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This week's Throwback Thursday looks back just over seven years, comparing a pair of views captured from Toronto's Queen Street Viaduct over the Don River, looking southwest to the River City community. Back in February, 2013, the West Don Lands area was finally seeing redevelopment action after sitting idle for decades. The area was in a state of flux, with the first projects underway at the time including the initial phase of Urban Capital Property Group's River City community, and projects to the south which would be the home of the Athletes' Village for the 2015 Pan Am Games. The first phase of River City stood topped out 16 storeys above Lower River Street, revealing its avant garde design by Saucier + Perrotte Architects and ZAS Architects. In the background, cranes were working at an athletes' residence for the 2015 games for DundeeKilmer and Dream Unlimited, later to be converted into a condominium known as Canary Park Condos following the games.
Over seven years after the photo above was captured, the first phase of River City has been completed and joined by its second and third phases, respectively at the centre and left of the image above. Canary Park and several other West Don Lands buildings are complete too, but are obscured from view by the River City developments. River City's fourth phase—dubbed Harris Square—is under construction and also hidden in from this angle. While each building is unique, all River City phases, designed by the same team—share a design language, giving the stretch of River Street they inhabit a unique cohesive style.
We will return next week with another look at the changing face of Toronto. In the meantime, you can submit your own Throwback Thursday comparisons in our dedicated Forum thread for your chance to be featured in next week's edition.
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