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Redevelopment notions for the south side of King Street East at Leader Lane have changed. The block, on the east side of Downtown Toronto, is currently home to a number of low-rise heritage commercial buildings, all in need of renovation, some surface parking, and is the construction site for a condominium known as Sixty Colborne. New images are giving us a taste of a more modest proposal than an earlier 47-storey proposal that covered more properties while preserving several heritage facades of buildings that make up King Street's 'Victoria Row', including the storied Albany Club at 91 King.
In November 2015, Carttera Private Equities submitted plans for a 19-storey office tower designed by Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects, covering 65 through 75 King East plus 46 Colborne. The proposed would total 27,814 square metres of office space plus 707 square metres of at-grade retail space. The previous, much larger plan was met with resistance from City staff as well as the local community.
Though only one rendering of the development is available at this time, colour elevations outline the building's proposed massing, while also providing insight into the exterior envelope concept, depicted as a main volume of reflective cladding and dark vertical banding projecting outward from recessed lower and upper portions, clad in what appears to be a dark-tinted glazing.
As currently proposed, the tower would set back from behind the row of heritage facades, which are currently listed in the City's heritage inventory, and are intended to be designated in the future. The site would be bisected by a new 6-metre-wide public laneway along an east/west axis, connecting with the existing private laneway at the east of the site.
The tower's King Street frontage would include five-metre stepbacks on levels 4 through 6, and three-to-five metre stepbacks on floors 7 through 19. The ground floor would have a height of 5 metres, while typical office floors will have heights of 4 metres.
With a total height of 83.3 metres including the mechanical penthouse, the revised massing is more in line with the surrounding built form, similar in height to the adjacent Sixty Colborne to the east, while the main tower volume would reference the height of the King Edward Hotel across Leader Lane to the west.
We will be sure to return with additional information as new details about the proposal continue to emerge. In the meantime, you can join in the conversation by visiting the associated Forum thread, or by leaving a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.
