The First Condo at Bayside Toronto is Now Under Construction
By Lucas on May 25, 2015
Last week, we had the opportunity to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Tridel and Hines’ AQUALINA at Bayside condo on Toronto’s transforming waterfront. Toronto Mayor John Tory, Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell, Waterfront Toronto’s Vice President, Development Meg Davis, Hines Country Head Avi Tesciuba, Tridel President Leo DelZotto, and Artscape CEO Tim Jones were all in attendance to commemorate the community’s milestone.
Speakers at the AQUALINA groundbreaking
“Today, we’re really celebrating more than breaking ground of this first phase; we’re also celebrating the start of an amazing journey of the East Bayside development in its entirety,” said Andrea DelZotto of Tridel, opening the ceremony. “With more and more people moving into our city at an unprecedented speed, we know that the way we design our cities has to evolve. Developments need to consider the urban realities of the 21st century and find ways to enhance the livability and vibrancy of these communities.”
AQUALINA is the first residential building in the Bayside Toronto master-plan, and is striving to reach LEED Platinum Certification (the rest of the buildings are aiming for LEED Gold). The 13-storey building will feature a total of 362 suites ranging from 548 to 1,343 square feet, with prices starting at $370,500 and hitting $1.4 million.
Mayor of Toronto John Tory
“I’m happy to be a part of this groundbreaking ceremony today,” announced Tory. “As you might expect, the Mayor of the city, for a variety of reasons including time, doesn’t come to the groundbreaking for every project. But, I select instead the ones that I think are different and worthy of my being here as the leader from across the city to say that this is special, there’s something going on here that we should take note of; everyone in the community, whether it be the development community, the nonprofit sector, or just the citizens at large.”
“It [Bayside Toronto and AQUALINA] will not only create a place for people to live, and that’s important, and it’s not only a gesture of these wonderful companies in our city and in our waterfront, but it’s also going to have dynamic living spaces for artists and it’s going to have affordable housing, and those are two things, blended together in this case, that are extremely important to creating the kind of Toronto going forward that is going to make this the global leader that it is,” Tory continued.
Waterfront Toronto’s policy requires a set amount of inclusiveness to make the waterfront area as diverse and vibrant as possible. At least 20% of all residential projects need to meet City standards for affordable rental units, and 7.5% as market rate rental units. Approximately 80 affordable units have been planned in Bayside, so far (in AQUAVISTA, the second residential phase). These tenants will also pay subsidized rates for the ultra-high speed broadband network provided by Beanfield Metroconnect.
“Providing affordable housing to artist-lead families is an important part of our work,” said Jones. “We’re very grateful to the City and to Waterfront Toronto for their resolve to ensure that affordable housing is a part of what’s going to be happening on the waterfront. I want to thank Mayor Tory and all of council really; I think I’ve been to more meetings around affordable housing in the last six months than I’ve been to in the whole 17 years I’ve been at Artscape.”
Hines Country Head Avi Tesciuba
It’s not all about the buildings though, as Tesciuba pointed out: “Bayside is going to be truly a mixed-use, master-planned community. So, what does that mean? To me, it means a neighbourhood. It’s not just a set of buildings you see...but I think what makes a neighbourhood is the fabric between the buildings; it’s the parks, it’s the streets, it’s the signage, it’s what brings the buildings together into a community.”
Tesciuba also mentioned that there was a long line up of developers that wanted to be a part of the residential side of the East Bayfront development once Hines secured the land, but with Tridel’s impressive portfolio and devotion to quality, family building, they were the clear choice.
President of Tridel Leo DelZotto
“We have never, ever built on the waterfront in Toronto until this project, and what was the attraction? The planned community,” said Leo DelZotto. “Bayside is a new frontier. This sets the new standard for what Toronto should be all about. The quality of buildings and quality of lifestyle that’s being created is what we want to be associated with.”
As mentioned above, this is the first condo of 2 million square feet of residential, cultural, and commercial space. We’re very excited about following the Bayside Toronto development through its many phases!
Mayor John Tory revving up the machinery to start construction
To learn more about the suites at AQUALINA and AQUAVISTA, visit the presentation centre at 261 Queens Quay East Monday to Thursday from 11 am to 7 pm, or on weekends and holidays from 12 pm to 6 pm.
