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Throughout October, UrbanToronto is celebrating 20 YEARS, with stories looking back over the last two decades. Each day we are also checking out our ever-changing street scenes, comparing an older "Then" shot with an up-to-date "Now" shot.
Today's 'Then' and 'Now' comparison takes us to Old Toronto — looking southwest towards the 1892 Gooderham Building (Toronto's "Flatiron"), at the convergence of Front Street East, Wellington Street East, and Church Street. This area has seen steady redevelopment and rejuvenation over the last fifteen years, with a range of mid- and low-rise mixed-use buildings having being completed. In the 2007 photo above, both 38 The Esplanade and 1 Scott Street are seen under construction (left of the Gooderham Building), and the heritage buildings on the south side of Front are bookended to the east by a nondescript beige building.
Today, that beige building has long been demolished and replaced with the mid-rise The Berczy, completed in 2014 by Concert Properties and consisting of 161 units. Behind the Gooderham Building is now the recognizable L-Tower; completed in 2016 and standing 204m in height, and on the far-left of the image is 75 on The Esplanade, a 29-storey mixed-use building completed in 2022 with 308 units. Looking ahead, this view could potentially be altered yet again, as an application for a 51-storey (182m) tower with 593 at-market rental units was recently submitted by Brookfield Residential for 20 Front Street West, which would be located directly east (i.e. in front of) the TD Canada Trust tower in this image.
Come back tomorrow for another Then and Now from over UrbanToronto's last two decades!
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Thank you to the companies joining UrbanToronto to celebrate our 20 years in business.
