across Wellington Street

Contractors digging deep foundation for 49-storey Three Hundred Front Street West condo tower

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March 29 2011: Excavation machines and equipment inside the deep pit at the Three Hundred Front Street West condo tower construction site

From the Tridel website, an artistic illustration of a southeast night view of the Three Hundred Front Street West condo building

Deep dig: An already huge hole in the ground is getting even bigger at the northwest corner of Front and John Streets, where Toronto developer Tridel is building its latest luxury condominium tower on the site of a former parking lot. Designed by Rudy Wallman of Toronto’s Wallman Architects, the L-shaped Three Hundred Front Street West will actually be two buildings in one. A 49-storey tower offering a variety of 1- and 2-bedroom condo suites plus spacious penthouse residences will rise from the west side of the property, while a connected 15-storey loft building will stand to the north. A grand two-storey lobby entrance will overlook a large landscaped garden gracing the southeast corner of Front & John.

Design-wise, Three Hundred Front Street West will bring a bit of Big Apple appeal to downtown Toronto. “I was inspired by the classic skyscrapers of the modern era to create a structure that is timeless and elegant,” Wallman explains in a video presentation on the Tridel website. Three Hundred Front Street West, he adds, will be “a unique and elegant addition” to the neighbourhood, complementing the new Ritz-Carlton Toronto hotel and condo tower one block to the east, as well as the new Festival Tower and TIFF Bell Lightbox buildings two blocks north at John and King. Interior designer Alex Chapman of Chapman Design Group says Wallman has conceived a “Manhattan-style” tower that is “totally reminiscent of many of the famous complexes” in New York City. Unfortunately, I haven’t been to Manhattan yet, so I can’t draw any comparisons myself. But I do think that, with its soaring height and its striking silver and charcoal grey glass exterior, Three Hundred Front Street West will become a landmark commanding attention both in its immediate area and on the city skyline. The neighbourhood is dominated by office and condo towers with similar green glass exteriors, so Three Hundred Front Street West’s unique silver and grey tower accents should provide a refreshing visual break from the rest as well as an attractive addition to the skyline.

Amenities-wise, Three Hundred Front Street West will be a contemporary condo offering the look and feel of an exclusive, upscale boutique hotel. The airy two-storey lobby off Front Street will be “a sophisticated urban arrival space” with a lounge atmosphere, Chapman says, while a 13,500-square-foot recreational center on the 15th floor will feature a “professional-level” exercise area. The rooftop of the loft wing will look like a chic “urban resort” with its infinity pool, sundecks, Roman fountain and barbecue. Interior recreational amenities will include a party room with south views, a private dining room with a catering-size kitchen and its own “cocktail balcony,” a poker room, billiards room and lounge. I’m jealous; with the exception of a ground-level swimming pool, all of the amenity areas in the downtown condo where I live are windowless basement spaces with all the sophistication of a recreation room from a 1970s-era suburban house.

Overall, I think Three Hundred Front Street West will significantly enhance the streetscape in one of the city’s most popular tourist areas, particularly since it will block many sightlines of the Windsor hydroelectric station on Wellington Street. And with plans in the works for John Street to get a major makeover in the next several years, Three Hundred Front Street West’s main entrance park will become a classy southern gateway to the Entertainment District’s main north-south street. The only downside to the development, that I can see, is the block full of ugly power transformers on its north flank. But since Wallman’s design means all of the loft suites face south, their residents will still enjoy good views and won’t get stuck overlooking electrical equipment.

Below are photos I’ve taken of recent construction activity at Three Hundred Front Street West, along with several artistic illustrations provided by Tridel that suggest how the tower, its street-level exterior, and its landscaped park will appear. Additional artistic illustrations of the building exterior, lobby and amenities, as well as floor plans and brief video presentations by Rudy Wallman and Alex Chapman, are available on the Three Hundred Front Street West website.

November 28 2010: Signage on hoarding around the construction site

November 23 2010: North-facing view of the 300 Front West site

November 23 2010: A tall shoring machine at work on the condo excavation site

November 23 2010: Northeast view of the condo construction site. The building with the red window frames is the CBC broadcasting headquarters on the southeast corner of Front & John Streets.

November 23 2011: Northeast view across the 300 Front Street West condo site

January 14 2011: The ramp leading from Front Street into the excavation

January 14 2011: Some of the hydroelectrical equipment at the Windsor Station on the north side of the 300 Front Street West site. Thankfully, the condo will block views of the hydro station from most parts of Front and John Streets.

February 18 2011: A view of the crane recently installed on the site

March 29 2011: Excavation machines inside the pit at 300 Front West

March 29 2011: Looking toward the northeast corner of the excavation

March 29 2011: Excavation machines at the bottom of the deep pit

March 29 2011: The supporting wall on the north side of the excavation

March 29 2011: Excavation activity at the eastern half of the site

March 29 2011: Considerable excavation work remains on the west side of the site

March 29 2011: Looking toward Front Street from the site’s NE corner

March 29 2011: Slick white hoarding protects pedestrians on Front Street

From the condo website, an illustration of the landscaped SE corner park

Website illustration of the lobby exterior, viewed from the condo park

Website illustration of the Three Hundred Front West lobby exterior

Website illustration of the Three Hundred Front Street West lobby interior

Another illustration of the Three Hundred Front Street West lobby interior

Front Street trees axed, median dug up as work starts on new Union Station subway platform

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March 7 2011: A row of mature trees has been chopped down, and what’s left of the Front Street median is being demolished and removed to facilitate construction below the road of a new Union Station subway platform

This photo, from the Waterfront Toronto website, shows the narrow platform and dingy interior of the existing Union Station subway stop

From the City of Toronto website, this artistic rendering suggests how the Union Station subway stop will look following construction of an additional platform

Another artistic illustration, from the Waterfront Toronto website, shows how the wider, new Union Station subway platform might look when work ends in 2012

Tree totallers: Work has finally begun on the Union Station Second Subway Platform and Concourse Improvements Project, but the early stages of construction are actually taking place above ground, on Front Street, where medians between Yonge and York Streets are being demolished and dug up. The long-awaited $90 million subway station expansion project is good news for the thousands of commuters and subway riders who pass through the extremely congested and ratty-looking TTC station each day — but bad news for dozens of decades-old trees facing the axe on Front Street to facilitate construction beneath the road. The trees eventually will be replaced, but most likely with the pathetically thin and weak saplings that the City typically plants on downtown streets — scrawny, sorry twigs that look doomed to struggle and then die within a year or two of planting.

The subway station improvement project has been in the works for more than 10 years, and commuters will be relieved to see the construction finally get going. The TTC undertook a feasibility study for the subway station expansion way back in 1999, and held an open house in June 2003 to present its plans to the public. “Union Station is the busiest passenger transportation facility in Canada, serving approximately 250,000 passengers each day,” the TTC website notes. Many of those passengers use the Union subway station, so overcrowding is common and traffic flow is terrible. But by doubling the size of the subway platform, the TTC will be able to move people through the station more quickly and more safely, while enabling the station to handle future passenger loads that are expected to increase tremendously, says a City of Toronto website page describing the subway project.

At present, one uncomfortably narrow center platform serves trains heading east on the Yonge subway line, as well as trains going west on the University-Spadina line. Once construction is complete, there will be wider, separate platforms for each direction. A new pedestrian corridor will allow people heading to the GO trains at Union Station to bypass the paid-entry area of the subway station, while connections to the Harbourfront Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system will be improved. The renovations also will provide full accessibility to all levels of the Union subway station, better traffic flow on the concourse level, and better access to the TTC fare lines.

The expansion couldn’t happen soon enough. As the Financial District’s most important and most popular subway station, Union has always been bustling with commuters heading to and from the surrounding office towers. Crowds travelling to sports, entertainment and convention events at the Air Canada Centre, Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the Rogers Centre have made it even busier, while the condo and office building boom in the former railway lands area to the southwest have increased the traffic strain. With additional condo and office developments currently under construction, and even more buildings on the horizon for the East Bayfront and port lands areas, the subway station urgently required expansion just to handle the crush of additional passengers expected to use the LRT line, which itself is going to be extended.

Initial preparatory work, which included sewer relocation, began in June 2006 and finished in March 2008. Last year, the design phase of the project concluded and contracts were put out to tender. EllisDon Corporation won the contract in January and started work on February 23. Construction on Front Street is expected to last five weeks, while one more week will be spent removing the median on Bay Street between Front Street and the railway bridge. The project, which is being overseen by Waterfront Toronto but managed by the TTC, is expected to finish sometime in 2012.

Meanwhile, we might get word sometime this year on whether the City might proceed with plans to give Front Street a major facelift between Bay and York Streets. Reconfiguration of the block in front of Union Station, to make it more pedestrian-friendly and safe, has been considered in a number of city planning reports which are currently proceeding through environmental assessment studies. Among the concepts being considered to transform the street are the creation of a “grand civic plaza,” a mid-block pedestrian crossing, wider sidewalks and traffic lane reductions. Further information on some of the ideas being considered are outlined in a Changes to Front Street at Union Station July 2010 newsletter as well as on the Changes to Front Street at Union Station page of the City of Toronto website.

Below is a TTC website map showing the locations where work on the Front and Bay Street medians will be taking place during the next several weeks, along with some of my photos of the medians and demolition activity. There’s also a series of photos showing how Front Street looked last fall, between Bay and York Streets.

TTC website advisory about street construction on Bay and Front Streets

Median demolition on Front Street in front of the Fairmont Royal York Hotel

The new subway platform will be built below the roadway

Trees were chopped down first; here, the concrete median is being destroyed

Work will take place seven days a week for the next five weeks — from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and even on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Traffic is restricted during the construction, but at least one lane is being kept open in each direction throughout the work period

The trees that were destroyed eventually will be replaced; however, the city may decide later this year if it will pursue plans to transform this stretch of Front Street into a more pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare