City Building : Development News

Eight years and three developers later, the mid-rise that’s been haunting the corner of Queen and Pape, first as a hole, then as a shell, is finally entering the home stretch.

“We’ve registered with Tarion and are waiting on Tarion approval,” says Norma Walton, president of the Rose and Thistle Group, who bought the site and its partially built residential mid-rise last summer. “Then we’ll move in with our crew and go full-speed ahead.”

Walton expects to have everything she needs by the end of February.

It’s an odd situation. The extreme delays, caused partially by the recessions and partially, according to Walton, by two first-time developer partners who had a falling out, mean that the original sales agreements for the condos have all lapsed. Rose and Thistle are in the unusual position of finishing an unsold building.

But Walton doesn’t seem worried.

“It’s such a great location,” she says of the central Leslieville site. “Our view is, we’ll get them finished to the point where we have kitchens and hardwood floors for the purchasers to choose from, and once we have the units to the point where they can be walked, we’ll probably put them on MLS with our agents.”

The nine units on four storeys range from 550 square feet to about 1,000, with two ground-floor retail spaces at 800 and 900 square feet (along with 8 parking spaces).

Though relatively unknown in the residential sector, Rose and Thistle own between 45 and 50 commercial properties, including the old Corus space at 32 Atlantic in Liberty Village, which they renovated and now rent to ad firm Cossette.

But this isn’t their first foray into homes, either. They’ve done townhouses in Scarborough and, according to Walton, some condo conversions in Yorkville.

Though prices haven’t been set yet, Walton says “The neighbourhood seems to be supporting $550 a square foot up to $650, so it’ll probably bee in that range.”

She expects to finish the building in the next 18 months.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Norma Walton

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An explosion at a sidewalk transformer on St. Clair West near Yonge on Monday will provide Toronto Hydro with an extra boost in their application to increase the pace of their equipment updates.

"We are constantly upgrading infrastructure when we can and we have been looking for a more aggressive plan," says spokeswoman Tanya Bruckmüller-Wilson. They have an application before the Ontario Energy Board, their regulator, for increased funding for 850 projects over the next three years.

Last year, Toronto Hydro spent about $300 million in upgrading equipment, a third of which, Bruckmüller-Wilson estimates, are "past their lifespans."

Though the probable cause of Monday’s fire, erosion from street salt, is not being specifically addressed in the renewal efforts, other potential causes of such fires and their resultant outages -- such as the ones at Upper Canada College, a retirement residence, and one other apartment building, according to Jennifer Link, another Hydro spokeswoman -- will be avoided by replacing equipment that is often 50 years old.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Tanya Bruckmüller-Wilson

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Heathwood Homes is being recognized by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation as a builder of healthy housing, just the sixth GTA home builder to be honoured in the province-wide program's 15 years.

The Healthy Housing Recognition is based on a single house that CHMC inspectors determine, after being contacted by the applicant builder, lives up to its five principles of residential health: occupant health, energy efficiency, resource efficiency, environmental responsibility, and affordability.

“People think about energy,” says CMHC senior research consultant Jamie Shipley about the sort of common misconceptions CHMC’s program is meant to remedy, “but not really about indoor qualities, like using low-emission materials like no or low-VOC paint, or installing balanced ventilation.”

The Heathwood home in question has solar panels on the roof, fibreglass shingles, xeriscaping, permeable pavement, bamboo and stone floors, rain barrels and carpets made from recycled plastic bottles.

CMHC celebrated the addition to the short GTA list with Heathwood president Hugh Heron at the Heathwood New Home Information Centre at 11488 Yonge Street in Richmond Hill yesterday.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Jamie Shipley

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Metrolinx is set to launch its next phase of mega-transit development. To prepare, Metrolinx is hosting roundtable discussions to let GTAers in on the plans and just how these plans might be funded.

There are $16 billion worth of projects already underway -- things like the Spadina subway extension, the Union-Pearson Express, and the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown LRT. This next phase, which the administrative body formerly known as the Greater Toronto Transit Authority is now branding along with the first phase as the Big Move, will account for as much as $34 billion. Where the money will come from to extend the Yonge subway line north, build a downtown relief line, or construct an LRT system for Hamilton is, understandably, a big issue.

"The meetings are essentially a conversation about transit funding tools and use around the world," says Metrolinx spokesman Mark Osler. "As well, the meetings are also serving an educational purpose to help inform people across the region about the Big Move as a whole."

The first two of 12 scheduled meetings were held last week in Oakville and Newmarket. Organized in a collection of tables, at each of which one aspect of the subject of transit and funding is being discussed, the meetings are a chance for people to learn about what’s going on, ask Metrolinx staff and their consultants questions, and discuss issues amongst themselves. To help this along, Metrolinx has hired Mass LPB to put together "conversation kits" that are being handed out at these sessions to kick start discussions.

Osler describes the kits as, "concise information packages about the Big Move itself. They’ve also got profiles of other major transit systems around the world, stuff like Vancouver, Montreal, New York, and Chicago. It also does have some information on funding tools that other regions use around the world. It’s got also a series of maps of some of the projects we’ve got on the go or we’re planning."

Attendees can take these kits home with them.

The next meeting takes place Jan. 26 in Georgetown at the Gellert Community Centre in Kinsman Hall from 2 to 4 p.m. Downtown Toronto’s meeting will be held Feb. 9 at room 308 of Metro Hall between 1 and 3 p.m.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Mark Osler

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On January 15, Menkes broke ground on the one hectare site that will house the commercial portion of 1 York and ultimately extend the undergound PATH system south of Front Street.

The 35-storey, 800,000 square foot office building, which will include three levels and 200,000 square feet of retail, will cost about $500 million, including $375 million for construction, according to president Peter Menkes.

"We did it in conjunction with Oxford Properties," Menkes says, "who are building the new HQ of RBC to the south of us. They committed to do that and they came to us. It’s a big deal for everybody." Menkes says including the PATH extension was, for this project, equivalent to including elevators and a parking lot. "The real issue is that you wouldn’t be able to get companies like RBC to go there if you didn’t have it. Just like if you had stairs and no elevators in the building."

In conjunction with this construction, the city is eliminating the Gardiner ramps at York and replacing them with ramps to and from Simcoe Street, leaving a one-acre park adjacent to 1 York.

Menkes expects the tower to be complete by June, 2016, by which time two residential towers on the larger site, known as 1 York/90 Harbour and designed in its entirely by Architects Alliance and &Co., will be well underway.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Peter Menkes

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The huge Toronto Star parking lot at the base of One Yonge Street looked even bigger this week when sketches leaked showing an as-of-yet undiscussed 30-storey tower. The sketches show a major ground-level retail component across Queens Quay to form the bulk of the development land, for which the developer purportedly paid more than a quarter of a billion dolllars.

The sketches, by Hariri Pontarini for Pinnacle Interntional, show a crystal-shaped glass tower with what looks like three storeys of ground-level retail. Given the site's proximity to several major Waterfront Toronto developments, as well as a large Loblaws and one of the city's two biggest LCBO outlets, the addition of this much retail could significantly increase the amount of traffic, both pedestrian and automotive, to the currently quiet section of town.

According to a member of Councillor Pam McConnell’s office, who was not authorized to speak on the record, the sketches are very preliminary and can’t even be considered until the Lower Yonge Precinct Study is complete, which won’t be for at east six months.

The staff member expressed the hope that the new proposal would be informed by that study, which is expected to prioritize office space in any major development in the area, which abuts the Waterfront Toronto revitalization area to the east.

Sarah Henstock, a senior planner with the city, confirms that there has been no formal application from Pinnacle, and regarding the precinct study, she says "We would hope that it would inform their application. It’s really up to a property owner what they want to apply for and how they want to work through a process." But, she adds, "Some property owners do work with us, and some, not so much."

The sketches, which may turn into the official proposal, feature five towers, the highest of which is 98 storeys, which would make it the tallest residential or office building in the country, beating the current record-holder, First Canadian Place, by 26 storeys. Tom Yim, the spokesman for Pinnacle's Toronto office, says they'll probably be waiting for the study to be released before going ahead with their final plans and proposal.

The Toronto Star building itself is expected to remain the same.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Pam McConnell

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In a case of space defining culture, the new Leslieville wine bar Skin and Bones is taking not only its aesthetic, but also its name from the former industrial property the restaurant partners first spotted in July.

The owners, both formerly with Pizza Libretto and Enoteca Sociale, used the skeleton of a stout, industrial-era brick building as a jumping off point to design the new open-concept space on the norht side of Queen Street at Carlaw.

The former Trusty Automotive double-wide space at 980 Queen Street East was built about a century ago, and according to Skin and Bones managing partner Harry Wareham, it looks like it was built as a high-end factory with no expense spared.

“The costs to put in the steel I beams originally must have been astronomical,” Wareham says of the now-exposed 12” x 24” beams that form the 16-foot-high ceiling. When Wareham and his partner, Daniel Clarke, were inspecting the place, a consulting engineer told them that, though there were at the time several interior walls, none was load-bearing. This meant that the entire structure is supported by the beams and the four exterior walls, and that they were free to hollow it out to their hearts’ content.

Wareham says the whole project, which involved polishing the original concrete floors and installing the kitchen, took four months and cost just under $1 million.

The contractor was PT Construction.

Though the basic idea of the place, including the menu and the wine list, had already been decided on, what they were able to do with the space moved them to name it as they did. In addition to the bare aesthetic, the name also refers to the skins of the grapes, and bones, which according to Wareham, “are the basis of all good cooking.”

Skin and Bones opened in December.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Harry Wareham

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The Church of Scientology looks like it’s going to increase its Toronto presence.

The longtime occupants of the storefront at 696 Yonge have just moved to temporary digs in an old brick building at 77 Peter Street (former home of Time and Studio 77 night clubs) in order to renovate the Bauhaus-inspired modernist Yonge building at the corner of St. Mary.

According to Melissa Wong, who handled development in Councillor Kristyn Wong Tam’s office, there has been no rezoning application, though sketches floating around the Internet show a radically different facade for the building, including red detail and a large cross on the Yonge side of the eight-storey building.

Update (Jan. 17, 2012):

According to the city's planning department, an application for a building permit for the site was received on Jan. 15, but until approved, which the city estimates will take about two weeks, its contents remain private.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Melissa Wong

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Good news for urban winter sports enthusiasts: a new chairlift at Earl Bales Ski and Snowboard Centre drastically reduces lift wait times.  

"Four people can go up on every chair. They used to wait about 20 minutes at the bottom, and now the most they'll wait is 10," says Jeff Carmichael, recreation supervisor at the centre, which is located at Bathurst and Sheppard.

"We are really focused on customer service," Carmichael says. "If someone went down the hill in a minute or two and had to wait 20 minutes to get back up the hill, it wasn't an entirely positive experience."

The old, two-seat lift had been bought used in 1992 from Horseshoe Valley and had itself replaced a T-bar. According to Carmichael, the new lift has been in the capital planning process since 2004-05.

The seats, longtime city skiiers will be happy to hear, are now padded as well. Day passes are $30.

The $2.3-million park enhancement began operation on Dec. 31 and was officially opened by the mayor and Councillor Norm Kelly on Jan. 4.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Jeff Carmichael

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Ryerson's Department of Architectural Science has set its students the task of coming up with novel ideas about how to get more utility and "civility" out of our city's public spaces.

As part of a course led by Associate Professor George Kapelos, students across the faculty have been put into teams to come up with useful public amenities for 16 subway-proximate spaces around the city, from Berczy Park near King station to a 629 square metre city-owned lot near Lawrence station.

Each design must include 15 elements such as a WiFi hotspot, a weather information post, protected seating and phone charging stations, along with at least five others chosen from a list of 22 options, incuding hot water dispensers, food warming stations and donation collection boxes.

The project is in line with the city's officially expressed desire to do likewise. As Kapelos says in the assignment brief he issued his students, "The City of Toronto is seeking to introduce public facilities on city-owned properties or public spaces adjacent to major transportation interchanges that provide civic amenities to the population of the city." The city has just installed the second of a proposed 20 public toilets as part of its initiative.

Interim results will be on display this afternoon (Jan 9)  between 2 and 4 p.m., and again on Friday after 6 p.m.  The final designs will be on display in the form of posters starting at 6 p.m. on Friday at the school's atrium at 325 Church Street.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Prachi Khandekar

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After a slight delay due to softer-than-anticipated soil, demolition began this week for the city’s latest mid-rise.

Abacus, the Richard Witt-designed seven-storey brick and glass condo on Dundas just west of Ossington, will have 39 units starting at $289,000 to more than $800,000, of which a couple are still available. 

The developer, Antonio Azevedo of DAZ Developments, grew up in the neighbourhood and is looking forward to contributing to its latter-day re-densification. “It really helps develop a sense of community,” he says of the burgeoning Dundas West commercial strip he’s hoping to help along. The condo is the only mid-rise building in the area.

Azevedo figures digging will begin in February, and that the building will be ready for residents by the fall of 2014.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Antonio Azevedo

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St. Michael's Hospital is the latest Toronto care facility to embark on a major 21st-century overhaul.

The centrepiece of the new St. Mike's, following hard on the heels of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute built last year just north of the main building, is an 18-storey tower that will extend the Cardinal Carter wing down to Queen Street.

A request for qualifications, the first step in what hospital officials figure will be a five-year process, went out last week.

"We needed more space," says Robert Fox, the hospital's vice president of planning and development. "We are absolutely packed as a hospital. I think we have the greatest density of any hospital in Ontario.

“We have patients in old wings, wings that are as much as 85 years old. Those wings were designed back when care was different and we have some struggled with maintaining capabilities around technology, flows, hallway clutter, things that are really restricting our ability to operate at the best of our capabilities."

Fox added that the emergency room, built for 36,000 visits a year, currently handles about 74,000. The emergency room, also part of the development plans, will remain in operation throughout the process.

The new tower will be going up on what is now a parking lot, garbage area and loading dock at Queen and Victoria. The project as a whole is expected to add about 154,000 square feet to the hospital.

The upgrade will allow the hospital to undertake major renovations in the existing building, including an expansion of operating rooms and rationalizing an often confusing layout.

"We'd love to have one front door instead of six back doors," Fox says.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Robert Fox

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Toronto now has its second half-million-dollar public toilet, with 18 more to come.

These deluxe commodes come courtesy of Astral Media as part of its street furniture agreement with the city, which has allowed them to earn advertising revenue (quite a bit, apparently) from our streets.

The agreement is for 20 toilets over the 20-year life of the Astral contract. The new one, which opened on December 7, is at Lake Shore and Northern Dancer boulevards in the Beach. The first one was built in 2010 at the corner of Queen's Quay and Rees Street.

"There is a need for public amenities where there aren't any at present," says Carly Hinks, the city's street furniture manager. "Part of the results from the public consultation that resulted in the city's request for proposals showed a need for public washrooms around the city that are accessible at street level for all people."

The hours of operation are 8am to 11pm. The toilets cost 25 cents to use, with a time limit of 20 minutes. According to Hinks, they are specifically not intended for the homeless, though it seems they can get around this by paying their 25 cents and getting out within 20 minutes. "Once this time is up, the cleaning cycle will not take place until a person has vacated. If there is a problem, service personnel are dispatched immediately to rectify the issue. This will prevent loitering and unintended use."

The heated facilities will automatically clean themselves after each use, and get three more comprehensive cleanings from staff each day.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Carly Hinks

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I once asked former mayor David Miller in an interview what excited him most about the city. I'd come to expect unusual answers to usual questions from this mayor, but still I was surprised when instead of saying the film festival or our wonderful multiculturalism or our scintillating high school football scene, he said "tower renewal."

Though deeply unglamorous, Toronto's program to give new life to its many old residential towers, built from the 1950s to the 1980s, by making them sustainable, more communal and prettier is, in fact, quite exciting. Exciting enough to bring Dr. Rebecca Leshinsky up from the Melbourne, where she teaches at the Catholic University of Australia, to talk this week on the subject at the Innis Town Hall.

Leshinsky is studying her own city's towers and what might be done to rehabilitate them. "We came across Toronto's tower renewal program and we thought there may be some learnings that each of us could teach each other," she said, shortly after landing in Toronto. "I think Toronto is ahead of Melbourne, but I hope through the research we do we can offer some of our findings."

Her talk concentrated on potential financial instruments that may be available—to landlords, tenants and the city—to finance improvements and retrofits.

Graeme Stewart of ERA Architects also spoke, mostly about zoning, which he's studied and reported on to the city. Endorsed by the city's planning and management committees, Stewart's report recommends easing the zoning bylaws associated with these slab towers, often in place since they were built, to allow all the same things main streets and commercial strips are allowed, especially easy development of commercial space to allow for the introduction of small businesses, retail and otherwise, that might cater to the communities of as many as 20,000 people.

Speaking specifically about St. Jamestown, but indicating it's the same situation in communities all over the city, including Thorncliffe Park, Rexdale and East Scarborough, Stewart told Yonge Street, "It's had a 40-year history of no commercial activity. It's not going to happen overnight, and it's going to take a lot of effort to get it started, but you can imagine, once you get it started, there will be a lot of demand."

Writer: Bert Archer
Sources: Rebecca Leshinsky, Graeme Stewart

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Yonge and Sheppard is good, King Street West is bad, and Peanut Plaza is worse.

That's the conclusion reached by a panel of experts who spoke recently at Construct Canada, the annual convention and trade show for builders, designers and others in the construction trades.

The talk was on urban nodes, and the talk focused on what can go right, what can go wrong and what the most valuable qualities are in the planning, construction and maintenance of urban nodes, those little slices of urbanity that together make up the modern agglomerated city.

The panel consisted of Clifford Korman and David Butterworth, both of Kirkor Architects, and Ward 33's Councillor Shelley Carroll. It was moderated by yours truly in my capacity as Yonge Street Media's development editor.

Integration of live and work space was of paramount importance to Korman, whose firm is behind several of the city's biggest new live-work developments, including the Hullmark Centre and the World on Yonge. He also stressed the importance of easy and reliable access to transportation. Carroll offered this as a major reason the King West strip does not work as well as it should, with its oversubscribed streetcars making rush-hour commutes difficult. Butterworth added that the quality of architecture along King West was disappointing, noting that good looking and architecturally well functioning neighbourhoods tends to be happier and more vibrant ones.

The area around Peanut Plaza, a 1960s slab development in the heart of Carroll's ward, was declared a right-off by Korman and Carroll due to the separation of towers from the local amenities by the Don Mills Road thoroughfare, though Butterworth praised the simplicity and durability of the slab construction. Carroll agreed that she has found it much less expensive to renovate and retrofit the towers.

Everyone agreed that the developing node at Yonge and Sheppard is a model for the future, with its access to two subway lines, major thoroughfares and a highway. And Kirkor's own Hullmark Centre, currently under development there, incorporates a large park in the form of a green roof, condos and office space in the same complex, as well as a large grocery store. Carroll noted that when she drives through the neighbourhood these days, she notices masses of pedestrians that weren’t there five years ago, a sure sign of a successful node.

Writer: Bert Archer
Sources: Shelley Carroll, Clifford Korman, David Butterworth

Do you know of a new building going up, a business expanding or being renovated, a park in the works or even a new house being built in the neighbourhood? Please send your development news tips to [email protected].