The Canary District is a planned neighbourhood in Toronto's West Don Lands mixed-use development. [1] The area was formerly industrial land, cut off from the city by an elevated roadway and two rail corridors, sitting in a floodplain. Six initial buildings initially served as the 2015 Pan American Games Athletes' Village for the 2015 Pan American Games. [2] Those buildings were then finished and converted to private residences. More buildings have since been constructed for private residences, with Front Street lined with stores, businesses and restaurants.
For decades an iconic restaurant, the Canary, was located in the Cherry Street Hotel, a heritage building on the southeast corner of Cherry and Front streets, the gateway to the new district. [3] The restaurant mounted a large neon Canary, and developers chose to name the new development after the iconic restaurant.
Canary District is bounded on the west by Cherry Street and on the east by the Don River; on the north by Eastern Avenue and on the south by the railroad tracks. The natural focal point of the area is Corktown Common Park.
There are no separate dwellings in the area; all the residences are either condominiums or rental housing. There more than a dozen building developments — most now complete but several are still under construction or in the pre-construction phase. [4] Once all the planned developments are complete there will be more than 6,000 apartments in the district, making for a population of more than 10,000. The area also includes the Cooper Koo YMCA, [5] a student residence owned by George Brown College, [6] and an indigenous health hub run by Anishnawbe Health Toronto. [7]
The project is developed by a joint venture, Dundee Kilmer Developments, formed by Toronto-based real estate company Dream and Kilmer Van Norstrand Co. Construction companies Ledcor Group of Companies and EllisDon have completed the construction on the project. All buildings in the district are built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standards. [8]
The first residential buildings ready for occupancy at the western end of the district served as the Athlete's Village. [9] [10] The apartments that housed the athletes were not fully finished. The apartments' wood flooring was installed after the games were over, so the athletes gear wouldn't damage the floors' finish. Since the athletes dined in central cafeterias the apartments' kitchens was used as an additional bedroom, with the kitchen fittings installed when the games were over. A total of 787 units were completed in time for the Games. Conversion from athlete's housing was completed in April 2016 and the first permanent residents will move into the buildings in May 2016. [11]
In conjunction with the residential development, Corktown Common park was built as a barrier to flooding from the Don River, which forms the eastern boundary of the area. The Distillery Loop and Cherry Street branch was added to the existing 504 King streetcar line. Several heritage buildings were preserved, including the original Canary Restaurant building (a former 1850s school), the CN Police building, and the Dominion Foundry Site were preserved.
In 2020-21 the Government of Ontario issued a Minister's Zoning Order (MZO) for the Dominion Foundry Site and attempted to demolish the heritage buildings on it in preparation for sale to Aspen Ridge, a prominent development company owned by the de Gasperis family. [12] [13] [14] The public protested the demolition and successfully stopped the plan. [15] The site was purchased by Aspen Ridge in March 2022 and a development plan preserving the remaining heritage buildings is going forward. [16] [17]
Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east–west avenues of Toronto's and York County's grid pattern of major roads. The western section of Queen is a centre for Canadian broadcasting, music, fashion, performance, and the visual arts. Over the past twenty-five years, Queen West has become an international arts centre and a tourist attraction in Toronto.
Corktown is an older residential neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The neighbourhood is south of Shuter Street, north of the Gardiner Expressway, east of Parliament Street, and west of Don River to the east. Corktown contains many vacated industrial buildings, some now used for movie production, and others repurposed for studios and shops. The West Don Lands development is in the south-east corner of this area.
The Toronto waterfront is the lakeshore of Lake Ontario in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans 46 kilometres between the mouth of Etobicoke Creek in the west and the Rouge River in the east.
King Street is a major east–west commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was one of the first streets laid out in the 1793 plan of the town of York, which became Toronto in 1834.
Parkway Forest is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the north of the city, in the former suburb of North York. Parkway Forest is bounded on the west by Don Mills Road, on the north by Sheppard Avenue, on the east by the Don Valley Parkway, and on the south by Highway 401. It is contained within the city's officially designated neighbourhood of Henry Farm, although it is distinct in character from the residential community of that same name west of Don Mills Road. Parkway Forest is part of Ward 17 in the Toronto City Council, part of the new Don Valley North federal electoral district, and part of the Don Valley East provincial electoral district.
Front Street is an east–west road in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. First laid out in 1796, the street is one of the original streets of the Town of York. The street was laid out along the shoreline of Lake Ontario as it existed during that time. It remains an important street, with many important uses located along it, including the St. Lawrence Market, Meridian Hall, Union Station and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The eastern section of Front Street, in the West Don Lands, east of Cherry Street, is being rebuilt as a broad tree-lined boulevard, intended to be the pedestrian-friendly commercial spine of the new neighbourhood.
The Distillery District is a commercial and residential district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, east of downtown, which contains numerous cafés, restaurants, and shops housed within heritage buildings of the former Gooderham and Worts Distillery. The 13 acres (5.3 ha) district comprises more than forty heritage buildings and ten streets, and is the largest collection of Victorian-era industrial architecture in North America.
Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the northwest, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don Valley to the east, and Bathurst Street to the west. It is also the home of the municipal government of Toronto and the Government of Ontario.
Moss Park is a residential neighbourhood located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The area known as Moss Park is typically considered to be between Jarvis Street and Parliament Street, south of Dundas Street, an area dominated by public housing projects. According to one set of boundaries of the City of Toronto, it is roughly L-shaped, bounded on the north by Carlton Street to Parliament Street, on the east by Parliament Street to Queen Street East and the Don River, on the south by Eastern Avenue and Front Street, and on the west by Jarvis Street. This larger concept of the area includes the neighbourhoods known as Corktown and the Garden District, as well as a portion of Cabbagetown.
Midtown is one of four central business districts outside the city's downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the north of Old Toronto, its borders are roughly defined by St. Clair Avenue to the south and Eglinton Avenue or Lawrence Avenue to the north, Bayview Avenue to the east and Dufferin Street to the west. The central neighbourhood of the area is Yonge–Eglinton.
The West Don Lands are the site of a neighbourhood under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The area is bordered by the Don River, King Street, Parliament Street and the rail line adjacent to the Gardiner Expressway. It is 80 hectares in size. A former industrial area, the area is being rebuilt as a mixed-use neighbourhood.
Cherry Street is a north-south arterial roadway in the eastern downtown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is situated in a former industrial area, that is now the site of redevelopment. It connects Eastern Avenue south to Lake Shore Boulevard, then to the Toronto Port Lands district, and terminates at Lake Ontario at Cherry Beach.
The Dominion Hotel is a restaurant and former hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed in the late nineteenth century in the Corktown neighbourhood, it is a heritage hotel structure that has not been torn down and replaced with a modern structure. The structure is a designated heritage property.
The Don Brewery was a brewery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was one of the largest breweries in 19th century Toronto. It was located along the Don River in the Corktown neighbourhood of Toronto.
Corktown Common is a park in the south eastern portion of the West Don Lands neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada which opened in 2013. It borders the Don River to the east. It was built on remediated industrial lands to be the centrepiece of a new emerging neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. It also provides a barrier to flooding from the Don River.
The Cherry Street Hotel is an 1859 heritage building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southeast corner of Front Street and Cherry Street, in the West Don Lands neighbourhood. The structure was originally the Palace Street School, which closed in 1887. The building was converted into a hotel, and later became an industrial building housing small industry. In the 1960s, the Canary Restaurant opened. The building became a type of incubator, renting small spaces for artists and small businesses. The restaurant closed after the area around the building was demolished for the new West Don Lands community. The building has been integrated into the new community and its facade retained and restored. Its next use has not been announced.
The Canadian National Railway Police Building, also known as the Canadian National Railways Office Building is a 1923 heritage building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the corner of Front Street and Cherry Street in the West Don Lands neighbourhood. The building served as the Toronto headquarters for the Canadian National Railways (CNR) police. It is one of two preserved buildings on Cherry Street that weren't demolished to make way for a new housing development, the other being the Cherry Street Hotel, across the street on the southeast corner. On April 14, 2005, the City of Toronto Council approved the listing of the property on the City of Toronto Heritage Property Inventory.
The Athlete's village for the 2015 Pan American Games and 2015 Parapan American Games cost $735 million CAD and had the capacity to hold up to 7,200 athletes and officials. After the games the village was converted to 746 market priced condos, 41 market-priced town homes, 250 affordable-rent apartments, 257 student dormitory units for George Brown College, office and retail units, and a YMCA recreation centre. The Athlete's Village was located in the West Don Lands along Front Street between Bayview Avenue and Cherry Street in Toronto. The development was certified LEED Gold. Five satellite villages were also used to house athletes that were competing in venues far from the main village.
South Quay Plaza is a residential-led development under construction on the Isle of Dogs, London, England, within the borough of Tower Hamlets. It is being developed by Berkeley Group Holdings and was designed by architect Foster + Partners. The site of the development lies to the immediate north of Marsh Wall and to the immediate south of the financial district Canary Wharf. The entire development is scheduled for completion in 2028.
The Dominion Foundry Site is a group of heritage industrial buildings in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The site was developed by Dominion Wheel & Foundries Limited, a rail parts manufacturer based in Toronto. Now publicly owned, the site is planned for sale and redevelopment. The plans for redevelopment by the Government of Ontario have been controversial, sparking public opposition.
The main east/west axis of the Canary District, which extends from the Don River to Cherry St. south of Eastern Ave., is Front St. It now runs east to the newly configured Bayview.
Some might think so. But others will recognize the name as a throwback to the legendary diner that for decades occupied the corner of Front and Cherry Sts. The Canary Restaurant — which served up cheap and greasy grub to truckers and warehousemen, cops and junkies — set up shop in the old brick building in 1965, when the area was an industrial hub.
The waterfront site will host the athletes of the Pan Parapan American Games in 2015, before becoming a master-planned residential community, designed with sustainability and innovation in mind.
From the outside it appeared a polished complex of two mid-rise towers – but the interiors looked more slapdash, a dormitory of kitchenless suites and tiny bedrooms that will soon house bunkbeds.