East of the St. Lawrence Market, Toronto's Front Street quickly transitions from a manicured, tourist-oriented promenade to a quieter—and mostly residential—thoroughfare. From Lower Jarvis to the newly inaugurated Canary District neighbourhood east of Cherry, the street had long been characterized by a post-industrail mix of brick warehouses and empty lots. In recent years, however, fast-paced densification has brought a more dynamic, mixed-use ambiance to the growing area.  

Looking east along Front Street, with the Globe and Mail Centre visible, image by Edward Skira

While First Gulf's under-construction Globe and Mail Centre—facing out onto both King and Front—has already become a focal point for the area, a number of nearby lots have also come into play as development sites. On the south side of Front, the Pemberton Group's recently profiled 177 Front Street East project is now moving through the site plan approval process. In its latest iteration (seen below), the bulky development is set to add almost 1,600 units to the area, along with new retail units and three POPS. 

177 Front Street East, image via submission to the City of Toronto

Like 177 Front, which would replace a mostly vacant block home to now-vacant low-rise commercial structures and parking, the nearby St. Lawrence Condos at 158 Front (below) will see a surface parking lot re-imagined with high-rise residential density. Located on the north side of Front Street between Frederick and Sherbourne, the project will occupy a site once home to the Greyhound Bus Parcel express depot. 

A rendering of the project, looking north, image courtesy of Cityzen/Fernbrook

The Cityzen Development Group and Fernbrook Homes project will bring a pair of 26-storey architectsAlliance-designed towers to the area, while a darker base structure—lined with street-level retail—attempts to reflect the heritage warehouse typology that surrounds the site.  

A closer look at the retail-lined base structure, image courtesy of Cityzen/Fernbrook

Marketing for the 400-unit project—which was previously known as 154 Front and 158 Front—is now well underway, with a new sales centre, located immediately east of the site on the north side of Front, is set to open on the weekend of September 17-18. 

The site as it appears now, looking northeast, image by Stefan Novakovic

We will keep you updated as the start of construction nears, and more information becomes available. In the meantime, a look at the project's amenities is available in our previous story, while further details are provided in our dataBase file, linked below. Want to share your thoughts about the project? Leave a comment in the space below this page, or join the conversation in our Forum. 

Related Companies:  ANTAMEX, architects—Alliance, Diamond Schmitt Architects, First Gulf, Live Patrol Inc., LiveRoof Ontario Inc, Milborne Group, Peter McCann Architectural Models Inc., RJC Engineers, Sigmund Soudack & Associates, STUDIO tla, Trillium Architectural Products, U31, Unilux HVAC Industries Inc., Vortex Fire Consulting Inc.