Linda E. Sully
Broker
Royal LePage R.E.S. Ltd./Johnston & Daniel Division
Brokerage
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Waterfront Toronto Newsletter
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August 2009 Newsletter
Canada Square Project Begins
Waterfront Toronto and Harbourfront Centre have secured funding for the overall design of the Canada Square Project, a mixed-use cultural village with two urban parks on a 1.4 hectare site at York Quay within Harbourfront Centre. The current construction budget includes funding for the development of one of the parks, currently envisioned as a waterfront plaza, and the construction of an underground parking garage on the site.
Long envisioned by Harbourfront Centre, the current Canada Square Project was first outlined during Waterfront Toronto’s 2006 Central Waterfront Design Competition. The winning design from leading urban design and landscape architects West 8 + DTAH proposed a vibrant, mixed-use cultural village and urban parks to replace the parking lot that currently sits on the prime, waterfront site. Since that time, Waterfront Toronto and Harbourfront Centre have been working to secure the funding required to build out the p roject.
Over the next few weeks, Waterfront Toronto and Harbourfront Centre will put together a stakeholder advisory committee to provide input and guidance to the project team. This committee will be made up of local members of the community as well as representatives from interested and affected stakeholders and organizations. Using feedback from the first stakeholder meeting, Waterfront Toronto will issue a Request for Proposal this fall to formally select a design team to lead the Canada Square Project going forward.
Regular stakeholder meetings and public meetings are an important part of Waterfront Toronto’s commitment to meaningful public consultation and will be an integral part of the Canada Square Project. It is anticipated that the first public meeting will be held this fall.
For more information or to be added to the project e-mail list please contact Andrea Kelemen at info@waterfrontoronto.ca. |
Rees WaveDeck Celebrations
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The Rees WaveDeck, Waterfront Toronto’s newest urban dock, was transformed into a lakeside performance space on Saturday Aug. 8 as community members, government officials and tourists celebrated the official opening of the third wavedeck along the central waterfront.
A dynamic community celebration featuring live music, buskers, kayaking demonstrations and boat tours drew hundreds of people to the wavedeck for the afternoon’s festivities.
The Rees WaveDeck opened to the public in mid-July joining the critically-acclaimed Simcoe and Spadina WaveDecks in providing much-needed gathering space in key locations that previously lacked access to the water’s edge.
At Rees, the wavedeck dips gracefully toward the water allowing the public to get so close to the water that they can almost touch it. Small craft boating clubs and programs in the slip also benefit from the new wavedeck which offers an amphitheatre-like space for outdoor education and a unique way to engage with the lake.
Planning is currently underway on a fourth wavedeck at the Parliament Slip. The impressive 3000m2 wavedeck in the new East Bayfront community, is designed to be both a public gathering space and an integral part of the area’s stormwater management system.
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River City Registration Starts Now
River City, the first private sector development in Waterfront Toronto’s West Don Lands community, is now accepting registrations for its first phase. A LEED Gold development, River City will include 850 residential units of condominiums, lofts and townhouses priced from $179,900, as well as boutiques, stores and restaurants, surrounded by the seven hectares (17-acres) Don River Park.
Developed by Urban Capital and designed by Saucier + Perrotte Architects, one of Canada’s most respected and award-winning design firms, River City will be a collection of bold forms and innovative spaces. To register or for more information, visit www.rivercitytoronto.com. The sales office for River City is expected to open this fall, while construction of the development is scheduled to begin in 2010 and first phase of occupancy is slated for 2011.
The West Don Lands will be a sustainable commu nity where design excellence, sustainability and technology come together. Designed to be a lively and vibrant neighbourhood, it will offer a mix of housing for people at all stages of life and income levels. It will feature nine hectares (23-acres) of parks and public spaces, 6,000 new residential units of which 1,200 will be affordable housing, transit connections within five minutes of each home, and 750,000 square feet of employment, commercial and community space. The revitalization of West Don Lands will proceed over the next 10-12 years in three phases. |
Sherbourne Park Groundbreaking
On July 23, Waterfront Toronto together with our government partners officially broke ground on Sherbourne Park, a spectacular new 1.5 hectare waterfront park that will transform a formerly industrial part of the city into much needed public greenspace on the lake.
Spanning more than two city blocks, from Lake Ontario to Lakeshore Boulevard on both sides of Queens Quay, Sherbourne Park will become the new heart of East Bayfront bringing a feeling of life at the lake to the area.
The north part of the park will feature a grove of pacific sunset maple trees, benches and children’s play structures creating an outdoor living room for East Bayfront residents. Wide open greenspace on the south side of the park will provide ample space for festivals, concerts and other city-wide events overlooking Lake Ontario. In total, the park will include 182 new trees, 26 play structures and 49 benches.
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Deputy Premi er George Smitherman and Mayor David Miller were on hand to help officially break ground at the site of the park’s pavilion, a 144m2 zinc clad and glass structure located in the south side of the park. The park pavilion will house a café and washrooms and will be surrounded by a pond that will be frozen in the winter for a skating rink and act as a splash pad in the summer.
The south side of Sherbourne Park is scheduled to open in June 2010 and the north side in the fall of 2010. |
East Bayfront Construction Update
East Bayfront is a busy construction area with activity underway along much of the eastern end of Queens Quay.
A major milestone in the construction of municipal servicing for East Bayfront was reached this month as crews completed the main line storm sewer for Queens Quay. This new infrastructure will serve East Bayfront’s Dockside community as well as existing users in the area. Over the next few weeks, crews will begin the second phase of this project to connect the existing sewers to the new main line.
The decommissioning of two buildings in East Bayfront is now almost complete. The Abel Building at 5 Lower Sherbourne Street and the former Town and Country Restaurant at 190 Queens Quay East were razed earlier this summer leaving a large pile of building materials which is now being hauled offsite to a sorting and recycling facility. The area will be home to the north side of Sherbourne Park, which begins construction later t his month, and the site of the future Parkside development.
Construction on the south side of Sherbourne Park is making steady progress. Crews began in mid-July by preparing the site and drilling caissons — the deep foundation pillars — required to support the park’s pavilion and splash pad/skating rink. Caisson drilling is expected to be complete in August allowing crews to move on to the pavilion’s foundation.
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Toronto City Council Approves Terms of Reference for Gardiner Environmental Assessment
On August 6, Toronto City Council approved the Terms of Reference for the Environmental Assessment and Integrated Urban Design study for the Gardiner Expressway east of Jarvis Street which is co-sponsored by Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto.
The Terms of Reference define critical elements of the extensive study on the future of the Eastern Gardiner, including its goals, alternatives for consideration, evaluation process and consultation plan.
Waterfront Toronto and the City will now submit the Terms of Reference to the Ontario Minister of the Environment (MOE) for approval in September. The MOE will assess the Terms of Reference during a 12-week review period, which includes a period for public comments. If the Terms of Reference are approved by the Minister of the Environment, Waterfront Toronto will be able to begin the environmental assessment as early as January 2010 and be completed by the end of 2011. & nbsp;
The environmental assessment will carefully examine four potential outcomes for the highway including its removal, replacement, improvement, and maintaining the status quo. Each option will be weighed against criteria related to five overarching project goals: revitalizing the waterfront, reconnecting the city with the lake, balancing modes of travel, achieving sustainability and creating economic value.
As with the development of the Terms of Reference, the Gardiner Environmental Assessment and Integrated Urban Design Study will feature a strong public consultation component, with opportunities for the public to provide input at every stage of the process. Public meetings will be held across the City and a dedicated website www.gardinerconsultation.ca will feature e-consultations that mirror face-to-face consultations.
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Waterfront Toronto Opens Martin Goodman Trail at Ontario Place
The newly revitalized stretch of the Martin Goodman Trail at Ontario Place is now open for public use. The revamped 1.3 kilometre section of trail is a critical component of the approximately 56 kilometre Martin Goodman Trail that runs along Toronto’s waterfront and offers an important opportunity for alternative modes of travel across the waterfront.
Designed by leading landscape architects Janet Rosenberg & Associates, the new and improved stretch of multi-use trail runs parallel to Lakeshore Boulevard through Ontario Place from Marilyn Bell Park to Coronation Park at Strachan Avenue.
Giving people more access to the waterfront is a key priority for Waterfront Toronto which has already made a number of improvements to the Martin Goodman Trail. Earlier enhancements include extending the trail from Lakeshore Boulevard East to Commissioners Street in the Port Lands and significant improvements through Marilyn Bell Park from Jameson Avenue to Ontario Drive.
Waterfront Toronto is planning to officially open the newly revitalized trail at Ontario Place on Saturday, September 19 at 12:30 p.m. More information coming soon.
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Pan Am Games Evaluation Team Visit Toronto
Pan American Sports Organization's Evaluation Team will be in Toronto on August 30 and 31 to meet with the Toronto 2015 Bid team. Earlier this spring, Waterfront Toronto’ s West Don Lands was selected as the site for the Pan American Games athletes’ village, as part of Toronto’s bid to host the 2015 games. During their stay the five-member evaluation team will visit the proposed Games venues and facilities. The Evaluation Team is visiting bid competitors Lima, Peru and Bogota, Colombia before Toronto. The city selected to host the Games will be announced in November.
The Pan Am Games is a major international multi-sport event, held every four years for athletes in North and South America, as well as the Caribbean and Central America. For more information on Toronto’s bid for the Pan American Games, please click here.
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Upcoming Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
***Please check website for meeting agenda with time and location***
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Upcoming Design Review Panel Meetings
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Design Review Panel meetings are held at Waterfront Toronto Offices – 20 Bay Street, Suite 1310 from 9:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. For more information, please check our website for the meeting agenda.
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