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As our city battles with growing concerns regarding transit expansion and predicting where future development will occur, it's all too easy to overlook those projects being constructed on our most recent subway extension, the Sheppard line. With development along the line now picking up, one project in particular is beginning to define what the future of Sheppard Avenue could look like. Emerald City is a 6 tower plus townhome condominium development well underway at Sheppard and Don Mills, and today we're taking a look at how it's developing, selling, and what to expect when complete.
Developer ELAD Canada hired architectural firm WZMH to design a distinctly contemporary community which will offer a variety of units of various sizes in order to appeal to the increasingly diverse condominium consumer. The 3 towers to be built at the corner of Sheppard and Don Mills will come in at 25, 29, and 36 storeys, with townhomes situated along the tree-lined driveway leading to the tower podiums nestled in a park-like setting. The increased density that Emerald City will bring to Don Mills and Sheppard will encourage healthy intesification along this stretch, already well served with amenities and easily accessible both by transit and car. The project is also in close proximity to North York City Centre, a growing business district in the north end of the city, and will offer panoramic views of the downtown core beyond the picturesque Don Valley to the south-west.
The components of Emerald City will be connected by communal underground parking, innovatively doubling as a sheltered pedestrian pathway to Don Mills subway station, which is situated along the north edge of the site. The underground pathway to Don Mills station will also connect Emerald City to the recently revitalized Fairview Mall, which had a 90 million dollar facelift a few years ago, reflective of the area's changing demographics. You can see the area facing Fairview Mall and the subway station entrance bordering the construction in the image below.
While work is underway on the first tower, it is soon to start on the second and third as well. That third tower, known as Dream Tower, will have 316 suites spread across 25 storeys. Dream Tower offers a variety of suites from 1- to 2-bedroom plus den as well as penthouses, and has been selling quite well. Tina Amato of Baker Real Estate states "...we've made suites larger, in order to accommodate families in Dream Tower. We've got parks, and a communitiy centre in the area." Ms. Amato informed us that Tower 1, consisting of 478 units, is "pretty well sold out, and tower 2 - [404 units] - is almost sold out".
The view of the scale model above looks south to Dream Tower (Towers 1 and 2 have been removed from the model for the time being), and it slices through the ground below Sheppard to reveal the subway. The station entrance can be seen tucked into the Sheppard frontage of Emerald City, and the north lobby entrance to Tower 1 is directly behind it. It's exciting to see developers taking advantage of the underused Sheppard Subway, and we hope to see more projects in the future finding innovative ways of connecting their communities to public transportation.
The view above looks southwest, showing the podium which will link the building better to the ground plane. A white form with multiple sidewalks running up to it shows where the townhomes will eventually rise. Their final design will be settled on in the coming months before they are released; there should be about a dozen units in three clusters. Below we move around to the south side of Dream Tower, looking north east. Floorplans on the sales centre's walls feature in the background.
While each building will have its own entrance and concierge, Tower Two and Dream Tower will share amenities in the pavilion that can be seen in the lower left of this model. The amenities are extensive, whether for recreation or entertaining. The recreation facilities include a luxurious spa with indoor swimming pool and whirlpool, a well equipped gym and exercise facility, and a zen-like yoga studio. Entertainment facilties include an elegant party room and an intimate dining room with hosting kitchen. Otherwise, a WiFi-equipped lounge will be the place to relax and surf in peace, a billiards room and a cards area offer the chance to enjoy some games, while a theatre furnished with the latest home cinema equipment rounds out the fun. Outside, a broad, landscaped terrace is well appointed for relaxation.
UrbanToronto has an extensive dataBase listing for this project, linked below, with many renderings, giving you a good look at the amenties on offer, and GNA Interior Design's stylish plans for them. The dataBase listing has all the information you need to further explore Emerald City. If you are interested in joining in on the discussion of this property, UrbanToronto's Projects & Construction thread for Emerald City includes many photographs of the construction. That thread is linked below as well, along with the Real Estate Forum thread which will appeal to purchasers wishing to connect with each other.
