![Karma condo site August 27 2012 DSCF5127 Karma condo site](https://thetorontoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Karma-condo-site-August-27-2012-DSCF5127.jpg)
August 27 2012: Formerly a surface parking lot, the 9-21 Grenville Street site for the Karma condo tower has been fenced off for the past several weeks …
![Karma condo site August 27 2012 DSCF5126 Karma condo site](https://thetorontoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Karma-condo-site-August-27-2012-DSCF5126.jpg)
… and work to prepare the site for construction of the 50-storey tower has finally started with the demolition of the rear half of the heritage house at 21 Grenville …
![21 Grenville Street Toronto March 12 2011 Street DSCF0212 21 Grenville Street Toronto](https://thetorontoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/21-Grenville-Street-Toronto-March-12-2011-Street-DSCF0212.jpg)
… seen here on March 12 2011. The front half of the 139-year-old building will be relocated to the northeast corner of the property and incorporated into the condo development.
![Karma condos artistic rendering street level view Karma condos](https://thetorontoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Karma-artistic-rendering-street-level-view.jpg)
This artistic rendering, from the Karma condos website, shows how the heritage house will be positioned beside the northeast corner of the sleek glass tower …
![Karma condos artistic rendering full condo tower Karma condos](https://thetorontoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Karma-artistic-rendering-full-condo-tower.jpg)
… which will contain 495 units and soar 50 storeys near the northwest corner of Yonge and College Streets. Karma was designed by architectsAlliance.
Construction karma: Demolition work on a brick house dating back to the early 1870s has signalled the long-awaited start of construction on the Karma condo tower near the northwest corner of Yonge and College Streets.
When I passed the Karma site this afternoon, I saw that the rear half of the John Irwin House, a city-designated heritage building, has been demolished. The 2 1/2-storey house was built around 1873 as a residence for John Irwin, a local contractor and municipal politician who developed a series of properties along Grenville Street. The house was added to the city’s list of heritage properties in 2007. A city background file, prepared as part of the listing process, explained that the property has cultural heritage value “as one of the last surviving examples of a house form building in this area, and for its Second Empire stylistic features.”
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