The crane from the North Tower of the 30-storey twin building rental complex, The Heathview, was removed this past weekend. The intricate process involved the use of a mobile crane to disassemble the tower crane piece by piece. The milestone signifies the near completion of the buildings which began work in 2010. Developer Morguard has produced a fascinating multi-day, multi-camera time-lapse video of the crane removal:

If you don't have 6 minutes to watch the video now, individual shots from the process are very impressive in their own right.

Pieces of the tower crane are removed. Image courtesy of the Morguard Corporation.

Designed by Page and Steele / IBI Group Architects, The Heathview is Forest Hill's first rental high-rise to be built in decades. Located at Heath Street and Tweedsmuir Avenue, steps away from St. Clair West subway station, The Heathview is a response to the low vacancy rates in rental buildings around the area. Tenants in the two apartment buildings that were demolished to make way for the project will have the right of first refusal to rent one of the 146 replacement units in the 600-unit complex. "There is a seniority list based on the tenant's original move-in date so we have records that go back to the 1960s" says Brian Athey, Morguard's Vice President of Canadian Operations. "We had a few tenants that were in the old buildings since the 1960s."

The mobile crane positioned on Tweedsmuir Avenue. Image courtesy of the Morguard Corporation.

Besides being a rental project in a city busy with condominium construction, The Heathview is also unique in seeking LEED Gold certification from the Canada Green Building Council. Brian says "sustainable design is very important for our company in any projects we embark on and this project will be LEED Gold." Rainwater will be recycled and used for landscape irrigation, green roofs will reduce energy consumption and 75% of the demolition waste is being recycled. 

The mobile crane begins taking down the tower crane. Image courtesy of the Morguard Corporation.

In addition to the green standards applied to the project, the in-suite washer and dryer in each of the units plus the high efficiency, large windows bringing in ample amounts of sunlight have proved to be popular with the market. "These will be condo-quality buildings. The suite interior finishes from the kitchens and flooring to the countertops are what I would say are comparable to any condo in the area," says Brian. "Each tower will have its own amenity space and we have a very diverse range of amenity functions including a fitness area, steam rooms, a yoga room, a community meeting room, a dedicated upper party room, lounge and a private theatre." The Heathview will also feature two outdoor terraces which overlook St. Michael's College School. "Each amenity terrace will be programmed, with one as a fitness lounge and the other, which is off the party room, with an outdoor fire pit, seating area, dining area and barbecue." 

The mobile crane lies on Tweedsmuir Avenue. Image courtesy of the Morguard Corporation.

Tenants will begin moving in to the first twelve floors of the North Tower July 1st, with the second round of occupants moving in by September. Final occupancy of the North Tower is expected in October 2014 with full South Tower occupancy by the end of the year. Public artwork will also be installed this summer. 

Additional images and information can be found at The Heathview official website. 

For more information and renderings, visit The Heathview dataBase file linked below. You can also check out the associated Forum thread or leave a comment below to get involved in the discussion.