A new condo and retail development in Toronto’s southern core aims to render the Gardiner Expressway irrelevant by breathing new life into unused, forgotten space below.
The project, on a plot of land owned by Loblaw Properties Ltd. at Lakeshore and Bathurst, centres around an art deco building that served as the grocery giant’s main operation centre until the 1970s.
The proposal is to dismantle the existing heritage building and reconstruct it using salvaged components of the same site, in order to house a new Loblaws. Another four storeys will be added to the structure for commercial uses.
Two condo towers, 40 and 44 storeys, would be built next door, with retail on the ground floor, while a courtyard and retail entrance would spring up under the Gardiner, said Peter Clewes, the architect behind the design.
“I think [it] is kind of cool, to be building under the Gardiner,” said Mr. Clewes on Wednesday, after the Toronto East York Community Council gave the project a preliminary green light.
The plan is to light up the under belly of the Gardiner and install public art, thus reclaiming space that has previously been a “no-go” zone, said local Councillor Joe Cressy.
Mr. Clewes, of architectsAlliance, said the city needs more projects like it around the much-maligned elevated expressway.
“The question is not is the Gardiner, as a piece of infrastructure,terrible for the city,” he said. “It’s more what can we do with it, and how can we inhabit it, beside it and underneath it.”
In this case, the design uses a positive attribute of the highway — that it provides shelter — to benefit retail space, he said. City planning staff support the proposal.
In addition to a grocery store, the building will house the corporate headquarters of clothier Joe Fresh, and an LCBO, Mr. Clewes said.
According to the city staff report, the plan is to dismantle, store and then partially reconstruct the existing heritage building, which is circa 1927. It was one of the first buildings constructed on reclaimed land at the west end of the Toronto harbour, city staff said.
Some walls will be rebuilt using salvaged components of the building. The report says retention of the original walls is impossible because of the extent of deterioration.
Mr. Cressy hailed the heritage preservation and welcomed the addition of a new grocery store, which he said is needed in the neighbourhood. He also pointed to money allocated by the developer for new affordable housing, a community centre and a school facility that is promised for the rail lands and a local park. One tenth of the condo units will offer three bedrooms, a move intended to encourage families to move into the core.
“Downtown Toronto is zoned for density. The question is: Are you doing the right kind of smart growth?” Mr. Cressy said. “I’m not somebody who is afraid of density when it’s focused on building neighbourhoods, which this does.”
The project now goes to council for approval. Mr. Clewes hopes they will be ready to break ground later this year.
National Post
February 18, 2015
Natalie Alcoba
Maziar Moini, Broker of Record - Home Leader Realty Inc.
300 Richmond St. W., #300, Toronto, ON M5V-1X2
