Revised from its original design, a joint venture by developers Freed Developments and Minto Group is planned for Front and Bathursts Streets, right beside Tridel’s Rêve. The condominium project will boast a 19-storey building on Bathurst attached to a 15-storey building at Niagara Street. The modern design has a facade broken up by significant cutaways which reveal a second glass skin behind the buidling’s varied precast grid armature. The drawings also indicate a Dutch influence with its sloping roof on the Bathurst building.

Recently, the City of Toronto has been pushing developers to include townhomes in their new condo building plans — I like this idea! As a result, this project includes two-storey wood-fronted townhouses, which will warm up the street presence of the building along Niagara Street.

Although this development could face additional changes, resulting from requests from the City, if the final project looks anything like the current renderings, Wellington Place will benefit from this modern and playful twist to architecture.

Contact us if you are interested in receiving more information on this development or any other condo projects.

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Two condo developers, Menkes and Tridel, are planning to build mammoth-sized (according to Toronto standards) towers south of Maple Leaf Square on the other side of the Gardiner Expressway.

Menkes (builders of Lumiere on Bay and the Four Seasons Private Residences) will develop two 70-storey towers on their site at 90 Harbour street, directly south of Maple Leaf Square, on the 2.5 acre site that cost them an incredible $76,000,000.

Tridel (one of my favourite condo builders) is also planning a 75-storey tower (240-metres tall) just west of the two buildings Menkes is developing, on a triangular shaped lot directly south of where the ICE towers will be located. The building is called TEN YORK and is a glass vision in the sky designed by award-winning architect Rudy Wallman of Wallman Architects, creators of some of the most striking urban designs in the city. Despite being 75-storeys, TEN YORK will be one of the tallest residential buildings in the city, but not the tallest. Both the Trump International Hotel & Tower (60 floors and 276.9 metres tall) and Aura condo under construction at College Park (75 storeys and 264-metres tall) will be taller.

The two towers by Menkes and Tridel’s TEN YORK, combined, will deliver more than 200 storeys of condos and over 2000 units to the York Centre neighbourhood. If you’re wondering just how many units that really is, the Maple Leaf Square buildings are around 872 units combined.

RBC is also going to be the lead tenant in a new 31-storey office tower to be built on Queen’s Quay just east of York, which will be called RBC Waterpark Place.

A new elevated PATH bridge to Union Station and covered walkways along Bay Street will also be built.

I’m happy to see there’s more housing within the core, however, I hope City Council has a plan to improve the current traffic congestion along the Gardiner Expressway (near the Spadina exit) that the waterfront condominiums have created.

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The house was a triplex, a type of housing that I had not previously contemplated purchasing. The thought of having others pay down the mortgage, however,  not only seemed too good to pass up, but it also made purchasing a house a lot more affordable for me.

One of the biggest draw backs of the particular triplex I saw was that the curb appeal was quite poor. It was a giant yellow house, and all I could think of when I looked at it was that it reminded me of Big Bird from Sesame Street. The stone work and retaining walls were in rough shape and the landscaping… well, there wasn’t any, other than grass!

The house, however, had potential – most homes do! So, I consulted with a designer for her vision. This particular designer is incredibly creative and has done work for some of my past clients. Her style is also very much in line with mine. I was extremely happy with her proposed design, especially because she delivered on my two main criteria: contemporary and cost-effective. In the process, she also reminded me to not go over the top with improvements as this house was a triplex and not a single-family dwelling.

The whole process — from concept to the renos themselves — taught me not to pass up on a great home because it doesn’t have the curb appeal (or interior appeal) that you want. Perhaps with some outside help (designer and contractors), you could have the home you’ve always wanted.

Check the before/in-progress/after shots below.

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