TORONTO, May 22, 2015 /CNW/ - Toronto Mayor John
Tory, Deputy Mayor Pam
McConnell, Waterfront Toronto's Vice President, Development
Meg Davis, Hines Country Head Avi Tesciuba, Tridel President
Leo DelZotto, and Artscape CEO
Tim Jones gathered to break ground
on the first of eight buildings in the 13-acre Bayside Toronto
development, a mix of residential, employment, cultural and
commercial space that will change the face of the waterfront.
Waterfront Toronto's largest
private-sector development project to date, the $910-million Bayside development will connect Toronto's downtown to the water's edge along
Queens Quay East. When development is complete, there will be 1,800
units in six residential buildings, and two new office buildings
with 400,000 square feet of space for more than 3,000 jobs.
Bayside will have access to
Beanfield Metroconnect's waterfront-wide ultra-high speed broadband
network that provides one of Canada's fastest network speeds at very
competitive prices.
Aqualina is the first building in this mixed-use Bayside community. It will form a significant
part of the East Bayfront neighbourhood, which has been
master-planned by Waterfront Toronto. The start of construction is
an important milestone for purchasers as well as the Hines/Tridel
development team that recently launched Aquavista, the second
residential project in Bayside.
Aquavista will feature 80 affordable rental units to be operated by
Toronto not-for-profit
Artscape.
The larger Bayside development
shows that developers can incorporate high-performance
sustainability, design excellence and thoughtful planning of a
mixed-use development as part of a detailed precinct plan, by:
- Setting sustainability benchmarks: Bayside aims to be Toronto's first LEED-ND Gold neighborhood, and
all buildings will target LEED Gold certification. Aqualina and
Aquavista are targeting LEED Platinum certification.
- Meeting Waterfront Toronto's design standards: The master plan
for Bayside accommodates a mixture
of uses and a range of urban built form, with buildings arranged to
collectively give appropriate definition, identity and scale to
revitalized public spaces along the water's edge and within the
community.
- Creating inclusiveness: Waterfront Toronto's policy provides
for at least 20 per cent of all residential units to meet City
standards for affordable rental units, while at least 7.5 per cent
will also be designated market rate rental units. So far, 80
affordable rental housing units are planned for Bayside, with those tenants paying subsidized
rates for access to Beanfield Metroconnect's ultra-high speed
broadband network.
- Accommodating families: Bayside complies with Waterfront Toronto's
design details, which stipulate a minimum number of three-bedroom
units. The development further includes targets for the provision
of family residential units.
- Integrating with public spaces: Hines and Tridel have planned a
development that responds to the design excellence of the public
realm, including adjacent parks like Sherbourne Common, the Water's Edge Promenade
and the future Aitken Place
Park
Aquavista at Bayside won BILD's
2015 Places to Grow Community of the Year Award for. The P2G award
honours builders for innovation in sustainable development, urban
design and technology.
Located on the east side of Sherbourne
Common, Aqualina is designed by renowned
architects, Arquitectonica. It will be defined by a series of
distinctive cubes made of glass and steel with angled windows and
balconies to maximize views of the skyline and lake. Ranging from
one-bedroom to family-friendly three-bedroom residences, its 362
condominium suites will be ready for occupancy in July of 2017,
with final completion scheduled for September of 2017. The
13-storey condominium is targeting LEED® Platinum certification.
Landscape design for Bayside,
including Aqualina, is being led by West 8 + DTAH, the
award-winning team responsible for East Bayfront's water's edge
promenade and the design for the revitalization of Queens Quay.
Waterfront Toronto, Hines and
Tridel are proud to have created a partnership that will deliver a
complete community that builds on the existing design excellence of
the public realm, adjacent parks like Sherbourne Common and the Water's Edge
Promenade.
About Hines
Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm
founded in 1957 with locations in 185 cities in 19 countries. Hines
has $84.9 billion of assets under
management, including $42.7 billion
for which Hines provides fiduciary investment management services,
and $42.2 billion for which Hines
provides third-party property-level services. In 2014, Hines
completed over $8 billion in
transactions on behalf of its investment management clients. The
firm has 104 developments currently underway around the world.
Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired more
than 1,000 properties, totaling over 339 million square feet. The
firm's current property and asset management portfolio includes 511
properties, representing over 176 million square feet. With
extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and
all property types, and a pioneering commitment to sustainability,
Hines is one of the largest and most-respected real estate
organizations in the world. www.hines.com
About Tridel
Tridel® is Canada's leading
developer and builder of condominium residences with more than 80
years of homebuilding experience. To date, the Tridel Group of
Companies is responsible for producing over 80,000 homes. Tridel is
determined to develop condominium communities that meet the needs
of today's homeowners while safeguarding the well-being of future
generations. The company is working to meet this goal by focusing
on innovation including social networking, environmentally
sustainable design, performance in construction and corporate
stewardship. Tridel looks forward to continuing this long, proud
history of award winning excellence with over 20 new condominium
communities currently under development in the Greater Toronto Area. www.tridel.com
About Waterfront Toronto
The Governments of
Canada and Ontario and the City
of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead
the renewal of Toronto's
waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable
development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the
key drivers of waterfront revitalization. Toronto's new waterfront communities will use
technology to enhance quality of life and create economic
opportunity for the citizens of Toronto, helping to keep the city competitive
with major urban centres around the world for business, jobs and
talent. www.waterfrontoronto.ca
About Artscape
Artscape is a not-for-profit urban development organization that
makes space for creativity and transforms communities. Artscape's
work involves clustering creative people together in real estate
projects that serve the needs of the arts and cultural community
and advance multiple public policy objectives, private development
interests, community and neighbourhood aspirations and
philanthropic missions. Since its beginning in 1986, Artscape has
become recognized as an international leader in creative
placemaking, a practice that leverages the power of art, culture
and creativity to catalyze change, growth and transformation in
communities. The organization achieves its mission through
developing and managing unique cultural facilities—including
community cultural hubs, multi-purpose creative spaces and artist
live/work projects—and delivering programs and services that
promote creativity and cultural space development.
www.artscape.ca
Aqualina Groundbreaking– The First Building at Bayside
Toronto Development
QUOTES:
"Tridel East Bayfront is an exciting mixed used development that
will feature two office towers and attract over 3,000 good jobs.
The future site will also be home to a vibrant waterfront
community, including 80 units designated as apartments for families
needing affordable housing. This transformative project is one of
many that are changing the face of our waterfront into a great
place to work and play." Toronto Mayor John
Tory
"The Bayside development will
be an important addition to the East Bayfront Community. And it
shows what revitalization can really mean – how a something as
simple as a group of buildings can make Toronto a better place to live. When
Waterfront Toronto started planning East Bayfront, our challenges
were clear: plan and build sustainable downtown communities for the
many people moving to Toronto for
opportunity; connect the city to the waterfront and ensure that
there are quality public spaces on the waterfront to draw residents
and visitors; and provide the right kind of support for
Toronto's economic growth and
competiveness; in building these communities and providing economic
opportunities, be inclusive. And what we are doing today – breaking
ground on the first of eight buildings that represent a
$910-million investment in our
waterfront – shows how Waterfront Toronto and our development
partners are meeting those challenges." Meg Davis, Vice President Development,
Waterfront Toronto
"Hines' master-planned approach to the neighborhood – and the
lifestyle amenities and opportunities we envision for the site –
make Aqualina an incomparable condominium for the city."
Avi Tesciuba, Country Head,
Hines
"As the only Waterfront Toronto site adjacent to the lake in
East Bayfront, Aqualina at Bayside Toronto offers condominium
purchasers a tremendous value distinction. There are few
condominium locations which offer this intimate a connection with
Lake Ontario, and fewer still that
are as fully integrated into the development of the surrounding
area as this site." Leo
DelZotto, President, Tridel
"Aqualina is another exceptional landmark in the revitalization
of our waterfront. As the first residential building in the Bayside
Precinct, it continues to build the new, diverse, healthy and
beautiful community that has been planned for years. The
significant investment by Hines and Tridel in our waterfront
demonstrates the strong investment climate created under the
leadership of Waterfront Toronto." Deputy Mayor
Pam McConnell
"What's terrific about the Bayside development is how walkable it is – a
result of the quality of the design and the attention that has been
paid to the public realm. But for me the part of Bayside that stands out as truly
ground-breaking is the recognition of the role that artists are
going to play in creating this vibrant, diverse new community."
Tim Jones, President &
CEO, Artscape
SOURCE Waterfront Toronto