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Forma’s east tower is approaching grade in Toronto’s lively Entertainment District. The 73-storey first phase will be one of two buildings in a project envisioned by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry for the team of Great Gulf, Dream Unlimited, and Westdale Properties. Forma is rising at the intersection of King Street West and Duncan Street. Adamson Associates is Architect of Record.
The mixed-use development, formerly the site of Ed’s Warehouse restaurant, will bring new luxury residential suites a short walk west of St Andrew station, along with at-grade commercial space plus institutional space for OCAD University. It has been a bit over a year since Forma’s ground breaking ceremony in June, 2023, attended by Gehry himself. UrbanToronto last provided an update in March, 2024, when the excavation pit was fully excavated.
As of June, 2024, extensive rebar installation peppers the site. Centred within the scene is the white tower crane at the southern end of the pit. To the north, a red concrete boom pump extends over the site from the street, for the pouring of concrete for the underground levels. Surrounding this activity, orange safety tarps and tiebacks secure the south and west shoring walls against collapse.
Below in July, 2024, a flatbed truck is parked by the staging area to the west of the site along Ed Mirvish Way, the southern stretch of Duncan Street named in honour of the late businessman. A construction worker uses a crane to hoist bundles of rebar from the truck into the excavation pit, soon to reinforce the concrete of the below-grade levels.
We peer into the densely packed pit in a northwest view. A forest of vertical rebar cages, packed with additional reinforcing bars to shoulder the future loads from above, rises to just being visible from the street, as the development itself approaches grade. Wooden formwork is positioned to the right. Adding a historical touch to the scene are the century-old hand-painted billboards on the northern building wall, revealed during the demolition of Ed's Warehouse.
This high vantage point, northwesterly view over the site showcases Forma’s advancement, with three below grade levels formed, and ongoing formwork of the P1 level. The layout of vertical rebar cages for future walls and columns, is seen populating the area around the formwork adjacent to the tower crane. On the periphery, construction materials are organized to the west of the site, in the closed-off section of the street. Overlooking the site to the far left, a billboard on the sales office promotes the eventual rise of the Forma towers.
Located at 266 King Street West, Forma’s east tower will stand 262.8m and introduce 864 residential suites, featuring a design of stacked volumes and shimmering facades of glass and metal. The west tower is planned at 84 storeys or 308m — making it not just a supertall, but also the tallest building Gehry has ever designed, housing 1,170 units and a hotel within its podium levels.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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UrbanToronto has a research service, UrbanToronto Pro, that provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Toronto Area—from proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.
