Pencil-thin 94-storey tower proposed to loom high over busy Toronto street
Toronto's years-long development boom is shifting the height balance away from the Financial District with new skyscraper peaks around the downtown core.
Perhaps none will be as significant as the growth spurt reshaping the Yonge and Bloor area, where one of the top-two-tallest towers in the country is under construction, and another massive tower could be just around the corner.
A new titan was just proposed for what is shaping up to be Toronto's version of the Billionaires' Row towers that loom over Central Park in Manhattan, an ultra-thin 94-storey behemoth that would rise taller than anything that exists in Canada today.
Developers Reserve Properties and Westdale Properties have jointly proposed a massive addition to the Mink Mile at 15-19 Bloor Street West, the site of a recently-departed H&M location and an adjacent Scotiabank branch.
The new application was submitted to city planners in early March, detailing an ambitious plan to construct a sky-scraping tower stretching almost 302 metres into the skyline with a design from architects IBI Group.
At that height, it would be among the first Canadian buildings to surpass the elusive 300-metre/1000-foot mark, where a skyscraper takes on the even more impressive (but completely arbitrary) title of "supertall" according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
Another so-called supertall is under construction just next door at The One, and a second underway at One Yonge, so while this won't be the first building to cross this threshold, it appears that the ultra-tall building craze has only just begun in Toronto.
The proposed building would contain just over 270 square metres of ground-floor retail space, maintaining the strip of classy commercial spaces along Bloor Street West.
Above, a total of 1,262 condominium units are planned in a breakdown of 84 studios, 653 one-bedrooms, 459 two-bedrooms, and 126 three-bedroom units.
Despite the proximity of both Bloor-Yonge and Bay subway stations, the proposal includes a four-level-deep underground garage, though due to the slender site footprint, this component would only support 70 parking spaces.
The majority of the (likely ultra-wealthy) condo dwellers above would instead be faced with the prospect of (gasp) public transit, along with a pick-up and drop-off area for what I'm guessing will be a ride-sharing service hotspot.
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