Big changes are happening at the 1.6 acre site of Garrison Point in Toronto's Ordnance Triangle. The original five-tower plan from Cityzen Development GroupDiamond CorpFernbrook Homes, and Greybrook Realty Partners has changed following an October 2015 sale of properties holding approvals for three of the towers to developer Bentall Kennedy—two on the south side of Ordinance at Strachan, and one on the north side.

Early rendering of the towers at Garrison Point, image courtesy of Cityzen Development Group

The original two towers sold by Cityzen as condominium suites are now under construction, their distinctive Hariri Pontarini Architects design prominent in the image above, a 29-storey tower in front to the right of centre, and a 35-storey tower immediately behind. The excavation for those towers began in 2016, as evidenced in the centre of the late-January drone aerial shown below.

South view over the Garrison Point site, image by Forum contributor Jasonzed

With Bentall Kennedy now steering the development of the next two towers (Cityzen is retaining partial ownership), they have been redesigned by Hariri Pontarini as purpose-built rentals. As detailed in the Site Plan Approval submission to the City of Toronto from the close of 2016, the 25 and 34-storey towers—dubbed Novus on one document—will rise 89.81 metres and 119.31 metres from a shared podium. 

Northeast view, Novus, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

The development will meet Strachan Avenue with a variable-height podium containing significant retail space. On ground level, the project will include 11,389 ft² of retail fronting Ordnance Street to the north, and 4,954 ft² of retail fronting onto Strachan Avenue to the west. A double-height ground-level galleria along Strachan will include escalators leading to a 52,813 ft² grocery store on level 2, while a 29,475 ft² paid membership gym will be located on the third floor. The east side of the podium will include residential suites above the grocery store.

Southeast view, Novus, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

Novus' podium levels will be clad in a mix of bird-friendly tempered glass panels, back-painted glass spandrel panels, and architectural louvers. Theses will be offset by warmer material accents including terra cotta wall panels and precast concrete strips. Above, the two towers will be finished in a window wall system with vision glass and spandrel glass, accented by metal-clad architectural fins and a balcony glazing with a frit pattern.

Southwest view, Novus, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

Each of the towers will be capped by amenity spaces occupying the uppermost levels. These spaces—both indoor and outdoor—will provide residents of all floors with the same panoramic city views typically reserved for upper-level residents. A four-level underground parking garage of 540 parking spaces would serve the development, divided between 277 resident spaces and 263 non-resident spaces serving both visitors and shoppers.

Northwest view, Novus, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

As excavation progresses for the Cityzen condos, the future site of Novus was recently cleared in late 2016 of the two-storey brick-clad warehouse which occupied the site, and which previously served as the Garrison Point presentation centre. 

Site of Novus cleared, image by Forum contributor smuncky

On the remaining property on the north side of Ordnance Street, plans are still developing for Bentall Kennedy's final tower. A low-rise structure on that property currently serves as the home of the Children's Discovery Centre. Earlier plans Garrison Point-branded plans by Cityzen for this site called for a 49-storey tower designed by bKL Architects of Chicago, but architectural plans for Novus show the north tower site as "future phase 3 - 39 storeys", indicating that this design is changing.

We will return with updates as construction continues at the Garrison Point site. In the meantime, you can review images and information for Novus and Garrison Point by visiting the project dataBase files linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.

Related Companies:  BentallGreenOak, CCxA, Diamond Corp, Entuitive, Greybrook Realty Partners, Hariri Pontarini Architects, Janet Rosenberg & Studio, LiveRoof Ontario Inc, McIntosh Perry, Peter McCann Architectural Models Inc., RJC Engineers, TCS Marketing Systems