Tag Archives: The Yorkville Condominiums

Pit Stops: Photo roundup of below-ground and at-grade construction activity at 21 downtown condo, office & university building sites

Picasso on Richmond condos

As 2012 drew to a close, some noteworthy downtown building projects had reached different stages of at- and below-grade construction progress. At some sites, like this one for the Picasso on Richmond condo tower, preliminary foundation drilling work was in full swing …

 

Studio on Richmond condos

… while at others, like this one for the Studio on Richmond and Studio2 condo towers just two blocks east of Picasso, site excavation was ongoing.

 

The Yorkville condos

Over the same period of time, underground parking levels were taking shape at some building sites, like this one for The Yorkville condo project on Davenport Road …

 

X2 Condos

… while over on Charles Street East, construction had reached a milestone mark at X2 Condos, where building had started on the ground level of the tower

 

Fall photos: Until condo and office tower construction starts to climb above street level, it can be difficult to track how quickly work is progressing on the dozens of new buildings going up in Toronto’s downtown core. Ground-level views of building sites are often obscured by hoarding and security fences, plus concrete delivery trucks, dump trucks and other construction vehicles maneuvering into and out of staging areas adjacent to construction zones. I find it’s a big challenge to monitor ongoing progress at places where underground levels are taking shape, let alone keep an eye on sites where shovels are just breaking ground or preliminary work is being undertaken to prepare for full-scale construction. The vast number of projects scattered throughout the downtown core certainly doesn’t make the task any easier.

 

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31-storey copper-toned condo tower aims to draw Yorkville district’s golden glow to Davenport Road

The Yorkville Condominiums

Artistic rendering of The Yorkville Condominiums, a 31-storey luxury tower proposed for the corner of Davenport Road and McMurrich Street.


More new digs for Dav: The drab two-block stretch of Davenport Road between Yonge and Bay Streets keeps improving, slowly but surely.

At Yonge, the wedge-shaped parcel of land dividing Davenport from Scollard Street brightened up a bit when the Lotus condominium opened in 2008. Sadly, it took more than two years before work finally finished on a new public square in the awkward triangle at the front of the condo highrise. Paving stones, landscaping, lighting and benches weren’t installed until late summer 2010, but the narrow, long parkette instantly became a huge hit with the local pigeon population.

Meanwhile, The Florian luxury condo has been under construction just a short distance away, where Davenport twists to the northwest at its intersection with Bay. Once the location of an Infinity dealership and a Premier fitness club, the elegant 90-suite Florian promises to class up the corner with its gracefully curved brick and glass facade. 

Now, Lifetime Developments has proposed a new neighbour for the site immediately east of The Florian, currently the offices of Moriyama and Teshima Architects. Lifetime’s latest venture, The Yorkville Condominiums, will be a 31-storey glass condo tower with six “executive” townhouses at the corner of Davenport and McMurrich Street. The project is being designed by Rudy Wallman of Wallman Architects, who also designed the Victory Condos development on King Street West that I profiled in a post several days ago.

So far, I’m ambivalent about his design for The Yorkville, though I admit the only drawing I’ve seen is the one displayed on its website and marketing materials (and shown at the top of this post).  First time I saw it, I loved the building … but the more I look at it, the more I wonder if it’s just the artist’s choice of colours that appeal to me. At times, I think some elements of the tower — particularly the roof, the five floors that angle out from the south face of the tower, and the long rectangular gold stripe of glass down the east wall — are merely bold, attention-seeking design gimmicks that scream “Look at me!” Other times, I think those very same features look cool, and give the tower a distinctive appearance.

Maybe I’ll make up my mind once I see more renderings or models. Most likely, this is a building I’ll have to see in finished form before I can tell if I truly like it or not. Either way, I do think The Yorkville will improve this part of Davenport Road and enhance the neighbourhood, so I’ll be happy to see it go up.

Below are some photos I snapped of the proposed development site recently, along with a pic of the pigeon parkette at Lotus.

 

development proposal sign

Development proposal sign outside the Moriyama and Teshima building


32 Davenport Road

November 1 2010 view of The Yorkville Condominiums project site


32 Davenport Road at McMurrich Street

November 1 2010 view of the corner of Davenport Road & McMurrich Street


32 Davenport Road

January 9 2011 view of The Yorkville Condominiums proposed site


32 Davenport Road

January 9 2011 view of The Yorkville Condominiums proposed site


32 Davenport Road

January 9 2011 view of The Yorkville Condominiums proposed site


32 Davenport Road

January 9 2011 view of The Yorkville Condominiums proposed site


The Florian

The Florian under construction next to The Yorkville site on Davenport Road


Lotus condominium parkette

Pigeons enjoying the new parkette at Lotus condominium