Posts Tagged ‘river city’

During last weeks “peak and enter” at the newly completed Don River Park… I stopped by the River City development to take a few photos of phase one under construction!

The 7 storey River St. building is well underway and already taking shape.

The two storey townhomes line the base of the building along River St.

Here’s a close up of the King St. building… eventually the two will be connected by a bridge!

Interlocking stone was used in the construction of sidewalks and roads for the area!

Looking for more updates from River City?  Waterfront Toronto recently relocated one of its web cameras to capture the construction progress of the development! The web camera, which was previously used to capture the construction of Sherbourne Common north, is now on the rooftop of Edge Loft condominiums at 625 Queen Street East.  Still images of the site are taken every 15 minutes and can be viewed on Waterfront Toronto’s construction webcam page and on the River City page.

Images are archived and once the project is complete, a two minute time lapse video is created that showcases the transformation of the project from start to finish.

One of the most exciting things about being in the business of selling the City is watching how it changes over the years. In 2008 I started focusing on the West Don Land (or River City) part of town.  At the time it was no more than a contaminated brown field with a bunch of old industrial buildings.  With the announcement of Toronto hosting the Pan Am games in 2015… plans quickly got underway to improve the look of the area.

A new school, daycares, and condos are just a few of the things planned for the area… but before any of this could happen, the City had to deal with a potential flood hazard at the base of the redevelopment. Reshaping the floodplain would not only protect the West Don Lands but also a 99 hectare (245 acre) area, including Toronto’s financial district, from sinking underwater!

The solution they came up with was both practical and useful for the area residents and the overall look of the area! Approximately 400,000 cubic metres of fill is being used to construct the Don River Park.   According to WaterFrontToronto’s website: “The centrepiece of the West Don Lands, Don River Park will be a 7.3 hectare (18 acre) active, vibrant and inviting park that will not only serve the local community, but residents from throughout Toronto and visitors from far and wide. Construction of the park, which will occupy the south eastern portion of the neighbourhood and will run along the Don River from King Street to the rail corridor in the south, started in September 2010. When completed, the beautiful green space will invite people to the Don River and offer inspiring experiences along the river’s edge as well as spectacular views of downtown and Lake Ontario.”

I’ve visited the site several times since 2009 and been blown away by it’s progress each time! Shortly before the park opened, I took a self guided tour of the almost completed park!  Check out the photos below:

River City has been making a lot of headway these past few months, and because of it, they’re now gearing up for the release of their penthouse collection!  We still don’t know all of the exact details but some key features I was able to find out are: 10′ ceilings, Saucier and Perrotte signature staircases, large rooftop terraces with stunning views of the city or open green space and gas hook ups!

As you can see from the photo above, construction of phase 1 is well underway! Even driving through the area you can see signs of the new public spaces, parks and roads coming together! Read the rest of this entry »

This past weekend, my curiosity got the better of me as wandered around the River City neighbourhood …and in particular, Underpass Park!

I was killing some time in between appointments and trying to find away to snap some pictures of the Don River Park from atop the Adelaide E Bridge.  Sadly, I didn’t have much luck as Cole Haans aren’t the most practical shoes for fence jumping or bridge scaling. Although… I was successful in finding a nice little place to park for free (something that’s getting harder and harder in Toronto).  With my car tucked away, I had juuust enough time to snap a few photos of the changes under the bridge!

Construction started about 6 months ago on the dreary and dark space under the bridge. Once complete, Underpass Park will be the most extensive park to ever be built under an overpass in Canada. Already concrete has been poured, plants have been planted and jungle sets for the kids installed! Read the rest of this entry »

It was one of those weeks that took me all over the City…from River City in the Queen East area to 8 Gladstone in the West! As per my usual shutterbug ways, I stopped at each project to take a few photos of the progress.  It was interesting to see the progress 8 Gladstone has made in a mere 7 months.  The existing structures have been demolished to make way for the new TACT designed building!  Enjoy some more photos of progress below…

In the East, I took some time to walk along the bridge over looking the future River City Development.  Workers were on site and busy plugging away at some much needed infrastructure for the project.  Phase 2 is also about to launch to stay tuned for the latest deals and promotions at the new River City community.  See what I saw in the photos below! Read the rest of this entry »

After spending a week in sunny Varadero,  the end of vacation and the start of work officially commenced with an update letter from the River City team!

The letter was sent out to all the purchasers and their Realtors in an effort to keep us up to date with progress on this changing part of Toronto.   To summarize the changes thus far:

Wednesday September the 8th marked another milestone for the West Don Lands revitalization…although work has been going on at the site for over a year, yesterday marked the official ground breaking at the Don River Park!

Everyone from Mayor Miller to Jim Flaherty were on hand to mark the momentous occasion…by now you’re probably asking yourself “What’s so big about a park, and why do these high paid politicians need to be there to break ground?” The second part of the question, I don’t have an answer for, but in regards to the park…

The Don River Park will transform an abandoned post-industrial site into a dynamic, year-round, public space for the River City residents!  Renowned design firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, has been assigned the task of transforming the 18 acre site!  Once complete, the Don River Park will be offer playgrounds, sports fields and open parks and other leisure activities for Torontonians to enjoy.

Aside from all the above mentioned features, the transformation of the land also acts as a flood plain! The Don River Park will double as a protection landform covering over 245 acres including the West Don Lands AND  Toronto’s financial district.

The construction of this park is a brilliant move by all involved!  They’re taking a barren brown field, creating a flood protection plain out of it,all the while transforming it into an open space for the public to enjoy.

To tie it into River City… Once the land transformation of the Don River Park is complete, Waterfront Toronto will hand over the land to Urban Capital to allow for the construction of River Cities Phase 1! 270 of the 348 units have already been sold at River City, but some great units are still available.  If you’d like to get a unit before they’re all gone …give me a call or send me an email, I’d love to help!