Canary District project brings developers together

Jason Lester, left, and Ken Tanenbaum  sign their names and leave their hand prints in the cement of the top floor of a condominium building in the Canary District development. [Arthur Mola photo]

For more than 40 years, the Canary Restaurant served truckers, film crews, cops and an assortment of commuters the traditional fare you’d find in a “greasy spoon.”

While the once bustling commercially vibrant West Don Lands around it deteriorated into vacant “brownfields,” the restaurant kept dishing out home fries, right up until it served its last meal in 2007.

Gone but not forgotten, the landmark cafe is now lending its name to a new development that is aimed at revitalizing the West Don area. A partnership of Dundee Kilmer Developments and the Kilmer Group is busily constructing the Canary District Condominiums, an ambitious project that will see creation of a new neighbourhood just to the east of the Distillery District.

The project will begin life as an athlete’s village for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games. Two of the principals behind the project, Jason Lester, president of Dundee Kilmer, and Ken Tanenbaum, vice-chair of the Kilmer Group, say the project is on schedule and on budget. That marks something of a departure from the City’s Pan Am efforts, which are reported to be experiencing cost overruns. Opposition critics are charging the provincial government of misleading the public when it announced the  bill for the Games would come in at $1.4 billion, an amount that did not include the cost of the athletes’ village.

One of multiple bids on the project, Dundee and Kilmer  set a goal  of “building something that Toronto could look back on and be proud,” said Lester.

To prepare their bid for the Pan Am housing project, they studied failed projects to learn what had gone wrong. Their takeaway, Lester said, “is being late is not an option.”

They put together a large team of architects, designers, finance experts and marketing mavens, and hired Ellis Don to handle the construction. As a result, “it’s on time and on budget,” Lester said.

Expect the first buildings to be completed in March or April 2014, more than a year before the Games. The last of the buildings should be completed about a month before the opening ceremonies.

The project itself, which Lester said will come in at around $800 million, will feature 808 market housing units, including condominiums, town homes and lofts, 253 units of affordable housing in a variety of styles, 30,000 square feet of retail, with a focus on health and wellness, a 500-bed residence for students attending George Brown College, an 82,000-square foot YMCA with a pool, gym, fitness centre and community facilities, pedestrian networks, an 18-acre  Don River Park and pedestrian-oriented streetscapes.

The project has already raked in several awards, including the 2012 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence as well as a variety of marketing and branding accolades.

It’s being marketed as an urban village that is “open, inclusive and welcoming” with an emphasis on green spaces, walkability,  health and wellness.

About 80 per cent of the first condominium has been sold; sales for a second building will be launched soon. “We have more end users than other condo developments,” said Lester, referring to the expectation that purchasers will actually live in the units and not merely view them as an investment.

“That mix of buyers makes for a great neighbourhood,” said Tanenbaum. “Here people are moving in to live long term.”

The neighbourhood, which is bounded by Old Eastern Avenue, Cherry Street, Mill Street and Bayview Avenue, is attracting young people and empty nesters who want to be downtown and enjoy the amenities, Lester said.

Units range from $250,000 for a 400-square foot residence to $800,000 for a 1,400 square foot home.

Canary marks the first collaborative project for Lester and Tanenbaum. “We each brought a set of skills to the table that were valuable to the project,” Tanenbaum said. “Dundee brings absolutely superb world class real estate management and development. Kilmer has its roots in construction and construction materials and is involved in public/private partnerships.”

While the partnership on the Canary project is a first, it doesn’t figure to be the last. “Everything is leading to a very successful project and it makes business sense to pursue other opportunities when we can leverage our skills,” said Lester.

As for the building that gives the project its name, it’ll still be there once the Games conclude and people start moving in. The exterior is being rehabilitated, but as to the building’s long term future, that’s a big unknown. Waterfront Toronto is expected to call on developers and operators to make proposals for the site after the Games.

Just don’t expect to wander in and order a plate of fries.