TORONTO, May 15, 2012 /CNW/ - A team of award-winning architects, city officials and developer Dundee Kilmer Developments L.P. executives broke ground on Block 11, the first market condominium building of the Canary District to be constructed.
Following the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan Am Games, the area will transition from an Athletes' Village into Toronto's most ambitious city-building project in generations, with the cutting-edge residence rebranded as the Canary District Condominiums. Sales will begin in June, 2012.
The Canary District Condominiums will be housed in the exciting 35-acre neighbourhood, an area in the city's West Don Lands. The sustainable, mixed use neighbourhood will feature 8 buildings including market condominiums, affordable housing, George Brown College student residences, YMCA, and world-class lifestyle amenities and top-tier retail—a winning combination that's sure to make it Toronto's most desirable live-work-play destination.
"The dynamic urban lifestyle that the Canary District will offer is reflected in its first buildings, carefully crafted to offer refuge to busy professionals, growing families, and empty-nesters alike, within a lasting community where people want to live, want to work, and want to invest their time and their money," Dundee Kilmer Developments L.P. President Jason Lester said.
The one and two bedroom (some with dens) suites start in the low $200,000's. There will also be townhomes and lofts.
The Canary District Condominiums have been designed to bring a unique, urban modernism to a former brownfield site, while establishing a direct connection to surrounding neighbourhoods such as the historic Distillery District.
Designed by KPMB Architects with interiors by Munge Leung, the 369-unit building is being constructed to achieve LEED® Gold certification, while incorporating local materials throughout.
The building's exteriors are defined by stone, metal and glass—also reflected in the treatment of its interiors—while the building's exterior provides an excellent social amenity space complemented by a serene flowing water feature. With its showpiece two-storey glass lobby pavilions and amenities such as a party room, billiard room and dining room for residents and their guests, the buzz already swirling about the Canary District Condominiums should surprise no one.
What may take some aback are the suites' well-appointed finishes. Hardwood and engineered floors grace interiors throughout the building (utilizing locally-sourced materials), while kitchens featuring ceramic porcelain backsplashes, built-in and concealed kitchen appliances and European-style kitchen range hoods make this one of the most tempting condo buys in Toronto's history.
So, too, does the neighbourhood in which it's located. The Canary District features extensive pedestrian networks to ensure maximum walkability, open and transparent streetscapes, as well as large-scale building windows and balconies to offer a connection between residents living above and the bustle of streets below—a direct nod to the late Toronto urban planning visionary Jane Jacobs' 'eyes on the street' thesis. Street-level amenities will include retail stores, cafes and restaurants, as well as accessible community and recreational services at the base of residential buildings.
To connect the Canary District with the neighbouring Distillery District, materials such as masonry are being used at street-level, while a contemporary and modern design aesthetic has prevailed to exemplify the area's status as Toronto's most cutting-edge new community. The community's overall design maximizes green spaces throughout and meets LEED® Gold criteria, while honouring requirements of Toronto's Mandatory Green Building standard.
But as Lester pointed out, the Canary District Condominiums offer buyers even more than first-class amenities and the opportunity to lay roots in an attractive new neighbourhood. "This is an opportunity to buy a living memory of a moment in Toronto history," he said, "a moment when the world will come to us, and we will greet all with the hospitality and diversity for which we are known."
For more information about the Canary District Condominiums, please visit http://www.canarydistrict.com/
About Dundee Kilmer Developments L.P.
Dundee Kilmer Developments Limited is a partnership between Dundee Realty Corporation and Kilmer Van Nostrand for the purpose of developing the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games Athletes' Village project in the West Don Lands. Dundee Realty Corporation is a privately-held Toronto-based real estate investment, development and asset management company with approximately $7 billion in assets under management. Dundee Realty brings extensive mixed-use development and financing experience to the Project. In particular, Dundee Realty offers relevant and unique investment and development experience in the immediate vicinity of the Project site that will bring enhanced value to the Project Team.
Kilmer Van Nostrand Co. Limited is the private investment holding company of Canadian business leader and philanthropist, Larry Tanenbaum. Kilmer actively builds and manages investments in real estate and infrastructure, sports, entertainment and media, and private equity. The firm is a well-qualified partner for the Project given its over 40 years of experience in the construction and development industry in Canada, and its track record in partnering with the public sector throughout Canada in the delivery and management of infrastructure assets.
A fusion of diverse talents and strengths, Dundee Kilmer is the ideal team with the knowhow and experience to bring the vision of Canary District to life.
ARCHITECTS UNVEIL DYNAMIC DESIGNS FOR VIBRANT NEW CANARY DISTRICT
Ground is broken for first condominium building
Cutting-edge vision for future live-work-play neighbourhood is unveiled
Toronto's most exciting new neighbourhood is about to take shape.
A team of renowned architects, city officials and developers, today broke ground on the exciting Canary District, an area in the city's West Don Lands which will transform from a home for athletes participating in the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games, into Toronto's most ambitious city-building project in generations.
Award-winning, Toronto-based architects Peter Clewes of architectsAlliance and Bruce Kuwabara of KPMB Architects—representing a high-profile Integrated Design Team—along with Waterfront Toronto vice-president of development, Meg Davis, outlined the stunning architectural vision for the dynamic Canary District and surrounding neighbourhood. The sustainable, mixed use neighbourhood will feature 8 buildings including market condominiums, affordable housing, George Brown College student residence, YMCA, and world-class lifestyle amenities and top-tier retail—a winning combination that's sure to make it Toronto's most desirable live-work-play destination for decades to come.
"Unlike many athletes' village projects which are purpose-built to house competitors during major athletic events and then converted to other uses following the games, this project is advancing the building of a community that was already planned and under development," Davis said of the ambitious project.
Hosted by Soulpepper Theatre Company artistic director Albert Schultz, the event also included an overview of plans for Block 11—Canary District Condominiums, the first building slated for construction—by Dundee Kilmer, and a ground-breaking ceremony for the building. Sales will commence in June 2012.
Of course, this isn't the area's first shift in appearance. Originally a Carolinian forest, the West Don Lands has experienced numerous reinventions as parkland in the nineteenth century, a residential community at the turn of the century and an industrial rail land for most of the 20th century.
As Kuwabara and Clewes pointed out, this latest transformation is poised to reshape the West Don Lands once again, leaving behind a sustainable live-work-play neighbourhood that will forever change Toronto's waterfront.
To ensure aesthetic diversity across the Canary District, teams from four architecture firms—architectsAlliance, KPMB, Daoust Lestage Inc., and MacLellan Jaunkalns Miller Architects—were commissioned to design unique, contemporary buildings reflective of their trademark architectural styles. The Integrated Design Team was tasked to work within Waterfront Toronto's precinct and block plan built over years of intensive consultation between key stakeholders such as the City of Toronto, local community groups, Infrastructure Ontario, and TO2015 while still injecting their own unique creative flourishes to build a truly livable and sustainable neighbourhood.
"Our challenge was to transform the prescribed blocks into highly livable, contemporary modern architecture while restoring the West Don Lands to the city and contributing to the Waterfront Toronto revitalization vision," said Kuwabara.
Clewes added that the neighbourhood was designed from the outset as a community for the 21st century, one that achieved a perfect balance between the city and nature. "This is a unique site at the mouth of a historic river, where people can live, work and play in urbane, modern buildings, in the midst of an urban landscape of animated streetscapes, public spaces, pathways, courtyards and plazas," he said.
Some of the key elements incorporated into the design of the District include an extensive pedestrian network to allow for a highly walkable neighbourhood, open and transparent streetscapes, as well as large-scale building windows and balconies to offer a connection between residents living above and the bustle of streets below—a direct nod to the late Toronto urban planning visionary Jane Jacobs' 'eyes on the street' thesis. Amenities at the base of residential buildings will include retail stores, cafes and restaurants, as well as accessible community and recreational services.
To connect the Canary District with the neighbouring Distillery District, materials such as masonry are being used at street-level, while a contemporary and modern design aesthetic has prevailed to exemplify the area's status as Toronto's most cutting-edge new community. The community's overall design maximizes green spaces throughout and meets LEED® Gold criteria, while honouring requirements of Toronto's Mandatory Green Building standard.
For more information about the Canary District, please visit www.canarydistrict.com
About Dundee Kilmer Developments L.P.
Dundee Kilmer Developments Limited is a partnership between Dundee Realty Corporation and Kilmer Van Nostrand for the purpose of developing the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games Athletes' Village project in the West Don Lands. Dundee Realty Corporation is a privately-held Toronto-based real estate investment, development and asset management company with approximately $7 billion in assets under management. Dundee Realty brings extensive mixed-use development and financing experience to the Project. In particular, Dundee Realty offers relevant and unique investment and development experience in the immediate vicinity of the Project site that will bring enhanced value to the Project Team.
Kilmer Van Nostrand Co. Limited is the private investment holding company of Canadian business leader and philanthropist, Larry Tanenbaum. Kilmer actively builds and manages investments in real estate and infrastructure, sports, entertainment and media, and private equity. The firm is a well-qualified partner for the Project given its over 40 years of experience in the construction and development industry in Canada, and its track record in partnering with the public sector throughout Canada in the delivery and management of infrastructure assets.
A fusion of diverse talents and strengths, Dundee Kilmer is the ideal team with the knowhow and experience to bring the vision of Canary District to life.
Image with caption: "FRONT STREET PROMENADE (CNW Group/Canary District Condominiums)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120515_C7877_PHOTO_EN_13753.jpg
Image with caption: "THE NEIGHBOURHOOD - PARK VIEW (CNW Group/Canary District Condominiums)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120515_C7877_PHOTO_EN_13754.jpg
Image with caption: "CANARY DISTRICT CONDOMINIUMS (CNW Group/Canary District Condominiums)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120515_C7877_PHOTO_EN_13755.jpg
David Eisenstadt / Beth Merrick / Rhoda Eisenstadt
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