Oxford Properties doesn't know. Oxford Properties doesn't know that there is a huge, built-in, internet fan base for all things Toronto, all things New Building, all things Rendered. If they did know, they would have sent their renderings of WaterPark Place III to UrbanToronto the minute they were available. So maybe we aren't the first wesbite developers think of when they want to lease new office space in this city, but who knows, with our growing readership and demographic penetration through a cross section of everyone engaged in Toronto's growth… we might not be the worst place to send a rendering or two… or a dozen or more! Whether you are looking to lease 50,000 square feet of office space or not, you are likely going to be interested in all of the new views we have of WaterPark Place III, also known as RBC WaterPark Place.

Gardiner Expressway view of RBC WaterPark Place by Oxford Properties

The 30-storey 930,000-square foot building, designed by WZMH Architects, will be the new headquarters for the Canadian operations of the Royal Bank of Canada, and 330,000 square feet are available on floors 18 through 29. It will sit on the north side of Queens Quay, and connect to the existing two towers of WaterPark Place on Bay Street. Its address, however, is 85 Harbour Street, as that street runs along its north edge.

Oxford's website for the building erroneously shows the address as 88 Harbour Street. 88 is a number that has shown up frequently in Toronto of late as it is considered very lucky in several Asian cultures. No such luck here, however: even numbers appear on the north side of east-west streets in Toronto, while odd numbers line the south sides.

Looking to the southeast towards RBC WaterPark Place where it meets Harbour Street and the park

The west side of project was originally meant to front on a new street running between Queens Quay and Harbour, but more recently a decision was made not to include the street in the plan. Instead, the building will directly face onto a park currently dominated by the Gardiner Expressway eastbound's circular off-ramp to York and Bay streets north. Toronto City Planning hopes to eliminate that ramp, as well as the associated Yonge Street ramp which runs along the the south side of Harbour Street in a few years time, replacing them both with a ramp that connects to the core at Simcoe Street. The rendering above shows the park and Harbour Street with the ramps removed. (Those ramps do show in the rendering at the top of this story.) Something else unseen in this rendering is the complex's PATH connection across Harbour Street to new projects at 60 and 90 Harbour, and on to the Air Canada Centre, Union Station, and the rest of Downtown. It is possible that the PATH connection is hidden by the tree furthest to the left above, but there is no missing the PATH connection in the rendering below:

Looking south along the PATH connection toward RBC WaterPark Place by Oxford Properties

This view looks south from the Air Canada Centre, showing the PATH connection under the Gardiner Expressway, while at the same time crossing over Lake Shore Boulevard. The site which shows as a green lawn beyond the elevated expressway is actually a parking lot now, but is also the subject of a planning application to allow Menkes to build two 70-storey condominiums and a 31-storey office tower. In the left middle ground of the image, one can make out the roof of the Toronto Harbour Commissioners building at 60 Harbour Street: note the dashed light green vertical lines in front of it which indicate another highrise proposal in the works as well. At the back of this rendering, the ramp from the Gardiner eastbound to Yonge Street is removed, showing the Harbour Street façade of RBC WaterPark Place.

UrbanToronto's dataBase entry for this project includes several more renderings, and many detailed close-ups, with 30 views in total now, including proposed floorplans for the offices, and views from the project from a high floor. The image below is one of those views, one to the north which includes the completed L Tower, fitted into the skyline.

High view northeast from RBC WaterPark Place by Oxford Properties

For those wishing to explore further, much is waiting for you in the dataBase listing linked below, including a link to the official website, and those who wish to get in on the discussion will find UrbanToronto's thread for the project in our Projects and Construction Forum linked below as well.