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While the intersection of Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East may be losing the Ontario Science Centre with its impending relocation to Ontario Place, it is gaining a master-planned community just to the north. The Crosstown Community is a 60-acre project on what was known as the Celestica site, and the Toronto home of Celestica parent company IBM before that. It will eventually boast 14 buildings ranging from 3 to 44 storeys, a total of 5,921 residential units, plus office space, retail, parks, and a major new community centre.
The development is set to transform the site by replacing outdated industrial space with a variety of residential options, designed by a “Transit First” approach facilitated by the soon to open Science Centre station for the Eglinton Line 5 Crosstown LRT, and its further off east-end terminal station for Ontario Line 3.
Designed by Core Architects for Aspen Ridge Homes, One Crosstown Towers I, II, III, and The Crest, the community’s first phase, have been under construction throughout the past year. In this view looking west from January 2023, we see three cranes that have been operational since mid-2022. The skeletal steelwork of the lower floors is visible for Tower I, with grey scaffolding and temporary safety railings marking the perimeters. There is a step-back at the fourth floor, above the heritage brick walls of the Moderist John B. Parkin-designed IBM offices from 1967, now to be used as the towers' podium. Tower I is soon to be joined by the 39-storey Tower II to the right, set to reach a height of 129.86m, where there is currently a row of concrete pillars along the border of the excavation.
The June, 2023 image below captures two more cranes at the site, in use on construction of The Crest to the immediate north. It has advanced to the seventh floor, and at this point, we can discern the curvature of its floor-plate in the distance. In the foreground, the closer tower crane is set up for a 3-storey residential building that will be erected north of Tower III.
This aerial snapshot from November captures Tower I, to the left, reaching the 16th floor. It connects to Tower II via a three-storey podium. In the centre of the image, a scaffold folds a heritage wall in place that will act as a screen between Towers II and III. Those buildings have their first four floors formed, while the shortest structure has reached its third and final level. The sweeping form of The Crest is undergoing cladding with white panels on its eastern frontage, setting the stage for further exterior work which will include glazing and floor-to-ceiling windows for the top four storeys.
Another drone-captured image looking south shows a comprehensive view of this phase of the Crosstown Community. The Crest has reached its mechanical penthouse, perched at its centre after a series of terraced step-backs. This angle also provides a view of the curvature of the building’s northern elevation, responding to the curving road to the north. Tower I features black cladding on the podium's northern elevation, which is set to be the primary design motif for all three towers.
Finally, this December 2023 perspective, looking northwest, reveals Tower I has reached the 23rd floor, while the other two are less than half this height, with formwork ongoing on the eighth floor. Red fencing runs the perimeter of the bare floors of each building, matching the red of the tower cranes. The planned public park at the site's southern edge is expected to start construction soon, slated for late 2023. The highest crane in behind to the left is part of Tridel and Rowntree's Auberge on the Park development.
This development phase encapsulates over 1,200 residential units and is a major step in the realization of the comprehensive master-planned Crosstown Community, with much more vertical growth, along with cladding and glazing, anticipated for 2024.
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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