Toronto Clear Spirit | 131.36m | 40s | Cityscape | a—A

Today:

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Thanks for all the pics. One thing your recent updates remind me of is the desperate need to develop and beautify south of the Gardiner east of Yonge, especially here around Church/Jarvis/Parliament.

Brutal.
 
Miscreant said:
Thanks for all the pics. One thing your recent updates remind me of is the desperate need to develop and beautify south of the Gardiner east of Yonge, especially here around Church/Jarvis/Parliament.

Brutal.
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This IS the Plan for Waterfront Toronto. Compared to 3 years ago...it's already a huge improvement! The Parks are great. My family loves them. Sugar Beach is one of my favorite spots to take an afternoon break from work sitting in the white muskoka chairs :) And along the waterfront walk at Corus Quay and George Brown it's really nice. It's just a little slow maybe in residential development in the East Bayfront area, as shown in the foreground in the pic above by someMidTowner, but at some point Monde will be built (fingers crossed on this!) as well as the Bayside development beside Sherbourne Common (which should be brought to market soon-ish). And retail will come, too.

I was in school in urban planning 14 years ago and we went on a tour of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery area...and were told all these great plans and visions for the site...and I guess they became true because the Distillery District HAS become a destination, and a well-loved one at that, and one where people live and work and play. The definition of a community.

Clear Spirit is a handsome project! Always love to see where its development is at. Some great views from high up, indeed.
 
Yeah, you're right. I spose my main concern is that, with the condo market slowdown, some of those east bayfront developments are hanging in the balance. Perhaps Waterfront Toronto has a mandate to develop them sooner or later, so it's not a question of if but of when. Regardless, I'd love to see this area humming over the next five years, instead of having to wait ten or more.
 
I hear you on this! 10 or more years wait can get discouraging. At least the parks are in while we wait for residential and retail developments!

While tall buildings can be very beautiful and add to our skyline, it's hard to sell architecture in this City from a real-estate standpoint. A lot of people cannot buy from floor plans and/or renderings (none of my friends can!!!) and they don't want to wait 5 or 6 years for these tall condo apartments to be built.

That's why some smaller, boutique projects can be approved, marketed, and built relatively quickly and add to the neighbourhood in a very positive way (say like Trinity Lofts).

This is why I'm digging the Canary District/Pan Am Village site in the WDL's...it is BEING built regardless of market conditions right now.

For those that initially purchased in Clear Spirt, they have made a very good investment indeed...patience does pay off after all :)
 
Great shots, rdaner!

Loving the new retail that will be coming, too. I'm guessing the original bricks are in great supply for paving walkways, etc.

But is it just me, or are those concrete columns supporting the ENTIRE building looking just a little crooked :confused:?

Just kidding :D. Lobby/entrance area looking great.

Nice that some of the fences/hording are coming down for us to see in ;)
 
TOCondoGarden said:
...
I was in school in urban planning 14 years ago and we went on a tour of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery area...and were told all these great plans and visions for the site...and I guess they became true because the Distillery District HAS become a destination, and a well-loved one at that, and one where people live and work and play. The definition of a community.

Clear Spirit is a handsome project! Always love to see where its development is at. Some great views from high up, indeed.
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I've been waiting for this neighborhood to develop and grow as well. Everybody I talk to (who don't live in this neighborhood) see the Distillery District as a sought-after area that is going to grow bigger and better. What's interesting is that these sentiments have gone on for the better part of the last 5-10 years. The Distillery District is bustling on the weekends but during the weekday and at night, it is really is dead. Aside from some noise from the Boiler House or from the Mill St Brewery, there isn't a lot of activity on the streets. There's also not a lot of through-traffic either. Yes, some residents like the quaintness but a neighborhood can't keep thriving like that. With developments like this, and the road construction taking place right now on Cherry Street, it's a positive sign and a right step forward in making the Distillery not just a bustling attraction and place to visit for people in other Toronto neighborhoods, but a bustling community for its own locals.
 
Rdaner, thanks for the great photos. They truly emphasize the difference between aA and a lot of inferior firms. From a distance I can understand why some might be less than excited by some of aA's designs, but it's the attention to detail and subtle design elements that really make the buildings: the gorgeous glass, creative use of balconies and shifting form, excellent proportions, and fun details (in this case the slanted columns).

I'd take a restrained but clever building like this over any brash "look at me!" condo any day. I don't mean to start any of those debates again, but few firms can match the attention to detail as demonstrated here.
 
James said:
I've been waiting for this neighborhood to develop and grow as well. Everybody I talk to (who don't live in this neighborhood) see the Distillery District as a sought-after area that is going to grow bigger and better. What's interesting is that these sentiments have gone on for the better part of the last 5-10 years. The Distillery District is bustling on the weekends but during the weekday and at night, it is really is dead. Aside from some noise from the Boiler House or from the Mill St Brewery, there isn't a lot of activity on the streets. There's also not a lot of through-traffic either. Yes, some residents like the quaintness but a neighborhood can't keep thriving like that. With developments like this, and the road construction taking place right now on Cherry Street, it's a positive sign and a right step forward in making the Distillery not just a bustling attraction and place to visit for people in other Toronto neighborhoods, but a bustling community for its own locals.
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If you think it's dead now you should have seen it ten years ago. The whole neighbourood, if you could call it that, resembled a ghost town. It was mostly (spotty) film and commercial production, and cheap storage and construction & welding shops down there. Not a lot of people lived on Mill or Cherry Street.

It's certainly getting better. Once the road work is done and they're finished the build-out around there it'll be hopping pretty good.
 
I really like the crinkled sides of the tower and how the tower straddles over the podium rather than sitting on top of it like most condos in the city.
However I don't like the alternating clear and fritted balcony glass, which makes it look like it's trying too hard and makes it look to patterny. Each plane should be of its own type of glass to emphasize the faceting of the tower instead.

There are lots of interesting details and architectural features which makes for a very engaging building and a nice contrast and complement to the historical surroundings.
 
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