Construction is approaching a major milestone at Cityzen Development Group, Fernbrook Homes and Castlepoint Numa's Backstage On The Esplanade, with the tower now very close to topping off. The 36-storey Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects-designed building has been rising steadily across the street from the L Tower for several months now, and with concrete work close to wrapping up, we now have a much better scope of just how tall this project will look upon completion.

Backstage on The Esplanade and neighbouring towers viewed from Front and Scott, image by Jack Landau

When we last checked in on the construction of the new condominium tower in December, concrete had progressed up to the 32nd floor, with just four more levels remaining. In the time since, work has moved up to the building's roof slab. The slight slowdown in activity on this site can be attributed to the extreme cold weather we have been experiencing throughout the month of February.

Backstage on The Esplanade and neighbouring towers viewed from the west on Bay, image by Jack Landau

Though almost topped off, Backstage is still dwarfed by its taller cousin to the north, the L Tower, while being noticeably taller itself than its neighbour to the east, 25 The Esplanade. Backstage's black window wall cladding with white spandrel accents now seals off over two thirds of the building from the harsh Winter elements, allowing various trades to comfortably work within the building.

Backstage on The Esplanade and neighbouring towers viewed from the south on Yonge, image by Jack Landau

Below grade, the L Tower and Backstage are joined via a pedestrian passage under The Esplanade. It was dug at the time of Backstage's excavation without disturbing the street above by using a small version of the tunnel boring machines that are currently digging the Crosstown LRT. Residents of L Tower will park below Backstage in its 356 underground garage while Backstage residents will have 144 spaces available in the aboveground garage located in its podium.

L-R L Tower, 25 The Esplanade, Backstage, image by Jack Landau

Looking for more information on Backstage? Additional details including building facts, renderings, and floor plans can be found in our dataBase file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or add your voice to the comments section provided at the bottom of this page.