About Waterfront Communities C8
Welcome to Toronto’s Waterfront Communities C08 area.
The Waterfront Community C08 stretches east from Yonge Street to the Don Valley, and north from Lake Ontario to Front Street. When describing this area it’s best to start at the Waterfront, where we are looking mostly into the (near) future. Originally, this area served as an industrial port entry for Toronto. Redpath Sugar is one of the last remaining port industries in operation; its refinery and familiar chimney have been part of the Toronto waterfront landscape since the late 1950s, when things looked very different. It has taken many years to plan this redevelopment and the plans are significant.
One Yonge Street will have the tallest condo building in Canada standing 95 storeys tall. The plan is to have three towers (95 to 65 storeys) built on the site of The Toronto Star including two smaller office towers. Next to this project is another development called Sugar Wharf. A highly anticipated development that will add over 2,ooo jobs and 5,000 residential units to the area including retail space, park, and an elementary school. Eventually, there will be five condo towers ranging from 90 storeys to 65 storeys on this site.
If you feel overwhelmed by the condo heights there is a balance in the planning. There is an excellent plan for park space in front of these projects and One Yonge Street will have a 50,000 square foot community centre for all to enjoy.
As we move east along Queens Quay there are a number of other significant projects. Tridel is building the Aqua series of condo buildings. These buildings are much lower in height and some of the buildings will sport fantastic terraces overlooking Lake Ontario. (Note: There is quite the price tag attached to some of these condo units!) At the time of writing, Aqualina and Aquavista developments have been completed and Tridel is currently in phase 3 of development with Aquabella scheduled to be completed at the end of 2022/early 2023.
Daniels has built a new arts centre called Artscape Daniels Launchpad. This is where culture meets the waterfront. Launchpad is a creative hub where artists can expand their potential by connecting with other creative minds. Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention that across the street is Sugar Beach! This is an urban beach at the water’s edge opposite (surprise) the refinery. It’s a great place to get some sun and watch big tankers pull in to the port to drop off raw sugar at Redpath. Next door to Sugar Beach is Corus Quay, home to Corus Entertainment and a campus of George Brown College. Already, this area has changed so much, illustrated by the contrast of the two sides.
At the base of lower Sherbourne are two parks that connect to the water. Greenland Developments will be building a series of 3 Lakeside Residences next to the park. All the major builders have a hand in developing this area.
At the time of writing, the stretch of land along Toronto’s eastern waterfront is currently under negotiations with Dream Unlimited Corp and Great Gulf Group to bring over 800 affordable housing units, two-acre forested green space, urban farm, and a multi-use art venue to the waterfront. Sidewalks Labs, part of Google’s parent company Alphabet, was originally supposed to develop this area, but the project was abandoned in 2020 due to economic uncertainty.
We did tell you there is a lot going on!
Moving north to The Esplanade things quiet down significantly. While there have been new condos built here, historic brick is more the norm. The Esplanade reminds us of “Cheery Old London England” to some degree, with pubs and outdoor patios greeting the street. It’s a great place to live and it’s also a great place to be entertained. Walking east from Yonge Street on The Esplanade you will be greeted by the L Tower condo building. (yes, it does indeed look like the capital letter L!)
Further along are a series of condos, office buildings and a hotel. There is also mixed housing. (One condo building is even just for retired actors and other film industry people!) As we approach Jarvis Street the St. Lawrence Market appears. Continuing east of Jarvis there are a number of older condo buildings along with a mix of co-op buildings; running through the middle is David Crombie Park. The summer months are teeming with local residents enjoying the warm days and nights watching people play basketball and walking their dogs. One condo project to keep an eye on in this area is Time and Space. This will be an excellent addition to the area once it is completed.
This area is the face of Toronto. All types of ethnicities and levels of wealth live beside each other here in harmony. This is a great part of the city to live in. If you travel a lot, Union Station is a five minute walk away, where the Union-Pearson (UP) Express will get you to Pearson airport in 25 minutes.
One last thing: you have to visit Berzy Park Dog Fountain! It is not to be missed…unless you are a cat!
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