One York Street Tower breaks ground in downtown Toronto

Ground was broken on January 15 for a new “landmark” 35-storey office tower to join the plethora of new buildings under construction in downtown Toronto.

One York Street Tower is at the corner of York and Harbour Streets, south of Union Station. The building will have an enclosed pedestrian link to the Air Canada Centre, which gives access to Union Station and the PATH network.

The $375-million tower sits on a four-storey podium of 200,000 square feet of retail space and is only part of a projected larger mixed-use development that will eventually cover a total of 2 million square feet on a 2-acre site in the “Southcore Financial District.” The complex will incorporate two residential condominium towers of 62 and 66 storeys.

The office tower is being designed as a LEED Platinum building, with advanced technology in building automation systems, including a raised floor HVAC system and individual temperature control. For air-conditioning, the building will be connected to the Enwave deep lake water cooling system that draws water from Lake Ontario. The office tower is expected to be occupied by Summer 2016.

Menkes and the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) are developing the office tower. The pension plan will lease 17% of its space.

Sweeny Sterling Finlayson are the architects. Consulting engineers are: Stephenson Engineering (structural), The Mitchell Partnership (mechanical), Mulvey Banani International (electrical & LEED), Isherwood Geostructural (shoring), MMM Group (site service), HGC Engineering (acoustic) and Soberman Engineering (elevators). EllisDon Corporation is construction manager.