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In Toronto, King Street West has arguably seen more change than just about any other stretch of road in the city over the last dozen years, and the pace of change is not showing signs of letting up yet. In fact, one of King West's biggest additions ever is taking shape now on the north side of the road opposite Lamport Stadium, on a site that was formerly underused low-rise industrial. The new project, mixing residential rental with retail and a planned major extension to West Toronto's pedestrian and cycling network could not be further removed from that past.
The triangular site is bounded by King to the south, Joe Shuster Way to the west, and a CN railway corridor to the north and east. It started construction in 2013 under the banner of Kingsclub Condos. Acquired wholely by First Capital Realty when developer Urbancorp ran into financial issues, the project was reborn as "King HighLine" in 2015. Preserving the original development's Kasian and TACT Architecture design, the residential units will now be offered as rental apartments.
With a massing that responds to the unique site conditions and neighbourhood connectivity, the development consists of three connected structures with heights of 19, 14, and 12 storeys. Replacing a single-storey commercial/industrial building and surface parking, the project's flush streetwall promises a decidedly urban feel to what was a decidedly sleepy section of King. Along with new residents, plenty of shops and stores—an extensive 15,824 m² of retail space—on the development's lower levels will bring lots of life to the sidewalk.
Structural forming of the project wrapped up earlier this year, with work on the exterior envelope now underway. King HighLine is being clad in a mix of brick precast panels and precast concrete panels, to be followed by the glass and steel of the windows and balcony guards. At the base of the building, high quality finishes including limestone and Corten steel will add visual interest to the block's new pedestrian realm.
A panorama of the site from across the rail corridor the north—captured at the start of April when structural forming was still ongoing—reveals the full scope of the three towers, and how they fit in to the wedge-shaped site. Since this image was captured, all three of the towers have topped out, with the tallest west tower rising to a height of 52.7 metres above King Street.
While not the tallest tower on the block, the development's east tower's wedge shape is having a profound impact on views from the surrounding blocks, especially west-facing views from King Street and north-facing views from Atlantic Avenue, the latter of which is shown in the image below.
Once completed next year, King HighLine will add 506 new rental units to the King West area, coming in a mix of 16 bachelor units, 338 one-bedroom units, 103 two-bedroom units, and 49 three-or-more-bedroom units.
Additional information and images 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 leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.
| Related Companies: | Feature Walters, First Capital, Multiplex, Urban Strategies Inc. |
