Month: May 2023
Jenny Febbraro, Special to National Post
Published May 31, 2023
As the name suggests, the developer behind Kipling Station Condos knows transit access is a selling point. Rising 50 storeys, the residential tower coming to Etobicoke will redefine the area’s skyline, bringing high-density living to a rapidly transitioning neighbourhood, in a pocket where transit access points converge.
“The great thing about this development is that it will overlook the new Kipling Transit Hub,” says Gavin Cheung, president of CentreCourt, referring to the upcoming Metrolinx project that will connect the TTC, Go Train and MiWay Mississauga in one spot, next to Kipling Station Condos. According to Cheung, another 35 residential towers are expected to rise in the area within the next few years.
For Kipling Station Condos, B+H Architects designed sculptural features that create the illusion of movement on the tower’s façade. “With such a tall building, we didn’t want a static, monolithic look,” says Stephanie Maignan, senior design architect at B+H. “We created a pattern with a shift in the windows, solid paneling and cantilever balconies. So from levels 5 to 12, there is one series of windows and then that shifts again from floors 13 to 21 and so on.”
B+H used the classic “golden ratio” to divide the building into different design segments. “We took the proportion of the podium, and then the next section is double that height,” explains Maignan. “It sort of stretches the building and accentuates the height while introducing a sense of movement and rotation.”
Currently in the preconstruction phase, the stylized 552-unit tower brings contrast to the neighbourhood. “It’s a really contemporary yet minimalist look,” says Maignan. “We’ve got these black metal patterns with a bit of texture, but then that alternates with a copper rose metal. It’s almost like the building has copper fins that accentuate (its) movement.”
Located at the corner of Dundas Street West and Aukland Road, the condo provides first-time homeowners a reasonable edge to enter the market. Suites range from 343 to 935 square feet; studio units begin in the $400,000s. The largest unit is a three-bedroom, starting in the $900,000s.
Interior designers Figure3 took inspiration from vintage European trains to inform the overall aesthetic. “From its earliest stages, this development was really a story about transit, the ease of transportation and travel,” says Dominic De Freitas, principal at Figure3. “So we took that idea of movement as inspiration and were really attracted to the train interiors of the 1930s and 1940s,” which were outfitted in more luxurious materials – leathers, metals, woods – than trains today, De Freitas says.
In the lobby, vertical gold and brass accents embedded in wooden panels are paired with modern materials, such as concrete, that reflect Etobicoke’s industrial history.
“We also rotated the reception desk to the side so that the fireplace would be the most prominent feature when you first walk in,” he notes.
On the same floor, residents have access to a satellite Cleveland Clinic, a for-profit virtual medical service with a dedicated diagnostics room.
Beyond, the building has 22,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities that include barbecues, dining areas, firepits and an outdoor dog run, a fitness centre, private boardrooms and zoom/social media rooms, as well as a lounge area, garden area and party room.
Suites feature full-sized kitchens with paneled appliances. Bathroom finishes include a mix of wood and stone selected by Figure3 in warm and darker shades, depending on residents’ choice.
Units start in the $400,000s for 343 square feet. For more information, visit https://kiplingstation.com
Three things
Experience authentic Spanish cuisine at LaVinia, a hidden gem with a modern take on traditional plates like piquillo stuffed peppers and slow-cooked paella. 2350 Lake Shore Blvd W.
The eight-kilometre Mimico Creek Trail is popular among mountain bikers, hikers and dog walkers. The easiest access point is through Echo Valley park.
Freebird Market is a popular gourmet grab-and-go for cannoli, fresh pasta and sandwiches made from a daily rotating roast. 232 Norseman St.
Published May 24, 2023 by Anthony Teles
Developer CentreCourt has submitted Zoning By-law Amendment and Site Plan Approval applications for a development poised on the doorstep of the Kipling Transit Hub, which provides direct transit connections to much of western Toronto, Union Station, Pearson Airport, Mississauga, and beyond. The proposal at 5359 Dundas West would lead to a mixed-use condominium in Etobicoke’s Six Points area.
The site is an irregular shape of about 3,489m² in area found at the southwest corner of Dundas Street West and Subway Crescent. At this time, the site is home to a 4-storey commercial building along with surface parking. There is a retaining wall along the east edge of the parking lot due to the downward slope to the south.
The site is within the Etobicoke Centre Secondary Plan area, for which the proposal notes 50 projects to improve the public realm and streetscape. These include parks, mobility infrastructure improvements, gardening, and more.
CentreCourt has proposed a redevelopment of the site, citing its transit accessibility and the planned growth of the neighbourhood. The mixed-use condominium would be 182.95m tall, standing 55 storeys in the architectural plans by Arcadis — the Amsterdam-based global firm that acquired Toronto-based IBI Group in Fall 2022. The building would have 668 residential units. While the initial plans filed with the City indicate four elevators, CentreCourt tells us that that number is preliminary and likely to change, while the final suite count may vary as well.
The design calls for a 4-storey base building massed to address all of the street frontages, giving it a somewhat irregular shape featuring staggered setbacks, whereas the tower element would have a rectangular floor-plate of about 781m², above the 750m² floor-plates that the City looks for to minimize shadow size. The design features projecting balconies in a sawtooth pattern on the east and west sides.
There would be 2,004m² of amenity space on levels 2 and 5, of which 668m² would be outdoors. The two levels of underground parking would provide 76 parking spaces, of which 8 would be for visitors. There would be a further 46 parking spaces on the retained surface parking lot to the south of the building. For cyclists, the plans include 511 bicycle parking spots, including 47 short-term spaces.
Integral to the complete community intended by the proposal is the expanded and enhanced public realm at ground level. There would be a minimum of 8.8m and 6m sidewalk zones along Dundas Street West and Subway Crescent respectively. A POPS (Privately-Owned Publicly accessible Space) of 346m² in area would be at the north corner, featuring decorative unit paving and planting areas.
The site is merely 20m northwest of the Kipling Bus Terminal part of the Kipling Transit Hub serving MiWay and GO buses. Residents would slightly longer walks to the TTC buses and subway, and the GO Train that are also part of the Hub. The neighbourhood also features robust cycling infrastructure, with dedicated tracks about 330m northeast of the site through the Six Points area, and which are planned to be extended further west along Dundas.
The application includes a Block Context Plan along Dundas Street West. It notes projects such as the Six Points Plaza redevelopment poised to increase density for the area as well as building heights to up to 50 storeys. The proposal at 5359 Dundas Street West is one part of grander plans by several developers to create communities in this west-end area.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you’d like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
Published by Matias Bessai
On May 8th, CentreCourt hosted a unique launch event for their Kipling Station Condos project, under the historic roof of Toronto’s revered Massey Hall. The launch marked the official start of sales for the 50-storey tower designed by B+H Architects, situated next to the Kipling Station transit hub, in the centre of the high growth area of Downtown Etobicoke.
In the moments before doors opened for the event, the lineup for the launch snaked west on Shuter to Yonge Street, before continuing down Yonge for multiple blocks, and creating a stir on social media in the process. All told, nearly 2,000 brokers attended the event, making it one of the highest profile condo launches in recent memory.
“In today’s market, we knew that the type of launch that would create waves would need to have a clear and compelling value message that would resonate with purchasers. With suites starting in the $400’s, Kipling Station Condos is the most attractively priced project in the market today”, said Jason Lam, Partner and Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at CentreCourt. In addition to conveying the project’s value message, Lam said that CentreCourt wanted to highlight the project’s locational attributes. “The other key selling point of this launch is that this is an unbeatable location – the site is located just steps from the Kipling Transit hub and is in the heart of Downtown Etobicoke.”
The packed house was welcomed by an MC and an upbeat soundtrack, followed by speeches about the project from Shalini Karthigesan, Senior Sales and Marketing Manager at CentreCoutrt and Jason Lam. The event concluded with a motivational pep talk by former-NBA player and hall of fame motivational speaker, Walter Bond.
“In today’s market, CentreCourt believes it is critical to provide purchasers with a project like Kipling Station Condos – a project that is priced attractively today while also being located in a neighbourhood that has the key ingredients for significant growth – growth that we think will outpace the broader GTA market materially.“ says Lam. “This mindset and approach has been central to the success we’ve had in identifying locations that drive the long term success of our purchasers, and in turn, our own business. The traction we’ve had right out of the gates with Kipling Station Condos shows us this recipe is resonating as strongly as ever, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring a fantastic, transit-centric project to downtown Etobicoke and do our part to contribute to this rapidly growing neighbourhood”
Sales for Kipling Station Condos have been strong, according to CentreCourt, with the event doing a tremendous job to generate buzz for the launch. Interest in the project is high, with prospective buyers moving quickly on the opportunity to be a part of the next era of Etobicoke. With a total of 552 units available, starting in the 400s, the project has been a success out of the gate.
Published by Matias Bessai
Back in 2021, pedestrians leaving the Rogers Centre or the CN Tower and walking north on Spadina Avenue or Blue Jays Way could peer through gaps in the grid of buildings to take in views spanning as far as they could see; but in a City that sees new buildings start construction every week, a period of less than 24 months was all it took to seal those sightlines with a fresh crop of towers. One of the front lines of this quick intensification process is on Mercer Street, where the both 55 Mercer and Nobu Residences have sprouted up to form a dramatic canyon above the once quiet Downtown sidestreet. The former project, from CentreCourt, has enjoyed a particularly efficient construction process, and is well positioned to top off in the coming months.
Designed by IBI Group, 55 Mercer is currently in the process of climbing towards a final count of 47 storeys on the site previously home to Wayne Gretzky’s restaurant and Second City. Looking back at how the construction of the project has progressed, work picked up in January of 2021, beginning with the demolition of the existing three-storey building. Working quickly to remove the structure from the site, the crew moved onto shoring by mid-March, and followed up shortly after with excavation a month later. By July of 2021, the pit was bottomed out and a crane was installed, demonstrating the speed and efficiency which CentreCourt has earned a reputation for.
With the crane installed, work transitioned into the forming process, bringing the project to life steadily from below grade, on its way to a completed height of 156 metres. Returning to the site a year later, we can see that by July of 2022 the project had not only emerged above grade, but the forming of the entire podium section had been completed, with the process of forming the repeating residential levels of the tower just beginning.
As the forming of the tower set into a consistent rhythm, focus also came to the application of the exterior finishes to the podium. The image below pictures the project’s primary (west) elevation in November of last year, with the cladding mostly complete, aside from the grade level space. The red brick treatment coupled with the area’s warehouse heritage-inspired windows have been well received thus far, giving the building a simple and contextually appropriate streetwall condition to the increasingly densely built-up area.
Jumping ahead to the most recent updates on the project, forming work remains ongoing, with the tower now standing at roughly 90% of its final height. What is most impressive though is the progress of the tower’s exterior envelope, which was pictured in late April only seven floors shy of covering the entirety of the current tower. The effect of the contrasting cladding materials can now be fully experienced, with the white frame treatment of the southeast and northwest corners adding a welcome deviation to what would otherwise be four undifferentiated elevations (possibly best seen in the first image in this story).
he project is in the home stretch of its forming process, and with cladding following closely behind, interior finishing work is already underway to bring 55 Mercer to completion, delivering 534 new units in the Downtown Core.
