Photos: James Bombales
After over 20 years of construction, Toronto’s CityPlace community is approaching completion. The master-planned community by Vancouver-based Concord Adex spans 50 acres over the former Railway Lands between Bathurst Street and Spadina and has become home to over 20,000 residents since its launch in the late 1990s. The final phase of the community was unveiled in 2017 and features a pair of Page + Steele IBI Group Architects-designed towers called Concord Canada House.
Construction on the project commenced in 2018 with the demolition of the presentation centre, which had been used by the developer since the inception of the community. The next year saw crews excavating the six-level underground parking garage, followed by shoring work, in preparation for subsequent floors.
Today, two cranes have been installed on the east and west side of the pit and concrete columns and supports can be seen rising from the lower levels of the garage. Once construction reaches grade level later this year, crews will begin work on the shared 10-storey podium.
When completed, Concord Canada House will be the tallest phase of CityPlace, with 68- and 79-storey towers rising above the corner of Spadina Avenue and Bremner Boulevard. The exterior of the buildings will feature a unique lighting element with programmed LED strips that gradually light up to form an elegant maple leaf shape.
Inside, the towers will house approximately 1,364 units with layouts ranging from one-bedroom suites to three-bedroom units with a den. Standard features include wide-plank laminate floors in main living areas, soft-close kitchen cabinets by Blum, quartz countertops and a Miele appliance package. Suites also boast large outdoor living rooms complete with radiant ceiling heaters, balcony lights, woodgrain soffit ceilings, composite wood decking and sliding glass doors with extra-wide openings (as per plan).
Residents will have even more outdoor space on the rooftop terrace above the podium where plans call for a pond and water feature inspired by Canada’s renowned Rideau Canal. The centrepiece of the expansive outdoor area is a sculpture of a 19th-century schooner, a nod to the historic wooden schooner that was discovered at the site of another CityPlace building at 70 Queens Wharf Road in 2015. In the winter, the pond transforms into a skating rink. Other amenities include an on-site car wash, EV charging stations, fully-equipped SkyGym, swimming pool and SkyLounge cocktail bar on the 79th floor.
