Toronto River City Condos Phases 1 & 2 | ?m | 16s | Urban Capital | ZAS Architects

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Waterfront Toronto selects five developers to bid on West Don Lands development

TORONTO, Sept. 26 /CNW/ - Waterfront Toronto today announced that five development teams have been selected to bid on the construction of 850 units of housing in the West Don Lands, the first new neighbourhood to be developed as part of waterfront revitalization.
Waterfront Toronto short-listed the five teams through a Request for
Qualifications (RFQ) that was issued in June and to which 18 developers
responded. The five short-listed teams are:

  • Monarch Corporation and Fram Building Group with Graziani and Corazza Architects and Cobalt Engineering LEED
  • Onni Development Capital Corp. with Gomberoff Bell Lyon Architects and Pottinger Gaherty LEED
  • Tridel with Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects + Urbanistes and Deltera LEED
  • Urban Capital Property Group and Redquartz Developments with Saucier + Perrotte Architects and Shaheen & Peaker LEED
  • Urbancorp with Foster and Partners Architects and Buro Happold LEED

"Waterfront Toronto was impressed by both the high level of interest in the RFQ as well as the quality of responses that we received," said Meg Davis, aterfront Toronto's Vice President Development. "We feel confident that we'll be able to pick a team that can meet the high expectations we all have for waterfront revitalization."

Sustainable development and design excellence are critical to the success of waterfront revitalization. The five short-listed teams demonstrated considerable expertise and experience in these areas.

A steering committee made up of members from Waterfront Toronto as well
as external sustainability, development and design experts, evaluated the RFQ submissions. The Honourable Justice Coulter A. Osbourne provided oversight of the process from a fairness and transparency point of view.

In October, Waterfront Toronto will issue a full Request for Proposals to the five short-listed teams. The corporation anticipates making the final selection in early-2008. The selected developer will be required to build according to the standards set out in the West Don Lands Precinct Plan and Urban Design uidelines as well as meet mandatory green building requirements.

The first phase of West Don Lands development will be located in the area that runs from King Street in the north to the new Don River Park in the south and from St. Lawrence Street in the west to Bayview Avenue in the east.

In addition to the 850 housing units the five short-listed teams are bidding on, phase one development also includes a mixed-income development at King and St. Lawrence that is being carried out by the Toronto Community Housing Corporation. This development will have approximately 130 units of affordable rental housing and approximately 100 units of market housing.

Construction is expected to start here in spring 2008.

Work currently underway in the West Don Lands includes the construction of a six-hectare low-lying berm that will provide flood protection for the West Don Lands and the downtown core. Once the berm is complete in 2008, Don River Park will be built on top of it.

The Government of Canada, Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto established Waterfront Toronto in 2002 to lead and oversee the revitalization of Toronto's central waterfront.
 
While I'm really happy to see Foster and Partners and Saucier + Perrotte on there, I'm disappointed that the city is allowing 1 developer to develop such a large piece of land. Wouldn't it make more sense to separate all the land into lots and develop each one with its own rfp?
 
I agree that I'm uncomfortable with having one developer and architectural team developing such a large site. That's not how we built the St. Lawrence neighbourhood that's supposed to be a model. Still, those last two teams are pretty impressive!
 
I'll echo that. The biggest problem with Cityplace, IMO, is that it's all being developed by one developer.
 
I guess that's good news. I was thinking that 800 units was awfully small! I'd still rather see works from different architects scattered around the neighbourhood, rather than the "Foster District" and, say, the "Alsop District" or "Kuwabara District." It might look cool, but I fear it will make the place seem a bit disjointed.
 
I am looking forward to seeing the proposals next month! And I can't believe construction will start so soon!
 
At the very least, there should be a public display of the design so that the public can offer their suggestions and/or vote on which design should win. A list of prominent design firms, developers and a decision made in a backroom somewhere doesn't sound like the best way to select a winner.
 
Still I'd rather they mix up the designs through each phase rather than have the various phases individually designed by one firm. Let the five finalists all design one building per phase and make them work together so they integrate well.
 
I agree. More designs would reduce the potential impact of one really bad building.

I wonder if the area will in any way resemble any of the fantasy renders up to now?
 

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