Historic military building to be razed, then rebuilt as part of new condominium
JAMES RUSK
December 4, 2007
The Royal Canadian Military Institute, one of the most venerable institutions on Toronto's University Avenue, is "beyond repair" and will be torn down and rebuilt as part of a new high-rise condominium.
Under the terms of a deal with Pickering-based developer Tribute Communities, the RCMI will be housed in the new 42- to 44-storey condominium tower on the club's site on the west side of University Avenue, south of Dundas Street.
Peter Hunter, chairman of the RCMI's long-range planning committee, said yesterday the institute, which has 1,500 members with an interest in military affairs, badly needed a new home.
Ironically, the parts of the building that are 50 years old are in worse shape than the original portion that is more than 100 years old, he said.
The institute's three-storey facade will be maintained on the new building, and the organization, which has a 300,000-volume library on military affairs, will use the first seven floors as its new premises, which it will own as a freehold property, Mr. Hunter said.
It will take another year or two before the city approves final plans for the 6,000-square-foot site, which backs on to Simcoe Street. Once construction starts, the institute will be without a permanent home for two years during construction, Mr. Hunter said. During construction, an arrangement has been made for the RCMI membership to use the nearby University Club for social and professional events, including its public lecture series, Mr. Hunter said.
The condominium, which would become the only residential building on University Avenue between Adelaide and Bloor Streets, will occupy one of the more easily developed sites on the three main north-south streets in the city core. While there are few potential sites along University, which is heavily occupied by institutional buildings such as embassies and hospitals, both Bay Street and, in particular, Yonge Street between Dundas and Bloor Streets, still have many sites with low-rise buildings that could be replaced by office or condominium towers.
One industry source said the redevelopment of Yonge Street has been slow because many of the buildings have small frontages and long-time owners who are reluctant to sell.
In these circumstances, "assembling a building site is very costly," the source said.
But renegade developer Harry Stinson said that, while it may be harder to assemble a site from small lots, there is going to be a generational change in ownership of many Yonge Street properties, and with patience, a builder can put together a usable site.
