It's been a sizzling start to 2012 as January gave us a lot to talk about here on UrbanToronto — so much so that we saw our site traffic hit record highs!

There's been no shortage of news to cover, including some exciting new developments taking shape. In case you missed some of these, here's a look at the biggest stories, Forum discussions and dataBase projects that got high rankings in popularity and interest. Topping off January:

Top 10 News Stories:

Minto and Freed are bringing an intriguing new look to Front and Bathurst, we learned a bit more about what will be happening to the West Don Lands with the PanAm Village, and a real supergroup of developers and designers will be breathing new life into the 107-year-old Canadian Bank of Commerce at 197 Yonge Street.

Darling and Pearson's 1905-built Canadian Bank of Commerce building at 197 Yonge

  1. Renderings of Minto & Freed Project at Front & Bathurst Leak Out
  2. Mod Developments to build 60-Storey Massey Tower
  3. Getting A Better Look At The Pan Am Village
  4. Details of the PanAm Village in the West Don Lands Released
  5. Details Emerging On Concert's 88 Scott
  6. Living Shangri-La's Multifaceted Podium Challenges The Toronto Norm
  7. UPDATE: A Sneak Peek at the St Lawrence Centre Redevelopment
  8. Photo Of The Day: Cherry Street Set To Welcome Major Change In The Next Few Years
  9. Camrost Felcorp's Yorkville Plaza Prepares For Next Two Phases
  10. Stunning New Views of Context King West

Top 10 Forum Threads:
January also brought a lot of discussion in the Forum. Construction on the L Tower created a buzz and many of UrbanToronto's Forum members were awesome — as always — and provided photos!  Also of note was Aura at College Park, whose Forum page fluttered with colourful and snow-swept images of the progress there (take a look at one such pic below, courtesy of drum118).
Aura at College Park in the snow. Photo by UT forum member drum118.

  1. L Tower + Sony Centre (Castlepoint/Fernbrook/Cityzen, 58s, Libeskind/P+S)
  2. Trump Tower Toronto (Talon, 57s, Zeidler)
  3. Shangri-La (Westbank, 66s, James Cheng/Hariri Pontarini)
  4. Aura: Residences of College Park III (Canderel, seeking 78s, G+C)
  5. Ïce Condos/York Centre (16 York St., CadFair/Lanterra, 67 + 57 + 31s, aA)
  6. One Bloor East (1 Bloor East, Great Gulf Homes, 70s, Hariri Pontarini)
  7. Market Wharf (18 Lower Jarvis, Context, 33s, aA)
  8. Southcore Financial Ctr: Bremner Tower & Delta (GWL/bcIMC, 30 + 47s, KPMB & P+S/IBI)
  9. INDX Condos (70 Temperance, Skyline Int'l, 54s, P+S / IBI)
  10. 45 Bay St (SITQ, 50s)

Top 10 dataBase Projects:

UrbanToronto's most viewed dataBase page in January was Picasso Condos. We suspect it was because of all the breathtaking nighttime renderings stored there. Also of note was Eau de Soleil and 88 Scott Street. 

Picasso Condos in the Entertainment District.

  1. Picasso Condos
  2. Eau du Soleil Condos
  3. 88 Scott Street
  4. RBC WaterPark Place III
  5. Karma Condos
  6. Ten York Street Condos
  7. Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto
  8. Aura at College Park
  9. Parade
  10. Context King West Condos

Related Companies:  ANTAMEX, architects—Alliance, Baker Real Estate Incorporated, Bass Installation, Bluescape Construction Management, BVGlazing Systems, Castlepoint Numa, CCxA, Cecconi Simone, CFMS Consulting Inc., DesignAgency, Dream Unlimited, Eastern Construction, EllisDon, EQ Building Performance Inc., Ferris + Associates Inc., First Capital, Flynn Group of Companies, Graziani + Corazza Architects, Great Gulf, Hariri Pontarini Architects, II BY IV DESIGN, Isotherm Engineering Ltd., Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, Janet Rosenberg & Studio, Kramer Design Associates Limited, L.A. Inc., Live Patrol Inc., LiveRoof Ontario Inc, LRI Engineering Inc., Mattamy Homes, McIntosh Perry, MCW Consultants Ltd, Milborne Group, Minto Communities GTA, Multiplex, NAK Design Strategies, Peter McCann Architectural Models Inc., Precise ParkLink, Rebar Enterprises Inc, RJC Engineers, Ryan Design International, SKYGRiD, Snaile Inc., The Fence People, Tridel, Trillium Architectural Products, TUCKER HIRISE Construction, U31, Unilux HVAC Industries Inc., Urban Art & Metal Works Inc., Walters Group, WZMH Architects, Zeidler Architecture