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Halo Residences, a 38-storey residential tower on Yonge Street north of College Street in Downtown Toronto, is currently making progress with its eleventh floor being formed. Originally a Cresford project until the developer ran into financial issues and was forced to sell off a number of its projects, the building was well under construction when it was acquired by QuadReal Property Group in a sale approved in September, 2020 and which closed in October, 2020.
QuadReal initiated a review of the development to determine whether to relaunch as a condominium or rental tower, and in February, 2021 announced that it would become a purpose-built rental tower. Purchasers were refunded their deposits with a 2% interest payment in April, 2021.
The company have moved forward with construction of the architects—Alliance-designed building, which incorporates the heritage facade of a three-storey commercial building at 480 Yonge Street, and the clock tower of the former 1871-built Fire Hall No.3 at 484 Yonge Street into its base. ERA Architects are overseeing the heritage architectural work on the project.
Upon our last update in May, the podium of the building had been fully formed, and the heritage facade of 480 Yonge at the south end of the site had been integrated into the modern structure behind it.
Restoration work is now being done behind the scenes on the old fire hall clock tower, which is currently wrapped by scaffold and covered up in blue tarps.
In May, the fifth and sixth levels were being formed; now, Halo's eleventh floor has reached the forming stage. With work now on the repeating floor plates of the tower, approximately one new level should be completed per week until the building reaches its mechanical penthouse, which will need special forms built to complete it.
Upon completion of Halo, an etched glass "ghost facade" representing the long-lost fire hall that once surrounded the clock tower will be installed as the front wall of the retail podium to the north of the restored clock tower.
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, Egis, Entuitive, Ferris + Associates Inc., QuadReal Property Group, SKYGRiD |
