FashionHouse (560 King West) | Proposed | Downtown

[current]

From the latest Freed newsletter:

FashionHouse

Individualism never goes out of style. Fresh off the Freed runway comes FashionHouse - located at 560 King West - it's the latest "it" property to hit the Central King West hood. Start with a 160-year-old heritage building, throw in a bunch of hot Toronto architects competing to modernize the space, add in an electric use of colour and creativity reflective of the fashion district and call it the height of fashionable living. Fabulous retail shops right in your building. Commercial, work lofts, beyond cool living spaces for those who create cool - not just consume it.

[cruzin4u]

Each unit will come with it's very own teacup yorkie or chihuahua. Louie Vuitton bags not included.

[isaidso]

So this isn't a complex to house a leading Canadian or foreign fashion house? No fashion industry functions are actually taking place in this building? This is just a place to live for insecure people who want to be associated with fashion?

This condo marketing deception is completely out of control. It is a joke and I am embarassed for them and anyone who will live there. Can you imagine telling someone you live in a condo called FashionHouse? I would laugh my hole off. People need to get real.

:runaway:

[Taller, Better]

^^ I agree. Same with 'Couture'..... who chooses these ridiculous names?

[isaidso]

I don't think we'll get any reprieve from ridiculous names as long as there are ridiculous people in the world. We seem to be having this same irritant resurfacing every few months. You are right. Last time it was Couture, and before that London on the Esplanade.

I wish some eccentric billionaire with a sense of humour will decide to poke fun at all this and build one called Rehabilitation Plaza since that seems to be what's popular these days. All the faux people carrying their groceries in their fake Prada bag can live there and pretend they have an addiction issue.

[isaidso]

Double post.

[Taller, Better]

"Beyond the Sea" still takes the cake as the most patently absurd name in history.

[Filip]

Oh wow.. they used fabulous. The last time I heard that word used was in Future Shop by a saleswoman.

[yin_yang]

Oh wow.. they used fabulous. The last time I heard that word used was in Future Shop by a saleswoman.

last time for me was a lisped "fabulous!" outside the church/wellesley community centre.

[KGB]

Well, it's not like it is a completely ridiculous name, as this was the former fashion district (or I should say, the far less glamorous sounding Garment District) up until recently.

I'm far more inclined to be upbeat about this quite interesting new neighbourhood in the making, than I am to get overly concerned about goofy project names.



KGB

[Taller, Better]

It is a shame when the name detracts from a top notch project, though, and Freed's projects so far have been top notch.

[Wrk_InProgress]

It is a shame when the name detracts from a top notch project, though, and Freed's projects so far have been top notch.

Does it really though ?

In a few years, the names will be long forgotten and only the street address will remain.

[Taller, Better]

That is a possibility, I suppose. That is certainly the case with apartment buildings from the 60's... no one says they live in MarvMarie Gardens, or The Caribbean... they just use the street address.

[Filip]

That is a possibility, I suppose. That is certainly the case with apartment buildings from the 60's... no one says they live in MarvMarie Gardens, or The Caribbean... they just use the street address.

I love those 5 storey ghettos in the suburbs with names like The Luxor or Palazzo, Shoreline Waves... More like Exhuberant Excrement...

[Taller, Better]

There is one on Avenue Road just north of St Clair that I love the exotic name.. something like The Tangiers!! Would make an interesting project to go about and photograph old 1950's/early 60's names.
But Work in Progress is probably right... the esoteric names will soon be forgotten.

[current]

They now have a web site and it has a render of the condo wrapping around the heritage building.

http://www.fashionhousecondos.com/

[Taller, Better]

Did anyone get a look at the nauseating full page ad in today's Globe Real Estate section?
A posed "bar scene" that was right out of the 80's?

[Ziggy]

Nice website, I found it a bit rude though...
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z236/Ziggy5857/fashionhouse.png

[Taller, Better]

HEY Asshole????! I dont' think I have ever seen anything so arrogantly condescending and rude in condo marketing before. I like the building but I HATE their attitude.

[GridSky]

^ LOL!

There's a space to enter your name once you've reached the website. I think Ziggy just entered "Asshole" to get a rise out of the forum. :lol:

[KGB]

There is one on Avenue Road just north of St Clair that I love the exotic name.. something like The Tangiers!!


Yea...in fact there is two of them....I used to work with a girl who lived in The Tangiers South.


Freed buildings seem to get better as they multiply...I like this one. Didn't realize the excact location until I saw the rendering...brings back a lot of memories, as I used to actually work in that building (and so did the girl who lived in the Tangiers...weird eh).

Now I see the "fashion" connection...this building(s) has a long history in Toronto's rag trade....this was Sol Shiner's building, the inventor of Shinerizing (fur cleaning). I'm guessing the old guy has passed on, and the kids have sold the building.

I like the fact that they have retained the oldest part fronting on King St....the back additions are nothing to write home about. About time that unsympathetic boxy one-story attachment to the front of it got demolished to expose what is actually a fairly handsome victorian industrial building.

Best of all, it looks like the gas station/taxi headquarters also bites the dust, with a proper walkway connecting King and Adelaide.




KGB

[Taller, Better]

Ahhhhh.... I've been had. Ya bum, Ziggy! :D
Still like the building, though.... and wonder how they will manage the colour on people's windows.

Rode past those buildings on Avenue Road the other day, and I was close.. the actual name was The Algiers north and south:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j251/dawnd_01/Autumn%202007/winter%202007/IMGP4302.jpg

[TKTKTK]

^^ and they're both super handsome.

[Taller, Better]

There are some beauties on Avenue Road from the 50's. I took some good photos the other day and put them in my picture thread. The Balmuto is quite beautiful still....

[Ziggy]

Ahhhhh.... I've been had. Ya bum, Ziggy! :D


Heh heh, What can I say... I'm easily amused :)

Probably spent a good 10 minutes entering silly names in the website for chuckles :)

[Taller, Better]

I thought they were being arrogant pr***s!! :lol:

[current]

April 21

Heritage building at 570 King West.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3109/2434574012_0aa8dfd3ca_b.jpg

Gas station, garage and 455 Adelaide U/C in the background.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2303/2434574076_d57a4f65c3_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2380/2434574154_3a4e1ffcc7_b.jpg

[current]

April 29

Scaffolding going up.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3201/2452542897_9cf7ee5321_b.jpg

[yyzer]

from today's Globe & Mail, looking pretty sharp..(and note the sidewalk!)

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/1543/6208516lb5.gif

[Taller, Better]

So, I saw the full page ad for it in one of today's papers.. looks amazing, but it appears the random orange windows look very much like an interior window treatment of.... orange vertical blinds. So.. this may be a wishful thinking conceit of the renderer... I can't imagine everyone (or anyone, for that matter) wanting orange vertical blinds.

[valantino]

can't tell if it goes all the well to Adelaide like the original plan

pretty sureI read on UT that the orange are indeed window treatments ... not that I particularly would want a suite with orange or red glass but it would be a welcome change from the green, blue and grey (I don't particular care for blue or dark green from inside either)

[Taller, Better]

I hate vertical blinds at the best of time, so orange ones would really get on my nerves. Maybe the side facing the exterior is orange, and the inside is a more universal colour. That would be just fine....

[NorthYorker]

appears the random orange windows look very much like an interior window treatment of.... orange vertical blinds. So.. this may be a wishful thinking conceit of the renderer

Yeah that seems about right, probably to compliment the red brick of the current building. The irony is, the brick isn't really red; Im betting on much less colour in the final product. As for the sidewalk, it would be great, but im not holding my breath. How would a builder go about realizing a look like that (economically)?

[Taller, Better]

It is a pretty darn nice looking building in that rendering.

[Filip]

That is gorgeous, European-inspired (Dutch, German) moderne.

It's good to see the entire west side of the centre turning into this great mishmash of warehouses and European chic architecture.

[valantino]

The irony is, the brick isn't really red

because it's filthy

[doogerz]

It's so nice and artsy, just like me. ha!

No, but honestly, I am impressed with the design of this building.

[kettal]

A great building but it will suffer from the pretentious marketing.

[isaidso]

I like the building, but are they demolishing that warehouse at the back or is it being incorporated? They really shouldn't be demolishing or incorporating it at all. It should be renovated and left as a stand alone. We're going to lose its facade if not more.

[current]

Toronto Star article:

http://multimedia.thestar.com//images/f7/5a/f34de019487bbe59bbb00495fce0.jpeg
AARON LYNETT/TORONTO STAR
Developer Peter Freed still lives in the penthouse of his first condo project in Toronto's fashion district on Portland Street.

Freed enterprise system
King of west downtown development takes a collaborative approach with planners, residents

May 17, 2008
Royson James
CITY HALL COLUMNIST

Hazel Freed likes to tell the story of the "beautiful Forest Hill day" when her little Peter marshalled the neighbourhood kids to build a backyard fort. The proud mom cradles a framed photo of the awkwardly skewed fort of 1970s vintage.

"He was the boss," she says. "He'd gathered wood and tools from the neighbours and he was out there yelling and screaming at the workers. It took one day to build and another day to find paint. And it was marvellous."

It was also a sign of things to come.

Peter Freed lives in the penthouse suite of his first condo project in Toronto's fashion district on Portland St. His development offices, one floor below, are abuzz with plans for five new projects in his neighbourhood. He figures that by the time he's finished, he will have completed eight projects over three blocks of the warehouse district.

And from the corridors of city hall to the oversized street blocks north of Front St., from Spadina to Bathurst, doors swing open to Peter Freed's brand of development.

Stylish, not avant-garde, urban and smart as opposed to trendy, and possessing clean, clear lines reflecting sophisticated design sensibility, the Freed projects have managed to put a stamp on the area while creating less of an upheaval and community angst than might be expected.

It's not like there isn't opportunity for conflict.

The district is home to some smart, well-connected and savvy architects, planners and activists – the early believers that the derelict district could be transformed into a chic, desirable community of commerce, dwellings, institutions, retail and industry.

Ken Greenberg attends community meetings after jetting back from managing projects in Europe, America and Asia. Scott James guards the district's stock of heritage buildings with the proprietary astuteness of one who did this for a living the last decade of his working life.

And the Wellington Place Neighbourhood Association, to which they belong, has laid out a vision for the area in advance of the developers – waving a community checklist that developers must navigate.

"We are particularly keen on monitoring all development in this area," says James. "It's a brand new neighbourhood. We like to see development, but we like good development. Over the last eight to nine years we've developed a set of procedures for people who want to develop and we're having a great deal of success."

The other traditional point of conflict is the aggressive developer looking to take advantage of market trends. The young, quiet-spoken Freed may not be a marauding developer, but active he is.

There's the 17-unit, $30-million luxury boutique at 500 Wellington and a 102-room designer hotel combined with a 340-unit condo nearby at 550 Wellington and worth $180 million.

Across from his own home atop 66 Portland are the 215 units at 75 Portland, still deep in the ground but 75 per cent sold. And at 455 Adelaide he has 93 lofts and 10 townhomes under construction .

And 650 King features 16 storeys along Bathurst St. and 10 along King St. W., plus an innovative attempt to include family-friendly housing options in the $75 million project.

So, do the planners and city councillor and community activists cringe when they see Freed show up with building plans under his arms?

No. No. And No.

Freed says the planning regime is clearly laid out, he knows pretty well what the residents and city hall want and he stays close to the requirements.

"His projects tend to be quite good, relative to what we see," says Lynda Macdonald, city planning manager for the area.

"Peter is a design person. He hires good architects. And he's one of the most collaborative developers," says James. "That's not to say we don't have some hard negotiations."

And city councillor Adam Vaughan says Freed was one of the first developers to come and see him after he was elected. It's made for a happy marriage of the four pillars – developer, community, councillor and planning department.

Happy, but not necessarily perfect.

More recently, Freed and others have been pushing for denser and taller buildings and not abiding by the terracing or stepping back of the buildings the city wants, Macdonald says.

"Recently, planning has been opposing what we see as a pushing of the envelope further than we find appropriate. The result is more shadowing on the streets, less stepping, and more height.

"The planning concern is his projects are getting more aggressive as he buys bigger sites and sees opportunity to build denser projects. But we don't groan when he shows up,'' Macdonald says.

Under Barbara Hall's leadership as Toronto mayor, a number of planners sat down with the late urbanist Jane Jacobs in the 1990s to test some of her theories in two large areas of the downtown, just outside the central business district.

Centred along King St., east and west of Yonge, the King-Parliament and King-Spadina axes were labouring from post-industrial blues.

Greenberg was a city planner then and recalls that "we had two areas of 400 acres (162 hectares) on either side of the downtown, with large buildings, surface lots, illegal housing and empty lots.

"We took one of Jacobs' key ideas, that if you could allow a complete mix of use and remove zoning restrictions and let the market develop the areas organically, good things could happen."

A number of planning staff resisted but Hall supported the move. Since then, "literally billions of dollars in investment" flowed into the area. And Greenberg and James were two of the residents in an early condo on Niagara St.

"We were in that first batch after the new regime," James says. "Now, there are two cranes on every block."

Restaurants have followed the development. A liquor store and grocery store are in the works. But neighbourhood amenities – neighbourhood retail, public space, local shopping – is still a main challenge for the area.

So is the need to break up the huge blocks that were designed around the warehouse industrial buildings with mid-block courtyards and pedestrian connections linking the blocks.

Thirdly, Councillor Vaughan says he needs more affordable units and a stock of larger units for families.

Highrise living, and expensive downtown real estate are two factors that work against the goal. But at one of Freed's projects, 650 King West, there is planned progress with some three-bedroom units on the first floor.

The "equivalent of a downtown backyard," Vaughan says, will be a roof courtyard that is created on the podium above the first floor by stepping back the building from the second floor upwards.

Still, this requires a large footprint in an expensive part of town. So Vaughan has diverted development fees and contributions earmarked for public amenities and used them to bring down the cost of the units so they are affordable for families.

These contributions from Section 37 of the planning act are wealth created by the market forces, Vaughan says. "We are using the contributions to create social equity."

In 1991, Freed started out as a 22-year-old labourer with an independent homebuilder. His mentor, a family friend, had told him this was the best way to learn the workings of the industry.

"I loved the skills set and the process involved – the trades, the marketing people, lenders. I liked the idea of producing something, loved the creative process."

By the mid-1990s he was doing custom homes and general work in the standard subdivision in Markham, Aurora, Pickering, Brampton and North York. He saved $75,000 and took the plunge on a breakthrough project, the residences of Dempsey Park, near North York City Hall. The 60 upscale townhomes launched his developer career and over the next four years he would build 1,000 townhomes.

But, he says, "there's not a lot of design merit in a lot of subdivisions, in my opinion," so he took his fashionable design eye and tools downtown – to a down-on-its-heels neighbourhood looking to rise from post-industrial decline.

"For 13 to 15 years I've worked with the best skilled people and architects. Each project is a blank canvas. You start with the vision, the creators and you watch it rise out of the ground and then people live in it. That's what I like."

Freed says he's gone flat out for almost 17 years and at some time he has to stop and really live, get married, stop spending so much time absorbed with getting buildings out of the ground. But he's too young to retire, no?

"This is tiring. It sucks the life out of you. I hope to have a family one day. The last few years have been a little much. It took 90 per cent of my energies. There's a lot more to life than work."

But leave the business?

"I'll go with the flow, with the economy and our own capabilities. I'll leave a positive impact on this neighbourhood and then look for another neighbourhood. I love what I do; I love Toronto. I still have energy and design capabilities."

He has said he wants to develop a project on Toronto's derelict waterfront – an area that has been the subject of much study and talk, and lately, development plans.

With a waterfront master plan in place, plus parks going in and expressions of interest and concept plans beginning to take shape, there will be 20 to 25 years of opportunity to develop on the waterfront. For now, the rules disqualify him.

Only big-money developers need apply. The waterfront agency only wants development proposals from companies that have completed half a billion dollars' worth of projects.

"We are in the middle of half a billion dollars of actual construction but you have to have completed that much."

The attraction to the waterfront is that "there is so much potential untapped there that is a disservice to the people of Toronto. There are aesthetic reasons to want to develop and live on the water. It's more an obligation, alongside a passion."

Freed also admits to wanting to put an imprint on the skyline.

"Yes, I'd like to build a very tall building one day. In the right place. The skyline defines the city. I want to do something creative and leave a footprint on the skyline – a sky print."


Toronto Star

http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/425246

[current]

Toronto Star article:

`It's tougher ... buildings have to be unique'
Fashion House project aims to live up to the ambitious design goals of hip King West strip

May 17, 2008
Tracy Hanes
TORONTO STAR


When it comes to raising the design bar in Peter Freed's King West neighbourhood, Charles Gane sometimes has to outdo his own work.

After all, Gane and his company, Core Architects, have worked on seven Freed projects, including the first completed in the area, 66 Portland, and the soon-to-be-launched Fashion House, which Freed envisions as a defining landmark reflecting the hip neighbourhood the former warehouse district has evolved into.

"Peter realized King and Portland had great infrastructure and a great city life. He had a vision this would be one of the exciting areas to live in, as it's close to downtown and has great old heritage buildings," recalls Gane. "Here, you are somewhere. There are a lot of people in their 30s and 40s there, who are like-minded, downtown people. The whole area is on fire."

Gane's firm philosophy lists Context, Exploration, Interplay as key words and Core's portfolio includes some of the city's most distinctive condominium buildings and custom homes.

Freed and Core have pursued a decidedly modernist tone in the area formerly characterized by 19th century industrial buildings. This contemporary approach has "struck the right chord with the buying public," says Gane. "When you come downtown, you have to raise the bar with design."

The Fashion House at 560 King W. presented myriad challenges beyond coming up with a great design. Freed told Gane he was going to hold a design competition because "I want something really good." As it turns out, Core's submission won out over three other architectural responses.

"Sometimes it's hard not to copy ourselves and stay fresh, but this one breaks out of the mould," says Gane. "And it's been well received by the neighbourhood. It's going to have 70 different unit types (361 units in all). It's insane. It's so complex. It's a bit of a crazy design from a massing point of view."

The project includes retail and commercial space, work lofts, regular condo suites and must incorporate the historical 160-year-old Silver Plate Building, one of the oldest surviving factories in the King-Spadina neighbourhood.

The heritage building, which will likely be used for commercial purposes, was a factor in determining the Fashion House's design, because of the setback required by the city. What Gane and Core have created are two huge building sections, which resemble "long, extruded tubes with glazed ends," one stacked on top of the other. The setback of one of these angular planed "tubes" created the opportunity for a large "sky park" on the 10th floor with landscaping and infinity pool "which will get the south sun and have views of the city.

"It should be awesome," says Gane.

Curtains hung in the suites in the ends of the "tubes" that Gane describes will give the project its fashion hook: The draperies will be red and orange facing the street, yet white facing the interior of the units, so not to detract from residents' decor plans.

"We wanted a building that talks about fashion," says Gane. "It's a totally glass building and the colour and details will come from inside."

Special lighting effects will add to the dramatic silhouette after dark.

Gane was also mindful that the Fashion House would affect the views from the adjacent 455 Adelaide, another Freed project.

"We had to be sympathetic to those purchasers," says Gane, and care was taken to preserve most of those residents' views. "It will read like a building across the street."

One of the challenges of the neighbourhood is the restriction on building height.

"In this area, there are so many factors keeping heights down," says Gane. "It's tougher to develop there. Buildings have to be unique."


Toronto Star

http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/425245

[Taller, Better]

^^ LOL! That article was sitting right beside me... I was too lazy to look it up and post it! :D

[current]

June 23

Sales office.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3245/2608246246_591e1b030c_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/2608246262_0ea85a7e4d_b.jpg

[copan]

Would people want to live beside a strip club?

[iliamo]

I would, seems really convenient, whenever I want, just go next door. :cheers:

[Epi]

This building is really awesome, I think it's probably the best new building in the area along with Charlie condos. It's cheaper than Charlie though, with better designed units, although not as high...