city building : Development News

The first of the Distillery District's two new condo towers, built on the site of the only building in the district to be demolished, a 1926 rack house, poured its first concrete this week, on schedule at about 8 months ahead of its neighbour.

Clear Spirit will be a 40-storey tower, designed by Architects Alliance. Due for occupancy in mid-2012, it will add between 700,000 and 800,000 square feet of residential space to the district when paired with the other tower, called Gooderham for the family behind the original distillery.

"There will probably be one more restaurant," says James Goad, one of the motivating spirits behind the Distillery District and a principal of the Cityscape Development Corporation. "For the most part, it will fit the creative model [of the district], but we're also trying to provide some services for our little community here."

The tower will be characterized by deeper than average balconies, between 6 and 7 feet as opposed to the more usual 4. It will have about 10 three-bedroom units, around 1,600 square feet each, and will be seeking LEED certification.

Goad says that these are the last two buildings that will go up in the district proper, though the company owns lands adjoining the district that they have future plans for, including a (probably) low-rise building to the south.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: James Goad

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Yonge Street stands to get a major overhaul just south of Bloor thanks to a large new condo development set to launch in June.

MOD Developments has received the permission from and the blessings of Heritage Toronto to pull together the properties at 5 St Joseph and half a block's worth of retail on Yonge south of St Joseph into a development called 5 St Joseph, designed by Hariri Pontarini.

The tower will be 45 storeys, retaining the 1905 fa�ade on St Joseph, an address long known for the cavalcade of clubs that have operated out of the space, from Colby's in the 80s, The Playground in the 90s, and, most recently, Katrina's.

With its undulating balconies and its sheer height, 5 St. Joseph will add another architectural chapter to this short street that's been marked by every era since the late Victorian.

But it's the Yonge Street side that may end up having the greatest effect on the area, and the city at large.

"I would love to put in the kind of uses, relating to food, that you see on Church Street, like Cumbrae's and Pusateri," says MOD Developments' president and CEO Gary Switzer, formerly of Great Gulf Homes, of the five buildings he's bought and will completely renovate and restore. "Yonge Street has a little Sobey's up the street, but with the number of people living in the area, it could support a good fruit store."

When it is suggested that the reason Yonge Street doesn't have a fruit store is that the rents are too high to make one feasible, Switzer says that he has the "flexibility" to modulate rents to attract the sorts of businesses he'd like to see there, and that would best serve the future residents of 5 St. Joseph.

"I've walked those blocks so many times," he says, "and the buildings themselves are quite nice individually, but because the retail is so bland and unappealing, it's not like  you have any landmarks that you can say, 'Let's eat over here," or "Let's go over there.' I think it's getting better, but I think it needs a lot of work."

Construction and restoration are expected to begin in June, 2011, with occupancy set for three years later.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Gary Switzer

CORRECTION: Graywood Developments Ltd. is also a development partner for 5 St. Joseph.

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The Entertainment District is getting a new condo.

To be launched in June, 8 Mercer at the northwest corner of Mercer and John and designed by BBB Architects, will be 33 storeys and house 337 units ranging in size from 519 square feet to 1,786 square feet for a total of 265,000 extra square feet of residential space for the area. Prices will range from the mid-$300s to about $1.8 million.

"They've used a lot of brick in the fa�ade," says Richmond Hill-based developer Beaverhall Homes spokesman Nestor Repetski of the BBB design. "It has very large terraces and substantial balconies, so it looks absolutely residential; some buildings, because of the balance of glass, you can't tell, Is it residential? Is it commercial?"

Beaverhall expects to begin construction on the building � the site is currently a parking lot � in the fall or early winter for a November, 2013 completion.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Nestor Repetski

CORRECTION: Graywood Developments Ltd. is a development partner for 8 Mercer. They were omitted in the first edition of this story.

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One of the GTA's largest LCBOs is opening in Oakville on Friday at 9:30am.

Under construction for sometime, with teaser signs up, the store will open in the Olde Oakville Marketplace on Cornwall Road, and at 16,200 square feet (11,200 square feet of retail space), with 2,100 products and 1,500 Vintages options, it will be only marginally smaller than Toronto's Summerhill, Queens Quay and Bayview Village flagships.

Costing approximately $2 million, it will be Oakville's sixth LCBO.

"We're seeing great growth in that community," says LCBO spokesman Chris Layton. "It will be one of the largest Vintages sections in the LCBO network, and it'll be a destination not only in Oakville, but Mississauga and beyond."

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Chris Layton


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The last phases of the project to widen Morningside Avenue to increase traffic capacity has been completed, including relocating and upgrading hydro poles and installing Bell and Rogers cables.

The city project, in collaboration with Toronto Hydro, also included two railway passes, which required Toronto Hydro to put their cables and casings for telecommunications cables underground.

"Moving the poles was the first phase," says Toronto Hydro spokeswoman Denise Atallah, "allowing for the road to be widened with a bike lane and new sidewalks." At the railway passes, she says, "we couldn't bring the equipment over the CP Rail line, so we had to underground everything, which involved trenching, putting in ducts for new cables, and creating joint ducts for partners like Rogers and Bell."

The project, which began in 2007, got power flowing by December, 2009, and recently got Bell and Rogers signals moving, cost Toronto Hydro $2.4 million, part of their $275-million investment in upgrading the city's electric distribution this year.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source; Denise Atallah



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The filling in of the relatively empty space between the Distillery District and the rest of the city is taking another step on Saturday, as Streetcar Developments launches its Trinity Lofts at 2 Eastern at Trinity Street.

The 8-storey plan for 81 lofts and 2 townhouses is set to begin construction this fall for a July, 2012 occupancy. As Streetcar VP Jeanhy Shim points out, this is exactly when the new 18-acre West Don Lands park, currently under construction just to the east, is also scheduled to be completed.

"This is a happening area," Shim says. "There are huge changes coming to this area, and it's happening, it's not just pipe dreams."

The brick building, designed by Giannone Petricone to follow Eastern Avenue's curve, will have 54,000 square feet of residential space, including ground floor retail.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Jeanhy Shim

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The real estate website BuzzBuzzHome released its latest monthly list of the 10 Toronto condo developments that have been getting the most hits from its 40,000 monthly visitors.

Released on Monday, the list is topped by 12 Degrees, a new development by the BS�R Group slated for 15 Beverley at Queen that has yet to launch.

"There's been a tonne of interest," says one of the site's owners, Matthew Slutsky, "so they're going to get a fair bit of interest when they do launch."

Though he's not willing to draw too many conclusions about the city's condo market from the lists, he does say it seems mostly to be driven by newness and location. Effective marketing also seems to play a role, as evidenced by the fact that on one of their first lists this past January, the Trump Tower, by then already a 4-year-old project, made the list. "They had just launched a social media campaign," Slutsky says.

Pears on Avenue was second on the list, followed by Art Condominiums.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Matthew Slutsky


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Permits are expected this week for demolition to begin at 2 Ossington, the future site of SMV Architects' two-storey retail and condo building on the northwest corner of Queen and Ossington.

"It's going to add a pretty dramatic presence on the street," says architect Craig Bonham. "The way the building has been conceived is that it is primarily glass at the ground level, very much a retail showcase" for as few as one and as many as six retail tenants.

Another feature will be one of Toronto's first parking stackers, a six-car elevator accessed through a double-wide garage door that minimizes the space needed for cars.

There will be five residential units, from 900 to 1,600 square feet, for a total of about 5,700 square feet of added residential space for the quickly growing neighbourhood. The retail space will total slightly less, about 4,300 square feet.

Bonham expects demolition to begin as soon as the permit is issued, and for construction to start shortly thereafter, with a possible occupancy date of fall, 2010.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Craig Bonham

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Northern Forest Hilliers are getting an LCBO to call their own on May 4, when the next store opens at 333 Eglinton West at Avenue, during an exceptionally active growth period for the Board.

The smallish, standalone shop will have 1,900 square feet of shopping area with 700 sorts of beer and liquor, including a Vintages section about 200 strong.

"What it's designed to do is bring service to the retail strip that previously didn't have service," says LCBO spokesman Chris Layton. At the moment, the closest shops are the one attached to the Loblaws at St Clair and Bathurst, the Yonge and Eglinton location, and the store at Yonge and Davisville.

The construction costs for the new store are estimated at $500,000.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Chris Layton

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The rail bridges are being lowered onto the newly installed frame on the way towards the completion of the $40-million Dufferin Street straightening project, currently scheduled for a July completion.

The roadbed north of the underpass is also being graded in preparation for laying the surface.

"This is a tremendous improvement that will dramatically improve the busiest bus route in the city, improve access for pedestrians and cyclists, beautify the neighbourhood by increasing green space and house a unique public art installation," says Councillor Gord Perks, whose ward will be significantly effected by the project.

Designed by Delcan, the project will also include new street rails and storm sewers.

The chief practical improvement will likely be an easing of the congestion caused by the former jog in the road.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Gord Perks


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Options for Homes, the city's developer of low-cost housing that offers buyers a second mortgage they can use toward their down payment to increase their likelihood of being accepted for a mortgage, has reached the halfway point in their Junction project.

On Keele just north of Dundas, the 643-unit, two-tower building, somewhat misleadingly called The Village by High Park, broke ground in August of 2008 and will probably be ready for residents beginning this summer, with final completion and occupancy early next year if the trades, many of which are currently renegotiating their contracts, don't strike. Construction costs are estimated at $170 per square foot. With a total of about 560,000 square feet, the project's construction budget is estimated to be about $95 million.

"We tend to go for land that is in up and coming neighbourhoods, neighbourhoods on the cusp, because it's less expensive, so we can keep our prices lower," says marketing co-ordinator Jessica Speziale. Options for Homes, which also has projects planned for Bathurst and Lawrence and in Barrie, were early develops in the Distillery District area, building their light brick towers in the late 90s, before the district was renovated and rebranded.

The Junction condos range in size from 455 square feet for a bachelor to 1190 square feet for a three bedroom, and in price from $143,000 to $324,000.

Though no commercial tenants have yet been signed, there will also be retail on the ground level along Keele.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Jessica Speziale

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King City is getting its first Shoppers Drug Mart this week.

The new store, a stand-alone building at 2136 King Road, will have 14,000 square feet on its main floor, and an upper floor with a medical clinic.

"We've been trying to work on this one for a while," says Shoppers spokeswoman Tammy Smitham. "We had to work very closely with the municipality to get it approved." The closest previous location of the aggressively expanding chain was in Oak Ridges. "It's a fair piece away," says Smitham.

The location will also house a post office, in addition to a cosmetics department and the usual food and lottery offerings.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Tammy Smitham

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West Village, a massive new condo community by Tridel, has launched its first and is about to launch its second of four phases in what will be a four-tower, single-podium development in Etobicoke.

The first tower will be 27 storeys with 267 suites. Though Tridel hopes all four towers will be roughly the same height, the city has currently zoned the fourth one at 15 storeys.

"We're really trying to push the community feel of the building," says Samson Fung, Tridel's spokesman. "It's four buildings in an area that doesn't really have that."

The buildings, designed by Sheppard Avenue West firm Rafael & Bigauskas Architects, are to be built on The West Mall just north of Bloor Street West to LEED standards. Set between the Etobicoke Community Centre and Cloverdale Mall, West Village will be just west of Kipling station and Tridel's other development in the area, Parc Nuvo.

Construction is set to begin next year, with a fall or winter, 2013 occupancy.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Samson Fung

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A sign went up last week on the old Downtown Fine Cars dealership on Avenue just north of Davenport. Pears, named for the street residents will eventually be entering from, will be one of the first condo towers to be entirely conceived and launched � as opposed to re-launched � in the post-recession market.

At 20 storeys and 130 units, the mid-size, high-end building will begin selling this week. The building will be designed by Page Steele/IBI Group Architects, with interior design by Munge Leung Design Associates.

"We really have been working hard to come up with a building design that really adds to the streetscape and makes a design contribution to the area," says Mimi Ng, vice president of marketing for Menkes, which is developing the site.

The building will also incorporate a two-storey retail component along Avenue Road. "It's going to help liven up that stretch, which recently has been a bit derelict," Ng says.

If sales go well, construction will begin next year.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Mimi Ng

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Colliers International has put together a deal for Good Life Fitness to establish a flagship gym for its 275-location national chain at 137 Yonge.

It will occupy the old Revolution Fitness space on the ground and basement floors of the building, giving them a total of 45,000 square feet.

The deal was signed last week and may ultimately involve shuttering several of the Good Life Fitness locations in the immediate area. The fates of 2 Queen East, 250 Yonge, 100 Yonge and 36 Toronto Street are up in the air.

"It's taken four years to find something," Bristow says, adding that the entire top floor of The Bay on Queen Street had been an earlier option. He estimates the renovation will cost Good Life, who have signed a 20-year lease, somewhere in the range of $3.5-$4-million.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Tim Bristow

Correction: There are 275 Good Life Fitness locations in Canada. Yonge Street was given incorrect information, which has now been corrected in the text. Also, with regard to any of the several locations within less than a kilometre of the new flagship location closing, according to Good Life spokeswoman Krista Maling, "We have no plans to make any changes to any clubs in downtown Toronto as of today." She was unable to make assurances about the immediate future. The original text has been changed to reflect this new information.

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].