Toronto CHAZ | 150.87m | 47s | 45 Charles Ltd | P + S / IBI

perhaps waiting for their social assistance cheques so they can go buy beer...

and p.s. - I love that Nouvelle Vague tune... has a great 1960's London / Carnaby Street vibe!
 
Article in today's National Post....interesting comments about the sidewalk/flowerbeds....


Chaz on Charles

Just south of the busy Bloor and Yonge intersection, the folks behind Chaz on Charles are touting a 39-floor, 420-suite glass tower that will sit atop a five-storey limestone podium.

Longtime developer Jason Fane bought the property in the 1990s and waited for the right opportunity to go after his dream of building towers in Toronto and New York. After a chance meeting with a city councillor several years ago at a Toronto International Film Festival gala, Mr. Fane learned the city was encouraging increased density near subway stations and he knew the time was right. The only question was what look to go after.

“There are a large number of buildings [in Toronto] that, however well they are executed, are just glass shoeboxes turned on end,” Mr. Fane says. “This was a great architectural innovation but it goes back almost 60 years now. We decided to take a different approach and have a more interesting shape.”

Chaz on Charles eschews the traditional rectangular. Rather, Mr. Fane calls it a “complicated” shape that involves 45-degree angles, eight corners, and columns exposed over five floors at different heights. The intriguing design means two-thirds of the units are corner units — or eight per floor. Crowning off the building will be the Chaz Club, a two-storey party zone encased in floor-to-ceiling windows for a spectacular downtown view.

At pedestrian level, the tower will be set back from the sidewalk to encourage a feeling of distance between Chaz and the buildings on the other side of the street. The sidewalk will be widened and flower-filled, making the frontage “feel like a great boulevard,” Mr. Fane says. The top of the five-storey podium will be at the same height as the building next door, “allowing for a five-storey street wall.” A number of three-bedroom condos will be situated in the podium.

For the moment, Mr. Fane is content to continue dreaming about his Manhattan high-rise while he puts his energies into Chaz on Charles.

“People here have difficulty imagining just how bad things are in a lot of other places like Las Vegas, Miami, Greece and Spain,” he says. “Toronto is a happy city. By comparison to just about any place in the world, this is the place to be. “



Rest of article: http://www.nationalpost.com/homes/Fabulous+facades/3678564/story.html#ixzz12ZHpcNxm
 
ChazLobby750.jpg


Coming up on UrbanToronto, has the guy the girls have been waiting for at Chaz on Charles arrived?

ChazLobbywGuy750.jpg


Stay tuned after the news.
 
And now for the news.

We've all seen this rendering before:

ChazExterior750.jpg



Or one close to it at least; this one's sharper than the last, and it lets us get a better look at the podium. Here's a close-up of it:

ChazLimestone.jpg



What becomes obvious in this rendering that was passed over before, is the pattern in the tiles that clad the podium. No wonder we didn't pay any attention before: what's there to talk about when we're presented with yet another precast podium, tile pattern or no?

Well, it may be time start talking, because we've just learned that those tiles are not precast. They are stone. Chaz's podium is being clad in...

Limestone.

Really? Really. It feels good to type that. Limestone. I'm rolling that word around in my mouth. Such a nice feeling after splitting out 'pre-cast' so often.

Good for Edenshaw Homes and 45 Charles Ltd.
 
A number of our loyal viewers were concerned several posts back that there were no renderguys to keep the rendergirls amused in Chaz's lobby. Some speculated that we were all looking at renderdykes, while other viewers were not even sure that all the rendergirls were real girls, but supposed that some of them might be renderdrag queens in reality. Well, it's not a question that we can answer with absolute certainty, but we can now tell you that it's time to get the party started: the guys have arrived.

ChazCourtyardTerrace.jpg



The guys, and there are quite a few of them...

ChazGuys.jpg


...have finished powdering their noses and are now enjoying an evening on Chaz's courtyard terrace with their companions. The terrace is an intimate setting, nestled between the soothing sounds of the water features, and their dappled light which will play on the podium's limestone facade above. The landscaped courtyard also features an alfresco dining area and barbecue, while just inside the sliding glass walls our partiers have access to a wet bar, a living room, a billiards room, and an indoor dining room should the weather turn nasty outside.

Chaz's extensive amenities, which we have already detailed in previous posts, continue on the floor above, and up on the 36th floor with a spectacular double-storey club facing the city's skyline. Looks like pretty nice place to hang out.
 
Cresford has applied for shoring and foundation permits for this project. Just when Charles St. was getting back to normal. I found it kind of amusing that when you put Chaz into the search field 'Charlie' is the first entry.
 
Cresford?

42
 
This has the potential to be great ... I can't wait to see the results here.
 
Here's a local-boys-and-girls-make-good story for you. If it's not obvious from the story below, I'll lay this out plainly: the National Association of Home Builders represents American companies as well as Canadian ones. In fact, the NAHB is Headquartered in Washington DC, has about 175,000 members, and represents 80 percent of all homes built in the US, so the awards below are quite significant.

MONTANA STEELE TOPS ITS OWN RECORD WITH 11 WINS AT THE NATIONALS℠
PRESENTED BY THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS
TORONTO, January 18, 2011 …In January, Montana Steele Advertising Inc. brought home an unprecedented 11 Gold Awards from The Nationals℠ Sales & Marketing ceremony – topping their own record of nine last year. These Awards were presented by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) at the International Builders’ Show to recognize the year’s most outstanding work in residential real estate sales, marketing and design. A panel of industry professionals from across the country selected the winners from more than 700 entries from around the globe.

Montana Steele received four Gold Awards for CHAZ on Charles, including the pinnacle Community of the Year – International, which was the highlight of the ceremony. “It was so exciting,” says Vice President Joe Latobesi, who attended the event in Orlando. “CHAZ rose to the top over entries from all over the world including submissions for many other prestigious buildings in Toronto, which has the hottest condominium market in the world right now. The judges were wowed by how impactful the sales and marketing was with regard to conveying the fabulous CHAZ lifestyle.”

Gold Awards were also presented to Montana Steele for Lora Bay, Bisha Hotel and Residences, The Mercer, Pears and Treviso Condominiums, as well as 49 Silver Awards. “We are honoured to have been recognized by the NAHB again in this way,” says President Rene DeSantis, “and we’re proud to be associated with these premier communities. Branding and marketing new condominiums and home communities is our passion, and to be honoured by such a prestigious industry organization is gratifying.”

“We market about 20 real estate brands a year,” adds Creative Director Andy DeSantis, “and we love creating scenarios that inspire the home-buying market to visit our clients’ websites and sales centres. This recognition by our US peers is further proof that our Toronto real estate industry is setting the bar for development, architecture, design and marketing.”


ABOUT MONTANA STEELE ADVERTISING
Montana Steele is one of the most sought-after real estate advertising firms in North America with a hands-on management team that has years of retail branding experience. Rene DeSantis, Andy DeSantis and Joe Latobesi have led the company to remarkable success in the more than 20 years since it was founded, and today the firm represents an impressive client roster including some of Canada’s largest builders and developers. For more information, visit montanasteele.com.
 
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^ Toronto area builders took 15 of a total of 53 awards categories for the International Builders Show awards last week... 7 of those catergories were for individuals - so Toronto really took something like 15 of 46 awards (nearly 1/3)... not sure whether that says more about Toronto or more about the current state of the housing market in the US and elsewhere...
 
urbandreamer said:
Apparently it won some marketing awards the other day, so I was wondering when construction would start. The area needs a ton more towers, as in downtown Vancouver densities....
Click to expand...

Why does this area need more density? Charles St. is tiny.
 
Real Estate posts regarding this complex have been moved to this thread.
 
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