Tag Archives: Market Wharf

Downtown skyline views from the Toronto Islands

The downtown Toronto skyline as seen from Ward's Island

A Ward’s Island view of the downtown Toronto skyline earlier this month

 

Pics and video: A lunchtime bikeride on the Toronto Islands earlier this month gave me a chance to check out how much the downtown skyline has changed in the one-year period since my last trip to the islands.

Although there are dozens and dozens of condo towers and several office highrises under construction in downtown Toronto, only a handful of projects have so far made a significant impact on the skyline views.

The southwest downtown core is now dominated by the two ÏCE Condominium towers which are still under construction on York Street, while the nearby Delta Hotel tower at Southcore Financial Centre on Bremner Boulevard also makes a big impact from some perspectives. 

Off to the west, the Library District Condominium tower is a noteworthy addition to the Concord CityPlace skyline; a year ago, only its construction crane was visible.

Over on the southeast side of the downtown core, The L Tower is the most eye-catching new building, with the water’s edge Residences of Pier 27 also commanding attention even though it’s only a midrise condominium project.  Much farther east, the Distillery District is easier to locate now that construction is drawing closer to completion on the Gooderham Tower.

 

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Market Wharf tower balconies making waves as crews prepare condo for move-ins later this year

Market Wharf condos

August 22 2012: Windows and cladding still must be installed on the top six floors of the 34-storey Market Wharf condo tower, seen here from the west …

 

Market Wharf condos

… but glass panels, like these ones recently installed on the long wavy balconies along the tower’s east side, give the building exterior a wonderfully wonky and fluid form …

 

Market Wharf condos

… and juxtapose nicely with wedge-shaped balconies on the tower’s south face

 

Wedges and waves:  Half a dozen top floors still await windows and cladding, and glass panels have so far been installed on just the lower third of balconies on the Market Wharf condo tower. But with construction of the 34-storey tower quickly approaching conclusion, a large orange banner on the building’s east side prominently proclaims: “Move in this year.”

Even though work isn’t finished, the tower already stands out on the city skyline, thanks mainly to its eye-catching mix of wedge-shaped and undulating balconies that conjure images of whitecaps and waves.

 

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Condos and cranes on the lower east side

Downtown Toronto construction projects

Rising in the east: Construction cranes and condo towers old & new dominate the southeast downtown skyline, seen here from the south building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on January 6 2012.  From left are: the green-windowed west tower of London on the Esplanade Condos, completed in 2010; The L Tower, a Daniel Libeskind-designed condo more than one-third of the way to its ultimate height of 57 floors; the 33-storey wedge-shaped condo tower at 25 The Esplanade, constructed 14 years ago; the 25-storey Market Wharf condo tower rising on Lower Jarvis Street; and, climbing skyward in the distance behind Market Wharf, the 40-storey Clear Spirit condo tower in the Distillery District. The yellow crane in the foreground is working on the $640 million Union Station Revitalization project.

 

 

Market Wharf adds curves to Lower Jarvis Street

Market Wharf condos Toronto

October 30 2011: Market Wharf condo tower construction viewed from the northeast corner of Jarvis Street and Lake Shore Boulevard.

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

From the Market Wharf website, an illustration of the floorplan for the condo’s curvaceous Market Club amenities facility

 

Making waves: Construction of the 25-storey Market Wharf tower is attracting more attention these days as the condo building’s distinctively curved amenities floor and wavy “curvilinear” balconies continue to take shape while the newly-opened Shoppers Drug Mart draws traffic to the northeast street-level corner of the complex’s 8-storey podium. Occupying an entire city block near the bottom of Jarvis Street, between the railway tracks and Toronto’s historic St. Lawrence Market, Market Wharf will keep making waves as the tower climbs more prominently into view on the skyline.

Designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance, Market Wharf is a project of Context Development. The complex features a variety of suite sizes and styles, ranging from a 570-square-foot 1-bedroom 1-bath to a 1039-square-foot 2-bedroom + den + 2 baths to a 1276-square-foot 2-bedroom + 2.5 bath “duplex penthouse.” The building also boasts townhomes, in six different layouts, that have private terraces with gas barbecue hookups. Townhome prices start from $718,900, and include parking and a storage locker. The project is 70% sold to date.

Below are some of my recent photos of Market Wharf’s construction progress, along with two illustrations of the building that appear on the Market Wharf website.

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

Website illustration of the Market Wharf complex, viewed from the northeast along Jarvis Street, next to the St. Lawrence Market

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

Also from the project website, this illustration suggests how the Market Wharf complex will appear when viewed looking south along Market Street

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

 October 30 2011:  South side of the Market Wharf tower

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

October 30 2011: The Market Club amenities facility adds a striking curve to the tower, designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

October 30 2011: The Market Club throws an eye-catching curve above Lower Jarvis Street

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

October 30 2011: Another Jarvis Street view of the curved Market Club amenities floor above the building’s block-long, 8-storey podium

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

October 30 2011: Part of the “phasing” section between the tower and podium

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

August 17 2011 The curved Market Club amenities floor takes shape above the railway tracks near the foot of Jarvis Street

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011:  The Market Club floor begins taking shape atop the podium

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: The condo complex occupies an entire block on the north side of the railway tracks, just south of the St Lawrence Market

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: The tower rises above the Jarvis Street railway underpass

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: Round conrete support pillars atop the podium’s east side

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: Market Wharf’s red and white construction crane

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011 To the south of Market Wharf is the Jarvis Street railway underpass (left); the CN Tower is visible to the west

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: Jarvis Street view of the building’s southeast corner

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: Jarvis Street view of the building’s southeast side

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: Construction forms jutting above Jarvis Street

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011:  Market Street reflects in the building’s street-level windows

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

 July 20 2011: Trees were planted several weeks after I took these photos, further complimenting the building’s presence on Market Street

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

 July 20 2011: Market Street view of construction progress on the tower base

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: The tower is rising at the south end of the complex

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: A construction worker watches activity at street level

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: The south end of the complex, viewed from the foot of Market Street next to the railway tracks

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: Another view of the west side of the tower base

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: The curved Market Club takes shape atop the tower base

 

Market Wharf condos Toronto

July 20 2011: Looking north along Market Street at the project’s ongoing Phase 2 work (right) and the completed Phase 1 in the background

 

 

Keeping tabs on … Market Wharf condos

Market Wharf CondosMarket Wharf Condos

How the southeast corner of the Market Wharf Condos podium looked back on January 3 (left) and how the building appeared one month later.


Bricks & windows: What a difference a month makes for a building under construction! When I walked past the Market Wharf condo building site on the dreary, overcast afternoon of January 3, the concrete forms of the podium-top townhouses had been poured, and brickwork had been installed along large sections of the podium’s exterior walls. The podium looked considerably more finished off when I walked by the site about 10 days ago. Almost all of the windows had been installed on the east-side townhouses, while most of the podium brickwork had also been completed. Meanwhile, crews were busy building the base for the 25-storey condo tower that will rise at the south end of the podium. Below are pics from my latest Market Wharf walkby; my photos from January can be viewed in this post.

Market Wharf condos

Construction underway for Market Wharf condo tower base


Market Wharf condos

Concrete forms for tower base taking shape above Jarvis Street


Market Wharf condos

Condo tower base viewed from east side of Jarvis Street


Market Wharf condos

Another view of the condo tower base rising above Jarvis Street


Market Wharf condos

Almost all the windows are installed on the townhouses atop the podium


Market Wharf condos

Another view of the townhouses cantilevered above Jarvis Street


Market Wharf condos

Looking up at the southeast corner of the podium and townhouses


Market Wharf condos

Brickwork and windows along the podium’s Jarvis Street facade


Market Wharf condos

Another view of the brickwork and windows on the podium’s east face


Market Wharf condos

Windows and brickwork at the northeast corner of the podium


Market Wharf

St Lawrence Market view of  Market Wharf

With podium and cantilevered townhouses in place, Market Wharf poised to built condo tower next

Website rendering of Market Wharf condos below St Lawrence Market


Podium finish: If you liken building construction to a competitive race, then Context Development has achieved a podium finish with its Market Wharf project on Lower Jarvis Street. And to borrow an expression from the 2010 Canadian Winter Olympic Team, Context will totally own the podium once it gets the 25-storey Market Wharf condo tower going up — the next phase in construction — and sells the remaining 30% of units that have not already been snapped up by eager buyers. 

December was a busy building month for Market Wharf:  its eight-storey-tall podium got topped off; crews began installing windows in the townhouses that cantilever over the south end of the podium; mullions were being installed for windows for the Shoppers Drug Mart store that will open in the podium’s retail level; and work continued on the base for the condo tower.

  The building was designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance. Below are photos I took of the site last week, along with another artistic rendering from the Market Wharf website where full project details and floorplans can be viewed.

 

Artistic rendering of a west view of the Market Wharf podium and tower


Market Wharf podium northwest side view January 3 2011; note how the window sizes and brickwork placement differ from the rendering above.


West side of Market Wharf podium on January 3 2011


Southwest view of Market Wharf podium on January 3 2011


Preliminary building work for Market Wharf condo tower


Getting ready to build the tower at south end of Market Wharf site


Southeast view of Market Wharf podium and townhouses


Cantilevered townhouses on the podium’s southeast corner


Another view of the cantilevered townhouses


Southeast side of Market Wharf podium along Jarvis Street


Northeast side of Market Wharf podium along Jarvis Street


Northeast corner of the Market Wharf podium (drug store to occupy street level)


St Lawrence Market view of Market Wharf podium on January 3 2010


New year, new construction milestones

2011 is getting off to a foggy, soggy start in Toronto (it’s 10 degrees Celsius and pouring rain as I write), but the wet weather won’t put a damper on the frenetic pace of building activity across the downtown area. When construction gets back to full speed next week once the holiday season has wound down, numerous projects will start, approach or reach significant stages of construction. At least five towers will make a major mark on the city skyline soon. In Yorkville, The Four Seasons Private Residences and Museum House on Bloor, both of which already have a substantial streetscape presence, will be pouring their top floors during the winter. Several blocks south, on Bay Street, the Burano condo tower is quickly climbing high, while the Living Shangri-La Torontoand Trump International Toronto hotel/condo skyscrapers are adding excitement to the Financial District skyline. Market Wharf is doing the same for the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood. In the next few weeks, streetscapes in several different areas will transform as construction climbs above ground level at 77 Charles Westin Yorkville, The L Tower on Yonge Street, Charlie Condos in the Entertainment District, The Modern at Sherbourne and Richmond, and the Clear Spirit tower in the Distillery District. Not too far behind are Aura at College Park on Yonge Street, Cinema Tower on Adelaide Street West, Three Hundred Front Street West, The Residences of Pier 27 on the waterfront, ICE Condos and Infinity3 Condos in the South Financial District, and Couture Condos on Jarvis Street; foundation work and underground levels are progressing fast at all seven sites. In the area bounded by Bloor, Bay, Wellesley and Jarvis Streets, demolition and excavation work should soon get in full swing for five key developments: U Condos, Five Condos, Nicholas Residences, X2 Condos, and the long-awaited One Bloor tower. Digging will get underway in earnest for the Ryerson University Student Learning Centre at Yonge and Gould Streets, and for the Delta Toronto hotel and Bremner Tower office complex in the South Financial District. Meanwhile, construction should soon conclude at the Sherbourne Common park at the waterfront, as well as for the 18 York office tower and seven major residential structures: the Ritz-Carlton Toronto, Crystal Blu Condos, Uptown Residences, James Cooper Mansion, Lumiere Condos, M5V Condos, and the YWCA Elm Centre. I’ll be taking a closer look at each of the above-mentioned projects — and many more hot construction spots — in the weeks ahead.

77 Charles Street


18 York