This past Wednesday UrbanToronto was privileged to attend a reception at Camrost-Felcorp's Imperial Plaza project on St. Clair West. The evening was held to launch the sales for the three-storey penthouses, which we featured a couple of weeks ago, that will replace the mechanical penthouse on the venerable building's roof. (You can see all of the gorgeous renderings for those suites in our dataBase listing for this project: look for the box at the end of this article.)

The lobby at Camrost-Felcorp's Imperial Plaza sparkles in party mode. Image by Craig White

What was very clear on Wednesday evening was that the lobby area of the former Imperial Oil headquarters (which we already knew was beautiful) makes for a fantastic party space, one of the most luxurious and handsome in the city.

The lobby at Camrost-Felcorp's Imperial Plaza sparkles in party mode. Image by Craig White

The lobby at Camrost-Felcorp's Imperial Plaza sparkles in party mode. Image by Craig White

Developers Camrost-Felcorp are planning to split the space between a high-end restaurant and a gourmet food market for the building's re-opening. David Feldman, president and CEO, welcomed guests to the party and spent some time talking with UrbanToronto afterwards. Feldman is obviously proud to be the owner of this building, and is aware of the significance of this space. Feldman's conviction is to have commercial units in place that are worthy of the opulent detailing and the York Wilson murals. While it is easy to see a restaurant working fantastically here, the implementation of a food market, even a high-end one, requires a little more imagination. Could Imperial Plaza eventually be home to a mini-version of Harrod's famous food halls?

David Feldman addresses the guests, while Hunter Milborne of Milborne Real Estate looks on. Image by Craig White

Besides the food, drinks, and socializing, the evening's favourite activity was to ride the elevator to the top of the building to take in the views. Last time we dropped by the view was a bit overcast, so it was great to enjoy the - admittedly hazy - warm late spring evening from up top. We know you love the views, so come along for the ride...

The 21st floor terrace area at Imperial Plaza, with diminishing light. Penthouses will replace the mechanical box here. Image by Craig White

Views from the 21st floor terrace area at Imperial Plaza, with diminishing light. Image by Craig White

Davisville view from the 21st floor terrace area at Imperial Plaza, with diminishing light. Image by Craig White

Hazy western view from the 21st floor terrace area at Imperial Plaza, with diminishing light. Image by Craig White

Yonge Street View from the 21st floor terrace area at Imperial Plaza, with diminishing light. Image by Craig White

Views from the 21st floor terrace area at Imperial Plaza, with diminishing light. Image by Craig White

Views from the 21st floor terrace area at Imperial Plaza, with diminishing light. Image by Craig White

Western sunset view from the 21st floor terrace area at Imperial Plaza. Image by Craig White

Work on the building's interior is well underway, confirmed here by the demolition chutes on the exterior of the building, as seen from the new Four Seasons the day before. We will be back to take a better look at both Imperial Plaza's past and its future in a coming report.

Imperial Plaza with demolition debris chutes as seen from the new Four Seasons. Image by Craig White

What do you think of Imperial Plaza? Leave a comment here, or join the conversation in one of UrbanToronto's threads for the project, linked below.