The last several years have brought about countless high-rise developments in Toronto, permanently altering our cityscape with added density and height. At the corner of Shuter and Church, a 28-storey rental tower with 388 residential units stands as a relatively new addition to the area. Jazz, as the development is known, was one of Concert Properties' earliest projects in Toronto, but back on March 28, 2004, the site was still being cleared for the yet-to-be-built rental tower, one which would incorporate multiple restored exteriors of the existing buildings and frontages on Church Street.

2004: Looking northeast from the west side of Church Street, south of Shuter, image by Edward Skira

Fast forward to July 24, 2014, and the complete development has transformed the block by the restored heritage buildings and filling in both the southeast corner of Shuter and Church, as well as a mid-block gap to the south on Church.

2014: Looking northeast from the west side of Church Street, south of Shuter, image by Jack Landau

The residential development has added 8 retail units totalling over 9,000 square feet of retail space, a great improvement to the streetscape when compared with the block as it appeared pre-construction.

2004: Looking southeast from the west side of Church Street, image by Edward Skira

The new Church Street frontages are clad in a red brick designed to complement the heritage components in between.

2014: Looking southeast from the west side of Church Street, image by Jack Landau

Let's take a look at another comparison of the pre-construction site to the finished product, this time looking at the site from the north side of Shuter. Here it is in 2004:

2004: Looking southwest from the north side of Shuter, east of Church, image by Edward Skira

And here it is in 2014:

2014: Looking southwest from the north side of Shuter, east of Church, image by Jack Landau

We will return next week with another look at the changing face of Toronto!