2.5K 
Today we focus our attention to the recently launched Karma Condos. Located at 21 Grenville Street just north of Yonge and College, Karma is being developed by Lifetime and CentreCourt Developments, which enlisted architectsAlliance to design the striking 52-storey tower. The interiors are to be designed by the ever-popular Cecconi Simone, with landscaping by Strybos Barron King Landscape Architecture.
The design resembles many of architectsAlliance’s highrise condominium projects throughout the city (most obviously Karma’s soon-to-be neighbour, Murano), except for the striking off-set experienced midway up the building — the top half appears to have been shifted slightly, giving the illusion of two separate blocks one atop the other.
Attention has been paid to the podium and street-level presence of Karma, largely due to the necessity of preserving an existing heritage home located on the site. The home is being shifted to the east side of the lot, and will most likely be leased out for retail.
Karma was able to generate a high level of interest through a unique method of of attracting registrants: for every new registrant, the developer donated five dollars to a charity, resulting in upwards of $12,800 donated to date. The interest didn’t stop there. The picture below shows the queue to get into the recent registrant/broker launch — the sales centre is expected to open to the public sometime this month.
The final height approval of Karma was hotly debated, eventually reaching the Ontario Municipal Board, as the city had only approved 44-storeys, as per the zoning bylaw that was in existence. While 10 years ago the prospect of a 52-storey tower in this neighbourhood would have unacceptable, the allowance of the 35- and 45-storey Murano towers, as well as the 75-storey Aura tower, have all but erased height restrictions in the area. Quite a lot of discussion regarding developers giving back in order to obtain increased height permits has been occurring on the UrbanToronto Forum — if you’d like to join the discussion click here.
For more information on Karma, check out our DataBase listing below.
