July 1 2011: Clear Spirit condo tower construction at the Distillery District viewed from Cherry Street looking west toward the CN Tower (rear left)
July 1 2011: Looking from the Queen Street bridge above the Don Valley towards the Distillery District (upper right). Clear Spirit (with crane) will rise 40 floors to overtake the 32-storey Pure Spirit condo tower (top right). The construction zone in the foreground is where the River City condominium complex is being built.
June 21 2011: Clear Spirit rises above the Gardiner Expressway in this view from the bike trail along Cherry Street near the Keating Channel in the port lands.
Rising higher: As the Clear Spirit condominium tower soars taller, it’s becoming a lot easier to spot Toronto’s historic Distillery District on the city skyline. Nearly one-third of the way toward its 40-storey peak height, the condo tower frame and construction crane are now clearly visible from many different parts of downtown and Riverdale. Clear Spirit is the second condo tower that Toronto’s architects Alliance has designed for the Distillery District. The first, Pure Spirit, was built at the northwestern corner of the district in 2009, and stands 32 storeys tall. The Distillery District’s master plan calls for yet another condo tower — the 35-storey Gooderham condominiums — to be constructed on the northeast corner of the property, right next to Clear Spirit, along with what the architects Alliance website describes as “a low ‘ribbon building’ with a planted roof.” Renderings of the various buildings can be viewed at the link I’ve provided to the aA website. Photos of recent Clear Spirit construction progress can be viewed below, while earlier photos can be seen in my March 20 2011 post and in my February 16 2011 post.
June 21 2011: Clear Spirit seen from the bike path along Cherry Street
June 21 2011: The south side of the Clear Spirit tower
June 21 2011: Supervisors checking out the construction
June 21 2011: Clear Spirit viewed from the parking lot along the southwest side of the Distillery District. The building in the foreground is the Pump House; the one in the middle is the Case Goods Warehouse, home of Artscape Studios
June 21 2011: Construction of the Clear Spirit condo tower climbs above The Case Goods Warehouse building
June 21 2011: Looking up the SE corner of the tower
June 21 2011: Distinctively angled floorplates on the tower’s south side
June 21 2011: Clear Spirit and the Gooderham tower will transform a site that is approximately one-fifth the size of the entire Distillery District
June 21 2011: Construction forms protruding from the Clear Spirit tower
June 21 2011: Entrance to the condo’s underground parking garage
June 21 2011 Clear Spirit condo tower construction viewed from Tank House lane near Trinity Street in the Distillery District
June 21 2011: Clear Spirit viewed from outside the Distillery District entrance at Mill and Trinity Streets
July 1 2011: Clear Spirit (left) and Pure Spirit (right) viewed from the intersection of Cherry & Mill Streets. The 35-storey Gooderham condo tower will be built near the left of the area shown in this photo.
July 1 2011: The low-rise building on the corner is one of three Tank Houses now home to the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. The Gooderham tower will be built immediately south of the Young Centre.
July 1 2011: Clear Spirit soaring above the Distillery District’s Tank House Lane entrance off Cherry Street
July 1 2011: Looking up from Cherry Street at the Clear Spirit and its crane
July 1 2011: Construction entrance off Cherry Street
July 1 2011: Project team poster and site plan map
July 1 2011: Looking up at the east side of the building
July 1 2011: The east side of the tower and its podium
July 1 2011: Tall support pillars on the tower’s east side
July 1 2011: One of the support pillars stands at a slight angle
