The division between the waterfront lands to the east of Yonge Street and the lands to the west could not be more stark. Whereas redevelopment had largely bypassed the former, it has consumed much of the latter subequent to the establishment of Harbourfront as a park and cultural centre in the 1970s. As a result, the tracts of land along Queens Quay East languished as surface parking lots and aging industrial ventures while the western stretch of the street supported a series of high-rise residential developments.

Change, however, has started to come to this stark stretch of Queens Quay with a series of developments that are helping to tie this district into the city around it. The largest residential project in the area, Cityzen and Fernbrook Homes' Waterlink at Pier 27 is comprised of two pairs of 14-storey buildings to be linked together by a bridge on their upper floors. Designed by architectsAlliance, the development included a swap with the City of land to preserve public access to the waterfront along its western and southern edges. To facilitate access, ample space is provided to connect the street to a newly landscaped water's edge boardwalk totalling three acres of parkland. With substantial progress made on construction, we are now awaiting the arrival of cladding and the construction of the bridges. Below is a quick photo update on the project assembled with recent shots by several UrbanToronto Forum members.

Pier 27 as seen from Queens Quay, image by Jack Landau.

Looking east towards the project near the foot of Yonge Street, image by Jack Landau.

East wall facing the Redpath Sugar Refinery, image by Jack Landau.

The site plan below shows the treed areas and boardwalk which have been reserved as public lands. 

Site Plan, image from City of Toronto Planning Document.

Below are two images that provide a greater context for the development. The first show Pier 27 in relation to the neighbouring Redpath Sugar Refinery while the second shows a harbour perspective.

A view of the Pier 27 from the east with the Redpath Sugar Refinery in the foreground, image by Forum member Razz.

Project as seen from the harbour, image by Forum member SixPoints.

To get a better idea of what Pier 27 will look like when completed, take a look at the following renderings.

Evening rendering of Pier 27, image courtesy of Cityzen and Fernbrook Homes.

Rendering of Pier 27 as seen from the harbour, image courtesy Cityzen and Fernbrook Homes.

To learn more about the project, a link to our dataBase page as well as the associated Forum threads are included below.