The mostly-residential streets that run perpendicular to Yonge Street between Bloor and Wellesley have attracted the attention of developers in recent years, including Five St. Joseph Developments, Graywood, and MOD Developments. Their Five St. Joseph 48-storey condo project has nearly reached the ground level of the construction phase, which is scheduled to be complete in 2014.
Below are images of the foundation and façade captured October 6th.
October 20th:
On the west side of the construction site is St. Nicholas Street, one of those tiny Toronto streets that people hardly know exist unless they live or work in the area. This part of St. Nicholas is more a glorified laneway, with garage access and delivery doors kept out of sight for the old storage and warehouse spaces. In recent years, the entrances off St. Nicholas housed loft spaces for artists and small businesses. With Five St. Joseph's redevelopment of the street, St. Nicholas will become a pedestrian-oriented space lined with retail space, transforming what was a utilitarian and uninviting quasi-laneway into a welcoming place to eat, shop and walk.
St. Nicholas Street before construction:
St. Nicholas Street after construction:
Beyond the redevelopment of St. Nicholas and St. Joseph, Five St. Joseph will also have a big impact on a neglected part of Yonge Street. The project incorporates a number buildings that front onto Yonge, comprising the north half of the block between St. Joseph and Wellesley Street West. These buildings will be restored to improve the streetscape and returned to their original retail use. The City of Toronto secured Section 37 funds to be used for the restoration, public art, and for improvements to the streetscape and Queen's Park.
Yonge Street before construction:
Five St. Joseph will incorporate the façade of a heritage warehouse building into its structure, which will actually be the largest façade retention in the city. Built in the very early 1900s, the building was originally a three-storey warehouse for the Rawlinson Cartage, one of the city's shipping and storage companies. It last was home to a nightclub and fitness centre before it was sold to the developers in 2006. You can read more about the heritage and preservation of Five St. Joseph in our recent interview with ERA Architects here. ERA partnered with Hariri Pontarini Architects in the design of Five St. Joseph.
Other significant developments on nearby residential streets include Chaz, Casa, Casa II and 70 St. Mary Street, with more in the planning stages to come just across Yonge from St. Joseph on Gloucester Street and Dundonald Street.