@s-k-mo: Welcome to the board! I'm not an expert myself but some of the people on the board have watched a lot of construction in Toronto over the years. I think they would tell you from experience that builders' projections of completion date are often very optimistic and are frequently missed by many months, sometimes years. Also from their experience, they can estimate with a fair degree of accuracy how long it will take to complete a project. If they say 2018, they are probably right.
Also, from my own direct experience with a building project, I can say how surprisingly long it is to completion even from topping out and closing in the building. This one isn't even near topping out.
Still, I hope for your sake that they are fast with this one! All the best.
Agree completely. About the best a developer / builder can do is four to five typical floors a month. Six floors a month would be equivalent to a floor and a half each and every week - no allowance for holidays, etc.
And then, when it gets to the top two or three floor - the penthouse, and sometimes sub-penthouse floors are custom layouts, requiring more time. The mechanical penthouse and the roof structure are also custom, again requiring more time.
While some of the mechanical and electrical systems rough-in will take place while the floors above are being poured, there is a lot which cannot take place until the majority of the building has been enclosed. Anyone want to do drywalling, when the floors above are open to the elements, rainwater seeping down?
Installation and commissioning of the core electrical and mechanical systems - the boilers, central air conditioning equipment, elevators, and so on takes a lot of time. Did I mention elevators? (I think I did.) With todays demand for elevator technicians, getting anything elevator related done takes inordinate amounts of time.
A final note - life safety systems. The city will not issue an occupancy permit until the life safety systems for the floors being inhabited are commissioned, certified, and inspected as working properly. The various fire detectors, the pull stations, the fire hose cabinets are done, portable fire extinguishers all in place, sprinkler systems installed and commissioned, and most crucial - the Fire Alarm Control Panel is connected to everything, programmed, tested, commissioned, and inspected. Also to be in place are the security access and control systems - although it is possible to hire temporary security and patrol staff to provide interim security until the formal systems are fully working.
So - between topping off (which personally I would guess to be about a year from now, maybe a bit less), crane removal three to four months or so after topping off, and then completion of all the other prerequisites - another five or six months, I would think that initial occupancy may most likely take place in the fall of 2018. Possibly in the late summer, if all the stars align (very rare) and very possible later, if there are construction industry strikes, an accident on the site, supplier or contractor bankruptcy (such as in the L Tower delays) or some other unfortunate circumstance.
