Toronto Sugar Wharf Condominiums (Phase 2) | 283.6m | 85s | Menkes | a—A

The flags are still up and the heat is still on in this building. I assume most of the LCBO people have moved to the new tower by now and warehouse operations moved out.

Demolition can’t be too far away.
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The flags are still up and the heat is still on in this building. I assume most of the LCBO people have moved to the new tower by now and warehouse operations moved out.
Where are the new warehouse operations being moved to?
 
Where are the new warehouse operations being moved to?
Already gone. LCBO Durham Warehouse in Whitby - 2000 Boundary Road, several years ago. Teething problems, the relocation itself, and implementation of a new warehouse management system are no longer in the news, so presumably are all history now.
 

Ontario Builds the First Elementary School in Toronto Condo​


Innovative Partnership with Municipality and Developer to Deliver New Lower Yonge Precinct Elementary School in High-Density Development

January 21, 2022

TORONTO—The Ontario government is investing $44 million to build the new Lower Yonge Precinct Elementary School to help working families in Toronto. This historic investment to support families in urban communities in the City of Toronto through the Toronto District School Board, announced by Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, and Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure, will create 455 student spaces as part of the Ford Government’s commitment to building modern, accessible, and technologically connected schools for Ontario youth.

The new school is an innovative project undertaken in collaboration with the school board and Menkes Developments. A podium school, the project is unique in Ontario and will create a school within a new mixed-use condominium project, providing more student accommodation for the lower Yonge and waterfront neighbourhoods. Once complete, the new school could be replicated as an innovative solution to meeting the education needs of working families in urban and high-density environments.

“With many families living in condos and high-density urban communities, we believe their children deserve access to modern and safe schools in the hearts of their communities,” said Minister Lecce. “I am proud to deliver this progressive urban school within a high-density condominium project. This innovative partnership will provide access for young families to a state-of-the-art school in the heart of Toronto.”

The project is part of a provincewide investment of more than $600 million to support new school and child care spaces that were recently announced by Minister Lecce. The overall investment will support 78 school and child care related projects. As part of this investment, the province dedicated more than $565 million to create more than 19,700 new student spaces and 1,500 child care spaces at schools across the province.

“The new Lower Yonge Precinct Elementary School will be a great new addition to our city and will provide much-needed space for students. We know that in a growing city like Toronto, we need unique and creative approaches to creating important public spaces like schools. This new project between the provincial government and Menkes Development will bring the school right into the community at a new mixed-use condominium. If we want to build up this city and our neighbourhoods, we need to ensure that residents have access to all the services they need, including schools – this is one example of how we will achieve this,” said Mayor John Tory.

The investment is part of the Ontario government’s commitment to provide $14 billion to support school construction over 10 years. There are currently more than 300 child care and education building-related projects in development across Ontario with more than 100 actively under construction.

“Innovative infrastructure like the new Lower Yonge Precinct Elementary School not only ensures the best learning environment for our children, it also helps us build more vibrant and resourceful communities. This is part of our government’s plan to invest more than $148 billion over the next 10 years to build schools, hospitals, long-term care facilities, public transit, highways and other facilities families depend on,” said Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure.

Ontario’s investment in new and updated schools will create the foundation for a modern learning environment for hundreds of students across the province. Lower Yonge Precinct Elementary School will be located at Yonge and Harbour Street in Toronto.
“We are thrilled to build Canada’s first elementary school that is completely integrated within a high-density mixed-use development right in downtown Toronto,” said Stephanie Donaldson, Trustee, Ward 9, Davenport and Spadina - Fort York. “This is great news for students in the area and an exciting opportunity for the Toronto District School Board to shape an innovative urban school model that can be used across Ontario and Canada.”

More than $600 million has been allocated to support ventilation improvements in schools across Ontario to support a safer return to school. The Toronto District School Board has benefited from an investment of $65.8 million for ventilation improvements and has almost 16,000 HEPA filter units in place.



Verified to be within the Sugar Wharf development as per Menkes' post on IG. And based on the renderings used in the post, it appears to be the buildings of Phase 2:

 
I posted above about a Toronto Star story saying the school was expected to open in 2024. I figured the 2024 date was just some old info the reporter had taken. But lo' and behold, just saw this post from Menkes on the instagram post linked above.

This means they expect the podium to be built and occupied in ~30 months. That seems quite aggressive, this must be going on sale and starting construction really soon.

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I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but how innovative is it building an urban school inside a high rise? Haven't dense Asian cities been doing this forever?
 
I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but how innovative is it building an urban school inside a high rise? Haven't dense Asian cities been doing this forever?
Yes Debbie, and there are already schools in mixed-use developments in Toronto, including one sorta just across the tracks in the St Lawrence neighbourhood, so this whole "first" thing is just a bunch of hot political air. Yawn. (But good that they're getting going on this.)

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Yes Debbie, and there are already schools in mixed-use developments in Toronto, including one sorta just across the tracks in the St Lawrence neighbourhood, so this whole "first" thing is just a bunch of hot political air. Yawn. (But good that they're getting going on this.)

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There is both Market Lane and Downtown Alternative School inside residential buildings on the Esplanade, though I am not sure if either of those buildings are condos, which is technically the "first" being claimed.
 
There is both Market Lane and Downtown Alternative School inside residential buildings on the Esplanade, though I am not sure if either of those buildings are condos, which is technically the "first" being claimed.
The DAS Is inside a Toronto Community Housing Building, the Market Lane School is really attached to the St Lawrence Community Centre - which has housing above it.
 
The DAS Is inside a Toronto Community Housing Building, the Market Lane School is really attached to the St Lawrence Community Centre - which has housing above it.
Yeah. I don't know enough about those buildings (I walk by them all the time, but why would I know if they are condos or rentals or anything else?) so the claim in the article that it's the first school planned in a "condo" building may be true, but is that the distinction that's relevant to most people?
 
There is both Market Lane and Downtown Alternative School inside residential buildings on the Esplanade, though I am not sure if either of those buildings are condos, which is technically the "first" being claimed.
Right, technically those aren't condos, but Tridel's Republic condo development in Midtown half a dozen years ago incorporated a rebuilt North Toronto Collegiate Institute…

…so the "first" thing is still all short memories, semantics, and political hot air!

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