A week after shots were posted to UrbanToronto's thread for St. Lawrence Condos of its construction site at the northwest corner of Front and Sherbourne streets in Toronto's Old Town of York area, an update shows that the first crane at the site is now up.

Looking northwest across the excavation pit at St. Lawrence Condos, image by UT Forum contributor Benito

The shots from October 5th (above, and a bottom) show that the excavation for the Cityzen and Fernbrook Homes-developed site has mostly finished up, and that a base was waiting for the crane at the west end of the site. It can be seen—the white concrete pad beside the base of the earthen ramp —at the back of the image above. Below, a photo taken from the Distillery District on October 9th shows the crane now in place.

The first crane is up at St. Lawrence Condos, image by UT Forum contributor Razz

On the east side of the site where it fronts Sherbourne Street, a concrete platform has been constructed. Platforms are starting to appear at more and more construction sites in Toronto as the sites become tighter, and as the City is less willing to give over road space for construction. The platforms are used to stage deliveries, and store materials and equipment throughout the construction process. You can also see to the right a trailer housing the site office. The platforms are built atop columns that have been formed in the ground below prior to excavation, and then the earth is dug out from around them.

Looking northeast across the excavation pit at St. Lawrence Condos, image by UT Forum contributor Benito

Two 26-storey-tall towers will be built at the site, so another crane base should be installed soon near the east end of the pit. The towers, designed by architectsAlliance, will rise from a 13-storey podium, atop which there will be an amenity terrace with pool. You'll find many renderings of what is being built here in our database file for the development, linked below. If you'd like to get in on the conversation, click the links for the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.