city building : Development News

Monday marks the official opening of Sugar Beach, Waterfront Toronto's latest development.

South of Queens Quay and east of Jarvis, Sugar Beach is Waterfront's first and the waterfront's second beach, 8,500 square metres (or two acres) of public space designed by Claude Cormier Architects, Paysagistes, and The Planning Partnership. It has 225 metres of waterfront, with 57 trees, 150 chairs and 36 umbrellas.

The beach takes its name from its proximity to the iconic Redpath sugar refinery.

Ground was broken on the project in October of last year, and it's been open to the public since Canada Day.

The opening ceremonies will be held from 10:30-11:30am.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Samantha Gileno

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

Imbibing Vaughan residents will get a mileage break at the end of the month when the Rutherford Market Place LCBO opens at 9310 Bathurst Street.

With a selling area of 5,000 square feet and about 1,500 products (including about 250 Vintages ones), LCBO spokesman Steve Erwin says, "The store should take some sales pressure off of a nearby Richmond Hill location at Yonge St. and Highway 7. It also gives an opportunity for one-stop shopping, since the new Rutherford Market Place, which will also have a Shoppers Drug Mart, Royal Bank and hair-cutting place and a dollar store."

The shop, which is being opened to reflect the higher population density in Vaughan, will also have a portable tasting bar.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Steve Erwin

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

The Annex space dedicated to one of Toronto's greatest poets just got 12 per cent bigger.

Gwendolyn MacEwen Park, a Walmer Road roundabout just north of Bloor named in her honour six years ago, with a bust of the poet who died in 1987, added two years later, is in the final stages of a refurbishment, reshaping and enlarging occasioned by the city's need to fix a water main in the area.

The budget for the improvement, which includes adding several benches, as well as more grass and flowers, was a little over $300,000.

"We were able to re-imagine the way that little park worked," says Councillor Adam Vaughan, in whose ward it sits. In a city unused to roundabouts, the wide circle of road that surrounded the park was a perennial cause of pedestrian and vehicular confusion, according to Vaughan. To fix that, the new park, which has increased its diameter by about 4 metres, has been made more triangular, a shape Vaughan describes as guitar pick-like. "The edge of the park is closer to the sidewalks now," he says, making it easier for pedestrians, including local school kids, to cross, "but also it feels like when you get to a stop sign, it's a corner."

Vaughan, who knew the poet slightly from his time working in Major Roberts, the old Harbord Street restaurant that later became the Kensington Kitchen and is now Tati Bistro, where MacEwen was a lunch-time regular ("She liked the tortellini," he recalls), is pleased the park in her honour has been improved.

"The cars know what's going on, the pedestrians know what's going on, and Gwendolyn's got more flowers at her feet."

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Adam Vaughan

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

The renovation of one of the city's smallest parks is due to be completed next week, after a new condo and a re-alignment of some city streets provided the opportunity for an update.

Frank Stollery Park, named for the founder of Stollery's clothiers at Yonge and Bloor, is 4,300 square feet in the form of a little sliver at the intersections of Yonge, Davenport and Scollard. It was designed by Mary Jane Lovering, the landscape architect working for the condo's developer, Shiu Pong Developments, which also contributed the estimated budget costs of $600,000 (it ended up running over, requiring the city to pitch in another $80,000).

The park will also be in a slightly different place than it was before. "Partly as the result of the condo, and partly as the result of the city re-aligning Scollard and Davenport," says city landscape architect Marc Kramer, "the whole park was shifted south by about a metre."

There will be about 10 benches added to park, which consists of mostly paved surfaces to accommodate heavy pedestrian use. There are also five oaks and 14 ornamental pear trees being planted, in addition to beds of perennials.

In October, the park will also house one of the city's series of heritage plaques, this one concentrating mostly on the origins and significance of Davenport Road.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Marc Kramer

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

Non-profit developer Neighbourhood Concepts has begun selling units in a condo tower to be built at Donlands and Cosburn using an increasingly popular financing model that allows middle-income people to afford to get into the housing market.

Potential buyers for the East Yorker, which is being financed by Home Ownership Alternatives, can qualify to use a specially negotiated second mortgage as the down payment, which they only have to pay back when they sell the property. The financing model was developed by Options for Homes, with which Neighbourhood Concepts is affiliated.

"It's a great project," says Home Ownership's vice president Joe Deschenes-Smith. "You know Woodgreen Community Services? They actually owned the adjacent site, and we're buying the land from them as part of the agreement. We'll be doing affordable houses on upper stories and services for Woodgreen on the ground floor."

The 11-storey building will have 134 units, starting at about $200,000. Construciton is scheduled to begin in early to mid 2011.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Joe Descenes-Smith

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

Work began Friday on the Jarvis Street (or Ted Rogers Way) bike lanes that have been the source both of great anticipation and controversy over the past several months, since an environmental assessment resulted in the recommendation.

The project, which should be finished by the end of the week of July 26, will result in north- and south-bound bike lanes, and the elimination of the reversible middle lane of the formerly five-lane thoroughfare.

The environmental assessment was done to look into ways of improving the Jarvis streetscape and according to Daniel Egan, the city's bike infrastructure man, "there was such an overwhelming response from the bike community to add bike lanes" that they were included in what will ultimately be a larger improvement project, involving sidewalk improvements. "We're sticking with bike lanes now because it's a simple re-striping job," Egan says.

Egan also adds that there is expected to be little impact on car traffic as a result of the elimination of the fifth lane.

The budget for adding the bike lanes is $65,000.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Daniel Egan

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

Two options for a new sports complex to be built in the Port Lands have gone to city council for discussion, one of which, a stacked, four-storey design, goes with the strong recommendation of both the Waterfront design review panel and a public meeting held late last week.

The site at the corner of the on Roadway and Commissioners Street, has been the focus of some controversy, including enthusiastic comment from several mayoral candidates who oppose the project entirely, more or less on the grounds that it would suburbanize Toronto's newest urban neighbourhood.

But John Campbell, Waterfront Toronto's president and CEO, says that if council approved the four-storey version, that won't be a problem.

"If you were in Toronto in the 70s when the Eaton Centre was built, there was no attention paid to the outside of the building, and it sterilized Yonge Street," he says. "My concern is to make sure the arena doesn't do the same thing. This will be an urban street in the future."

Though he says the city is still costing out the entire project, Campbell says that Waterfront's contribution will be $34 million.

The four-storey design is by Bob Goyeche of RDH Architects.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: John Campbell

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

Last week, the province took the first step towards making Ontario Place something other than a focus of nostalgia for people who remember when it meant something to them back in 1979.

Ontario Place Corporation, an agency of the provincial Ministry of Tourism and Culture, issued a request for information, or RFI, seeking interest from developers interested in handling the planned re-birth of the 96-acre site, most of which was landfill, which opened in 1971.

According to Hugh Mansfield, whose firm is handling the public relations, the RFI outlined five specific categories to be addressed in any new design, which he ranked in order of importance as education, culture, retail and dining, entertainment and a showcase for the province's efforts towards sustainability.

"There were a couple of contributing factors," Mansfield says of the motivation and timing of the project. "Attendance has dropped off dramatically, down 60 per cent from the mid-80s." He says that when the Place first opened, it drew between 2.8 and 2.9 million visitors a year, a number that's hovered for the past half dozen years at around a million, half of whom just go to the amphitheatre, and the majority of the rest of whom stick to the water park.

There is no budget set yet, but Mansfield says they expect the project to be a public-private partnership, which he says may include naming rights, but will not result in any sale of provincial land.

The deadline for the RFI is Sept. 10, after which an RFQ (request for qualifications) will be issued, followed by an RFP (request for proposals). The winner of the contract will be announced in July, 2011.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Hugh Mansfield

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

A crew of about 50 is at work on the Burano condo tower being built at the intersection of Bay and Grenville. The seven levels of underground parking have been completed, and last week saw the pouring of the concrete for the third floor, the first to peak out above the hoardings of this long-planned, long-delayed project, a sister project to the completed Murano tower across Bay Street.

The 48-storey, 451-unit building, with 10,000 square feet of rental space to be available along Bay, is being built on the site of the old Addison on Bay Cadillac dealership, part of the facade of which is being incorporated into the new design by Peter Clewes.

"Later this summer, workers will begin reassembling and installing" the facade, says Beth Shropshire, spokeswoman for developer Lanterra, "which was dismantled and safely stored to be reutilized, along with the original doors to be added next year."

Occupancy is scheduled for next summer.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source; Beth Shropshire

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

The very slow process of replacing two of Toronto's better designed slab apartment buildings has finally reached the demolition stage. The north tower is expected to be gone by the end of this month, and the south tower by the end of August.

The Tweedsmuir Apartments, at 310 and 320 Tweedsmuir Avenue near Bathurst and St. Clair, were completed just months before the death of their designer, Peter Dickinson, in 1961 and have been mostly vacant for several years, with the last 25 tenants moving out last year.

The old towers had a total of about 250 rental units. The new configuration, designed by Page + Steele and owned and managed by Morguard, will house about 600, 350 rentals in the first and 250 units in the second tower which will, according to market conditions when it's completed, be either condos or rentals. There will be 146 units in the first rental tower set aside for tenants who had lived in the building as far back as about 1995, according to Morguard's director of development Brian Athey.

"We've worked very closely with our neighbours, especially the schools, to work out the times of days we take deliveries," Athey says. "We've co-ordinated with the school to do the heavy take-down of the south building while kids are on their break."

Demolition is expected to cost about $2 million, and construction of the first tower should begin in the spring of 2011, with a 2013 occupancy.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Brian Athey

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

Last week, Ryerson University won the American Institute of Architects' Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design for its master plan.

"With its thoughtful connection to the area transportation system and extensive integration with the city,  this plan is a decidedly 21st-century response to co- development," the jury said, "including funding and potential integrations of uses within a tight time frame."

The lead architecture firm responsible for the master plan is Toronto's Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg, who worked in conjunction with Daoust Lestage, Greenberg Consultants and the IBI Group on the long-term plan for the development of the downtown campus.

Originally announced in 2006, the plan was approved in 2008 with the three principle goals of urban intensification, pedestrianization and commitment to design excellent. The Ryerson Photography Gallery and Research Centre and the Student Learning Centre, located on Yonge Street on the site of the former Sam the Record Man shop, are the first two projects to be realized under the plan.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: AIA

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

On July 9, the Ontario government announced the launch of its Community Capital Fund to support infrastructure projects for non-profit organizations across the province.

Aimed at various cultural communities that deliver public services, the grants, from $20,000 to $500,000, will be aimed at covering capital costs, which are often overlooked by other funding organizations.

The $50-million fund will be administered by the Trillium Foundation. Applications are going out in September, with a deadline of Dec. 31.

"Not-for-profit organizations deliver important public services to cultural communities and contribute greatly to the social and economic development of this province," says Minister of Tourism and Culture Michael Chan. "This new fund strengthens our diversity, supports local economic development, and creates more jobs for Ontario families."

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Michael Chan

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

Last Sunday, the parking lot between York Quay and Queen's Quay closed, the first step in the process that will see its 212 spots replaced by 302 underground spots on three levels.

York Quay Phase II, as the 1.4-hectare project's called by Waterfront Toronto, is one part of the larger scheme that will see the waterfront from east to west transformed, mostly in time for the Pan-American Games in 2015.

"We're burying the lots," says Waterfront spokeswoman Samantha Gileno, "and there will be a public space fronting the lake called Canada Square, and there are plans for a retail cultural village, and a plaza space that will be a new front door for Harbourfront."

Though signs posted at the site say construction was meant to have started in March, there was some delay in organizing funding, which will be coming from both Harbourfront as well as the federal government, the latter of which has committed $25 million to the project. The delay has pushed the project back to the fall, with an expected completion sometime in 2011.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Samantha Gileno

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

The strip of Bloor between Church and Avenue is nearing normalcy, with the Bloor Yorkville Business Improvement Area announcing the beautification and infrastructure upgrade project is ahead of schedule and on track to be finished by the end of the year.

Envisioned as far back as the 1990s by the city, which wanted to replace the area's aged water mains, the work was delayed for about half a year in 2008-2009 as schedules got confused between the various agencies working in the area.

"Because it's city-owned property," says the BIA's general manager Briar de Lange, "they have to manage the project. That's been problematic for us, co-ordinating between them and the utility companies hasn't gone as well as we would have liked."

But now Phase I, which encompassed the area from Church to Yonge, has been mostly completed. Phase II began on March 9.

There will also be 20 bike posts installed, designed by Pittsburgh company Forms + Surfaces.

According to de Lange, the Bloor Yorkville BIA, which is responsible for all the visible changes to the strip, including the granite sidewalks and the planters, will have spent a total of $20 million by the time the project's complete.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Briar de Lange

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

Earlier this month, the city honoured Home Ownership Alternatives, a little known but increasingly influential funding body, as one of the city's several Affordable Housing Champions.

They were recognized for the work they did financing Options for Homes' 643-unit housing project at Keele and Dundas, Village by the Park.

"We're actively looking to get some new partners, both on the financial side and the developer side," says Joe Deschenes-Smith, HOA's vice president of partnerships, "so recognition like that is always great to help open some doors and find new projects and organizations.

HOA, which was founded in 1998 as the funding agency for Options for Homes St Lawrence Co-Operative, funds affordable housing by providing project financing, offering second mortgages to home buyers, and lobbying government for more affordable housing legislation and funding.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Joe Deschenes-Smith

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