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Demoltion has begun at Portland and Front streets in Downtown Toronto, the site of Portland Commons, a coming office development recently acquired by developer Carttera Private Equities. The 530,000 ft² Sweeny &Co Architects-designed complex will rise 15 storeys high on an evolving stretch of Front Street, filling in a gap in the urban fabric between megaproject The Well to the east and the cluster of mid and high-rise buildings built over the past decade or so to the west.
Following on the recent news of the project's acquisition by Carttera and their announcement that the project would begin construction this summer, the first signs of activity were spotted in late May, when crews from Mitchell Demolition arrived to begin preparatory work in advance of demolition for the existing buildings on the site. Demolition was well underway by the start of June, working to remove a former car dealership located mid-block, and a three-storey office converted from residential at the northeast corner of Front and Portland.
Crews have since cleared all but a small section of the former car dealership building, which will not doubt be fully reduced to cinderblocks and rubble in the coming days. To the west, the footprint of the already-demolished corner building reveals an exposed basement, which will require backfilling to provide a level and stable surface for drilling rigs, soon to arrive to start shoring work.
Similar to the 16 York office tower now wrapping up construction in Toronto's South Core area, Portland Commons is being built on speculative demand, with no anchor tenant having yet been announced. Carttera's recent experience building an office tower at 65 King Street East on spec is being cited as a factor in their anticipated demand for office space. “Building on our recent successful leasing transaction with Google at 65 King Street East, we are thrilled to announce another downtown Toronto acquisition at 530 Front Street West.” reads a statement issued by Dean Cutting, Partner at Carttera. “Planning approvals are in place, meaning speculative construction will commence this summer, allowing for tenant occupancy in 2023.”
You can learn more from our Database file for the project, linked below. If you'd like to, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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