The boom we've seen in condominium development is slowly but surely being realized in alternative real estate markets within the downtown core. While we are no doubt seeing growth in the Toronto office market — vacancy rates now sitting at 5.5% with an average rental rate up $0.34/sq.ft. to $24.50 — it's not quite up to the same level that our residential market is. Nonetheless, the announcement of several large-scale office developments in the central core evidence that developers are confident in the continued growth of Toronto's commercial market. Let's take a look at three prominent towers currently in the leasing phase of development. 

Preliminary renderings for 1 York and 90 Harbour, by architectsAlliance for Menkes

The first project we're looking at is One York Street, a 37-storey tower with 800,000 square feet of space. Part of a larger parcel of land being developed by Menkes, the office tower portion is designed by &Co Architects. The tower will be snug up against the two towers of 90 Harbour, both residential condominiums that are seeking an impressive 70 storeys each. The condos are designed by architectsAlliance. The development would share four levels of underground parking with the residential towers, totaling 710 parking spaces.

Rendering for 16 York, courtesy of Cadillac Fairview

Just up the street from One York is 16 York, another office development that shares its site with residential towers. 16 York, by Cadillac Fairview, is next to Lanterra's Ïce Condominiums, two skyscrapers currently under construction that will reach 57 and 67 storeys when finished. 16 York will contain 800,000 square feet of space and climb 32 storeys (including mechanical). This complex is another architectsAlliance design, with B + H Architects (formerly Bregman + Hamman) in joint venture on the office component. It will have 292 underground parking spaces.

Project rendering for 100 Adelaide Street West, courtesy of Oxford Properties

Back up in the financial district, the third phase of Richmond-Adelaide Centre has been announced, and is now seeking a lead tenant. 100 Adelaide Street West, developed by Oxford Properties, features a unique design by Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects, with the tower engulfing the current building on site. The tower will reach 39-storeys, and offers 900,000 square feet of space. Oxford will aim for LEED Platinum certification, a level that requires a minimum of 80 points of the total 100 possible.

1 York and 16 York's integration within large-scale residential developments is a returning trend, not seen in Toronto in a few decades, and will be an interesting one to see how the offices and retail mesh with their respective residential neighbours when complete. 100 Adelaide is sure to be a crowd pleaser, already receiving praise amongs UT forum members for the attention paid to the roofline and street level treatment. To check out the previous article on those buildings that are currently under construction, click here. We'll bring the final installment next week, looking at projects still early in the planning approvals process.