Development News

Waterfront Toronto gave its final public presentation on its plans to accelerate lakeshore development this past week, in advance of taking its plan to the executive committee and, ultimately, to council in October.

It was the fourth opportunity in six months the public had to see and contribute to the process.

Michelle Noble, Waterfront's director of communications and marketing, says one of the most significant aspects of the plan's evolution is that it is now going to be conducted in phases.

"Instead of having to come up with the full finding required for the full Port Lands, by having a phased approach it can be done incrementally," she says.

The whole project is also approaching the break-even point, she said.

As for the public reception to the plan, though she refuses to discuss any dissenting voices, Noble says "People seemed pretty receptive overall."

Before the plan is presented to city council's executive committee in September, people interested in having their thoughts heard can still contribute online at portlandsconsultation.ca.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Michelle Noble, Director of Communications and Marketing, Waterfront Toronto

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Councillor Adam Vaughan says there are so many dogs in the city's condo core, they've ceased to actually be a pet issue. "It's a livestock issue," he says.

As a result, the first work that anyone can remember on downtown's historic Clarence Square—including the folks at ERA Architects who did an exhaustive history of the park going back two centuries—will be heavy on the dog.

ERA's Michael McClelland says the small park on the east side of Spadina at Wellington is one of only a very few planned and designed parks in the city, parks that were originally meant to be parks. In other words, parks that didn't start their lives as mere orphan spaces before ending up as green spaces. "They really need to be treated with a fair amount of care and concern," McClelland says.

As a result, The Planning Partnership, the architectural firm that did the redesign, is staying true to the park's original, simple layout. The only major change is the inclusion of an area set aside specifically for dogs. Vaughan says a recent study revealed that the number of dogs in the neighbourhood had reached seven per floor. According to the Planning Partnership, the soon-to-be-redeveloped Globe and Mail site at Spadina and Front will on its own add 1,000 dogs to the neighbourhood.

"The impact that has on local parks is quite astonishing," Vaughan says.

So, large and small dog runs will be added, during work that begins this month. The hoarding is going up now, and The Planning Partnership's David Leinster believes the work will be largely finished, and the park re-opened, by late fall.

In addition to the canine accommodations, there has already been a traffic light installed on Spadina to facilitate pedestrian movement between Clarence Square and Victoria Square Park west on Wellington.

Writer: Bert Archer
Sources: Michael McClelland, Adam Vaughan, David Leinster

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Construction of the tunnel to Billy Bishop Airport, announced with much fanfare at the beginning of the year, is continuing, but slowly.

According to the latest update, work this past week included excavation on the shaft located at the foot of Eireann Quay. "This excavation will involve the removal of soil and rock that will be trucked offsite for disposal" on the mainland side. On the island, in addition to continued utility work, "shaft walls are under construction. This work involves the excavation and filling (with steel and/or concrete) of a series of holes around the shaft’s perimeter."

The project, which proved so controversial in the lead-up to David Miller's first election as mayor, continues to draw fire.

"They have come through a very complex construction management plan," says councillor Adam Vaughan, in whose ward it's being built, “and to the disappointment of the community, they've already started violating the start-stop times."

The work, which can be noisy, is limited by the same restrictions placed on all non-emergency construction work in the city, starting no earlier than 7am, finishing no later than 7pm on weekdays. But Vaughan's office has received multiple noise complaints related to the site.

Vaughan says there are also plans to dump the excavated material into the inner harbour, both to dispose of it and to discourage boats from entering the airport's no-sail zone, But Vaughan says this plan would not so much dissuade boats from entering the area as run the ones that do aground.

The tunnel, originally budgeted at between $20 and $40 million, is currently estimated to cost $80 million, according to Vaughan, some of which is being paid for by new $20 passenger fees for Porter and Air Canada flights into and out of the island airport. The current estimated date of completion is summer 2014.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Councillor Adam Vaughan

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There are signs the condo market is plateauing.

Urbanation just released its second quarter report, in which it lists a record number of active projects (343) and condo units (87,386) on the market, along with a record number of projects (196) and units (52,695) under construction.

It set these numbers against another record, however: 18,123, the number of condos that remain unsold (though 88 per cent of the condos currently under construction are sold).

The report also finds there were 4,769 new construction sales, which is down 50 per cent from the same quarter last year.

According to Urbanation, there are 13,000 condos scheduled to be completed in the next two quarters, and 28,000 in 2013.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Ben Myers, Editor & Executive VP, Urbanation

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Global consultancy KPMG has named Waterfront Toronto one of the world's best infrastructure projects.

In its report, Infrastructure 100: World Cities Edition, KPMG includes the massive project—the biggest urban renewal project in North America—alongside Abu Dhabi 2030, Rio's Olympic Park and Manhattan's World Trade Center redevelopment.

"The Toronto Waterfront was selected because it is a truly transformative project that highlights how even highly developed cities can evolve their infrastructure," KPMG said through one of its PR operatives, Cynthia Innes.

Waterfront Toronto is redeveloping 800 hectares of land into a series of neighbourhoods that will ultimately include 40,000 new homes, a similar number of local jobs, new transit and 300 hectares of parks.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source; Cynthia Innes, Edelman Canada

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When Quadrangle Architects was commissioned to re-work what partner Brian Curtner calls a traditional office building, they saw some potential in the space, and decided to move in themselves.

Taking lessons learned from doing the interiors of the Corus building on the eastern waterfront—whose exterior and basic structure, by Diamond Schmitt, might also be called traditional (or just basic)—Quadrangle was able to transform the building in general, and its new seventh-floor home there, into what Curtner describes as "funky new offices spaces."

The new space, at 20,000 square feet, is all on one floor. Their current offices at 380 Wellington, which they will be leaving the weekend of August 10, are just 13,000 square feet, spread over two floors. Since Quadrangle has doubled its staff over the past couple of years, to a total of 105, the company certainly needed the extra room. Their current offices are also not accessible, with neither elevators nor accessible toilets.

In addition to their floor, Quadrangle renovated the building's common areas, the exterior, the building's atrium and, in Curtner's words, "fixed up" its elevators.

Curnter and Ted Shore were the partners in charge of the project, which was managed by Caroline Robbie and Rob Dyson.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Brian Curtner

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Edithvale Park has been growing in a hodgepodge fashion for years, but after a year's work, a new, unifying design for the North Toronto park was unveiled this month.

"The perimeter of the block on Finch Avenue West and Lorraine Drive used to be lined by residential lots," says senior project co-ordinator Doug Giles. "Over recent years, the city has slowly either acquired these lots, or developers have conveyed these lots to the city as their parkland dedication, thus increasing the area of parkland beyond the parkland in the centre of the block. As conveyed, the residential lots came to the city with only basic sod (and domestic shrubs and planting remnants), and the current project integrated these lots into the overall design of the park."

Designed by landscape architects Schollen and Company, the park now has two new playground structures, a community bake oven, a paved plaza, an herb garden, lit pathways, a pergola and new trees and shrubs.

The total construction cost of the project, which began in June 2011, was $1.4 million.

The park is built on the site of part of the former Wilket Creek, which was culvertized here several decades ago.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Doug Giles, Senior Project Co-ordinator, Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation

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Toronto now has a fully accessible playground for children of all levels of physical and mental abilities, right in the heart of Forest Hill.

The $1.3-million Neshama Playground in Oriole Park, just northwest of Upper Canada College, near the junction of Yonge and Chaplin Crescent, opened this week.

"The project was initially the brainchild of Thomas Caldwell [of Caldwell Financial] and Toronto lawyer Steven Skurka, who enlisted Theo and Brendan Caldwell and recruited friends and associates who became known as 'A Bunch of Guys,'" says Rob Richardson of the city's parks department. "A Bunch of Guys raised over $700,000 to create a state-of-the-art, inclusive playground experience for all children. The site was chosen for its central location, access to public transit and proximity to numerous organizations who cater to persons of various abilities."

According to an interview Caldwell gave to Metro Morning this week, the playground came about when Caldwell found himself seated next to Skurka on a flight eight years ago, after Skurka had read a magazine article about accessibility and playgrounds. They went to see then-mayor David Miller, who got his parks department on it.

The playground was designed by Beverly Ambler of PMA Landscape Architects. Work began in 2010 and the majority of it was completed last year, with finishing being added into this past spring.

Neshama is the Hebrew word for "spirit" or "soul."

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Rob Richardson, Manager of Partnership Development, Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Department

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The penthouses at the Imperial Plaza have just got the Toronto good condo-keeping seal of approval.

This week, David Feldman, president and CEO of Imperial Plaza developer Camrost-Felcorp, announced that Joe Brennan will be the designer for the high-end, high-altitude suites.

Brennan—who did most of the interiors for the Hazelton condos among many, many other high-end properties around the city's tonier postal codes—is, roughly speaking, the condo-equivalent of Brian Gluckstein, designer-of-record for a huge proportion of Forest Hill and Rosedale interiors.

On the crest of St. Clair overlooking the city, the Imperial penthouses have what people in real estate sometimes call forever views, ones that will not in the foreseeable future be obstructed by future development, so the suites, going for $4.1 to $14 million, are especially desirable for a certain set.

Imperial Plaza, the former corporate headquarters of Imperial Oil Ltd., is one of the best adaptively reused condos in the city, with Camrost-Felcorp, who are also re-doing the old Four Seasons, maintaining many of its mid-century modern charms, including the large lobby mural by York Wilson, titled The Story of Oil.

The penthouses remain unfinished, with Brennan being on-call to design each one according to its owners' wishes. Richard Mariani, Camrost-Felcorp's director of marketing, says the first penthouse will probably be finished in the spring of 2014.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Richard Mariani, Director of Marketing, Camrost-Felcorp

CORRECTION: The date of completion for the first penthouse was originally stated as being October, 2013, which is the estimate for the completion of the rest of the tower's renovation.

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Cortel broke ground this week on the first phase of a major development that both the developer and the City of Vaughan hope will be the first step to urbanizing this northern suburb.

Expo City will ultimately include five residential towers within walking distance of a new subway stop, just east of Jane Street at Highway 7, part of the York University extension.

"This is the beginning of a new neighbourhood, Vaughan's downtown," says developer Peter Cortellucci. "Expo will offer its residents the first opportunity to be a part of this amazing downtown. The citizens of Vaughan will see firsthand the transformation of the Highway 7 corridor from a congested and industry-driven area to an exciting pedestrian friendly downtown avenue."

This first tower is expected to be finished by 2014, with the subway opening in 2015, roughly in tandem with the opening of Expo City’s second phase.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Peter Cortellucci, Vice President, Cortel Group

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The ice has come back to Maple Leaf Gardens.

This week, the ice has begun to gel once again in the storied space at Carlton and Church, part of a $72.5-million project to make the space into the sports facility Ryerson never had.

The new rink is on the third floor, above the Loblaws on the ground floor and the LCBO on the second. When it’s complete, it’ll seat 2,600 for hockey, and more for other ice sports with seating possible on the floor. The third floor is also home to the new volleyball courts, the floors of which have just been laid. They'll take four to five weeks to settle, roughly the same time it’ll take for the ice to set next door.

Michael Forbes of Ryerson’s public affairs department says work started in December 2009. There’ll be an opening ceremony in August, with the official grand opening on September 6, in time for the new academic session.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Michael Forbes

CivicAction announced its 27-member league of regional transportation “champions” this week.

The civic leaders, both senior and junior, from across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, will be joining CivicAction chair John Tory and its CEO, Mitzie Hunter, to try to distill what the region’s residents figure are the most important aspects of regional transportation and, by getting them involved, hopefully build a coalition of the willing for whatever taxes will be necessary to build such a system.

“They’ll be leading discussions within their own communities,” Hunter says, taking the form of “in-person forums, online forums and we’ll be able to take this information that we hear back to government.”

The so-called Champions Council will seek to build on the momentum created by other jurisdictions recently, including such unliklely transit cities Los Angeles, Denver and Atlanta, where citizens voted for transportation-specific taxes to build systems they believed in. Specifically, they’ll looking for ways to raise the $40 billion that is required to fulfill the terms of the region’s 25-year transit plan.

The council will meet periodically between now and June 2013, when Metrolinx is due to present its investment strategy.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Mitzie Hunter

For years Bay Adelaide Centre site stood stalled as a monument to the 1990s recession before construction was restarted in 2006. Now, a second tower will spring out of these once blighted foundations in a Toronto that '90s investors could only have dreamed of.

A new 980,000-square-foot, 44-storey tower was announced by developer Brookfield last week, a companion to the 51-storey tower that opened in 2009. Anchor tenant, Deloitte, is signed on to take about 419,000 square feet. The move that will consolidate all the professional services firm's downtown Toronto space into one address.

“Strong fundamentals and low vacancy in Toronto’s financial core signify the market’s willingness to support new office development,” Jan Sucharda, president and CEO of Brookfield Canada, told The Globe and Mail.

Office vacancy is so low, in fact, that Brookfield is already looking for a lead tenant for a potential third tower on the same site.

Deloitte's real estate executive Sheila Botting expects staff to be able to move in by the end of 2015.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Sheila Botting

The Atrium on Bay is set to get a lot bigger.

Long the underappreciated younger sister of the Eaton Centre to its immediate south, the mall is set to add four floors of retail.

The owners, H&R Real Estate Income Trust, received community council approval for the project. H&R REIT also recently bought the Corus Quay building on the waterfront.

"It was largely supported by planning staff, as well as the downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area," says councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam. "There is going to be significant improvements to the street, a part of their application is really putting in almost three million to public realm improvements. They’re going to be internalizing the Dundas exit, the one that sits right in front of the Dundas and Yonge. So where you have those stairs leading up onto Dundas on the northwest corner will be removed. Which means we're going to recapture width. They're redesigning, repainting, re-landscaping Dundas, Bay, Edward as well as Yonge."

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Kristyn Wong-Tam

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Anyone who's interested can now check up on what construction's going on around the city, as well as how it might affect traffic.

The new municipal website, called T.O. Inview, will outline all the work being done by Transportation Services, Toronto Water, City Planning, the transit authorities and utility companies.

"T.O. Inview will provide the taxpayers of Toronto the opportunity to see first-hand the construction work that is happening and will happen in their neighbourhood," said councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, in a prepared statement.

The site will not be keeping track of emergency or other short-term projects, information that's long been available elsewhere.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Steve Johnston

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].