Toronto’s Entertainment District has come a long way in the past generation. Just over 30 years ago, the neighbourhood was in the midst of a major redevelopment, with former railway yards and warehouse properties beginning their transformation into the thriving mixed-use district we have today. The saving of the Royal Alexandra Theatre and the construction of Metro Hall and Roy Thomson Hall can be considered the catalysts for the condominium development which has and continues to reshape the area into one of the nation’s densest communities. The neighbourhood skyline is redefined continually as new towers spring forth from their raw concrete podiums… which is precisely what is now happening at the construction site for The Mercer, a new condominium by Beaverhall Homes and Graywood Developments.

Looking east on Mercer Street, image by Forum member Indrid Cold

The BBB Architects-designed project will rise to 33 storeys from a five-storey podium. Concrete work on the podium is now largely complete and work has commenced on the stepped back tower portion above. In the image below, taken Monday by Forum contributor 'Mafaldaboy', the structurally complete podium looms over Mercer Street.

Looking northwest towards The Mercer's podium, image by Forum member Mafaldaboy

For a better illustration of the podium’s size and the tower’s footprint, we turn to an aerial photo of the site taken in late October from an upper floor of the nearby Cinema Tower. The tower will rise above the left-most 60% of the total floorplate shown below.

Aerial view of The Mercer from October 17th, image by Jack Landau

With the more complicated formwork of podium construction complete, the simpler, repetitive floorplates of the tower section can be expected to rise relatively quickly over the next several months, about a floor a week, eventually adding in 2015 approximately 600 new residents to this increasingly bustling area.

First setback tower floor visible above podium, image by Forum member Mafaldaboy

Once construction on the project wraps up, residents of the new 415-unit condominium development will have access to a range of amenities, including media rooms, a fitness centre with a spa area, a lounge, a unique lobby with a living wall and large multifunctional spaces for cooking, dining, events and parties. 

Rendering of The Mercer

For a comprehensive collection of information including building facts, renderings and floorplans, consult our dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the conversation? Head over to the associated Forum threads, or log in to the comments section at the bottom of this page using one of your social media accounts and join the discussion!