Development News

Just as concerns were rising that the city was becoming less interested in what's come to be known as tower renewal -- the greening and refurbishment of our many 1960s and 70s residential slabs -- the province stepped in. The first tangible result was released at the end of November in the form of a tower study focused not just on Toronto or the GTA, but the entire Greater Golden Horseshoe.

"It's a sort of mapping exercise," says Paul Kulig of Regional Architects, which was involved in the study, "that for the first time identifies the scope of the towers and the issues associated with them beyond the boundaries of Toronto."

According to the report, there are 1,925 towers in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, which makes the region unique in North America, and more similar to parts of Asia, Europe and the former Soviet Union where massive development took place in the wake of the second world war and the installation of controlled economies.

According to the executive summary, "The focus of this study is two-fold. The first objective is to analyze and catalogue this housing resource to better understand its current role within the GGH. The second objective is to examine the potential for Tower Neighbourhood Renewal to support the realization of provincial priorities, such as implementing the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, creating a network of regional rapid transit, conserving energy, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) production, reducing poverty, providing affordable housing, and building a green economy."

According to Kulig, the study is the first step in the renewal of towers across the Golden Horseshoe, the province taking its lead from work championed by Mayor Miller.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Paul Kulig

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Some new business owners like a clean slate, wiping whatever came before unsentimentally away in pursuit of their own brand of success.

Peter Lilly is not that kind of business owner.

When he decided to expand his Sweet Pete's bike shop business into the Annex from its west Bloor beginnings, he decided that the old Tap bar would be the perfect place.

 "I've lived in Toronto for about 20 years," he says, "and I can remember being a patron of that bar a long time ago, so there was a bit of an attachment there."

So when you stop by, you'll see the old neon tap sign above the door. "We're going to restore that in the spring when the sign makers can get up to do the job," he says. He even kept the taps themselves, though he's not sure what he's going to do with those yet.

Which is not to say he just moved into the old space as is. "It was in pretty rough shape," he says of the old bar, which, he says, hadn't been in business for at least 8 months before he stepped into the place. "The basement was just filled with clutter, old paperwork and desks and freezers that were still running with food in them. It was insane how much junk there was."

The building had been built in three stages, with different coloured brick in different sections of the interior, so he hired Peter Woodworth of The Brick Painters to paint each brick individually to achieve some consistency. (Lilly's contractor was Brian Zahra.)

It took about $125,000 and three months to finish the 1,400 square foot space, which now includes bamboo floors, new insulation and, shortly, a solar panel. But as far as Lilly's concerned, it's been worth it. "It's just a really, really, cool space," he says.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Peter Lilly

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The walls have gone up on Toronto's second Whole Foods. It's being built in a section of the old Wal-Mart parking lot at Square One in Mississauga, and this week, the ceilings, which are also mostly up, will be joined to the walls in time, Whole Foods' Toronto man hopes, to beat most of the winter's snows.

"We're going full-tilt ahead," says Peter Hilge, Metro store team leader. "We're working 24 hours a day on that site."

The 40,000 square foot store -- the same size as the current flagship shop in Yorkville's Hazelton Lanes -- is being built as a separate structure on the Square One property, designed by Petroff.

The store will include all the regular Whole Foods amenities, but will also be adding more windows to the back rooms, so people can see what's going on.

"One of the things a lot of people don't understand is a lot of the things are done from scratch in each store," Hilge says. "We want the people to be more a part of what we're doing in Square One."

The opening date for the store has been set for July 28, 2011.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Peter Hilge

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An important part of the first phase of Regent Park's revitalization formally opened on Dec. 1, after several months of getting-to-know-you time that one planning and development co-ordinator says was absolutely necessary.

"There was a lot of confusion, and a lot of questions being asked by residents and other community members," says Alison Chan, who works for the Toronto Centre of Community Learning and Development, which is behind the Regent Park Centre of Learning, of the tumultuous process of re-building a neighbourhood, "so we wanted to give ourselves time to be able to establish a presence in the community before we did a formal opening. You need to have people know who you are before you can celebrate the opening of your centre."

The Centre, on the ground floor of a new building at 540 Dundas Street East, which is connected to 246 and 252 Sackville, seniors and family residential buildings respectively, all owned by Toronto Community Housing.

Though the centre started out as a literacy organization, they have moved into more diverse areas of education, for which the 2,233 square foot centre, with its conference room, multipurpose room, computer lab and classroom, is designed to be a hub. The Dec. 1 launch included what they're calling a community dialogue on creating a healthy community, something they're planning on making a series. The first one stayed general, and included Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation Glen Murray, city councilor Pam McConnell, and architect Ken Greenberg. Chan estimates there were about 100 people in attendance.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Alison Chan

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The urbanization of Markham continues with the launch of Sierra, a 143-unit, staggered 6-storey condo on Main Street in Markham Village.

Developed by the Sierra Group and designed by John Beresford of the Woodbridge firm of Flanagan Beresford and Patteson. The complex will significantly raise the density of the old neighbourhood.

"Condominiums epitomize to a certain extent urban living," says Sierra president Morris Kansun, "the idea of living in a higher density area where you walk downstairs and all the amenities are there without having to get into your car. Condominium living is downtown living, but so many condos today are built in Greenfield sites where you still have to get in your car."

The condo, known as 68 Main, will be built on the site of a 1960s strip mall, across the street from a community centre and in the middle of a 19th-century main street that's still an active retail strip.

Kansun expects to break ground this summer, and for his building to be ready to occupy by late 2012.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Morris Kansun

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The LCBO is re-locating and expanding its Eglinton Square store.

Due to open Dec. 9, the new space, at Eglinton and Lebovic, near Pharmacy, will be a standalone shop, in keeping with the LCBO's current program of moving out of mall spaces.

The new shop will have 8,600 square feet of shopping space, compared to Eglinton Square's 3,700, which will be able to house roughly double the number of products, as well as a full-time "product consultant."

"With the increase in population over the years and changing tastes, [including] increased interest in premium products and home entertaining," says LCBO spokesman Chris Layton, "a new larger store with a full range of services was warranted to meet our current and future needs in this community."

The old store, which has been at Victoria Park and Eglinton since 1983, will close for good at its regular time this evening.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Chris Layton


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Toronto Hydro is replacing 153 poles along western College Street in a $2.4-million neighbourhood upgrade.

The current poles and wiring are between 40 and 60 years old, according to Hydro spokeswoman Jennifer Link.

"We will be replacing wood with wood and square concrete with round concrete," Link says of the cedar and concrete poles along College. "On College 45-foot poles will be replaced with 50-foot poles and on Margueretta, Dufferin, and  St. Clarens the poles will be changed from 30-foot to 40-foot."

The wiring is also being improved, with capacity increased from 4.16 kilovolts to 13.8 kilovolts. As the wiring and poles are replaced, the system in the immediate vicinity is turned off for about 3 hours, resulting in small-scale outages.

The project, part of Hydro's $175-million city-wide upgrade, began in October, and Link expects it to be completed by the end of January.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Jennifer Link

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Work has started on the second office tower slated for the block of land between York and Simcoe fronting on Bremner.

The tower, currently named Bremner Tower, is slated for occupancy in 24 months, and will join the nearly completed PwC Tower and the future 45-storey Delta Hotel to form part of what's being called Southcore Financial Centre.

The project is owned by the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation and developed by GWL Realty Advisors. The two office towers, totalling 1.4 million square feet of office space, were designed by KPMB. The Bremner tower, the larger of the two, will offer 700,000 square feet on 30 floors.

According to Mervin McCoubrey, senior vice president of development for GWL's Eastern Canadian division, all three buildings are being built with the environment very much in mind.

"We're building to LEED Gold standards," he says as he leads a tour around the unfinished interior of the PwC Tower, but adds that whether they get certification or not, their concerns and efforts are focused on that level of sustainability. The buildings will have roof water collection, which will be used both for toilets and to water the extensive wooded areas being built as third-floor terraces on all three buildings. Light sensors in the building will alter the artificial light levels based on existing natural light, and they'll be making extensive use of Enwave's deep lake water cooling, doing their intake at night, so they can also make use the energy they use in the process at off-peak hours.

There will also be more than 130 interior bike parking spots in each of the two office towers, and the whole complex is connected directly to both the TTC and GO Transit.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Mervin McCoubrey

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The fifth in the Toronto City Summit Alliance's Greening Our Workplaces series of talks between major landlords and their major tenants in downtown office towers took place in November between the Royal Bank of Canada and Oxford Properties.

Issues discussed included tips about excess lighting, efficient lighting, computer power management settings, unplugging devices when they're not in use and clearing air vents of obstructions.

Though these are all minor issues and minor efforts that are often placed under the heading of greenwashing, the fact the meeting took place at all, and that it took place in Canada's first LEED EB Gold certified bank tower, is an indication that the nation's corporate community is paying attention, if only to save a little money.

"We are interested in working with all our tenants to help them meet their green goals and collectively reduce the environmental footprint of RBC Plaza," said Andrew McAllan, Oxford's senior vice president and managing director for real estate, in a press release (no one was available for interviews). "We look forward to working with more companies in our building to help them reduce wasted energy and save money."

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Rebecca Geller

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Robert Sidi is not a fan of tolerance.

"For 25 years, most of my best friends have been architects," says the owner of Kiosk, the furniture store that just moved its residential location from Dupont and Christie to King and Parliament, "and we sit down and tell stories of frustrations, when so much talent goes to waste, when developers refuse to stray even a little bit from the Home Depot standard. Standard this, standard that. The tolerance for this is 3 inches, the tolerance for that is 6 inches. And I'm saying the tolerance for this is 3mm."

At first, you don't notice much beyond the acute angles, the porous planes that make up the two floors that both divide and join the three floors of the new shop that specializes in four-figure furniture, with the occasional foray into the fives. The floors are white, which is interesting, and the 20,000 square foot space is made both practical and intimate by being organized into staging areas, where scenes are set with various pieces and sets of furniture.

But it's only when you look at the places where the walls meet the floors, and where two walls meet in a corner of the ceiling, that you realize there are no tolerances here. There are no mouldings, no baseboards to hide drywall approximations. Then look at how the sprinklers are centred perfectly above panes of glass, or electrical outlets set flush inside concrete columns, and you'll begin to get a sense that this space is very, very well constructed.

Designed by Vancouver architect Omer Arbel, with construction overseen by Sidi, who took a seven-month sabbatical to make sure everything was perfect, the shop is a window onto what Toronto might look like if more owners and trades demanded perfection of themselves and each other.

As Sidi says himself, "Who gives a damn about furniture showrooms? Let's have our institutions like this."

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Robert Sidi

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Menkes has just launched the second tower of their latest condo project for North York Centre, adding to a collection that has done much to define the skyline there.

The two 42-storey towers, which will house a total of 901 units, were designed by Rafael and Bigausakas, will join other Menkes residential projects in the immediate area -- Pinnacle, Royal Pinnacle, Ultima and Broadway � and will, like them, offer direct indoor access to the North York Centre subway station.

"Menkes has played a pioneering role in the creation of the North York City Centre community," says Mimi Ng, vice president of marketing. "We have been actively building in this area along Yonge Street since the early 1980s, and over the past 30 years we have built over 2 million square feet of retail and commercial space and over 5,000 condominium residences in this node." The commercial space they've built there includes the Procter and Gamble building, the Transamerica tower, and the Empress Walk shopping centre. "We remain very committed to the ongoing growth and evolution of this community."

The model suites for the project, which is called Gibson Square for the Gibson House Museum next door, were designed by Munge Leung.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Mimi Ng

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Tomorrow, on the second day of Construct Canada, the country's biggest building trade and professional show, Cliff Korman will lead a discussion on the negotiating skills needed to get a project built in as close to the way it was intended as possible.

According to Korman, who put the "kor" in Kirkor Architects, "It's an idea I've been working on for a little while, something called the 'collaborative planning process.'" He says about 90 per cent of the work he does in Toronto involves intensifications or re-zoning, and as a result has to wend its way through a labyrinth of panels, committees, interest groups and regulations.

"It's become a very, very complex group of problems," he says. "In the municipal planning process, we have planners, ratepayers, councillors, design review panels, neighbourhood design charettes; you don't just have a client anymore, you have a huge collaborative effort."

We've got plenty of design and development talent in the city, he says; all we need is a little more negotiating know-how to convey the value of projects to a wide variety of stakeholders and decision-makers.

Korman's panel will include Moiz Behar of M. Behar Planning & Design, Niall Haggert, executive vice president of Daniels Corporation, and Stephen Upton, vice president of development planning at Tridel.

Construct Canada, which this year offers 1,050 exhibits, and is being held at the same time and next to the Home Builder and Renovator Expo, Concrete Canada and Design Trends, takes place Dec. 1-3 in the South Building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Cliff Korman

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Toronto Hydro is finishing its $2-million maintenance and upgrading of its underground transformers in the east end early. A Toronto Hydro spokeswoman says work that was meant to be completed by the end of the month is now expected to wrap up today.

The work on Sheppard Avenue East south to the lake and Rouge Valley west to Meadowvale and Centennial roads involved replacing the residential transformers and installing fault indicators to improve power restoration times during future outages.

An estimated 2,570 people were affected by rolling outages as the work was being done over the past two months in batches of 100-200 at a time, typically between 9am and 5pm.

"Toronto Hydro has a program that addresses system reliability," says spokeswoman Jennifer Link, explaining why the work was being carried out. "Under this program, we are replacing underground distribution equipment in response to reliability concerns."

The project is part of Toronto Hydro's $275-million PowerUp program, which is upgrading infrastructure across the city.


Writer: Bert Archer

Source: Jennifer Link


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].

Toronto's first shop dedicated to the Italian Calligaris line -- a mid- to upper-end Italian furniture designer -- opened last week on the increasingly dense King East furniture strip.

"We were looking for a particular square footage," says store owner and manager Yana Evlentieva, whose family has been in luxury retail in Moscow for 18 years, and recently moved to Toronto. "Real estate on the street is hard to come by. It just happened that at that time [that we were looking], the two units became available, and none of them worked for us independently, so we decided to combine the two spaces, and it worked out fabulous for us."

The total space is 5,000 square feet, part of which is in the old Imperial Bank building.

Evlentieva says the reason she approached Calligaris about opening a shop in Toronto is that their designs are especially well suited to condos.

"They're building 20,000 units of condos a year," Evlentieva estimated, "which is by far the highest rate in North America, so people are looking for furniture, and what we are offering is very functional furniture, [much of which] is meant for small spaces."

The renovation took about two months to complete, and was designed in Italy, modeled after the company's flagship store in Milan.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Yana Evlentieva

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The ground was broken this past Friday on the city's newest hotel, a hotel Canada's largest chain, Delta, hopes will redefine the brand.

"It will have no exterior walls," says Delta president and CEO Hank Stackhouse, "it'll all be glass." He says the rooms will all be oversized as well, with most being over 400 square feet. "It will also be highly steeped in technology," he says, saying it will have WiFi "top to bottom," though as for the rest of the technological amenities for guests, "as sure as we're standing here today, technology will be different by 2014," he says, of the projected opening date, so he's loath to go into particulars.

The building will be built to high environmental standards, however, with systems for heat recovery ventilation, low-flow water fixtures, a green roof and an "urban forest" of full-grown deciduous trees on about 10,000 square feet of terrace on the third floor.

The building, built on land once owned by Fairmont, sold to BCIMC (British Columbia Investment Management Corporation) and now managed by GWL Realty Advisors, will be 45 storeys high, with 566 rooms, including 24 extended-stay suites with full kitchens.

The building was designed by Toronto's Page and Steele/IBI Group; the interiors will be by Champalimaud Design in New York.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Hank Stackhouse

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].