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Among the various high profile construction projects active in Downtown Toronto, one that is never too far from the top of UrbanToronto’s most popular projects list is Menkes Developments’ Sugar Wharf Condominiums. Designed by architects—Alliance, the first condo phase of the mixed use development began construction in 2018, and now in the last weeks of 2022, we can report that both towers, standing 64 and 70 storeys, respectively, have officially topped off.
Located on Lake Shore Boulevard East just a few blocks east of Yonge Street, the skinny towers stand out as some of the tallest structures on the eastern side of the Downtown Core, and are only made more distinct by the abstract cloud pattern that decorates the buildings on all five sides. The project-defining visual element is applied via the balcony guards, which are made of perforated metal sheets, and over the last few months the pattern has been steadily climbing up both towers as the cladding process advances.
Photos of the site captured in late November show that, as work has continued to form the last floors of the 70-storey west tower, its sibling tower to the east is just a few panels away from being fully glazed and sealed. Pictured on the left in the image below, we can see that the east tower’s north elevation features glazing up to the 64th and final floor, while the western tower trails slightly behind. Where the exterior finishing appears blue on the uppermost floors, the balcony guards have not yet been installed, and the glass window wall is reflecting the sky. Looking at the west tower, the taller of the two, the glazing is still over 10 floors away from reaching the top, while the balcony guards trail behind the glazing by another seven floors.
Around this time, the forming for the 70th and final floor of the west tower was taking place, and images were captured about a week later, on December 7th, the day the concrete pouring was completed. The image below shows the tower crane lowering a load of equipment with the concrete edges of the 70th level looking quite fresh above the staging area a few floors below. At one point in time, as many as six different cranes stood above the site of the 2-tower development, but that number dropped to two as the towers began their skyscaping climb. With the east tower’s crane removed at the start of November, it's only a matter of time before the site features no cranes at all.
Meanwhile, demolition is creating a buzz at the neighbouring site to the west, where the second phase of Sugar Wharf Condominiums is slated to be constructed. At the south end of the site, where a surface parking lot and the former flagship LCBO stood earlier this year, we now see a levelled site, or in developer terms, a blank canvas. However, while three more towers will indeed be built on this site, the area pictured below is destined to remain flat, with plans for a public park set to augment the mixed-use development with a community-oriented element.
The entirety of the second phase will be constructed immediately north of the park site, incorporating the former LCBO warehouse building into the future shared podium. Referring to the image below, we can discern that the early stages of the facade retention process are getting underway. The lower levels of the building have been wrapped in a clear plastic to protect the brick while caisson drilling is underway on the west side, carving out spaces for what will eventually be the foundation of the facade retention structure.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, 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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UrbanToronto has a research service, UrbanToronto Pro, that provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Toronto Area—from proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.
