Category: UrbanToronto

Manufacturers are seeing a post-pandemic push for fully touchless washrooms. The ordeal of 2020-21 has apparently hastened demand for complete conversions. Touchless taps and dryers are already universal but now touchless soap joins them. The picture above shows another innovation — dryers located over the sink so we don’t drop water all over the floor. The principal of automatic washroom devices relies on an infrared light, which sits next to an infrared detector. The sensor works to signal the faucet valve to turn on when your hands come within a few inches of the lip of the spout, bouncing the infrared light off of your skin and to the detector. Urban Toronto

Demolition has begun at the second of two sites on Bayview Ave. where Gairloch Developments will build condominiums. This one is in the 1700 block and sits across the street from the Leaside station. A Facebook post describes what was called a “Platinum Broker’s Event” at the site which left the author more than a little cynical. And the single-family home reaction to the condofication of their neighbourhoods also inspires opposing namecalling too. One comment from “Condovo” on the Urban Toronto site calls the people of Leaside “City-privileged, veteran homeowners with a giant sense of entitlement”. Yep, that’s us.

Urban Toronto reports this week that a 35-storey residential tower is proposed for Brownlow Ave immediately south of the playground for Eglinton Public School. The tower would rise on the east side of the short sidestreet where there is now a row of townhouses. It is the second tower plan announced next to the school in a matter of days.

Another tower is being proposed for the vicinity of Yonge St. and St. Clair Ave. The 39-floor structure is shown on a site on the west side of Yonge at Pleasant Blvd. This is the low-rise 1400 block. It’s the location of many long-time businesses including one of the only Home Hardware stores remaining in the area. Urban Toronto

Urban Toronto, the building site, has posted information on a panel discussion Thursday at noon hour on the number of cranes in Toronto. There is apparently a charge to attend. Cranes continue to multiply in this City at a breathtaking rate. The US-Canada map above is fascinating although one comment points out the New York City count represents only Manhattan. It’s remarkable to think that there are probably more cranes on Toronto’s Broadway Ave. than on the Great White Way. Urban Toronto

The push to remake South Bayview main streets continues with the proposal for a 35-storey condominium tower at 750 Mt. Pleasant Rd. It appears to show a commercial element at street level. This condo would be built next door to the playground of Eglinton Public School which sits on the southwest corner of Mt. Pleasant and Eglinton Ave. Also of note, the project will see the end to the busy little strip mall with parking. Urban Toronto

The City is reviewing plans for a proposed 14-storey residential tower at 11 Pleasant Blvd. That’s the site of a long-time convenience store. The project is opposite St. Clair Line 1 station. The store has been there forever and the picture above shows it in 2015 as a Mac’s. That lovely little parking lot may not be there much longer. Urban Toronto

The City of Toronto and the Government of Ontario have agreed on a plan to incorporate the old Dominion Foundry buildings on Eastern Ave into any new residential development on the site. The property is owned by the province and was the subject of intense community resistance to demolishing the historic factories. No proposal has yet been made for the site. Images released this week from CORE Architects Inc. depict a structure in which the exteriors walls of the building form the first floor of a development. Another image (below) depicts a public space inside a former industrial structure. Urban Toronto

The wisdom of planning by both the City and the province may trouble some people but the mad growth of the Yonge-Eglinton area presses on. It’s known to many as a war zone of construction. Here’s the story on a three-tower wonderment at Broadway and Redpath Aves. Towers will house people at heights of 33, 36 and 38 storeys.

The development site Urban Toronto says that Tribute Communities and Greybrook Realty Partners are proposing a 35-storey condo tower on the northwest corner of Avenue Rd. and Davenport Rd. Urban Toronto

Resubmission proposes residential additions to East Harbour Plan. https://t.co/l7JiMxYncK #Toronto #waterfront #development #planning #architecture pic.twitter.com/Th0yWDNaoa

— UrbanToronto (@Urban_Toronto) July 16, 2021

UrbanToronto is reporting that the “change has rustled some feathers. The former industrial site sits within one of 29 “provincially significant employment zones” in Ontario, and its current zoning does not allow for residential uses”. More

Toronto has once again been the declared City with more construction cranes in the sky than any other on the continent. says the website Urban Toronto. It references a twice-yearly survey of this matter by the consultancy firm Rider Levitt Bucknall. RLB says this crazy busy place had 208 cranes operating in its recent survey. That’s 43 percent of all cranes counted in North America. And it seems Toronto is a regular winner of this (um) distinction. Yeah, we believe it.