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Our epic development journey through Toronto continues in the latest instalment of Growth To Watch For 2017. Today, we feature the Jarvis and Church Street corridors, following up on our Downtown East neighbourhoods tour, and starting from where Isabella Street meets Jarvis. The route this time around is fairly simple; south on Jarvis with a couple of short detours, turning around via The Esplanade, and then north on Church St with a couple of detours too. While the are covered is relatively small when compared to most previous instalments, this route will account for 43 different projects. With that aside, let's begin the tour!
First on our parade is the Hariri Pontarini-designed Casey House. Opening this year, this new 58,000 square foot addition will provide hugely improved space for the AIDS/HIV care facility. The 4-storey addition by Siamak Hariri is incorporated into the 1875 heritage building (formerly known as the Grey Lady of Jarvis Street for the paint that once encased its bricks), now restored by the Bird Construction Company. Right now, multiple shades of brick cladding are being applied on the new addition, defining the edge of Isabella and Huntley streets.
Heading a few steps south and directly east of Allan Gardens, Duration Investments' project at 308-314 Jarvis is scheduled to go to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) this week for mediation. If issues remain after the mediation attempt, then a contested hearing is scheduled if necessary in November 2017. Originally pitched as a 50-storey residential tower designed by Quadrangle Architects with a heritage building incorporated into the base (as per the image below), the development was revised to 43-storeys.
At the south end of the block, a proposal was submitted at the end of 2016 for a development surrounding the northwest corner of Jarvis and Gerrard, where one of Toronto's most infamous relics, "Hooker" Harvey's still operates,( but now without the hookers). West of the Harvey's, a 25-storey condo designed by Giannone Petricone Associates would replace the automotive garage that fronts Gerrard, while the 10-storey mid-rise would front on Jarvis to the north of it. Developed by Antorisa Investments Ltd, 280 Jarvis would include 298 condominium units and 8 rental-replacement units (for the housing stock currently on site). Two retail units would be situated at-grade level, while 1,774 sq m of offices are planned for the second and third floors along Jarvis.
Continuing south on Jarvis, CentreCourt have proposed a 50-storey condone the east side at 319 Jarvis, three properties south of Gerrard. Designed by Page + Steele / IBI Group, the 164 metre tall condo would rise from a 4-storey podium, with a boutique retail space located at ground level. If built, the 506-unit condo would be the tallest building in its immediate vicinity, though issues such as shadow impacts on Allan Gardens may alter the design following a preliminary report from City Planning.
A block east on George Street, a Site Plan Application (SPA) was brought forth to the City earlier this year for the redevelopment of Seaton House. The aging and deteriorating facility is Toronto's largest emergency centre for men, currently providing 634 beds in a building that was not designed to cater to those with mental health and addiction issues, resulting in poor conditions for those inhabitants. The design team, consisting of Montgomery Sisam Architects, Hilditch Architect, and Goldsmith Borgal and Company Architects have created a block-long 9-storey, 600,000 square foot multi-purpose facility, containing 100 emergency shelter beds, 130 transitional living beds, 378 long-term beds, and 21 affordable housing units with support. With plans to redevelop this site having begun as far back as 2009, we will track this project's progress.
At the southeast corner of George and Dundas streets and across from Filmore's Hotel, a proposal was brought forth to the City last Spring to redevelop a surface parking lot. 219 Dundas St East, designed by Turner Fleischer Architects, is proposed as a 29-storey condo with 295 residential units, while retail would animate the Dundas frontage.
Kitty-corner from 219 Dundas, a construction crew is excavating the block-wide site of Gupta Group's Dundas Square Gardens. Designed by P+S/IBI Group, only the ramp is left to be dug out of the excavation pit, with form work prepping for the first concrete pours, it should not be too much longer before the arrival of a crane onsite. Construction will continue throughout the rest of the year and well into 2018. The project will feature 978 residential units through the 50-storey tower at Jarvis, and lower 19-storey volume fronting Dundas.
Directly south of Dundas Square Gardens, the site of CentreCourt's Grid Condos is now fully excavated. A crane was recently installed, with concrete placing presently beginning. Designed by P+S/IBI Group, this will be the second tallest tower at this intersection, rising 50 storeys and containing 563 residential units, and like its neighbour to the north, largely geared towards Ryerson University students. In the podium level, a communal study space will allow students in the building another alternative to do work, owing to the often overcrowded spaces at Ryerson University. Since the site of Grid Condos is much smaller than its counterpart across the street, we can expect this to be completed earlier than DSG.
Directly south of Grid on Jarvis, rezoning was approved by the OMB for a 45-storey condo where the Grand Hotel currently sits. Designed by Core Architects, the Amexon Development Corporation-designed project would retain but modify the existing 13-storey hotel, while the condo would rise in an irregular triangular shape in alignment with St. Mike's hospital helicopter flight path. Once complete, the project would contain 451 residential units.
Across Jarvis fro the future Grand hotel redevelopment is the construction site of Ryerson's Jarvis Street Residences. Being built in a private-public partnership with the MPI Group, the IBI Group Architects-designed student residence is nearing its final height of 30 storeys; currently on its 27th floor. Completion is slated in time for the Fall 2018 semester, with the residence set to contain 593 beds in 191 units.
Returning to Dundas, there two properties owned by Ryerson, one on the northwest corner at 202 Jarvis, and the next at the northwest corner at Mutual. Both are in the school's long term Master Plan for new academic buildings. While the intention has been to create a new Faculty of Science facility at 202, it is reasonable to assume there will be a component for more student residences as well, as part of Ryerson's goal of directly providing at least 2,000 beds for its out-of-city students.
Now heading south on Mutual, we come to Tribute Communities and Greybrook Realty Partners' Max Condos. Designed by Graziani + Corazza Architects, the project recently filed a SPA following an OMB approval to rezone the site for a 36-storey condo. Among with 363 residential units, 22 rental-replacement units will replace the housing stock currently on site.
A few steps south of Max is the site of Dream and The Sher Corporation's Ivy Condos. Currently in marketing, the 32-storey condo by RAW Design is set to house 235 residential units, bringing more life along Mutual Street across from Arena Gardens park.
We continue south on Mutual, arriving at Shuter Street where on the southeast corner, Hyde Park Homes and The Sher Corporation submitted a proposal for a new condominium tower at 81 Shuter. Designed by architectsAlliance, the proposed condo would rise 32 storeys tall, built on top of recently-designated heritage buildings, acting as the condo's podium level. If completed, it is slated to add 251 residential units to this corner.
A block east at the northeast corner of Mutual and Jarvis, Manga Hotels is proposing a 35-storey mixed use tower of shifted volumes. 203 Jarvis is designed by Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects and would feature 242 hotel suites, with 227 residential units above. The project has been appealed to the OMB for the City's failure to render a decision within the required timeframe, though hearing dates have not yet been set.
Turning onto Jarvis, we head south into the heart of the St. Lawrence District, the former site of the old St. Lawrence Market North Building has been cleared. Archeological finds have been plentiful on this site, and a final assessment to determine whether any archaeology with historical significance can be preserved in place is underway prior to construction of a new multi-purpose building on the site. Designed by London UK-based Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Toronto-based Adamson Associates Architects, the 5-storey building will house the Saturday farmers' market, Sunday antique market, Toronto Court Services, and a new public underground garage. The targeted opening is in 2019.
Continuing south on Jarvis, we pass the main St. Lawrence Market building, turning west on to The Esplanade. To our left is the temporary north market tent, on a site which is meant to become a park once the temporary market no longer needed.
Continuing west, at the southwest corner with Church Street is 75 On The Esplanade by Harhay Developments and Carttera Private Equities. Currently in sales, a Site Plan Application was submitted to the City recently, while the developers are looking to receive rezoning approval from Council in April. Designed by architectsAlliance, the 29-storey mixed-use condo 308 residential suites, while and over 15,300 square feet of retail is proposed to front The Esplanade, on the ground floor and a mezzanine level. The development will fill in one of the last two remaining surface parking lots in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood.
Progressing a couple blocks north on Church, Freed Developments and Carttera's Sixty Colborne Condos is now making its mark in the neighbourhood. Also designed by architectsAlliance, the 25-storey condo will feature retail at ground level, while 284 residential units will become new homes in a podium structure along Church and a tower on Colborne. Currently, workers are forming the 11th floor, the last level of the podium. While the tower should top out in the summer, a highly anticipated milestone will be the application of the orange-tinted glass fins which will give the building its signature look.
A partial resubmission was made to Toronto in September 2016 covering the second property to the west on King Street, plus three adjacent buildings. At 91 King St East, a proposal for a 25-storey mixed-use condo with retail at grade has been proposed. Designed by WZMH Architects, the podium would retain the heritage facades, and would contain space for the Albany Club (already residing at 91 King East) and retail at ground level. The proposed tower floorplate is 625 square metres, with 169 residential units inside. Proposed at the same 82.3 metre height as the adjacent Sixty Colborne, City approval would be contingent in particular upon shadowing of St. James Cathedral, and tower separation distances.
Also proposed for the same block and immediately to the west, Carttera's 65-75 King East is currently making its way through planning. The Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects-designed project is for a 19-storey office tower, rising to a height of 274 feet (83 metres). Fronting on King, and wrapping around the Tom Jones restaurant and onto the surface parking lot on Colborne Street, the project would provide active retail along Colborne, restoring a pedestrian-friendly urbanity to the street.
Just across King and one property to the west, Larco Investments has submitted for rezoning for 34-50 King East. Proposed to be a 33-storey mixed-use rental tower, the project would bring 219 rental apartment units above 10 storeys of offices. Designed by architectsAlliance—with ERA Architects overseeing the preservation of the heritage Quebec Bank Building on the east side of the site—the development would require the demolition of 8 and 12-storey 1960s-era office buildings in the middle and on the west end of the site.
Returning east along King one block to Church Street, three blocks north at the northeast corner of Church and Lombard, Cityzen Development Group's 89 Church Street has submitted a zoning bylaw amendment to the City and is also currently under site plan review. Also designed by architectsAlliance, the 49-storey rental apartment tower would replace the existing surface parking lot, and add 468 units to the area.
Immediately across Church Street, a large surface parking lot currently takes up much of the land between Lombard and Richmond Streets. While no public announcement has been made regarding the site's future, there has been quiet discussion that something substantial is in the works for this site in our 114 Church thread. As per our mandate, we will be sure to provide you with news once we find out more information.
A block north on Church, we turn east on Queen where—a block along on the north side—we find the largest surface parking lot in the downtown area. The proposal for the site by St. Thomas Developments has been dubbed "88" for its address at 88 Queen Street East. Designed by Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects, the proposal includes four mixed-use towers of 28, 29, 33, and 57 storeys. The heights of the middle and north towers are constrained by the helicopter flight path into St. Michael's Hospital, with the taller tower to the south of the flight path. A retail-lined pedestrian mews is planned for the middle of the site, linking a new park near the northwest corner with a new Privately Owned Publicly accessible Space (POPS) in the southwest corner, with all landscape design by Claude Cormier + Associés. Along with the residential towers, retail, and public spaces, the development will also include a hotel in the base of the south tower. The 28-storey phase 1—dubbed 88 North—will add 420 residential units, reportedly close to sold out. While 88 North has proceeded to Site Plan Approval stage at the City, the other phases of the development are stills seeking zoning approval.
Directly north of 88 Queen at Shuter and Dalhousie, CentreCourt's Core Condos is virtually complete. A design by P+S/IBI Group, occupancy for the 24-storey condo began last summer. From a project that entered sales in early 2014, the final pieces of construction are wrapping up on the ground floor, a mere three years later.
Immediately to the west of Core, Menkes Developments' Fleur Condos has been submitted to the City for both a zoning amendment and for site plan approval. An updated design released in February, shows the 29-storey condo with black mullions and strong horizontal bands along each floor slab. At ground level, the glass cube podium is framed in slate. Demolition of Now Magazine's former offices has cleared the way for construction workers to clear the site, half of which has been a surface parking lot. 370 residential units are proposed here with retail at grade.
Kitty corner to the west is the site of the Metropolitan United Church. The church first proposed to the City in the early 2000s that its surface parking lot could be be a redevelopment site. (The historic parsonage at the corner of Shuter and Bond would be moved south on Bond to save it.) In 2003 and 2006, zoning amendments were sought to allow a 37-storey tower to the north of the church, with an 800-space public parking lot below it which would provide the church with a steady source of income. Lancer Developments won the right to build the 442-unit rental tower, which was dubbed The Metropolitan. No movement to construct the building has happened since, although in 2013 Deloitte sought expressions of interest in the ground floor retail spaces. These moves were possibly ahead of their time, and one wonders when this proposal or a similar one here will resurface.
Heading north on Church, at the southeast corner with Dundas is the site of Pemberton Group's 215 Church St proposal. Originally submitted to the City in December 2014 at 46 storeys, the developer appealed to the OMB based on the City's lack of a decision within the required time. At a pre-hearing this January, the City and Pemberton revealed that they had reached a settlement which will allow this mixed-use condo by RAW Design to rise 52 storeys with approximately 600 units. A hearing is scheduled for early May, at which time the final rezoning details should be revealed and ratified. Site Plan details, including a reworking of the balconies as seen in the early rendering below, are still to come.
North of Dundas and on the west side of Church, a new streetwall will soon reshape the landscape here, as construction of Ryerson's Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex has reached street level, with forming underway on the second storey. Once complete, targeted for Fall 2018, the 27-storey building designed by Perkins + Will will provide 332 student residence beds through 100 units in the tower portion, while below, the schools of Nursing, Midwifery, Nutrition, Occupational and Public Health, and departments of Government and Community Engagement Department, Communications, and University Advancement will move in. The building will also house a Fabrication Zone and a Food Services area.
A few blocks further up Church to the north of Gerrard Street, construction is well underway at the site of Tridel's Alter, a 33-storey architectsAlliance-designed condominium development. Forming of the project's four-storey podium wrapped up in recent weeks, and work has since begun on the smaller tower floors above. Once complete in 2018, the project will introduce 340 condominium units up top, office space in the podium, and new retail spaces fronting Church Street.
Directly across McGill Street to the north, Menkes' 365 Church is now structurally complete at a height of 102 metres. Rising 31 storeys, the Wallman Architects-designed condominium tower is now almost fully clad in a window wall system with clear glazing and grey spandrel panels. Once complete—anticipated for later this year—the project will add 387 new condo units to the area.
Just two short blocks to the north, another two high-rise condominium towers will soon be adding to this increasingly dense corridor.
Demolition activity cleared the northeast corner of Church and Carlton late last year to make way for Tribute Communities' Stanley Condominiums. In the time since, work has commenced on the shoring that will pave the way for excavation for the 37-storey, Core Architects-designed tower. Named in a nod to the repurposed hockey mecca across the street—Maple Leaf Gardens—Stanley Condos will eventually stand 125 metres above the Church and Carlton intersection, containing 490 condominium units.
Directly north of the now-active Stanley Condos site, the wheels are in motion for a condominium tower from CentreCourt Developments called Axis Condos. Designed by Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects, this tower's exterior—evocative of a honeycomb—will add significant visual interest to the intersection of Church and Wood Streets. Following the OMB granting approval for the project to move forward last November, the developer applied for site plan approval with the city this past December. The suites are currently in sales.
Three blocks north on Church and a few steps east on Wellesley Street brings us to the future site of Aragon Properties' Eighty One Wellesley development, a planned 28-storey, Core Architects-designed condominium tower. With its zoning approved by the OMB in 2013, its site plan is currently under review by City staff, and its sales publicly launched this past September, the project may very well commence construction this year. The most recent activity for the project came this past January, when the developer filed for minor variances with the City of Toronto's Committee of Adjustment to reduce the number of parking spaces in the garage. Eighty One Wellesley will eventually rise 98 metres at the heart of the Church and Wellesley Village, contributing 179 units to the culturally vibrant neighbourhood.
Steps away from the Eighty One Wellesley site, and back at the intersection of Church and Wellesley, it was recently announced that Edmonton-based developer ONE Properties had acquired a group of properties at the northwest corner, with the intention to redevelop the site with a high-rise rental tower. Last month we learned more about the 552 Church Street development via a pre-application community meeting—the second conducted for this project—where a collection of seven different 4-storey, 18-metre-high podium design concepts by lead architects 3XN were offered for public feedback. While this project is still in its pre-application stages, we expect the full reveal of 3XN's design for the site will generate quite a buzz once officially submitted to City planning staff.
A couple blocks north, there are plans for the land around the 26-storey Town Inn tower on the southwest corner at Charles Street. A 2015 zoning bylaw and site plan approval submission to the City proposes to replace the single-storey podium to the south of the tower, and the lawn to the west of it, with a pair of three-storey high walk-up buildings with 43 condominium units inside. The space between the current tower and the new buildings would be landscaped. The existing parking garage below the Town Inn is not proposed to be expanded. The design by Gary Stein Architect and CGL Architects was updated in the Fall of 2016.
Finally, across Charles Street to the north, a recently-approved development from Aspen Ridge Homes aims to add even more density to an increasingly Manhattanesque area of the city. Incorporating a two-and-a-half-storey heritage walkup called The Manhattan as part of its base, a 47-storey Quadrangle Architects-designed tower here will contribute to the growing Charles Street canyon, and in fact the 153-metre-tall project will take on the name 'The Manhattan'. Though the project was approved roughly eight months ago, marketing for the tower has yet to begin. Once complete, The Manhattan will add 408 residential units to Charles Street East, coming in a mix of condominium and rental suites.
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That does it for this instalment of Growth To Watch For. There's lots more of the Downtown area to see though,so plenty more exciting areas are yet to come throughout the end of March. Additional information and renderings not in the article above can be found in the projects dataBase files below. Care to share your thoughts on the listed projects? Feel free to comment in the space provided on this page, or join in the ongoing conversations in the associated Forum threads.
