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On the east side of Toronto's Don Valley, Queen Street East is emerging as one of the more prominent continuous stretches of redevelopment, with a consistent spread of projects spanning all the way from Riverside to Leslieville and on into The Beach. This long string of redevelopments is marked, for the most part, by the mid-rise scale of the new buildings. Developers Hullmark are one of the proponents that have embraced this typology, and their 6-storey addition to the neighbourhood, 1151 Queen East, has just achieved its topping off, bringing the project a step closer to completion.
The project, designed by superkül was first proposed to the City in 2018, but spent almost two years waiting to obtain approval for its rezoning application. It was early 2021 by the time the project got all of its permits in order to begin site work, and demolition went forward to remove the existing 7/11 building and surface parking lot.
After demolition, the first step in bringing the project to life was the drilling of a series of boreholes for the building’s sustainable geoexchange heating and cooling system, which will keep the building comfortable in all weather conditions while using exceptionally little power to do so. The boreholes reached a staggering depth of 620 ft below grade, and were filled with piping to house the heat exchanging fluid. After excavation wrapped up, the process of concrete forming began, returning to grade for the first time in the late Summer of 2022.
Viewing the project as it stood in December, it appears as though it could be in its complete state, at least structurally. This is an effect of the building’s massing, which uses a four-storey street-wall to integrate it into the surrounding context. The neighbouring buildings to the east stand at a similar height, of about 20 metres, and the traditional built form of the area rarely exceeds that margin. Of course, two more floors are still to come, but through step-backs on the building's north, south, and west elevations, the impact of the its uppermost floors will be much more subdued from street level.
Catching up time-wise to February 2023, the building is pictured below after the forming of its final residential level, marking the topping off of the project. We can see that the crane remains active on the site while the final touches of the mechanical penthouse are completed, and it will continue to assist with the early stages of the exterior cladding process. The lower levels of the concrete frame have begun to see the application of the vapour barrier sheathing, which would suggest that cladding is soon to come.
1151 Queen East will see the addition of 52 new dwelling units to Leslieville as market rate rentals, not as condos as per most developments rising these days. Additionally to the housing units, nearly 5,000 ft² of grade level retail will maintain the lively, traditional street-fronting programming that defines Queen Street through these neighbourhoods.
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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