New Time Lapse Video of Construction at the Canary District
By Lucas on Jul 15, 2015
Since the Pan Am Games are underway and the Athlete’s Village, better known as the Canary District, is complete, Dundee Kilmer has released an awesome time lapse of the project being built (embedded below)!
The Canary District is one of those big city-changing projects that we have kept our eye on for a few years now. The video below provides a time lapse of the physical and visual aspects of the new community, so we’ll provide our own brief timeline of everything else that was going on during the construction of these buildings.
We remember touring the Canary District around four years ago when the majority of the site was still dirt and the Corktown Common park was still being shaped. On most of our tours, either President of Dundee Kilmer, Jason Lester, or the Vice Chairman of Kilmer Group, Ken Tannenbaum were in attendance to guide us and answer any questions. At one point in 2013, there were eight cranes up at the site at once. During this time, Corktown Common was about 95% complete and was known and referred to as Don River Park. Corktown Common opened to the public just over a year ago.
Canary Park model
Early on during the selling of the first condo building, Canary District Condos, Dundee Kilmer introduced a first-time homebuyers program called MyHome. This allowed qualified first-time homebuyers to gradually pay their 5% downpayment ($1,000 a month) and an interest-free loan was available that didn’t have to be paid back until the future sale of the property. The MyHome program is still available on certain units at Canary Park Condos!
Speaking of Canary Park, we were there for the topping off. Dundee Kilmer organized a fun event where people were invited to leave their mark in a slab of fresh cement on the roof of the building.When you watch the video, Canary Park is the L-shaped building closest to Corktown Common in the background.
By March 2014, Dundee Kilmer was operating on schedule and on budget, a rarity when considering the history of athlete’s villages in other countries. They were spending about $1 million a day in preparation for the Games!
When it became clear that the Canary District was going to be ready for the athletes, word about the future of the site after the Games began to leak. The first piece of big news popped up a little over a year ago when it was announced that Dundee Kilmer would be partnering with LiveWorkLearnPlay to curate the retail spaces in the Canary District based on a health and wellness philosophy. Only a few months ago, we had the chance to chat with Lester and partner and principal of LiveWorkLearnPlay, Rob Spanier, about the new restaurants, facilities, and other retail planned for the community.
In between the announcement of the retail philosophy and our interview with Lester and Spanier, Dundee Kilmer commemorated the opening of Canary District with a canary yellow brick at the entrance of the community on Front Street. We were also there to celebrate with Dundee Kilmer, the City of Toronto, and TO2015 when the grounds were officially handed over for the Games.
Learn more about the available condo units at Canary Park
The interesting thing about Canary Park is that the condo has been built for the athletes, but the interiors are not completely finished. At the moment, the units just have a bathroom, temporary flooring, and sleeping areas. After the Games, Dundee Kilmer will spend six months completing the units and then they will be ready for occupancy.
Since the Games have started, the presentation centre has moved to 9 Mill Street in Toronto. If you’re interested in calling this amazing new community home soon after the Games have wrapped up, then visit the presentation centre any time Monday to Thursday from 12 pm to 6 pm, or Friday to Sunday from 12 pm to 5 pm. You can also call 416-603-7576 for more details.
Feature image: Screenshot from time lapse video.
