Tag Archives: Great Gulf Homes

Condo tower building sites squeezing traffic on construction-weary Charles Street East

September 1 2012 : One-way Charles Street squeezes into a single narrow lane while hoarding and security fences cramp the already-narrow sidewalks along the facing condo construction sites for ChazYorkville, left, and Casa 2 right

September 1 2012: Hoarding has surrounded the ChazYorkville site at 45 Charles East since last fall, when demolition started on a 45-year-old, 8-storey Modernist-style office building that formerly occupied the property …

… now the site of a large excavation that gets deeper each day

August 31 2012: Hoarding was installed on the north sidewalk, along the front of the office building at 42 Charles, in late August …

… where the 9-storey brick building, once administrative offices for the YMCA, will be demolished to make room for the 56-storey Casa 2 Condominiums

August 31 2012: Cars try to squeeze past a dump truck waiting its turn to enter the ChazYorkville site and pick up a load of soil from the excavation

August 31 2012: Motorists and pedestrians alike will face disruption and traffic congestion on this block of Charles Street for at least the next three to four years …

… and possibly much longer, if Canada Post sells Postal Station F at 50 Charles East, right next door to the Casa 2 site, for residential highrise redevelopment

Tight squeeze: Residents on and near the block of Charles Street between Church & Yonge Streets have reluctantly resigned themselves to at least four more years of dirt, dust, noise and traffic congestion, courtesy of two condo tower construction sites practically within whispering distance of each other on opposite sides of the street.

Construction of the 47-storey ChazYorkville condo tower commenced last fall when demolition crews destroyed a Modernist-style office building that had occupied 45 Charles for more than four decades. Foundation shoring and drilling work started in the spring, and excavation activity has been underway since May.

The same process is set to repeat itself directly across the street where hoarding was installed in late August along the public sidewalk in front of 42 Charles. Demolition of the 9-storey brick office building that presently stands on the site will start this fall, followed by shoring and excavation for the 56-floor Casa 2 Condominiums tower.

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Developer gets city’s approval to raise One Bloor condo tower height from 70 to 75 storeys

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June 13 2012: Excavation work continues at the southeast corner of Yonge & Bloor Streets where Great Gulf Homes is building its One Bloor condo tower

Five more floors: One Bloor, the landmark condo tower under construction at the southeast corner of Yonge & Bloor Streets, will be climbing five floors higher as a result of a Committee of Adjustment hearing at City Hall this week.

In an application to the committee, the project developer had requested a zoning bylaw variance that would allow it to raise the tower’s height from 70 to 75 storeys, as well as increase the building’s gross floor area from 55,910 square meters to 68,634 square meters. The application was item number 26 on the Committee of Adjustment’s June 13 meeting agenda.

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Looking in on 3 big digs along north Yonge Street: One Bloor, Nicholas Residences & FIVE Condos

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April 27 2012: The excavation for the One Bloor condo at Yonge & Bloor Streets keeps getting deeper along the site’s north and west sides …

… while three blocks south at St Mary & St Nicholas Streets, the excavation is deepest at the east and south ends of the Nicholas Residences condo tower site …

… ande just two blocks farther south at Yonge & St Joseph Streets, the excavation for FIVE Condos is deepest at the northeast corner of the property

Digging deeper: Excavation work is continuing apace for three condo tower projects that will substantially change the look and height of Yonge Street between Bloor and Wellesley Streets. Below are photos showing how excavations have progressed in recent months at the One Bloor, Nicholas Residences and FIVE Condos construction sites.

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Pop-up store hits its Target in King West condo zone

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February 20 2012: The east facade, along Blue Jays Way, for a Target Canada pop-up store open only 6 hours today for a special promotion

Here today, gone tomorrow: Condo towers aren’t the only buildings popping up all over the Entertainment District — so are stores. But while the highrises will be standing around for decades to come, one of the new stores definitely won’t; it will be open for less than one day.

For just six hours this afternoon, a former condo presentation centre at 363 King Street West (on the southwest corner of King and Blue Jays Way) was open for business as a “pop-up” store to promote a collection of Jason Wu women’s fashions for Target Canada. The Canadian division of the American retail chain won’t be opening stores until 2013, but today’s special sales event was intended to give Toronto shoppers an early peek at their products and competitive prices.

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Charlie Condos climbs closer to completion

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February 20 2012: The east side of Charlie Condos soars above the Mountain Equipment Co-Op on King Street, just west of Peter Street/Blue Jays Way

January 31 2012 : Charlie Condos, far left, makes its mark on the city skyline, in this view from the Bathurst Street bridge

Nearly there: Construction crews are close to topping off work on the latest condo tower to rise on the Entertainment District skyline. When I passed by Charlie Condos on King Street West earlier this week, workers were busy building the 35th level of what will end up as a 36-storey highrise. They also were continuing to make progress with exterior cladding installation, having reached as high as the 28th floor.

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Crews digging deep for X2 Condos foundation

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January 1 2012: A New Year’s Day view of the deep excavation pit for X2 Condos, looking west from the sidewalk along Jarvis Street

February 5 2011: An excavating machine sits idle in the muddy soil near the western end of the deep rectangular pit…

… but in just four days it has dug several feet deeper …

… and on February 11 gets some assistance moving a mound of earth

Crane coming soon?: Every time I walk past the X2 Condos building site — which lately has been about four times a week — I expect to see a construction crane rising from the deep excavation at the southwest corner of Jarvis and Charles Streets.

In early January, one of the construction crew told me that workers had to excavate just 20 more feet of soil, after which time a 6-foot-thick slab of concrete would be poured throughout the bottom of the pit to create the base for the 49-storey building foundation. Once the concrete had cured, the crane would be installed. That would take place sometime in January, the construction worker said.

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Earth moving at Yonge & Bloor as excavation crews keep digging deeper on One Bloor condo tower site

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January 11 2012: Excavation has progressed to roughly one level below grade at the One Bloor condo site, a dramatic change from exactly one year ago …

… when the property was still just a snow-covered empty lot. This is a view of the southern third of the One Bloor site, looking west from the Yonge-Bloor TTC subway entrance at the adjacent Xerox tower on January 10 2011 …

… while this is a view of the northern two-thirds of the property, also taken from the west side of the Xerox building on January 10 last year

Digging deeper: Exactly one year ago, the southeast corner of Yonge & Bloor Streets was just a large, empty, snow-covered lot, bisected by a pedestrian entrance to the Yonge-Bloor subway station. Now it’s a bustling construction site where an enormous excavation is taking shape for the 70-storey One Bloor condo tower. So far crews have dug deeper than one level below grade, making steady progress on moving earth out of what will ultimately become a five-level underground parking garage. One Bloor is a project of Great Gulf Homes. The tower was designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, with interior design by Cecconi Simone Inc. Below are photos I have shot of One Bloor’s excavation progress in the past two weeks. Renderings and illustrations of the tower can be viewed on the One Bloor East project page of the Hariri Pontarini website.

December 30 2011: Looking to the northwest across the construction site

December 30 2011: Digging still hasn’t started at the southwest corner

December 30 2011: Excavation at the north side of the site, along Bloor Street

December 30 2011: Construction equipment near the northwest corner

December 30 2011: Idle excavating machines on the south end of the lot

January 11 2012: An excavating machine digs near the southwest corner of the lot, as seen here from the west side of Yonge Street

January 11 2012: The One Bloor excavation, viewed from the southeast corner of Yonge & Hayden Streets

January 11 2012: Looking from Hayden Street toward The Bay’s 44 Bloor Street East department store at the Hudson’s Bay Centre

January 11 2012: Overlooking excavation activity from the southeast

January 11 2012: Two red dump trucks stand by for loads of dirt

January 11 2012: Excavation progress near the northeast corner along Bloor

January 11 2012: Excavation crews working near the northeast corner

January 11 2012: Construction entrance ramp off Bloor Street

January 11 2012: Excavation appears to be deepest at the northwest corner

January 11 2012: An excavating machine digs near the southwest corner

January 11 2012: In less than two weeks, several feet of soil has been excavated from virtually the entire site

A look at the One Bloor condo construction site

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November 6 2011: Looking north from Hayden Street across the One Bloor condo construction site at the SE corner of Yonge & Bloor

November 6 2011: Looking northeast across the site from Hayden Street

Site preparation: Drilling and shoring work continues at the construction site for the One Bloor condo tower at the southeast corner of Yonge & Bloor Streets. The work, which prepares the site for excavation, has been underway for over four months now.

A project of Great Gulf Homes, One Bloor was designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects of Toronto. Information about the building site and design, along with a selection of tower renderings and illustrations, is available at the One Bloor East profile page on the Hariri Pontarini website.

Below is an illustration of the 70-storey tower that appears on the One Bloor website, along with some of my recent photos of the construction site. Earlier photos can be viewed in my posts on August 13 2011, July 15 2011 and January 10 2011.

From the One Bloor website, an illustration of the 70-storey tower designed by Toronto’s Hariri Pontarini Architects.

November 6 2011: North view of the One Bloor site and towers at Yonge & Bloor

November 6 2011: Hoarding protects the Yonge Street sidewalk at the west end of the One Bloor construction site

November 6 2011: A shoring rig on the south edge of the property

November 6 2011: Hayden Street view of the One Bloor site and its office building neighbour to the east, the Xerox Centre at 33 Bloor Street East

November 6 2011: An idle excavating machine near Hayden Street

September 27 2011: Looking south across the One Bloor site. The tower will soar above the 46-storey Casa condominium at rear left.

September 27 2011: Another view of the One Bloor site from the north side of Bloor Street, outside the RBC bank branch

September 27 2011: Drilling rigs and concrete trucks on the building site

September 27 2011: Site viewed from the corner of Yonge & Hayden Streets

September 27 2011: Crews working near the site’s northeast corner

September 27 2011: Overlooking the One Bloor site from the southeast

September 27 2011: View toward the southwest corner of the site at the intersection of Yonge & Hayden Streets

September 27 2011: Drilling rigs and concrete trucks in the center of the site

In Photos: Summer construction activity in north downtown and the Bloor-Yorkville area (Part 1)

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August 13 2011: Newly-installed glass curtain wall cladding on the 77 Charles West luxury condo building, seen (above and below) from St Thomas Street

77 Charles West condos reaches 12 floors; cladding installation begins

Going green: Construction on the 77 Charles West luxury condo midrise could be topping off later this month, now that 12 of the building’s 13 floors have been built. Meanwhile, down at street level, the facade is beginning to reflect some of its nearby condo neighbours as its striking green-hued curtain wall cladding gradually gets installed.

I was surprised when I saw some of the first panels being put in place five days ago because the glass is turquoise green rather than blue, as renderings on the project website suggested it would be. Nevertheless, I like how it looks — and think it makes 77’s neighbours look good, too. Depending upon where I stood while looking at the new windows this morning, I saw sharp reflections of the One St Thomas Residences condo tower across the street, the Residences of the Windsor Arms at 22 St Thomas Street one block north, and other buildings in the Bloor-Yorkville area.

So far, the cladding encloses just three storeys around what will be the Charles Street entrance to the condominium homes (the 13 floors of luxury condos rise above Kintore College and Cultural Centre, a three-storey residence and educational facility for female Catholic students attending University of Toronto). I’m anxious to see how the cladding will look on the rest of the floors, especially on the curved south side of the building.

77 Charles West is a project of Aspen Ridge Homes, and was designed by Yann Weymouth of HOK.

Below are more photos of the new cladding and recent construction progress. Previous construction updates can be found in blog posts on July 5 2011, April 7 2011, and February 15 2011 — my first report on the 77 Charles West project.

August 6 2011: 77 Charles West condo construction viewed from St Thomas Street

August 6 2011: New promotional signage on the building’s north side

August 6 2011: Floors on the northwest corner of the building

August 6 2011: St Mary Street view of the building’s curved southwest corner

August 8 2011: Crews install the first 3-storey section of glass cladding

August 8 2011: Workers put the green-hued glass curtain wall panels in place

August 8 2011: A closer look at the cladding over the second and third storeys

August 13 2011: New cladding viewed from Charles Street, looking west

August 13 2011: Cladding above the entrance that faces north up St Thomas Street

August 13 2011: The cladding reflects several nearby buildings including the Residences at the Windsor Arms, the One St Thomas Residences, 155 Cumberland Street condos, and The Colonnade apartment building on Bloor Street

August 13 2011: Street-level view of the cladding’s neighbourhood reflection

August 16 2011: Reflection of the nearby Residences of the Windsor Arms

August 13 2011: One of the construction entrances on Charles Street

August 13 2011: A closer look at a corner section of the glass curtain wall

August 13 2011: New cladding viewed from the west end of the building

August 13 2011: Cladding reflects the One St Thomas Residences across the street

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Enormous excavation for U Condominiums keeps getting deeper & wider

August 6 2011: Excavation progress along the Bay Street side of the U Condos site, where the 50-storey east tower will rise

Digging down: Whenever I checked out excavation activity at the U Condominiums site back in the spring, it always seemed like the earth was moving at a snail’s pace. I thought it might take until the end of the year before the digging would reach anywhere near the 15-metre depth required for construction of the foundation for the project’s two condo towers, which will rise 45 and 50 storeys tall. Excavation work appeared to be moving well along the east, south and west perimeters of the property, but a vast amount of earth remained in the center and along the north perimeter. Since June, however, the excavation has progressed at an amazing pace, and the big hole in the ground at Bay and St Mary Streets is now more than two levels deep across most of the property.

U Condos is a project by The Pemberton Group. Its two condo towers, along with 3-storey townhouses that will flank the north, east and south sides of the development, were designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance.

Below are photos showing summer excavation progress at the U Condos location. Earlier construction photos can be viewed in my blog posts on May 7 2011, April 2 2011, March 18 2011, and February 4 2011 — my first report on the U Condos project.

June 21 2011: Looking southeast toward Bay Street from the U Condos construction entrance off St Mary Street

June 21 2011: Looking towards the eastern side of the site along Bay Street

June 21 2011: A construction supervisor watches excavation activity about 20 feet below. Bay Street is on the other side of the hoarding behind him.

June 21 2011: The southeastern corner where the 50-storey condo tower will rise

June 21 2011: Excavation on the south side of the site next to St Basil’s Church

July 3 2011: Excavation progress at the location for the east condo tower

July 3 2011: Excavation equipment and machines near the ramp off Bay Street

July 3 2011: An excavator on the south side of the site near St Basil’s Church. A row of 3-storey townhouses will be built along that edge of the U Condos property.

July 3 2011: The southwest corner of the U Condos property near Brennan Hall on the University of Toronto campus

July 24 2011: A substantially wider and deeper area has been excavated at the southwest corner in the past three weeks

July 24 2011: An excavator sits roughly where the east tower will be constructed

July 24 2011: Another view of the excavator from the St Mary Street entrance

July 24 2011: Looking toward the southeast corner of the property from a security fence along St Mary Street

August 6 2011: Significant excavation progress on the eastern third of the site

August 6 2011: Looking toward St Basil’s Church across the center of the site

August 6 2011: The 45-storey west tower will be built at this location

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Foundation work begins on north section of the One Bloor site

August 6 2011: Foundation drilling equipment on the One Bloor condo tower site

Drilling starts: One of Toronto’s biggest construction events took place in the middle of July when the groundbreaking ceremony was held for the much-awaited One Bloor condo tower at the southeast corner of the city’s premier Yonge & Bloor intersection. Drilling equipment had arrived on the site weeks earlier, but it wasn’t until July 15 that executive shovels turned soil to officially kick off construction of the 70-storey tower.

A project of Great Gulf Homes, One Bloor was designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects of Toronto. My previous coverage of this condo project includes posts on July 15 2011, May 4 2011, and January 10 2011 — my first report on One Bloor.

Below are several recent photos of construction equipment on the One Bloor property. Numerous tower renderings and a full architectural description of the building can be viewed at this page on the Hariri Pontarini website.

July 13 2011: Pedestrians walk on Yonge Street south of Bloor Street, passing foundation drilling machines on the One Bloor site

July 13 2011: Yonge Street view of the One Bloor site, looking east toward the Xerox Tower at 33 Bloor Street East

July 13 2011: A man walks along the temporary subway station access path next to the north side of the One Bloor condo tower location

August 6 2011: Foundation building equipment on the One Bloor site

August 6 2011: A ground level view of the north half of the tower site

At last! Great Gulf breaking ground today for its 70-storey One Bloor condo tower at Yonge & Bloor

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July 13 2011: Construction equipment rises above the One Bloor condo tower construction site, viewed here from the west side of Yonge Street

Shovels ready: It only felt like it was taking forever, but it’s finally going to happen: According to a July 14 2011 article posted on the Toronto Star website, Great Gulf Homes will break ground tomorrow to officially launch construction of its 70-storey One Bloor condo tower at the southeast corner of at Yonge and Bloor Streets.

Frankly, it’s about time. Seven months ago — in a January 10 2011 post, to be exact — I publicly wondered when Great Gulf was going to get shovels in the ground and start building the One Bloor tower on what is often referred to as the “premier” piece of real estate in Canada. During the months that followed, heavy machines rolled on and off of the One Bloor site, hinting that a construction start was imminent. But they didn’t stay for long, and nothing appeared to change on the property. But after foundation building equipment arrived on the site in June, it seemed clear that preliminary construction work for the tower was set to start.

Initially, One Bloor was slated to be a 65-storey condo building with two floors of retail space fronting on the prestigious Yonge & Bloor intersection. However, thanks to strong buyer demand (the Star says 85% of the units in the 732-suite tower have been sold), One Bloor will now soar five storeys taller — topping off at 70 floors. Construction is expected to cost $450 million and last until the end of 2014.

Below are several One Bloor website renderings that suggest how the skyscraper, designed by Toronto’s Hariri Pontarini Architects, will look, along with photos I’ve taken of the project site in recent months.

Condo tower rendering from the One Bloor project website

Condo tower podium rendering from the One Bloor project website

Another tower rendering seen in this screen capture from the One Bloor website

May 1 2011: Trailers on the otherwise vacant south side of the One Bloor condo tower construction site, viewed from the west side of the Xerox Tower

May 1 2011: Looking west across the vacant One Bloor site

May 1 2011: Looking northwest toward the corner of Yonge & Bloor

June 22 2011: A shoring rig on the northern half of the One Bloor site

June 22 2011: Yonge Street view of the shoring rig on the One Bloor property

June 22 2011: Bloor Street view of the shoring rig

July 6 2011: Two shoring rigs ready for action on the building site

July 6 2011: A closer look at the two rigs sitting idle on the site

July 13 2011: More construction equipment and a tent have been brought in for the groundbreaking ceremony

July 14 2011: My balcony view at sunset of skyscrapers near Yonge & Bloor Streets. The 45-storey Casa condominium tower (center) currently dominates the skyline; however, in three or four years’ time, One Bloor — which will rise just to the right rear of Casa — will be the tallest building in the area

Demolition of former retail plaza underway at Jarvis/Dundas site for 46-storey Pace condo tower

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July 1 2011: A view of the southwest corner of Jarvis and Dundas Streets …

… where half of the small strip plaza that once occupied the site has been demolished to make way for construction of the 46-storey Pace Condos tower

March 22 2011: This is what the plaza looked like before demolition started

Strong sales: There isn’t much left of the small retail plaza that formerly sat at the southwest corner of Dundas and Jarvis Streets, home to a convenience store, coin laundry and restaurants until late last year. This week, a demolition machine began to destroy the single-storey structures that used to occupy the property on which developer Great Gulf Homes plans to construct Pace Condos. According to the rezoning application that Great Gulf filed with the city in March, the proposed 46-storey tower will have a 10-storey podium and five underground levels, and will contain 417 condominium suites. The Pace Condos website indicates that 27 different floor plans are available for units ranging from small studios to 1- and 2-bedroom apartments, along with “family suites” offering 3, 3.5 or 4 bedrooms. Design-wise, Pace Condos will be “a paragon of architectural brilliance,” the website gushes. “Pace is a shimmering glass tower artfully placed on a podium comprised of dark charcoal-coloured bricks. This is urban elegance at its best. This is eye-catching, eye candy design the likes of which the city has never seen,” it adds. Curiously, the website doesn’t credit Toronto’s Diamond + Schmitt Architects, the firm behind the tower design it lauds so highly, although it does mention that “custom kitchens” will be designed by Ciccone Simone.

When I first wrote about the Pace Condos project in my March 22 2011 post, I noted that the building location is a seedy area on the edge of one of Canada’s poorest residential districts. While I personally wouldn’t want to live in the neighbourhood, nor would any of the friends with whom I have discussed the condo project, I did acknowledge that Great Gulf would probably find plenty of eager buyers willing to pay to live there. It looks like that has indeed been the case: According to the project website, 14 of the condo’s 27 floorplans have already sold out.

Below is a screenshot — from the Pace Condos website — showing how the proposed tower will look, along with several more photos I took today of demolition progress on the building site.

From the Pace Condos website, an architectural illustration of the glass tower and its 10-storey dark charcoal-coloured brick podium

July 1 2011: A view of the Pace Condos site from outside the Hilton Garden Inn Toronto/City Centre on the northeast corner of Dundas & Jarvis

July 1 2011: The former convenience store building has been reduced to rubble

July 1 2011: Only the south wall of the former retail businesses is left standing

July 1 2011: The former coin laundry building is partially demolished

July 1 2011: A view of the Pace Condos site from the north side of Dundas Street. The Grand Hotel & Suites Toronto is the tower at left, while the highrise at right rear is a condominium; both are located on Jarvis Street just south of Dundas.

July 1 2011: Another view of the site from the north side of Dundas Street

July 1 2011: Demolition will resume after the Canada Day holiday weekend

July 1 2011: A view of the site from Jarvis Street, looking west

Community meeting tonight will review plan for 46-storey Pace Condos tower at Dundas & Jarvis

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Great Gulf Homes is proposing a 46-storey condo tower for this site at the SW corner of Dundas and Jarvis Streets, seen here on March 22 2011.

Public feedback: A community consultation meeting this evening will give city residents the opportunity to voice their views about a Toronto developer’s proposal to build a 46-storey condo tower at the southwest corner of Dundas and Jarvis Streets. The meeting about Pace Condos, scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Metropolitan United Church, was recommended in a March 22 2011 preliminary report by the city’s Planning Division.

Great Gulf Homes is proposing a 46-storey mixed-use building for the corner site, which includes municipal addresses at 200 Jarvis Street and 155 – 163 Dundas Street East. The tower would have five underground levels and a 10-storey podium, and would contain 417 residential units in studio, 1-bedroom, 1-bedroom + den, 2-bedroom and 2-bedroom + den configurations. Prices start at $209,990.

An article on the Great Gulf website claims that Pace Condos “offers unbeatable downtown Toronto value in new condo living,” and raves that its prime location — which is just a “leisurely pace” from leading downtown attractions and key city transit services — will be ideal for people seeking “a new urban lifestyle.” The article further boasts that the condo building itself will be “a paragon of architectural brilliance. This shimmering, sleek and streamlined glass tower designed by Diamond + Schmitt Architects Inc. will artfully rise from a podium comprised of dark charcoal-coloured bricks. Pace will embody urban elegance at its best — and will define a new generation of urban elegance. Landscaping by Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg will frame the building in startling greenery and colour.”

What the article doesn’t describe is the gritty neighbourhood; as I mentioned in a March 22 2011 post, the Pace Condos location is on the edge of one of the poorest residential areas in the city, if not the entire country. Within mere minutes’ walking distance are dozens of hostels, homeless shelters, subsidized housing apartments, soup kitchens and social service agencies for the poor. From my experience, it has been difficult to walk past the Dundas/Jarvis intersection, or along nearby streets, without encountering numerous panhandlers, street people, and a slew of sketchy people openly selling and doing drugs or drinking alcohol. Despite the neighbourhood’s seedy character, the condo tower proposal has generated tremendous local interest — from excited potential buyers, from citizens who think Pace could kickstart wider urban renewal in the immediate area, and from nearby residents who are alarmed by the height and size of the building that could soon become their new neighbour.

Given wide interest in Pace Condos, tonight’s meeting could attract a large turnout and spark colourful discussion, both positive and negative. I’m keen to hear if the Pace Condos proposal generates reactions similar to those expressed at other public meetings I have attended recently. A community consultation for a massive condo project planned for the St James Town area drew overwhelmingly negative feedback from the audience, while a Jarvis Street resident read an emotional and strongly-worded three-minute speech blasting the Pace Condo proposal at another public meeting about proposed guidelines for tall buildings in the downtown area. Unfortunately, I can’t attend the meeting, but I will continue to track further developments.

Great Gulf Homes plans 46-storey condo tower for corner in sketchy Dundas-Jarvis neighbourhood

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Developer Great Gulf Homes has acquired this property at the southwest corner of Dundas and Jarvis Streets for its proposed 46-storey Pace Condos tower

On-site promotional billboard for the Pace Condos tower

Seedy site: I had been wondering when a developer was going to announce plans to build a condo tower at the seedy southwest corner of Dundas and Jarvis Streets. It’s not a nice neighbourhood by any stretch of the imagination, but real estate is all about location and that’s one of the few redeeming features for this prime piece of downtown property just a short walk from the Toronto Eaton Centre and the Yonge subway line. Late last year I noticed that the three businesses in the small commercial plaza on the corner had been closed and their windows papered over. I kept waiting to hear word about a development proposal for the property, but didn’t see any signs on the site in either January or February. But when I passed by the corner just over a week ago, and saw that chainlink fencing had been erected around the plaza, I knew an announcement was imminent. On March 14, it happened: prominent Toronto condo developer GreatGulf Homes filed a rezoning application with the City, proposing to build a 46-storey condo tower with 417 suites, five levels of underground parking and a 10-storey podium with street-level retail space. A billboard promoting Pace Condos — “downtown tower suites from the low $200s” — promptly went up on the corner where it’s certain to catch the attention of motorists driving along busy Jarvis Street on their way to and from the Financial District.

When I told some friends earlier this winter that I suspected a condo would be built on the site, they looked incredulous and said: “No way! Who the hell would want to live there?” Obviously, Great Gulf is confident they can find 417 potential buyers, and I’m sure they’ve done their research. After all, they know their stuff: they’re the company behind several of downtown Toronto’s hottest condo developments. Their X Condominium tower only eight blocks north of the Pace Condos site was a huge hit with buyers, and two other condo towers Great Gulf is currently constructing — X2 Condos at Jarvis & Charles, and Charlie condos on King Street West in the Entertainment District — were enormously successful, too. One Bloor Condos is destined to achieve similar stellar sales; construction of that tower is expected to commence later this year at Yonge and Bloor Streets.

Still, it’s fair to say that the area around the Pace Condos site is a helluva lot less desirable than the locations of GreatGulf’s other projects. Dundas & Jarvis sits on the periphery of one of the poorest residential areas in all of Canada, a vast downtown district with one of the country’s largest concentrations of homeless people and residents earning poverty-level incomes or collecting social assistance — people who have no hope of ever being able to live at Pace Condos or in a condo anywhere, for that matter. Meanwhile, if Pace Condos does get built, anyone who buys an east-facing unit will have views overlooking dozens of rooming houses, homeless shelters, government-subsidized apartments and social service agencies — all just a short stroll from their front door. And as the Toronto Star pointed out in a photo gallery on March 18, the epicentre of the city’s worst area for overall crime is the intersection of Dundas and Sherbourne Streets, just two blocks east. While I was taking photos on Dundas Street this afternoon, a young black man approached me. “Make sure you take pictures showing this place like it really is — me standing here drinking from a bottle of booze in a paper bag in broad daylight, those guys over on that corner dealing crack cocaine, all those homeless people over there and the guys doing drugs down there,” he told me, pointing at each corner of the Dundas-Jarvis intersection before taking a long drink from his bottle. He, along with all the street people who kept staring at me or asking for spare change, made me wonder why anyone would want to pay $200,000+ to buy a condo there. Until he added: “And make sure you take pictures of how everything looks like now so you can remember it because, in a few years, there’s probably gonna be lots of new buildings all around here. This is gonna be a good place to live. It’s not always gonna look like this.”

Maybe he’s right — maybe things are finally starting to look up for this down-on-hard-times district. There’s already several condo buildings close by, including the popular and pricey Merchandise Lofts, as well as two hotels — with a third hotel and more condos in the works. Right across the street, the Ontario government is retrofitting and modernizing the massive building at 222 Jarvis Street into a new workplace for the Ontario Public Service. And the rapidly-growing Ryerson University campus is just a block away. Could the arrival of Pace Condos herald a turn-around for this sketchy streetcorner? We’ll have to wait a few years to see. In the meantime, here’s some photos showing the Pace Condos site and its immediate neighbours as they look now.

January 3 2011: Looking west at the small plaza at Dundas & Jarvis Streets

January 3 2011: The office towers of the Financial District are only blocks away

February 18 2011: The Eaton Centre is just a 10-minute walk west

March 22 2011: Looking south on Jarvis Street toward the Pace Condos site. If built, Pace would obstruct this view of the 45-storey Spire condo tower on Lombard Street, visible in the center of the photograph.

March 22 2011: Pace Condos site seen from northeast corner of Dundas & Jarvis

Commercial tenants of this plaza — including a convenience store, two restaurants and a coin-operated laundry facility– closed up shop months ago. The parking lot was fenced off just within the past 10 days.

The buildings to the west and southwest include luxury condos, rental apartments, co-op apartments and government-subsidized rental accommodation

South view of the Pace Condos site from the opposite side of Dundas St. The brown brick building is 192 Jarvis, a 14-storey condominium built in 1985.

A billboard advertises Pace Condos to passersby on Dundas and Jarvis Streets

The 192 Jarvis condo rises above the fenced-off plaza on Dundas Street

A view of the exterior of two of the plaza’s former commercial tenants

These now-vacant properties — ICITS computer training at 155 Dundas East, New Moon Bar at 157 Dundas East, and Palmers West Indian Restaurant at 159 Dundas East — are all part of the site for the proposed Pace Condos tower

The Grand Hotel on Jarvis Street and the 192 Jarvis condominium building sit to the south and southeast of the site of the proposed Pace Condos tower

If approved by City Hall, Pace Condos would stand three times taller than these two buildings; it would be the highest tower in the neighbourhood

The Ho-Lee-Chow takeout restaurant on the southeast corner of Dundas & Jarvis; the Grand Hotel is situated a few doors south at 225 Jarvis Street

The Hilton Garden Inn on the northeast corner of Dundas & Jarvis. Years ago, before it was converted into a hotel, this building housed offices of the federal unemployment insurance department

222 Jarvis sits across the street from the Pace Condos site, directly to the north. At one time the headquarters for Sears Canada, the building is being retrofitted and modernized as offices for the Ontario Public Service

Mutual Street Deli on the north side of Dundas St. across from Pace Condos

Charlie condos catching attention on King West

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With construction up to its second level, Charlie Condos on King West is no longer hidden from view by the hoarding around the building site.

Name blame: When I was snapping some pics of construction progress at Charlie Condos on King Street West a few weeks ago, a bicycle courier rushed toward me, a furious look on his face. I thought he was angry at me, perhaps thinking I’d been taking his photo (I wasn’t; he was standing far off to the side of the construction gate I was photographing at the time). Turned out he was actually pissed at Charlie’s developer, Great Gulf Homes, and its builder, Tucker HiRise Construction, instead.

Jabbing his index finger toward signs on the construction site hoarding, the courier yelled: “These guys should get their asses sued off for copyright infringement!” Totally surprised and confused, I asked, “What guys? Why?” Face turning beet red, he bellowed: “Tucker HiRise! They have no right to use Chris Tucker’s name for their company! And they have no right to use Charlie Sheen’s name for their condo, either! I happen to know a thing or two about copyright law, and I know for a fact that Charlie and Chris could take these guys to the cleaners for trying to make money off their name!”

He proceeded to explain that the developer and builder were running afoul of civil law because, in his expert legal opinion, they were misleading people into purchasing condominiums in the belief the two Hollywood actors were somehow connected to the building. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing; this fellow was dead serious, yet he knew absolutely diddly-squat about trademark law.

Just as quickly as he had come running towards me, he flew into another tirade, this time raging about the fact Charlie is being built on a site that used to be a parking lot. “Where are all the cars supposed to park now?” he shrieked. “I guess they’ll have to buy a condo if they want to park here,” I replied. “That’s exactly what those bastards want!” he exclaimed, once again gesturing toward the hoarding signs before quickly stomping away.

Below are some pics I took of Charlie after receiving my Trademark Law 101 lecture on the street corner.

To view pics of the parking lot that once occupied the site, as well as building renderings and photos of the early stages of Charlie’s construction, check out my first Charlie progress post on January 31.

Construction forms rise above the hoarding on February 17 2011

A construction worker atop one of the ground-level wall forms

Arranging the rebar rods before concrete is poured in the form

Charlotte Street view of the construction on February 17 2011

Charlie Condos construction viewed from a laneway to the north

Laneway view of Charlie Condos construction, looking to the southeast

M5V Condos on King is the tower with the bold red stripe behind Charlie

This way to the next level of construction

The crane lifts a bucket of concrete into place for pouring

Checking in on Charlie

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Architectural rendering from the Charlie Condos website

From Chaz to Charlie: Yesterday I posted about Chaz on Charles Street. Today I’m taking a look at Charlie on Charlotte Street. (Far as I can tell, they’re not siblings — their names and street locations might be similar, but they’re separate projects by totally different developers.)

Now that she’s finally got an above-ground presence, passersby are starting to notice Charlie Condos in the Entertainment District. Up until late last year, you couldn’t see much of her. Hoarding hid Charlie from public view on King Street West, so construction of her parking garage and underground levels could be seen only through a tall chain-link fence along a back lane off Charlotte Street. Work on Charlie’s below-ground floors reached street grade in early December, and now the building is beginning to rise above the bold blue hoardings that shield the sidewalk on the north side of King.

Designed by Toronto’s Diamond + Schmitt Architects, and a project of Great Gulf Homes, Charlie will “define mile-high style” (according to her website) — even though she’ll stand only 32 stories tall. But with her clear glass windows, aluminum frame, and heritage brick foundation, Charlie will look “elegant and evocative … classic and contemporary.” We’ll have to wait until at least several floors of windows and exterior finishing treatments have been installed to judge if that’s in fact the case. But by taking the place of what used to be a parking lot, Charlie is classing up the corner and already helping to boost property values in her immediate vicinity.

A friend of mine made a very handsome profit selling his Charlotte Street condo late last year, thanks to the interest that Charlie and other nearby condo projects, including M5V across the street on King, have stirred up in the area.

Below are some of my pics of construction progress at the Charlie site.