Cityplace (Toronto)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
CityPlace is the name given to a large section of former railway land in downtown Toronto, Canada. The term is more recently being used for a large multi-tower condo development near the Toronto lakeshore and central business district. The development has many more towers to go, including the tallest Signature tower[1]. It is the largest residential development ever attempted in Toronto.
CityPlace was created by an arm of CN Railways real estate with the purpose of redeveloping surpluss railway yards. The CN Tower was the first structure to be built as part of the master plan to see the area be converted into non-industrial uses. Several master plans over the past few decades had been created.
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[edit] History
Toronto as the trading port for Upper Canada had reached its heyday of Railway transportation in 1880s. After Canadian Nationalism movement took off at Confederation of Canada 1867, fierce competition in railway industry had received huge national support, consolidated into a few large railway companies which recreated the landscape of the old dock area: huge land were acquired as railway switching yards and locomotive maintenance, a few railway stations were in operation. The great railway time, with construction of Union Station (Toronto) striking its final chord of harmony, declined quickly after the WWII, when automobile industry took off.
By the 1960s, large parcels of railway land in Toronto had become obsolete. Passenger services had become a Crown Corporation and a money losing business (See VIA Rail Canada). Construction of the Gardiner Expressway made it even easier to transport goods to and from the city.
The dominance of highway transportation pushed most companies away from downtown Toronto into suburbs or satellite cities, finding lower property taxes and better road transportation networks. The area has seen a massive decrease in the amount of heavy industries in the area, thus reducing the number of servicable industries. And nowdays, the nature of manufacturing and industry in Toronto has completely changed as a result of Globalization and the Information Age. Local companies no longer for rely on bulk shipped goods. Most of the former factory buildings along the railway lands have since been converted into residential Loft or office buildings hosting information industry, art and design workspaces. The bulk of rail traffic for the past 30 years has been passenger.
Some of the factors that led to the decrease of train use into downtown Toronto included:
- Introduction of Intermodel transport business model
- Decrease of shipping throught the St. Lawerence Seaway (demise of the Port of Toronto)
- The rise in use of air travel for personal transportation.
- Change's in manufacturing and industry in downtown Toronto (for example the demise of slaughter houses, heavy industrial factories)
- The change of business models that emphasized road transportation
In the name of modernaity, major city building projects became extreamly popular in the 1960s. Cities were eger to create new city centres, that promoted financial business over raw manufacturing (dirty) industrial use. For example in Montreal, (then Canada's largest city and major rival to Toronto) had a large number of major urban projects under-construction or in works. Many of these projects would see older historic neighbourhoods torn down, and rebuilt with 'modern' buildings.
Seeing that the land if developed properly, could prove to be lucrative to CN Rail, the company began to explore new uses for their properties. One of the first proposals was for a new tower to be built, surrounded by a neighbourhood of office and residential towers. The only element of this first plan was the broadcasting tower - the CN Tower. Another proposal say the whole rail lands be covered by an emmense pyramid like structure.
The City of Toronto had long sought to redevelop the areas into commercial office space. In the 1980's the city created a masterplan of the area that would see it be an southern extension of the 'Financial District'. The area was to be comprised of mostly financial towers. But with the completetion of BCE Place and Scotia Plaza office towers it contributed to a glut of office space on the market. A further economic downturn in the early 1990's caused the plans to be shelved. The city then proposed that the West Rail lands be used as the atheletes village for the failed 1996 Summer Olympic bid. This helped shift the idea of what to build in the area. The city was very interested in getting the lands developed and revised the masterplan for the area changing it to a residential neighbourhood to the west of SkyDome.
One of the first more recent major developments to be located on the CN Railway lands was SkyDome completed on June 4th, 1989. The stadium development helped to develop a network of roads, parks and infrastructure into the area. The land was further developed with the expansion of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the building of the Air Canada Centre arena.
Today the lands have been nearly completely developed, with the remaining parcels of land soon to see construction. The latest construction project will be the Telus Tower an office building located just south of Union Station, next to the remaining rail lines.
[edit] The Condo Development
The current CityPlace condo development was conceived by Concord Adex developments, the same company that helped revitalize a large section of former Expo 86 lands in Vancouver. Hong Kong magnate Li Ka Shing is known to have large shareholding in Concord Adex.
[edit] Project Scope
- Project Size: 45 acres(182 108.5 m²) including a 7.5 acre(30 351 m²) community park
- Residential development is divided into 10 street blocks, numbered from 1 to 10. Each street block contains a number of residential towers with its own sets of common facilities.
- Block 1 was developed first with 4 towers, namely Matrix A/B and Apex C/D, all with Front Street addresses. The street block features buildings directly facing the entertainment district and the closest walk to the Financial District.
- Bock 2 features 1 building (Optima) only, directly behind the Skydome, fronting on Navy Wharf Court. It features a heightened privacy comparing to the other interconnected towers. Both Block 1 and 2 were completed before 2003.
- Block 3 is the largest street block in the entire Cityplace complex, with 4 towers and a mid-rise building, as well as townhouses to decrease the tension of high density development. The project was named Harbour View Estates and was completed in 2006.
- Block 4 features 2 towers and a mid-rise, mirroring the Harbour View Estates both in location and in design. The buildings are named as WestOne, N1/N2 and The Gallery, to be completed in late 2006.
- Block 5 contains 2 towers (Montage) and a mid-rise building (Neo), to be completed mid 2008.
- Block 6 has further progressed in design as trend evolves, with 2 towers and 1 mid-rise, the project is named as Luna.
- Block 7 to 10 has not reached any final stage of designing, and the estatimated completion for the signature building in Block 10 in 2011.
- Number of Units: over 5000 residential units to date.
[edit] Facts and Figures
- Renown author Douglas Coupland has been approached by Concord Adex for a commission of outdoor installation in the CityPlace Park.
- One of the first construction projects by Concord Adex was the building of a 9-hole golf course and a driving range. The sites have now been torn up to make way for new condo towers, and a road being built on the site.
[edit] Issues about the development
There has been criticizm that Concord Adex has not provided adequate construction material and labour. Problems have arisen with the buildings that are finished and amenities promised to buyers have not come to pass. However, Concord Adex has been quick to address and fix any arising issues.
