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Significant progress has been made at the site of the three-tower Block 8 West Don Lands project, developed by WDL 8 LP—a consortium of Dream Unlimited, Kilmer Group, and Tricon Residential—and designed by Danish firm COBE Architects alongside Toronto firm architects–Alliance. The project is being constructed just east of Toronto's historic Distillery District, on one of the sites that was donated by the previous provincial government in an effort to jumpstart the creation of affordable housing.
Our last update in May shared that construction had gotten as far as the sixth floor slab in some places, and that the completion of that floor would mark the upper extent of the complex's podium volumes. Now, construction has continued beyond the podium levels and the thirteenth floor slab has been placed.
The base of the eastern-most building has also begun to be brick-clad, eventually to be joined by the other two towers. This detail will create visual continuity with the heritage aesthetic of the Distillery to the west, while the towers above will have a more modern look, blending with the more contemporary designs of the Canary District buildings to the north. As work on the cladding continues, the curvature of the podium following a bend in Mill Street has also become increasingly prominent.
Upon completion, Block 8 of the West Don Lands will see three towers of 16, 16, and 26 storeys comprising a total of 756 rental units–30% of which will be either fully accessible or adaptable. 229 units of the total are to be affordable units, with rents that range from the average market rent for the City of Toronto to 40% of the average market rent across all bedroom types, including the 45 three- and four-bedroom units. Instead of being concentrated in a single location, the affordable units will be dispersed throughout the three buildings.
The ground floors will be occupied by townhouses and amenity spaces, with two small retail spaces located in the two westernmost buildings.
You can learn more from our Database file for the project, linked below. If you'd like, 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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| Related Companies: | architects—Alliance, CCxA, Dream Unlimited, Tricon Residential, Unilux HVAC Industries Inc. |
