3K 
1 Yonge is a multi-phase development at the foot of Toronto's iconic north-south street. Accordingly, Pinnacle Interational's plans to redevelop the property they bought several years ago from the Toronto Star have attracted significant scrutiny, and carry high expectations from the public for a worthy architectural scheme. Hariri Pontarini Architects, one of Canada's leading practices, have been working to meet those expectations with a set of three primarily residential towers on the north side of the site, while south of an eastward extension to Harbour Street, they are working on primarily commercial buildings.
The tallest of the buildings, a condominium tower with a hotel and retail in its base, has—at 95 storeys and 1,007 feet in height—attracted the most attention of the complex's buildings, but it will be the second tower to go up here. While it will rise at the northeast corner of Yonge and Harbour streets, to the east of it, Pinnacle is now preparing to market suites in a 65-storey, 217.0 m/712-foot-tall tower closer to the intersection of Harbour and Freeland streets.
A Site Plan Application was recently submitted to the City of Toronto with details of the building's plan, including one rendering which gives a much clearer idea of how the completed building will look, compared with the 2D elevations which we have seen up to this point. While the the podium floors will all have uniquely shaped floor plates, gradually decreasing in size as the building rises, and providing outdoor terraces on the 4th and 7th levels, the tower that will rise above will be nearly square. Its balconies, however, are sculpted and fritted in a way that creates an effect somewhat akin to a cloak having been dropped across the tower's east, west, and south elevations.
The building's podium will feature nearly 8 metre-high ceilings at ground level, providing soaring space for residential lobbies and some of the 1,344 m² of commercial retail units facing the Harbour and Freeland streets. A covered drop-off zone for the complex will take up about 20% of the ground floor area, accessed—like the underground garage—from Freeland Street.
100 units of affordable housing are provided in the podium, with 530 market condominium suites in the tower above. The affordable units come is a mix of 72% one-bedroom, 16% two-bedroom, and 12% three-bedroom suites. The market condominiums come in a mix of 62% one-bedrooms, 27% two-bedrooms, and 11% three-bedroom units. Along with amenities for both the affordable unit occupants and the condominium suite occupants, the podium will also boast a new community centre for Toronto's central Waterfront neighbourhood, with a swimming pool, gym, basketball court, and several activity rooms. Once additional phases are built, the complex will be connected to Toronto's PATH system.
The building will have six levels of underground parking with spaces for 707 cars. Only 268 of these spaces are required for this building, leaving 439 spaces available for cars associated with following phases. Spaces for 753 bicycles are also being provided on P1, while another 40 spots aimed at visitors to the recreation centre and retail units are being accommodated at ground level.
Pinnacle International has not yet said when the marketing of the first tower will begin, or what name it will be marketed under, but UrbanToronto will follow the story as it evolves. In the meantime, you can find more information and renderings about the development in our Database file, linked below. You can leave a comment in the space provided on this page, or join in on the conversation in our associated Forum thread for the development.
