7.2K 
Just over three years into construction, Menkes Developments' mixed-use redevelopment of the LCBO lands continues along Toronto's waterfront, as the first three buildings of the Sugar Wharf community advance. Named as a nod to its location across from the Redpath sugar refinery, the new master-planned community is set to feature five skyscraping condominium towers, an office tower, integrated retail and a school, and a new park. Now well under construction are 100 Queens Quay East, an office tower in the southeast corner of the site, and a pair of condo towers in the northeast corner known as Sugar Wharf Condos Phase 1.
Along Queens Quay, work has progressed furthest for the 25-storey office tower. The B+H Architects-designed building topped out at a height of 117.34 metres last summer, and is now almost fully clad and racing towards its targeted opening later this year. With the office tower exterior largely complete, work has mostly shifted to interior fit-outs. Difficult to see through the reflective glazing during daylight hours, a night view captured in December shows crews hard at work within the building.
As construction progresses through the late stages of the office tower, movement continues behind the scenes to lease the remaining space of the 690,000 ft² building, with the tower having been built primarily on speculative demand. LCBO will anchor the building, moving its head offices into 225,000 ft², or 33% of the building's total gross floor area, including a 25,000 ft² flagship retail location on the ground floor. The next big tenant to sign on was the Toronto Region Board of Trade. Most recently, an October signing was announced, with Richardson Wealth leasing 85,000 ft² across three floors, bringing the tower to 65% leased.
North of the topped-out office tower, the architectsAlliance-designed Sugar Wharf Condos Phase 1 complex rises along Lake Shore Boulevard East, set to eventually reach 64 and 70 storeys. Below, a comparison of the project at the conclusion of 2019 and the start of 2021 shows just over one year of progress.
The shorter south podium portion from where the 64-storey, 218 metre-tall tower will rise is now fully in place, and the initial structural work on the tower's approximately baseball diamond-shaped floor-plate has been gradually emerging over recent months. To the north, the taller 70-storey, 230 metre-tall tower will emerge soon from a larger podium portion that continues to rise taller over Lake Shore Boulevard and the Gardiner Expressway. If completed today, the north tower would stand as Toronto's tenth-tallest building.
Cladding installation continues to define the lower levels of the podium, with a range of materials hinting at the quality of finishes to come. Materials being applied to the podium include a bird-friendly curtainwall cladding system with reflective glazing, which will soon be capped in pre-finished vertical aluminum fins, and a north elevation with a window wall glazing system, to be partially obscured behind balconies finished in laminated glass guard rails. Articulating the podium massing into distinct sections, the north end of the west elevation features a different window wall system featuring vertical piers of black aluminum framing glazing and louvre vents.
You can learn more from our Database files for the projects, linked below. If you'd like to, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum threads, or leave a comment in the space provided on 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.
