Architectural Record writes on Toronto's seemingly nonstop downtown growth. While many North American cities remain in a growth slump, construction in Toronto's core continues to sore.
"In most North American cities, active construction cranes are a rare sight these days. But in downtown Toronto, they're ubiquitous, lifting up steel beams and glass panels for new towers in Canada's largest metropolis, where the population—currently at 2.5 million—is gaining 80,000 to 100,000 people per year."
"While the U.S. construction market remains in the doldrums, Toronto's real-estate sector has been humming along since the late 1990s, with only a brief slowdown in 2008. Today, the research service Emporis is tracking 147 high-rise buildings, among other projects, under construction in Toronto; the majority are residential and office buildings in the urban core, although towers are also popping up in the suburbs. In terms of design, most of these buildings won’t turn heads. But some developers are tapping top talent in hopes of creating architectural standouts."
"We're very excited about what's coming," says Alfredo Romano, head of Castlepoint Realty, one of the developers of 3C Lakeshore, a 2.4-million-square-foot district that Foster + Partners is master-planning for a former docklands. Romano says the 13-acre, mixed-use site will feature 'signature towers' by Foster, along with buildings by the local firms Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg and ArchitectsAlliance."
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Architectural Record