7K 
Toronto recently passed the third anniversary of the removal of Honest Ed's iconic signage from the southwest corner of Bloor and Bathurst—one sign will be restored and installed along the Victoria Street wall of the Ed Mirvish Theatre—as the landmark store's former footprint along with adjacent properties are being redeveloped into the new multi-tower Mirvish Village development by Vancouver-based Westbank Corp. and Peterson.
Designed by Henriquez Partners Architects and Diamond Schmitt Architects, and with heritage restoration overseen by ERA Architects, the complex is to house towers of 13, 19, 24, 25, and 26 storeys, plus a number of lower-rise buildings. In total there will be 916 new residential rental suites on the site, including a couple hundred affordable housing units, as well as over 225,000 ft² of retail, office, and community uses, such as new public green spaces and other public realm enhancements.
We last checked in on construction in September, when the complex had begun to make its impact known above its Bathurst Street hoardings. At that time, crews were forming the third and fourth levels of a shared podium structure to support the three eastern towers. With these podium levels complete, the individual tower volumes have since sprouted above, now reaching heights of 16, 15, and 15 storeys. The two southern towers along Bathurst rise on either side of holdout buildings whose owners were not interested in selling. Helping to further tie in the new with the old, the southeast tower where Bathurst meets Lennox Street includes walls of the existing three-storey building preserved in-situ.
Another recent development was the start of cladding installation, with the first precast and brick panel finishes appearing at the end of January on podium walls. The materials have since been installed as high as the fourth floor, already going great lengths in articulating the block-long massing into visually distinct sections.
A closer look at some of the panels shows a mix of dark and light finishes, while some precast panels have faceted diamond-pattern surfaces. Other materials soon to join the mix include clear capless curtainwall cladding, and bronze window frames for darker volumes, while to the west, an alley will boast walls of glass blocks, along with red brick accent sections.
Meant as a successor to the Honest Ed Alley that came before it, the alley will divide the east trio of towers from lower-scaled buildings that will transition down to meet lower-density uses to the west. Buildings on this half of the site are in varying stages of progress, with underground forming on the south half and the first at-grade forming closer to Bloor.
With construction already well underway, the project got an economic boost early last year, guaranteeing that affordability will remain a key component in the development, as Mirvish Village was the recipient of a significant funding injection of $200 million in financing from the federal government, allocated to ensure that over a third of the complex's rental units will be offered at affordable rates.
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 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.
