CHAZ Yorkville Condos, you may know, is a 47-storey condominium tower by developer 45 Charles Ltd and project manager Edenshaw Homes, now under construction near Yonge and Bloor in central Toronto. We have been keeping up with the development of this Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects-designed 47-storey tower ever since it was first announced, and have returned to the site often since ground was first broken. This past Summer CHAZ made it back to ground level, has now risen 19 storeys high, and is starting to make quite the impact on the neighbourhood. 

CHAZ Yorkville Condos rising on Charles Street East, image by Jack Landau

The building starts with a 5-storey podium, squared off to the surrounding streets, and mostly clad in a pre-assembled limestone panel system, before emphasizing glass and 45° angles on the upper 42 storeys. The ground floor here will also be predominantly glazed, bringing transparency and a warm interior glow to the pedestrian realm. While the window frames are going in, glass installation on the ground floor will be held off until such time when there is less activity in this busy construction staging area to avoid damage.

Ground floor, east side at CHAZ Yorkville Condos, image by Jack Landau

Another step inside, CHAZ's lobby also remains in a very raw state as a busy construction staging zone.

Future site of CHAZ's concierge desk, image by Jack Landau

Several of the building's extensive amenity spaces are located one floor above and are also a ways from completion, though a look inside still helps to better understand how these raw spaces will develop some day into the finished rooms. First off is the 3D movie room, which as the name implies, will be equipped with 3D screens and a viewing area for residents.

3D movie room at CHAZ Yorkville Condos, image by Jack Landau

Next door to the 3D movie room, a sports lounge with bar will give residents a place to mingle and watch the big game. 

Future sports lounge at CHAZ Yorkville Condos, image by Jack Landau

One door over, a fitness room will occupy the northeast corner. Fitness machines will look out over Charles Street East, allowing residents to get in shape while watching the world go by out the window.

Future fitness room at CHAZ Yorkville Condos, image by Jack Landau

Toronto is mostly about 'the box' it seems, so this building's unique angular tower floorplate, an homage to the site's now demolished Macy Dubois-designed predecessor, provides multiple corner units with true 'corner' views. Few suites at CHAZ are without 45° angles somewhere, and most feature at least one angled window wall that faces the city in fresh ways.

Unit layouts at CHAZ take advantage of the building's angled floorplate, image by Jack Landau

On the 9th floor, suites are starting to take shape with mounting brackets in place for drywall installation, while electrical and communications cabling, and heating and cooling systems are already seeing installation.

9th floor unit at CHAZ awaiting drywall, image by Jack Landau

The higher you go here, the better the urban vistas get of course, so we will return next week with a look at CHAZ's views. Until then, a comprehensive collection of building facts, renderings and floorplans can be found in our dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads or voice your opinion in the comments section provided at the bottom of this page.