Catching up to its cousins: The Burano condo tower, left, is slowly but surely closing in on the height of the two Murano condo towers on the opposite side of Bay Street. When topped off at 48 floors, Burano will be the tallest of the bunch — Murano North is 35 storeys, while Murano South is 45. All three condo towers, seen here on March 25 2011, are projects of Lanterra Developments.
Three white cranes rise from the massive South Financial district (aka railway lands) excavation where the Infinity3 and ÏCE condo towers are being built.
From black asphalt to green courtyard canopy: What was once a vast asphalt-paved open-air parking area near the foot of York Street is gradually being transformed into an environmentally-conscious urban courtyard, covered by a 6,000-square-metre green canopy that will surround the base of two slender cylindrical skyscrapers — the 55- and 65-storey ÏCE Condominiums.
At the same time, what used to be a scruffy vacant lot right next door has become the building site for a new highrise condo complex, too — the 35-storey Infinity3 condos off Lower Simcoe Streets. 
The parking lot, which sat to the north of Lake Shore Blvd. and the Gardiner Expressway, used to be popular with people driving into the city to attend events at the nearby Air Canada Centre and Harbourfront. But it’s now one of downtown Toronto’s largest condo building excavations, where foundations for underground parking levels are in the early stages of construction.
Three construction cranes operate high above the enormous, L-shaped pit, while the construction entrance ramps off Grand Trunk Crescent and Lower Simcoe Street handle a steady stream of cement and dump truck traffic.
Below are photos I have taken from the CN Tower of the ÏCE and Infinity3 locations both before construction started, and during the early stages of site excavation. There’s also several pics I snapped at the side-by-side condo building site on a sunny day last week, along with some artistic renderings, from the ÏCE Condos website, of the two ÏCE towers and their courtyard canopy. Above left is a website rendering of the Infinity3 building under construction; it will be a new sibling to the two Infinity condo buildings that were constructed several years ago at the corner of Bremner Blvd. and Lower Simcoe Street.
ÏCE Condos is a project by Lanterra Developments and Cadillac Fairview; the buildings were designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance. Infinity3 is a project of The Conservatory Group. The Infinity 3 website doesn’t name the project architects; however, the E.I. Richmond Architects Ltd. website includes the Infinity towers in its portfolio. Another rendering of the Infinity3 complex can be viewed on that site.
September 22 2008: CN Tower view of the two Infinity condo buildings and the site for the Infinity3 project — a vacant lot off Lower Simcoe Street
September 22 2008: A CN Tower view of the parking lot that is now an excavation for the two ÏCE Condos skyscrapers. The brown structure in the upper left corner is the foundation for the ÏCE Condos sales office being set up at the time.
September 22 2008: CN Tower view of the Infinity3 condo site off Lower Simcoe Street; the little square building was the Infinity3 condo sales centre.
November 2 2010: CN Tower view of substantial excavation progress at the construction sites for the ÏCE Condos and Infinity3 Condos
November 2 2010: ÏCE Condos and Infinity3 Condos site excavation progress
February 18 2011: The two existing Infinity condo buildings, left, overlook the deep Infinity3 excavation pit to their south.
February 18 2011: Worksite viewed from Lower Simcoe Street
February 18 2011: Eastward view of the Infinity3 and ICE Condos worksites
Infinity3 condo construction site entrance off Lower Simcoe Street
Infinity3 and ICE Condos foundations taking shape
A man standing outside the beige construction crew trailer (top center) supervises the ÏCE Condos building activity at the bottom of the pit
A closer look at the foundation forms taking shape in the pit
One of the construction crew building the condo’s underground levels
Construction workers at the bottom of the deep ÏCE Condos excavation
Surveyors at work near the construction entrance to the ÏCE Condos excavation. The building in the background is the new Maple Leaf Square complex.
The surveyors working above the ÏCE Condos excavation
ÏCE condos website rendering of the two condominium skyscrapers
ÏCE condos website rendering of the green canopy for the condo courtyard
The ÏCE condo towers depicted in an animated video on the project website
Website video suggests how the ÏCE towers might appear on the skyline
Part of the reconstructed Addison on Bay building was revealed this week when protective wrapping was removed from the facade on Grenville St.
This is how the building looked in September 2008 when it was being dismantled to make way for construction of the Burano condo complex
This artistic rendering from the Burano Condos website suggests how the reconstructed building will appear as part of the new condo complex
Addison’s back on Bay! The Addison on Bay Cadillac dealership closed four years ago, and the historic Addison building itself completely disappeared from the landscape during late 2008 and early 2009. But the building is right back where it had operated as a car dealership since 1925 — only now it’s going to have an entirely new life and function as part of the Burano luxury condo complex currently under construction.
The Addison showroom at 832 Bay Street was designated a historical property by the City in 1999. The dealership continued in business for another eight years after that, but finally shuttered its doors in the middle of March 2007. Despite its prominent, lengthy history downtown, the dealership was forced to close the Bay Street business because of “economic factors, including the increasing cost of maintaining a central downtown location,” dealership president Clarke Addison explained in a letter to customers. (Further details about the Addison site and the demise of the downtown dealership were reported in a Toronto Star story published on March 2, 2007.)
Though the downtown location ceased operations, the Addison car business continued — in Mississauga where, as Addison Chevrolet, it’s that city’s “youngest General Motors dealership.”
But the Bay Street property wouldn’t sit idle for long.
Addison had been operating not just the historically-designated showroom and a repair garage on the west side of Bay, between Grosvenor and Grenville Streets, but also a new and used car display lot on the east side of the street, also between Grosvenor and Grenville.
Lanterra Developments ultimately acquired the properties on both sides of Bay, and built the two-tower Murano condo complex on the east side. Since the summer of 2008, it has been building Burano on the west property. During the fall and winter of that year, the Addison showroom was dismantled so the site could be excavated for the condo tower. Once the foundation for the new complex had been built, reconstruction of the Addison building commenced.
Protective sheeting has blocked the facade from public view for the past three months, but a section of wrapping was removed from the Grenville Street wall of the structure late last week.
Below are some pics I took while the Addison building was being dismantled and then re-assembled. There’s also some pics of the newly revealed Addison facade on Grenville Street, along with other recent photos showing construction progress on the Burano condo tower. An album of Burano pics from the beginning of construction to this month can be viewed on the Photo Sets page of the blog.
October 13 2008: The Addison on Bay building gradually being dismantled
November 22 2009: Foundation work begins in the Burano condo excavation
May 2 2010: Addison building takes shape during reconstruction
May 2 2010: Another view of the Addison building reconstruction progress
July 26 2010: Grenville St. view of frame for new Addison building
November 9 2010: Rebuilding progress before the structure went under wraps
December 21 2010: Frame of building partly visible under wraps
February 9 2011: Murano tower, crane seen from College St. at University Ave.
February 9 2011: Burano viewed from Grosvenor Street near Surrey Place
February 20 2011: Burano construction progress viewed from College Street
February 20 2011: Burano viewed from southeast corner of Bay and Grenville
February 20 2011: The unwrapped Grenville Street facade viewed from Bay Street
February 20 2011: Reconstructed Grenville Street facade is exposed
Another view of the reconstructed Addison facade on Grenville
One Bedford condo tower viewed from Bloor Street January 9 2011
Varsity views: I remember the huge kerfuffle that erupted when plans for the 32-storey One Bedford at Bloor condo building were announced about six or seven years ago. Many people thought the tower was too big and too tall for the Annex neighbourhood, even though it would sit on Bloor Street at the southeast corner of Bedford Road, overlooking the University of Toronto campus to the south.
Watching One Bedford go up the past couple of years during occasional walks through the Annex, I’ve never thought the condo complex felt out of place. And now that the building is nearly finished, and partly occupied, I think the highrise fits into the area quite handsomely. But while it’s a nice-looking addition to the Bloor streetscape, I’m sure it will be a catalyst for a drastic change in the character and atmosphere of the entire block.
With its limestone-clad podium, One Bedford certainly classes up a corner formerly occupied by some rather dumpy-looking low-rise buildings that housed several fast-food restaurants, including a busy Swiss Chalet location. 
However, shops and reasonably-priced eateries catering to the area’s huge University of Toronto student population probably can’t afford the rents at One Bedford.
Two more upscale condo projects on the same block — Museum House, currently under construction, and Exhibit Residences, now in the pre-sale marketing stage — will probably push out even more student-oriented businesses.
A Bank of Montreal branch opened in part of One Bedford’s street level retail space three months ago, and I won’t be surprised if high-end designer shops eventually lease out the remainder, extending Bloor Street’s famous “mink mile” upscale shopping district west to Bedford Road.
Perhaps the transformation was inevitable, since this stretch of Bloor Street has developed into an important culture corridor boasting such attractions as the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, and the Bata Shoe Museum.
One change I’ve noticed already is that the Bloor-Bedford intersection feels windier with the tower on the corner. Every time I’ve walked on the southern stretch of Bedford Road in the last year, either on the east side right next to the condo tower, or on the west between Bloor and the St. George subway station entrance, I have felt like I was walking through a wind tunnel. I don’t recall being blasted by such strong gusts on Bedford before the condo was built. But I suppose it’s possible all my Annex visits just happened to be on breezy days.
A project of Lanterra Developments, One Bedford was designed by Bruce Kuwabara of Toronto’s Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects, with Page + Steele as architect of record. The artistic rendering (above) is from the One Bedford website.
Below are some of my One Bedford photos; you’ll find more in the One Bedford album on the Photo Sets page of the blog.
CN Tower view of One Bedford condo building (left) on November 2 2010
One Bedford viewed from corner of Bloor and Devonshire Place November 1 2010
Upper floors of One Bedford condo tower viewed November 1 2010
One Bedford streetscape along Bloor viewed on November 1 2010
One Bedford condos Bloor Street podium viewed November 1 2010
One Bedford condos viewed from Hoskin Avenue on November 1 2010
Looking up at the tower from Bedford Road
Ongoing construction work in main entrance courtyard off Bedford Road
Fireplace and building nameplate on an exterior courtyard wall
Northwest corner wing above Bedford Road
Condo facade integrates the studio of Toronto architect John Lyle (1872 – 1945)
One Bedford podium viewed from the west along Bloor Street on January 9 2011
Interior design work orders taped to the windows of a tower suite
Main entrance courtyard (still under construction) viewed from Bedford Road
North side of One Bedford complex viewed from Bedford Road on January 9 2011
North side of tower viewed from Bedford Road near Prince Arthur Avenue
One Bedford viewed from corner of Bedford Road and Prince Arthur Avenue
Upper floors of One Bedford condo tower viewed from Prince Arthur Avenue
CN Tower view of One Bedford (upper right) overlooking the University of Toronto
CN Tower view of Museum House (right) under construction near One Bedford
Residents in south-facing suites at One Bedford will enjoy a great view of sports events at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Stadium directly across the street
Murano condo towers under construction September 20 2008
Heads up! You don’t usually see scaffolding erected around a brand-new condominium tower to protect passing pedestrians after construction has finished and the building is fully occupied. But then, you don’t usually expect glass panels to shatter and fall off the balconies of new buildings, either. Yet that’s what seems to have happened four separate times in the past year at the Murano condos on Bay Street.
Designed by architectsAlliance of Toronto, Murano is a complex of two glass highrise buildings that opened in 2009: a 35-floor North Tower on Grosvenor Street and a 45-storey South Tower on Grenville Street, both linked by a two-storey podium extending along Bay Street.
According to posts in an online Toronto architecture and building forum, a glass panel broke loose from a balcony in early April of last year. It plunged to the ground, in the process shattering several other glass panels that create a canopy above Bay Street to protect pedestrians from rain and the elements. The sidewalk around the damaged panels was cordoned off with yellow safety warning tape while repairs were performed.
A similar incident occurred in September, when a tempered glass panel shattered and fell from an upper-level balcony on the Grenville Street side of the North Tower. Several days later, glass from another panel shattered and showered to the ground from a different North Tower balcony, also on the Grenville Street side. That incident made headlines in local papers; for example, the Toronto Star reported on glass falling from the Murano tower in a story on September 18.
The broken panels were replaced with sheets of wood while new panels were ordered; meanwhile, condo management called engineers in to try to determine what had caused the panels to break.
In early December, I noticed that the wood sheets were gone and the missing glass panels had finally been replaced; however, around December 21, another balcony panel shattered. Again, it was on a North Tower balcony, but this time on the south side. Scaffolding has protected sidewalks around the condo complex ever since, and up until the end of last week a piece of wood was still visible on the balcony in question. When I passed by this morning, however, the wood was gone and a new glass panel was in place; in fact, I could see a contractor working on the balcony, so he may have just finished the installation. On the other hand, the glass overhang above street level was still missing three panels.
The problem must be a source of embarrassment and frustration for the building’s developer, Lanterra Developments, which operates a customer service centre for its various condominium projects in a street-level office in the Murano podium along Bay Street (now partially obscured by the scaffolding).
But shattered glass hasn’t been the only thing dropping from the Murano towers. In a gruesome accident in May 2008, falling metal debris killed a 55-year-old construction worker while the complex was being built; details are provided in this Toronto Star story. And on March 15 last year, a man jumped to his death from a unit on the east side of the building. Could ghosts of the two deceased be responsible for the falling glass? Or is it merely a case of balcony panel defects or improper installation techniques?
It will be interesting to see how long the scaffolding remains in place; it really detracts from the streetscape and spoils views of the podium. Fortunately, it doesn’t block the colourful decorated glass windows (created by Toronto photographer Barbara Astman) on the podium’s second floor.
Missing glass panel on south side of North Tower December 21 2010
Closer view of the replacement wood panel on North Tower balcony
January 18 2011: New glass panel freshly installed
January 18 2011: Overhang above the sidewalk is still missing panels
Scaffolding on Bay Street sidewalk below Murano condo towers December 21 2010
Wood panel on a Murano North Tower balcony September 19 2010
Wood panel on another Murano North Tower balcony September 19 2010
Scaffolding on sidewalks around the Murano towers January 5 2011
Scaffolding on sidewalks around the Murano towers January 5 2011
Scaffolding on sidewalks around the Murano towers January 5 2011