Demolition and excavation for the large underground parking
lot has begun on the site of the future L Tower, architect Daniel Libeskind's
next contribution to the city's cultural landscape.
The tower, at the southeast corner of Yonge and Front and
now estimated to be costing $280 million, suffered a major setback late last
year when federal and provincial funding shortfalls deprived the design of its
planned $75-million heritage and arts complex at the building's base. An
abbreviated version of this aspect of the plans will now house condo amenities
like an exercise room and pool, along with a public plaza.
According to Sharon Florian of Fernbrook Homes, one of the
developers, about 85 per cent of the building's 585 units have sold, including at least one
of the penthouse suites, which John Bentley Mays has described as "examples of
this artist-architect's handiwork at its most daring."
According to Florian, the project will reach the
concrete-pouring stage by the summer.
The project also includes a $30-million refurbishment of
architect Peter Dickinson's 1960 O'Keefe-cum-Hummingbird-cum-Sony Centre.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Fernbrook Homes