With the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) project on track to open this December, a handful of new developments are being built in northwestern Toronto and southern Vaughan in anticipation of the new transit service. Just east of the new Finch West Station, construction is well underway at the Finch Avenue West and Tangiers Road site of the University Heights Professional and Medical Centre, an office development from Haven Developments and Union Capital Management.

West view of the University Heights Professional and Medical Centre along Finch, image courtesy of Haven Developments

The eight-storey, 180,000 square-foot, ACK Architects-designed development got its start back in September, 2015, with a ground breaking ceremony attended by representatives of the principal companies. By November 2015, site clearing activity was in full swing, followed by the start of shoring work in early-2016, and the start of excavation in late-Spring of last year.

Southeast view of the site, image by Forum contributor PMT

Excavation progressed over the following several months, with crews digging out the development's 3-level underground parking garage. It will have 405 spaces, a substantial increase from the previously-proposed two levels with 260 spaces. With excavation now complete, a tower crane was recently installed, and a rebar cage now sits at the base of the pit, soon to be filled in with concrete to form the building's foundations.

Rebar cage at the base of the excavated pit, image by Forum contributor PMT

In addition to the subway station taking shape a short distance from the University Heights development, the professional and medical centre will also eventually benefit from the future $1 billion Finch West LRT. In February 2016, Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx released a Request For Proposals to companies shortlisted to design, build, finance and maintain the Finch West LRT project. We should be hearing soon who has won the commission, with construction to begin soon after. These two transit lines will bring easy transit accessibility to University Heights.

Finch West Station as it appeared in mid-April, image by Forum contributor salsa

Additional information and images can be found in the University Heights dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.