Tag Archives: Simcoe Street

Angular cube frame draws eyes to northeast corner of Living Shangri-la Toronto hotel/condo tower site

The large metal frame at the Living Shangri-la Toronto construction site

University Avenue median view of the cube frame on March 29 2011

Big white cube: Downtown Toronto has been teeming with highrise building projects all winter, but the Living Shangri-la Toronto hotel and condo tower construction site has been grabbing my attention the most.

Its location — where the University Avenue median ends as the broad boulevard tapers and veers to the southeast at Adelaide Street — certainly helps; whenever I look south on University, my eyes are instantly drawn to the site. (Once the tower reaches its full 65 storeys, it will be impossible to miss.) The various bold shades of pink on construction hoarding and on-site billboards command my attention from blocks away, too. So do the angled, creased windows gradually being installed as the tower adds floors and climbs skyward. And, of course, there’s the Bishop’s Block of heritage row houses at the corner of Simcoe Street and Adelaide, shrouded under white protective wrapping while they are rebuilt and restored as part of the Living Shangri-la Toronto development.

Now there’s something else new and striking to see on the site — a large white cube-shaped metal frame that has been erected on the northeast corner of the property. According to floorplans for the Living Shangri-la’s luxurious amenities, this cube is where a third-floor restaurant and a fifth-floor “revitalization pool” (a feature of the building’s posh spa) will be situated. I’m anxious to see how the cube will be clad; building renderings suggest it could be a shimmering, transparent glass surface.

Meanwhile, the tower keeps climbing taller and is roughly halfway to its final 65 floors. I counted 33 storeys a few days ago, which means Living Shangri-la Toronto will soon start soaring above its neighbour, the 35-storey Boutique Condos building on the west side of Simcoe Street.

Below are more photos of the cube and tower construction progress this week, along with some other recent pictures of the building.

March 29 2011: The view toward Simcoe Street from Adelaide Street West. The Living Shangri-la Toronto tower will soon overtake the height of the 35-storey Boutique Condos building on Simcoe (top left).

March 29 2011: Northeast view of the tower, which has reached 33 floors.

March 29 2011: Tower and cube construction viewed from University Ave.

March 29 2011: Floorplans indicate a spa pool and restaurant will occupy the distinctively-shaped structure at the northeast corner of the hotel-condo complex.

March 29 2011: Another northeast view of the cube

March 29 2011: The condo-hotel tower and the cube add interesting angles to the University Avenue streetscape.

March 29 2011: Another view of the cube from the University Avenue median

March 29 2011: Pinks signs atop the Living Shangri-la Toronto tower reflect off the eastern glass wall of the Boutique Condos tower on Simcoe Street.

March 29 2011: The upper east side of the Living Shangri-la Toronto tower

March 29 2011: The top of the tower (so far), viewed from the northeast

March 29 2011: Tower construction viewed from the west along Adelaide Street

March 14 2011: Living Shangri-la Toronto construction viewed from a laneway between Nelson Street and Adelaide Street West, behind Boutique Condos

March 29 2011: Wraps on the Bishop’s Block heritage house being rebuilt

March 29 2011: West side of the Living Shangri-la Toronto tower

March 14 2011: Simcoe Street view of the west side of the complex

March 14 2011: Simcoe Street view of the Living Shangri-la Toronto lower levels

March 29 2011: Living Shangri-la viewed from University Ave. near Dundas St.

Narrow 23-storey condo building proposed to replace eyesore parking garage on Simcoe Street

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A developer has proposed a condo highrise for a site currently occupied by a long, narrow parking garage that stretches from Simcoe Street to St Patrick Street.

Nice tower, ugly street: One of the most unsightly streets in downtown Toronto could look substantially better in a few years, if a developer gets approval to build a condo highrise on a site currently occupied by an ugly parking garage. Unfortunately for the building’s residents, their homes would overlook another parking garage that’s almost as much an eyesore as the one their condo highrise would replace.

The 23-storey project has been proposed for 210 Simcoe Street, directly behind the U.S. Consulate General. The parking facility occupies a long, narrow piece of land that extends along the entire north side of Michael Sweet Avenue from Simcoe to St. Patrick Street. A Bell Canada utility building occupies the adjacent north lot, extending from Simcoe to St Patrick as well. Meanwhile, another parking garage occupies the entire south side of Michael Sweet Avenue.

Development application filed in 2008

Plans to redevelop the 210 Simcoe site date have been in the works for the past three years. A developer filed an application with the city in April 2008 seeking approval to construct a 19- to 25-storey mixed-use building with three levels of underground parking, retail and commercial space at street level, and 290 residential units above that. Drawings submitted to the city in support of the proposal suggested that the slender highrise would be designed with a curvy, wavy facade.

An October 23 2008 preliminary report from city planners to the Toronto and East York Community Council raised numerous concerns about the proposal, which you can read by clicking on the link to the document. That document is of course quite dated now, but I couldn’t find anything more recent describing what’s been happening with the proposal. Ward 20 councillor Adam Vaughan’s website still indicates that the October 2008 report is the most recent update available for the project.

Early last month, however, another developer applied to the city for site plan approval for a 19- to 25-story mixed-use residential building, so it’s obvious plans for a condo highrise here are moving along once again. We’ll just have to wait and see if the same wavy building design as the original is still being proposed. I’m sure that any building would be a huge improvement for the site compared to the hideous parking garage sitting there now. But unless something is done with the other ugly parking garage, Michael Sweet Avenue will remain an incredibly unattractive street.

Below are some pics I’ve taken of 210 Simcoe and Michael Sweet Avenue, along with building and site plan drawings contained in the planning department’s 2008 preliminary report.

210 Simcoe Street development proposal sign on the parking garage wall

Southeast view of 210 Simcoe Street and the Bell Canada utility building

210 Simcoe Street parking garage on February 18 2011

A view of the east end of the parking facility along Michael Sweet Avenue

West view down Michael Sweet Avenue of the 210 Simcoe Street parking garage

The windowless parking garage wall has a horrible presence on the streetscape

Michael Sweet Avenue, looking east toward the U.S. Consulate General building

St Patrick Street eastward view of the parking garages lining Michael Sweet Avenue

The 210 Simcoe parking garage and Bell building viewed from St. Patrick Street

Another view of the parking garage and Bell building on Simcoe St.

Building illustration from a city planning department preliminary report in 2008.

Another illustration from the city’s preliminary planning report in 2008.

From the 2008 report, a building site and landscape plan for the condo highrise development proposal for 210 Simcoe Street

Military club makes way for condo construction: RCMI Residences set to rise on University Ave.

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Tower rendering on hoarding at the RCMI Residences construction site

The cannons will come back! Preliminary excavation work is underway for Residences at RCMI on University, the 42-storey condo tower that will rise on the site of The Royal Canadian Military Institute at 426 University Avenue (just south of Dundas Street).

When the slender glass highrise opens in several years, it will house “a completely modernized RCMI [on] the first six floors, complete with its distinctive cannons dutifully rolled back to their guarding positions,” the RCMI notes in its website description of its novel construction venture with builder Tribute Communities.

The tower design incorporates the facade of the RCMI’s former building, which had occupied the site from 1890 until its demolition last fall. The RCMI is a private social club for former military officers and civilians with interests in the military; it also owns and maintains “Canada’s largest privately-held military library.” Its current membership “is drawn from all walks of life, including the Reserves, the Regular Forces, academe, and business across Canada and abroad. Increasingly, our new members are concerned with information technology and other business affairs related to security issues.” Undoubtedly, buyers at RCMI Residences will feel secure in their sleek new digs once they move into the completed condo complex.

Below are photos I snapped of the RCMI building before it was demolished, along with photos of construction progress to date and renderings of the RCMI tower.