Work has been under way to build The Shift, an office building on the east side of Downtown Toronto, over the past few months. We last covered this development, located at the corner Adelaide Street East and Ontario Street in late 2018, when a ground breaking ceremony marked the official start of construction. Being developed jointly by First Gulf and HOOPP (Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan), the 23-storey building is poised to insert 460,000 ft² of LEED Gold certified office space into the burgeoning east side neighbourhood. 

Heritage preservation beginning to take form at The Shift, image by Forum Contributor condovo

A large component of the Sweeny &Co designed tower will be the preservation of an Art Deco heritage facade from the building that most recently functioned as the home of the now defunct Sun Network News television. The heritage building currently stands at 2 1/2-storeys and will continue to sport is brick and stone articulated street level presence in contrast to the glassy facade and copper hues to rise above. First Gulf has retained specialists ERA Architects to preserve the art deco facade and its accompanying details. 

Looking Southeast over The Shift, image courtesy of First Gulf

Looking East towards The Shift, image by Edward Skira

Since ground breaking, fences have gone up on all sides of the site with work progressing on the preservation and retrofitting of the heritage facade. Currently all windows lining the sides of the building have been removed to be replaced with modernized glass panels designed to reflect the heritage facade. Soon, a peaked skylight will go: renderings show a clear-glazed atrium wit living wall rising up from the heritage facade, while a landscaped terrace will be located on the roof of the heritage building.

Rendering of terrace located directly above heritage building, image courtesy of First Gulf

Addressed to 25 Ontario Street, the building will be anchored by lead tenant Think Research, a medical software firm, who are set to occupy approximately 88,000 ft². On the announcement of Think's tenancy, Brian Harrison, Sr. VP of Business Development at First Gulf was quoted stating, "Think Research is the ideal partner to serve as an anchor tenant for 25 Ontario. The eastern part of Toronto's downtown core is quickly becoming the new hotspot for Toronto's technology firms, and Think Research planting its flag at 25 Ontario will only serve to further that development." 

Aerial view of The Shift looking southwest, image courtesy of First Gulf

The development, located steps from the 504 King Streetcar or a healthy walk from downtown subway stations and GO Transit, is primed to offer transit accessible office space. It will soon leave its mark on the Toronto skyline from the east.

Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.

***

UrbanToronto has a new way you can track projects through the planning process on a daily basis. Sign up for a free trial of our New Development Insider here.