The Canary District is a housing development in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

West Don Lands The West Don Lands are the site of a neighbourhood under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The area is bordered by the Don River (Toronto), Don River, King Street, Toronto, Ontario, King Street, Parliament Street and the rail line adjac ...

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

. Six initial buildings initially served as the 2015 Pan American Games Athletes' Village for the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

. Those buildings were then finished and converted to private residences. Dozens of further buildings will be constructed for private residences, with Front Street lined with boutiques 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 A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

and Front streets, the gateway to the new district. The restaurant mounted a large neon Canary, and developers chose to name the new development after the iconic restaurant, even though it was the area's redevelopment that drove the restaurant out of business.

Description

There are two building developments. The "Canary Park" condominiums are located on Bayview Avenue and face the

Corktown Common 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 (Ontario), Don River to the east. It was built on remediated industrial lands t ...

park. These comprise two mid-rise towers at Bayview and Front Street. The "Canary District" condominiums are two towers joined by a common courtyard and townhomes. These are located at Front and Cherry Streets. The CN Police building is serving as the presentation centre for the project.

Construction

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 Ledcor Group of Companies is an employee-owned, diversified, and vertically-integrated construction company operating primarily in Canada and United States. Ledcor operates in a wide range of industries including the construction of buildings and ...

and

EllisDon EllisDon is an employee-owned construction services company that was founded and incorporated in 1951 in London, Ontario, Canada, by brothers Don and David Ellis Smith. The company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. History F ...

have completed the construction on the project. All buildings in the district are built to

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

(LEED) Gold standards. The first residential buildings ready for occupancy at the western end of the district served as the Athlete's Village. The apartments that housed the athletes were not be 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. In conjunction with the residential development, a new

George Brown College George Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, GBC was chartered in 1966 by the government of Ontario and ...

student residence, a new

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

, new roadways, new

Toronto Community Housing Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) is the public housing agency in Toronto, Ontario. A municipally owned corporation, municipal corporation of the Municipal government of Toronto, City of Toronto, TCHC provides approximately 60,000 unit ...

, new parks and a

streetcar line A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

were also built. The original Canary Restaurant building, a former 1850s school, and the CN Police building, another heritage building were preserved.

References

External links

official web site
{{Authority control Neighbourhoods in Toronto