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Yorkville has been in a state of transformation since the mid-20th century. The village was transformed into a bohemian cultural centre a generation ago, before shedding its gritty ambiance in a wave of gentrification, leading to the posh dining and shopping destination we know today. The area has been the site of substantial growth over the past decade, and several new proposed and under construction high-rise developments are promising to keep the momentum going for the foreseeable future. Back on December 10, 2005, the current wave of intensification had yet to take off, though the intersection of Bay and Yorkville would soon be the site of a major construction project.
Fast forward a little over a decade to today, and the former two-storey commercial strip occupying the east side of Bay Street at Yorkville has since been replaced by the much taller Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences, a mixed-use development by Lifetime Developments, Menkes Developments, and Alcion Ventures, with 52 and 26-storey towers designed by architectsAlliance and Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects.
Another addition visible in the background is The Florian, a 25-storey condominium tower from Diamante Development, featuring a design by Hariri Pontarini Architects and Young + Wright / IBI Group Architects. In the future, this view could be further altered by the addition of a Bay + Scollard, a 43-storey Foster + Partners-designed condominium development that would result in the preservation and relocation of the heritage-listed houses seen on the let side of the image above.
Tilting the camera upwards from the same vantage point as the image above reveals the 52-storey tower of the Four Seasons.
We will return next week with another look at the changing face of Toronto!
