6.4K 
Toronto's King East neighbourhood is subject to plenty of big changes over the coming years. One of them is coming from First Gulf, which is advancing its redevelopment of the former Toronto Sun building, now referred to as the King East Centre, intensifying the remaining low-rise portions of it with two new towers. The centre occupies one entire block, encased by King, Berkeley, Front, and Princess streets. The existing Globe and Mail Centre tower and mid-rise portion at 333 King Street East would be joined by a 28-storey office tower and 39-storey residential tower – both designed by WZMH Architects.
This resubmission for the two new towers is the result of a significant input from staff, the local City Councillor, community feedback, and a second presentation to the Design Review Panel (DRP) in June, 2021. The resubmission includes a number of changes in an effort to improve and better integrate the new development into the existing neighbourhood compared to the previous proposal from 2021. Changes include adding a second POPS (Privately-Owned Publicly accessible Space), upgrading the public realm along Front Street, adding a daycare facility, a redesign of the office tower podium to provide a separation from the Globe and Mail Centre, adding one more storey to office tower (which was to be 27 storeys tall), adding retail to the podium of the residential tower, and adding inset balconies on the residential tower.
Although the DRP did for the most part support the previous design, some DRP members had reservations about the single POPS that was proposed, feeling it was not enough to accommodate the thousands of employees and residents that would eventually come to make use of it. The DRP encouraged the design team to either enlarge the POPS or try to add a second POPS between the office tower and Globe and Mail Centre.
The DRP also took some issue with the previous design of the POPS itself, saying that it would not perform for the residents, employees, visitors, children, or even dogs that would be using it. The panel suggested that more trees, planted areas, and green spaces be added to the POPS, as well as along the streetscape, noting that there was currently a lack of these types of greenery in the surrounding community. The DRP made a strong recommendation that the design team should attempt to design a more usable public space.
As a result, the resubmission now includes a second, 400m² POPS between the new office tower and the Globe and Mail Centre, adding more outdoor space for residents, office workers, and a safe and comfortable front entrance for the proposed childcare facility. The hopes are to enhance opportunities for public life and social interaction in this location of the new development.
The revised proposal integrates a new 942m² child daycare facility within the second floor of the office tower's 3-storey podium fronting onto Front Street. A dedicated 309m² outdoor play space for the daycare is also provided on the second floor. The daycare would benefit from pedestrian access through the proposed south-eastern POPS, and underground vehicular pick-up and drop-off access via a dedicated elevator.
The addition of two open spaces, new housing stock, and an office building to the area — which is seeing the emergence of a larger office node as a result of its proximity to the future Corktown station of the Ontario Line — the proposal's added daycare facility will also expand childcare options to meet needs in the surrounding area.
The revised scheme has also reconfigured the proposed office tower podium from 6 storeys to 3 storeys along Front Street, and pushed west the higher portion of the podium to provide increased separation from the Globe and Mail Centre. It also reduces the size of the residential lobby and replaces a portion of ground floor along Front Street East at the western edge of the central publicly accessible open space with 212m² of retail. In addition, the proposal asserts that it will retain and relocate existing key community retail amenities, including a replacement grocery store.
The proposed residential tower would also benefit from the addition of inset residential balconies, which would provide important private outdoor amenity space for the residents of the tower, without adding bulk to the tower's exterior.
More information on this development will come soon, but in the meantime, 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.
* * *
UrbanToronto’s new data research service, UrbanToronto Pro, offers comprehensive information on construction projects in the Greater Toronto Area—from proposal right through to completion stages. In addition, our subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, drops in your mailbox daily to help you track projects through the planning process.
| Related Companies: | Colliers International, First Gulf, Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, RWDI Climate and Performance Engineering, STUDIO tla, Urban Strategies Inc., WZMH Architects |
