Tag Archives: Isabella Street

Threat to corner green space alarms neighbours as approval of apt. tower addition appears imminent

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66 Isabella Street Toronto

December 14 2011: This city notice, posted on the grounds of the 40-year-old rental apartment tower at 66 Isabella Street several days ago …

 

66 Isabella Street Toronto

… suggests that days are numbered for these eight trees and this open expanse of private green lawn at the northwest corner of Church & Isabella Streets …

 

66 Isabella Street tower development site

… which soon could be ripped up to make way for construction of a 23-storey addition to the apartment building rising behind the trees at left

 

Kiss the trees goodbye?: Church-Wellesley area residents are alarmed that the city appears poised to approve construction of a 23-storey addition to a rental apartment tower at the northwest corner of Church and Isabella Streets. Neighbours are upset not only since the construction will destroy eight mature trees and eliminate a large open green space in a downtown area that city planning staff admit is severely lacking in parkland, but also because they worry that the condo and rental unit addition to the 66 Isabella Street apartment tower could spark a wave of highrise development proposals for low-rise residential streets in the nearby Church & Wellesley village. And they fear for the fate of elderly tenants who will be displaced from their apartments on the east side of the apartment building, where suite layouts will have to be drastically reconfigured to accommodate hallways linking the addition to the existing structure.

 

32-storey addition initially proposed

The application for zoning amendments to allow construction of a highrise addition to 66 Isabella Street was filed with the city in late September 2010. Originally (and as I reported in a March 19 2011 post), the applicant proposed a 32-storey addition that would rise 95 meters (including mechanical penthouse), standing significantly taller than the 26-storey building to which it would be attached. The new wing would feature a 4-storey podium facing Isabella Street, with a 28-storey tower soaring above, with stepbacks at the 5th, 17th and 27th floors. The addition would include four condominium townhouses overlooking Isabella Street, 12 condominium suites on the top two floors of the tower, and retail stores along the Church Street flank of the complex. By adding 212 new suites, the addition would effectively more than double the number of residential units in the building. Most notably, the development would replace a large tree-shaded private yard which extends above the apartment building’s two levels of underground parking.

 

Private green space enjoyed by passersby

Although the lawn is private property, and signs advise that the yard is for the exclusive use of 66 Isabella residents only, people living, working and passing through the neighbourhood have long enjoyed its presence, particularly for its calm, cooling summer greenery and colourful fall foliage. But the greenery could be gone within weeks: a city notice was posted on the property last weekend, advising that an application to destroy the trees “to permit the construction of  a 23 storey addition” has been filed.

Though it now appears that the property developer has reduced the height of the proposed addition by 9 storeys, area residents remain dismayed at the prospect of any kind of development on the corner, and are disappointed by indications that the project will get the go-ahead from City Hall.

At a public meeting of the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association (CWNA) at the 519 Church Street Community Centre on Monday night, several area residents pleaded for people to strenuously oppose the proposal when it goes before the Toronto East York Community Council (TEYCC) for a statutory public meeting, which one Church Street resident said he has been told will take place on January 10. A man who identified himself as Morley urged the neighbourhood association to do whatever it can to “try to get [the project] killed.” If approved by the city, the addition to 66 Isabella will not only “kill the green space and stick a big huge block of building” in its place, he said, but will in turn spur further highrise development that will ruin “the character of the neighbourhood.”

 

City needs new rental accommodation

Another resident, who said he lives in the 48-unit Church-Isabella Co-Op across Church Street from the development site, said he has spoken to local City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam about the project, and is disappointed she isn’t supporting residents who object to the addition. He acknowledged, however, that the city desperately needs additional new rental accommodation, like the units proposed for the 66 Isabella addition, and said the project appears likely to get the nod from TEYCC no matter how strongly neighbourhood residents object. A woman told the meeting she was concerned for the welfare of senior citizens who have lived in apartments on the east side of 66 Isabella for decades, but will be forced to find new accommodation when construction commences. While several people at the meeting said they think losing the green space will be regrettable, they did concur with one man who said “we’re not anti-development, but we’re against development that takes away from the neighbourhood.”

As city planners noted in a November 15 2010 preliminary report, the original proposal for the tower addition offered to replace the 1,778 square meter (19,000 square feet) of ground-level green space with a 1,378 square meter (14,833 square foot) outdoor amenity area “on the private roof of the 4-storey podium and at the rear of the building at grade level.” It looks like area residents will have to wait until construction is complete in several years’ time to decide whether the building addition and its new amenity space adds to or takes away from the neighbourhood.

 

New Casey House HIV/AIDS health care building will restore 1875 heritage mansion at Jarvis & Isabella

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571 Jarvis Street mansion

July 6 2011: This city heritage-designated mansion at 571 Jarvis Street — the William R. Johnston House from 1875 — will be restored and incorporated into the Casey House redevelopment proposed for the corner of Jarvis & Isabella Streets …

 

119 Isabella Street Toronto coach house

… however, this coach house at 119 Isabella Street (seen on March 1 2011) would be demolished during construction of the new HIV/AIDS care facility.  A city heritage-listed property, the coach house was built in 1889.


Casey House: The city has scheduled a community consultation meeting for tomorrow evening (July 7) to obtain neighbourhood input on a redevelopment proposal that would see a new Casey House HIV/AIDS health care facility constructed along the south side of Isabella Street, between Jarvis and Huntley Streets. The new building would include a five-storey structure rising behind and attached to the William R. Johnston House at 571 Jarvis Street, a brick mansion built in 1875. Used as offices for decades, the grey-painted mansion (affectionately called “The Grey Lady” by neighbourhood residents) would be restored as part of the Casey House redevelopment. From its 22.7-metre peak height behind the mansion, the new building would terrace down to three storeys toward Huntley Street, where the entrance to an underground parking garage would be situated — directly across the street from the existing Casey House hospice at the southeast corner of Huntley & Isabella.

Although Toronto heritage building enthusiasts will be relieved that the historic mansion will be saved and incorporated into the new facility, they undoubtedly will be dismayed that a handsome 122-year-old coach house at 119 Isabella Street will be destroyed during construction. Built at the southwest corner of Huntley & Isabella in 1889, the coach house is currently used by Casey House for administration and training space. Since it couldn’t be included in the new building design, its demise appears likely — unless an individual or organization with property to which the coach house could be relocated steps in to save it.

Established as Canada’s first free-standing HIV/AIDS hospice in 1988, Casey House is a 13-bed specialty hospital funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Community programming initiatives, including a Home Hospice Program, counselling, nursing and outreach services, are funded primarily through donations to Casey House Foundation.

The new building will enable Casey House to double its capacity to meet increasing needs for its services, and to develop a Day Health Program that the Casey House website says will be “a centre of excellence in HIV/AIDS clinical care, education and research.” To this end, Casey House is undertaking a capital redevelopment campaign to raise $10 million.  (Final renderings aren’t publicly available yet because Casey House needs approval from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care before it proceeds with detailed building designs, CEO Stephanie Karapita told me today.)

Below are photos I’ve taken in recent months of the Casey House redevelopment site, including the mansion at 571 Jarvis and the coach house on Isabella Street, along with the present Casey House facility at 9 Huntley Street. The community consultation meeting about the Casey House project is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Wellesley Community Centre.

 

571 Jarvis Street Toronto mansion

July 6 2011: The 571 Jarvis Street mansion which will become part of the new Casey House facility, seen here from the west side of Jarvis this morning.

 

571 Jarvis Street Toronto mansion

July 6 2011: Lush foliage obscures street views of the front entrance to the William R. Johnston House at 571 Jarvis Street

 

571 Jarvis Street mansion in Toronto

April 7 2011: The 571 Jarvis Street mansion viewed from the southwest corner of Jarvis and Isabella Streets. The new Casey House facility would rise above “The Grey Lady” mansion and extend east to Huntley Street.

Jarvis Street near Isabella Street Toronto

April 7 2011: A view from the west side of Jarvis Street toward the Casey House development site. The new health care building will rise in the area that appears in the middle of this photo (behind the tall evergreen tree).

 

Rogers Communications head office on Jarvis Street Toronto

April 7 2011: The enormous Rogers Communications office building looms large above the 571 Jarvis Street mansion (right)

 

571 Jarvis Street Toronto mansion

April 5 2011: A spring look at The Grey Lady mansion from Jarvis Street, before seasonal greenery obscures much of it from view

 

571 Jarvis Street and 10 Huntley Street

April 30 2011: A rental apartment building at 10 Huntley Street rises behind the 571 Jarvis Street mansion.

 

571 Jarvis Street

April 30 2011: Looking toward the south side of 571 Jarvis Street from the parking lot behind the 10 Huntley Street apartment building. The highrise building at right rear is the James Cooper Mansion Condos, a project noteworthy for having incorporated a restored historic mansion into the new building.

 

571 Jarvis Street Toronto

April 30 2011: A closer view of the south side of The Grey Lady mansion

 

571 Jarvis Street mansion

April 30 2011: Southeast view of The Grey Lady mansion from the 10 Huntley Street apartment building parking lot next door

 

571 Jarvis Street Toronto

April 30 2011:  Two 11-storey rental apartment buildings face the Casey House building site from the west side of Jarvis Street.

 

571 Jarvis Street

March 1 2011: The north side of The Grey Lady mansion along Isabella Street

 

571 Jarvis Street mansion Toronto

March 1 2011: A view of The Grey Lady from the north side of Isabella Street

 

571 Jarvis Street mansion Toronto

March 1 2011:  Windows overlooking Isabella Street. The exterior of The Grey Lady will get a much-needed sprucing up when the new Casey House is built.

 

parking lot behind 571 Jarvis Street

March 1 2011: The property between 571 Jarvis Street (right) and the 119 Isabella Street coach house (partially visible at left) is presently used for parking. The new Casey House building will occupy this entire area.

 

parking lot between 119 Isabella and 571 Jarvis

March 1 2011: Pedestrians will access the new building from Isabella Street

 

Casey House Hospice expansion project site on Isabella Street

April 30 2011: The east side of The Grey Lady mansion

 

Casey House Hospice expansion project site on Isabella Street

April 30 2011: Looking towards The Grey Lady mansion from the east side of the parking lot near the coach house that will be demolished

 

Looking north from the Casey House parking area

April 30 2011: Besides the huge Rogers Communication headquarters, several townhouses and a 110-year-old building (far right) sit on the north side of Isabella Street, directly opposite the Casey House development site.

 

119 Isabella Street

February 28 2011: The west side of the 119 Isabella Street coach house

 

119 Isabella Street Toronto

April 30 2011: Another view of the west side of the coach house

 

119 Isabella Street

February 28 2011: The courtyard entrance to the coach house, off Isabella Street

 

119 Isabella Street

March 1 2011: A view of the coach house from the northeast corner of Huntley & Isabella Streets

 

Samuel R Wickett House at 122 & 124 Isabella Street

March 1 2011: The Samuel R Wickett House sits at 122 & 124 Isabella Street, directly across the street from the coach house. It was constructed in 1901.

 

Casey House Hospice at 9 Huntley Street Toronto

March 1 2011: The present Casey House hospice building at the southeast corner of Huntley and Isabella Streets. No decision has yet been made as to what will be done with this property once the new Casey House facility has been built.

 

Casey House Hospice at 9 Huntley Street Toronto

April 2 2011: The north side of Casey House hospice, facing Isabella Street

 

Casey House Hospice at 9 Huntley Street

April 2 2011: The west side of Casey House Hospice at 9 Huntley Street

 

119 Isabella Street Toronto

April 2 2011: A Huntley Street view of the coach house that will be demolished when the new Casey House building is constructed. This will be the location of the entrance to the underground parking garage.

 

 

… and gone!

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15 Huntley Street

May 31 2011: 15 Huntley Street is just one large empty lot …

 

Former CAS buildings at 15 Huntley Street

… now that the low-rise brick buildings that formerly occupied the site — seen here on February 28 2011 — have been completely demolished…

ETFO office building rendering by KPMB Architects

… to make way for new offices for the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, depicted in this rendering provided courtesy of KPMB Architects

 

All clear: A large empty lot sits at the northeast corner of Huntley and Isabella Streets, now that derelict buildings once occupied by the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto have been removed from the property. The demolition paves the way for construction to commence this summer on a new office building for the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO).

Designed by KPMB Architects of Toronto, the ETFO headquarters will stand four storeys (20 metres) tall and have one level of underground parking, accessed from Isabella Street on the southeast side of the property.  Designed to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification, the building will boast several exterior deck areas plus an extensive green roof that will provide insulation as well as storm water management. “We tried to have as much green roof as possible,” Kael Opie, the ETFO project architect at KPMB, told a meeting of the Upper Jarvis Neighbourhood Association this week. The north side of the building has been terraced to minimize shadow impact on nearby homes, he added, while “aggressive landscaping” will include the planting of many new trees to help the new building blend into the neighbourhood. (Several mature trees had to be destroyed to allow construction of the ETFO headquarters; however, the northwest corner of the building was specifically designed to preserve one large black walnut tree, as indicated in the architectural rendering above, and new plantings will far outnumber the trees that had to be removed).

Surveyors have been on site this week determining where any service infrastructure — such as water, gas and hydro lines — might be situated on the property. In about two weeks’ time, machines will begin drilling “soldier piles” on the property, and site excavation should commence about three weeks later. The construction crane is expected to be installed in early August, and project completion is anticipated for the end of January in 2013. More project details, along with photos of the old CAS buildings both before and during demolition, are outlined in my May 9 2011 post. Below is another KPMB Architects rendering of the new ETFO building, along with a few more pics I took yesterday of the cleared lot on which it will be constructed.

 

KPMB Architects rendering of new ETFO office building

A southwest view of the new ETFO office building is depicted in this rendering provided courtesy of KPMB Architects of Toronto

 

15 Huntley Street

May 31 2011: East view from Huntley Street of the ETFO building site

 

15 Huntley Street

May 31 2011: North view from Isabella Street of the ETFO building site

 

15 Huntley Street

May 31 2011: Northwest view from Isabella Street of the ETFO building site

 

 

Demolition clearing way for construction to start on 4-storey office building at Huntley & Isabella

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KPMB Architects rendering of ETFO office building

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) …


15 Huntley Street site for new ETFO office building

…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

 

Demolition of 15 Huntley Street

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

 

KPMB Architects rendering of new ETFO office building

This KPMB Architects rendering depicts a northwest aerial view of the ETFO office building, showing its frontage along Huntley Street

 

KPMB Architects rendering of new ETFO office building entrance

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.

 

Google map view of the Upper Jarvis area

A Google map view of the Upper Jarvis area and the ETFO office site (circled)

 

ETFO office building development proposal sign

ETFO office building development proposal sign outside 15 Huntley Street

 

15 Huntley Street on November 2 2009

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

 

15 Huntley Street on November 11 2010

November 11 2010: Looking northeast toward 15 Huntley Street

 

15 Huntley Street on February 16 2011

February 16 2011: Southeast winter view of 15 Huntley Street

 

15 Huntley Street on February 16 2011

February 16 2011: The former CAS building at the corner of Huntley & Isabella

 

15 Huntley Street on February 23 2011

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

 

15 Huntley Street on February 23 2011

February 23 2011: One of the former CAS buildings at 15 Huntley Street

 

15 Huntley Street on February 23 2011

February 23 2011: The second former CAS building at 15 Huntley Street. The tower at right rear is the James Cooper Mansion condo complex

 

The northeast corner of Huntley & Isabella Streets

February 28 2011: The former CAS buildings viewed from the southwest corner of Huntley & Isabella Streets

 

15 Huntley Street on March 19 2011

March 19 2011: Huntley Street view of the old CAS building, looking southeast

 

15 Huntley Street

April 2 2011: 15 Huntley Street, looking north along Huntley from Isabella Street

 

15 Huntley Street

April 2 2011: Looking east along Isabella Street at the two former CAS buildings

 

15 Huntley Street

April 2 2011: Dumpsters have been delivered for the crews that will demolish the old brick buildings at 15 Huntley Street

 

15 Huntley Street

April 2 2011: The one-storey east wing of the former CAS building at the corner of Huntley & Isabella Streets

 

15 Huntley Street

April 2 2011: The dilapidated west side of the building at Huntley & Isabella

 

15 Huntley Street

April 2 2011: The brick buildings have sat vacant since the CAS relocated to new headquarters on Isabella Street five years ago

 

demolition danger warning sign

April 22 2011: Security fencing has been installed around 15 Huntley Street so demolition crews can knock down the old buildings

 

15 Huntley Street

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

 

tree protection zones outside 15 Huntley Street

April 22 2011: Looking east from Huntley Street at the tree protection zones and security fences outside 15 Huntley Street

 

Tree protection zones outside 15 Huntley Stree

April 22 2011: Northeast view along Huntley Street

 

fencing around 15 Huntley Street

April 22 2011: A security fence along the Huntley Street perimeter of the demolition site

 

a tree protection zone along Huntley Street

April 22 2011: Looking north at the tree protection zone along Huntley Street

 

Tree protection zones outside 15 Huntley Street

April 22 2011: Looking south at the tree protection zone along Huntley Street

 

demolition equipment at 15 Huntley Street

April 22 2011: Equipment has been brought in to knock down the old buildings

 

15 Huntley Street demolition

April 30 2011: Demolition of 15 Huntley Street is well under way

 

15 Huntley Street demolition

April 30 2011: Another view of the 15 Huntley Street demolition progress

 

15 Huntley Street demolition

April 30 2011 The former CAS building at the corner of Huntley & Isabella is the first to be razed

 

15 Huntley Street demolition

April 30 2011: The east wing of 15 Huntley Street will be torn down shortly

 

15 Huntley Street

May 4 2011: Demolition equipment on the Huntley Street side of the site

 

15 Huntley Street

May 4 2011: The ETFO building site viewed from the top floor of an apartment building on Huntley Street

 

15 Huntley Street

May 4 2011: An overhead view of the north half of the ETFO building site

 

15 Huntley Street

May 4 2011: Construction crews, ETFO staff and guests begin to gather on the property for last Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony

 

15 Huntley Street

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

 

15 Huntley Street

May 4 2011: A demolition machine near the northeast corner of the property

 

15 Huntley Street

May 4 2011: A demolition machine near the northeast corner of the property

 

15 Huntley Street demolition

May 4 2011: The north side of one building has already been ripped down

 

15 Huntley Street demolition progress

May 4 2011: Demolition progress viewed from the groundbreaking ceremony site

 

15 Huntley Street demolition progress

May 4 2011: Demolition progress viewed from the groundbreaking ceremony location, looking west toward the enormous Rogers Communications building

 

15 Huntley Street building demolition

May 9 2011: All that’s left of one of the old CAS buildings is a large heap of rubble

 

15 Huntley Street building demolition

May 9 2011: Looking north at the mound of rubble at 15 Huntley Street

 

15 Huntley Street building demolition

May 9 2011: The corner building is toast; the second building goes next

 

15 Huntley Street building demolition

May 9 2011: Looking east from Huntley Street across the demolition site

 

15 Huntley Street building demolition

May 9 2011: Southeast view from Huntley Street across the demolition site

 

15 Huntley Street building demolition

May 9 2011: An excavation machine has dug itself into a hole next to the rubble

 

37 & 35 Huntley Street

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

 

Brick houses on Huntley Street

March 19 2011: Brick homes on Huntley Street, between Linden Street and the EFTO building construction site

 

The northwest corner of Huntley and Isabella Streets

February 28 2011: The northwest corner of Huntley and Isabella Streets, directly across the street from the ETFO building site

 

122 & 124 Isabella Street

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

 

30 & 32 Huntley Street

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

 

Charles E Calvert house at 34 Huntley Street

March 1 2011: The Charles E Calvert house built in 1905 at 34 Huntley Street

 

George Morphy House at 38 & 40 Huntley Street

March 1 2011: The George Morphy House at 38 & 40 Huntley Street

 

44 Huntley Street apartment building

March 21 2011: The rental apartment building at 44 Huntley Street

 

119 Isabella Street house built in 1889

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

 

Casey House Hospice at 9 Isabella Street

April 2 2011: The Casey House Hospice at 9 Huntley Street sits directly across the street from the ETFO office building site

 

127 Isabella Street and Casey House Hospice

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

 

Msgr Fraser College on Isabella Street

April 2 2011: The Msgr Fraser College adult learning centre will be the ETFO building’s next-door neighbour on Isabella Street

Developer proposes 32-storey apartment & condo addition to 40-year-old Isabella St. rental tower

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66 Isabella Street tower development site

66 Isabella Street tower development site

Two towers, two seasons: Photos taken November 1 2010 and January 29 2011 show the tree-shaded lawn where a developer has proposed building a 32-storey addition to the 26-storey apartment tower at 66 Isabella Street (left). At right is the 26-storey Town Inn Suites hotel at 620 Church St.

 

Big addition: A 26-storey rental apartment building at 66 Isabella Street could get a 32-floor addition to its east flank if the City approves an unusual mixed-use residential development proposal for the north end of the Church Wellesley Village area.

The site of the proposed new tower is a tree-shaded private lawn at the northwest corner of Church and Isabella Streets. The 66 Isabella apartments, built in 1970, stand at the west side of the lawn, while a “twin” tower built in 1972, the Town Inn Suites hotel, rises on the property’s north side. There are presently 200 apartment units in 66 Isabella. The proposed tower addition would contain 212 more units, which would include 196 rental apartments, four condominium townhouses at ground level on Isabella Street, 12 condominium suites on the top two floors, and 481 square meters of retail space at ground level along Church Street.

 

Addition would eliminate private greenspace

The development would eliminate one of the last open patches of green space in a neighbourhood that is already teeming with recently-completed condo towers; construction of two more highrises is either already underway nearby or expected to start soon, while at least two more tall condo buildings are in the proposal stage for the immediate area.

Construction of the addition to 66 Isabella also would require the removal of 11 trees, a prospect that alarms some area residents since trees have already become few and far between on Church Street.

The fate of those trees is just one many concerns that city planning staff raised in a November 15 2010 background report to the Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC). Other significant issues cited by planners include the project’s height and density, the building’s mass (particularly its length along Isabella Street), neighbourhood traffic and parking, impact on nearby buildings, and more.

In December, the TEYCC ordered city staff to hold a public consultation meeting to get feedback from area residents; that event took place at the beginning of February. There’s been no word since on any subsequent developments regarding this project. Below are some photos I’ve taken of the 66 Isabella site in recent months along with illustrations, from the planning department report, of the north and south elevations of the proposed tower.

 

66 Isabella Street apartment and condo tower proposal

Apartment and condo tower development proposal notice

 

66 Isabella Street apartment and condo tower development proposal

Illustration showing the location for the proposed tower

 

66 Isabella Street proposed apartment and condo tower addition

November 1 2010: Church Street view of the site for the proposed tower addition

 

66 Isabella Street apartment and condo tower addition site

November 1 2010: Isabella Street view of the site on which the 32-storey addition would be built. Four condo townhouses would be constructed at street level here.

 

66 Isabella Street proposed apartment and condo tower addition site

November 1 2010: Church Street view of the proposed development site, looking southwest toward 66 Isabella (right) as well as another rental apartment building that is situated on the south side of Isabella Street (left)

 

66 Isabella Street proposed apartment and condo tower addition site

November 1 2010: View of the site from outside the Town Inn entrance. The white apartment building is the 14-storey Gramercy House at 59 Isabella Street.

 

66 Isabella Street site for proposed apartment and condo tower addition

January 24 2011: Church Street view of the site, looking west. The tall building at center rear is the 46-storey Casa condominium on Charles Street East.

 

66 Isabella Street apartment building

January 29 2011: Southwest view of the 66 Isabella Street apartment building. The 26-storey tower was built in 1970 and has 200 rental units.

 

66 Isabella Street apartment building

A semicircular driveway in front of the tower entrance would be eliminated and replaced with a pedestrian-only walkway and amenity space under the building redevelopment plan proposed to the city.

 

66 Isabella Street site for a proposed apartment and condo tower addition

January 29 2011: The tall glass tower at right is X Condominium, situated at the northwest corner of Charles Street East and Ted Rogers Way (aka Jarvis Street). A taller sister tower, X2 Condos, is currently under construction on the south side of Charles Street just west of Jarvis Street.

 

66 Isabella Street site for proposed apartment and condo tower addition

January 29 2011: The proposed building addition would block this Isabella Street view toward the Town Inn Suites hotel (center) and the midrise concrete and glass condo building at 73 Charles Street East  (right).

 

66 Isabella Street site for a proposed apartment and condo tower addition

February 28 2011: Charles Street East view of the proposed development site. If built, the addition would block this view of the sky between the two towers.