Queen's Quay Terminal is a condominium apartment, office and retail complex in the
Harbourfront Harbourfront may refer to:
*Harbourfront (Toronto), a neighbourhood in Toronto
**509 Harbourfront, Toronto streetcar route
**Harbourfront Centre, cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto
*HarbourFront (Singapore), waterfront site in Singa ...
neighbourhood in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
, Ontario, Canada. It was originally built in 1927 as a marine terminal with office, warehouse and cold-storage facilities. When shipping to Toronto declined in the 1960s and 1970s, the building was bought by the
Government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-i ...
to be repurposed along with a section of the industrial waterfront. The Terminal Building itself was rebuilt in the 1980s with the addition of four floors of residential above the original facility, which was converted into retail and office uses. The cold storage wing was demolished and its plant building became The Power Plant gallery and Harbourfront Centre Theatre.
History

The building was originally a
cold storage warehouse
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, ...
facility, known as the Toronto Terminal Warehouse. It was built by Moores & Dunford of New York City. The first sod was turned in April 1926
and it opened in February 1927. The building was accessible to both CN and CP rail lines and Great Lakes steamships. It was the first poured concrete building in Canada
and one of the largest buildings in the country.
It had over of floor space. The main storage building was and the cold-storage wing was , both eight stories in height.
The floors were designed overly strong to hold per square foot. The ice, heating, and power plants were in a separate building to the west. The building had a state-of-the-art ice plant, ventilation and sprinkler system, and rail sidings right into the building to eliminate trucking.
The building was adorned with a neon "Terminal Warehouse" sign and each wing ("Dry Storage", "Cold Storage" and "Ice Plant") also had a rooftop neon sign.
The ($ in dollars) structure was built on a site.
The site was a former water lot land-filled by the
Toronto Harbour Commission
The Toronto Harbour Commission (THC) was a joint federal-municipal government agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The agency managed Toronto Harbour as well as being responsible for major works along the Toronto waterfront. It built both ...
and was sold at $55,000 per acre. It was supported by 10,000 wooden piles driven through landfill to the bedrock of Toronto Harbour.
500 workers were employed in its construction. One worker, Duncan Murray, died during construction from a fall at the site.
The building was used for offices, cold storage, bonded storage and light manufacturing. Among its tenants was the Minister of Customs & Excise, the Canadian Doughnut Company Ltd., Elizabeth Arden and Black and Decker. Its use as a marine terminal declined in the 1960s as container facilities opened in the east part of the harbour.
Also, although the
St. Lawrence Seaway
The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Ameri ...
had opened in 1959, shipping to Toronto declined as container shipping ports in Montreal and Halifax took over as ports of entry for international shipments to Canada. According to the renovation architect
Eberhard Zeidler, the building had fallen into disrepair, its roof and concrete in poor condition.
Its clock tower had not worked in several years due to a rusted clock face.

In 1972, the
Government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-i ...
created the Harbourfront Corporation to repurpose
of industrial harbourfront lands west of York Street for cultural, recreation, parkland and residential uses. In 1973, it purchased the Terminal Warehouse property for million from the Pittson Co. of New York City.
Metro Toronto's Parks Commissioner Tommy Thompson called for the demolition of the building, calling it a "monstrosity on the waterfront".
The southwest cold storage wing was demolished.
The area is now Canada Square between Queen's Quay Terminal and the Harbourfront Centre Theatre. The terminal's plant building was converted to house
The Power Plant
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is a Canadian non-collecting public contemporary art gallery located at the heart of Toronto, Ontario at the Harbourfront Centre. It is a registered Canadian charitable organization supported by its memb ...
gallery and Harbourfront Centre Theatre.
The neighbouring Direct Winters Building, built by early owners of Terminal Warehouse, became the main complex for Harbourfront's recreational activities. It is now known as
Harbourfront Centre
Harbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at 235 Queens Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the Government of Canada to create a waterfront park, it became ...
.
A rail siding along the south facade of the building was converted to a public promenade that is also the location of the docks for sight-seeing boat cruises of Toronto Harbour.
The remaining building was converted to a residential, office and retail complex in 1983.
The million
building rebuild was developed by
Olympia and York
Olympia & York (also spelled as Olympia and York, abbreviated as O&Y) was a major international property development firm based in Toronto, Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes including Canary Wharf in London, the World Finan ...
who negotiated a 99-year lease with the government. The renovations by
Zeidler Roberts
Eberhard Heinrich Zeidler, (January 11, 1926 – January 7, 2022) was a German-Canadian architect. He designed iconic structures and landmarks in Canada and internationally, most notably in Toronto. These included the Toronto Eaton Centre, O ...
added four floors to the original eight-floor structure, for a total of of space with 72 condominium apartments.
The renovation recoated the exterior with new concrete and new glass and added new
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
-styled entrances for the office and residential tenants. A feature of the renovation of the interior were several new atriums including the Arcade at the south-east corner, which reaches the full height of the building.
The residential section has a garden with a bridge and a swimming pool on the roof. The roof itself has a green patina metal cladding that is similar to the roofs of the nearby Toronto Union Station and Royal York Hotel.
The renovation added the million, 450-seat, Premiere Dance Theatre, which is rented by Harbourfront for per year.
The stage has a sprung wood floor to be less harsh on dancers. In 2008, the Premiere Dance Theatre was renovated and reopened as the Fleck Dance Theatre.
The renovation was awarded a
Governor General's Medal for Architecture in 1986 and awarded the
Ontario Association of Architects The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) is the regulatory body responsible for registering and licensing all architects legally entitled to practice the scope of architecture in the Province of Ontario, Canada
Canada is a country in No ...
' Architectural Excellence Award in 1989. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' mentioned it as an example of successful revitalization efforts in Toronto during the 1980s.
The property was purchased by
Brookfield Properties
Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...
in October 1997 for million. Brookfield renovated the retail floors in 2017. The building is now owned by Northam Canadian Commercial Property Fund and Industrial Alliance Financial Group and managed by Northam Realty Advisors Limited.
Facilities and tenants
The facility has of retail and office space on eight floors.
Yahoo!
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...
Canada,
DHX Media
WildBrain Ltd. (formerly known as DHX Media, Ltd.) is a Canadian media, animation studio, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest library of childre ...
and
Anheuser-Busch InBev
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, commonly known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. AB InBev has a global functional management office in New York City, and regional headquarters i ...
's
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
unit
Labatt
Labatt Brewing Company Limited (french: La Brasserie Labatt Limitée) is a Belgian-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada.
In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Int ...
and
PortsToronto
The Toronto Port Authority (TPA), doing business as PortsToronto (PT), is a port authority that is responsible for the management of the Port of Toronto, including the International Marine Passenger Terminal, and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airpo ...
have offices in the building. The first floor has a grocery store, some shops and several restaurants. The second floor has offices and the Pearl Harbourfront Restaurant. The third floor is home to the Fleck Dance Theatre. The Terminal formerly was the site of the
Museum of Inuit Art.
See also
*
Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
Harbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at 235 Queens Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the Government of Canada to create a waterfront park, it beca ...
*
Toronto waterfront
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.
History
Lake Ontario is a recent lake. ...
*
Queens Quay station
Queens Quay is an underground streetcar station of the Toronto streetcar system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the only underground streetcar station that is not part of or connected to a Toronto subway station (, , and subway stations have ...
*
Toronto Island ferries
The Toronto Island ferries connect the Toronto Islands in Lake Ontario to the mainland of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The main city-operated ferry services carry passengers (all) and commercial vehicles (some) from the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal at ...
*
Fulton House, Chicago
Fulton House is a former cold storage warehouse converted into a residential building at Wolf Point, Chicago.
Fulton House was built in 1898 by Frank B. Abbott as a 15-story warehouse structure. In 1908, the building was converted to a cold stor ...
,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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References
Notes
Bibliography
*
External links
*
*
*
"Shopping excursions. (Day Trips)." Toronto Life 38.3 (March 2003): S115(3). CPI.Q (Canadian Periodicals). Thomson Gale. TORONTO PUBLIC LIBRARIES (CELPLO). 15 April 2007
{{coord, 43.63901, N, 79.380641, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title
Shopping malls in Toronto
Shopping malls established in 1983
Clock towers in Canada
Art Deco architecture in Canada
Harbourfront, Toronto
Eberhard Zeidler buildings
1926 establishments in Ontario
Buildings and structures completed in 1926