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The rapid development of Toronto's Entertainment District is transforming the area into a high-density residential pocket of the city, with an area skyline that continues to grow richer as new buildings rise. Among the next wave of towers soon to break into the local skyline, construction is in full swing at Plaza's Theatre District Residence and RIU Plaza Hotel at Adelaide and Widmer streets. The project kicked off construction just shy of two years ago, and the complex's pair of BDP Quadrangle-designed 48 and 49-storey towers will soon bring new condominium residences and the first Canadian RIU Plaza Hotel to the site.
Forming of the first at-grade sections was recorded back in October, and when we checked in on construction in mid-November, the ground floor was progressing alongside the final P1 level and entry ramp for the complex's four-level underground garage. A few months later, the remaining sections of the ground level have been formed, wrapping around a row of preserved Victorian homes along the site's Widmer Street elevation.
Work is now underway create the second floor slab across the site. Eventually, the base will rise three storeys high before the individual floor-plates of north and south tower begin. Each tower will boast their own podium, rising to 12 storeys, before the floor-plate is reduced once again to the final tower footprints. As the size of the floor-plates decreases and repeating layouts kick in, the speed of the rise into the sky will increase.
Once complete, the complex's 49-storey south tower will house 424 condominium units, while the 48-storey north tower—marketed as Encore at Theatre District—will have 131 condo units on the 25 upper floors while the 353-room RIU Plaza Hotel takes up its first 23 floors. Both towers will reach heights of just over 156 metres, the difference in the number of storeys mostly coming from an extra-height floor partway up the north tower where a transfer slab will mitigate the change from hotel suites below to condos above.
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 below.
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| Related Companies: | BDP Quadrangle, Janet Rosenberg & Studio, Live Patrol Inc., Plaza, Rebar Enterprises Inc, Unilux HVAC Industries Inc. |
