Mixed-use waterfront development to transform Toronto’s Queens Quay

dailycommercialnews.com
May 16, 2016

A tri-party partnership has announced plans to develop a large mixed-use community one block east of Yonge Street on Toronto's waterfront on the site currently occupied by several Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) buildings.

The Menkes partnership, as the media release terms it, has signed an agreement to purchase the property from the Province of Ontario. They were selected as the winning proponent for the project following a competitive sale and selection process.

The partners are Menkes Developments Ltd., Greystone Managed Investments Inc. and Triovest Realty Advisors Inc.

The development site is an 11.5-acre property located at the northeast corner of Queens Quay East and Freeland Street. The plans were announced earlier in May.

The proposed Menkes development will include a 24-storey, 600,000-square-foot office tower, 300,000 square feet of commercial retail space and a new residential community. The new community will be anchored by a two-acre park located on the north side of Queens Quay East. The final design of the park will be subject to a design competition.

The northern boundary of the park block will incorporate retail uses fronting onto a future extension of Harbour Street, which presently ends at Yonge Street.

The current LCBO holdings on the site include a retail store, a four-storey office building and a 376,000-square-foot warehouse. The liquor retailer will remain a major tenant of the proposed Class AAA office tower to be located at 100 Queens Quay E., occupying approximately 200,000 square feet, or 33 per cent of the building. The ground floor of the building will also feature a 25,000-square-foot flagship LCBO retail store, which will replace the current Queens Quay store. The existing LCBO warehouse operation on the property will be moved off-site.

The proposed new office tower has been designed by B+H Architects, who will be aiming for LEED Platinum certification. Construction on the office tower is projected to start in the fall of 2017, with completion expected in the first quarter of 2021. When completed, between 4,000 and 4,500 people will work in the building, notes the media release.

Development applications for the community, including an Official Plan Amendment and a Rezoning By-Law Amendment, are in the process of being submitted to the City of Toronto.

Past Menkes projects include the Empress Walk entertainment, shopping and residential complex in North York City Centre, the LEED-Platinum 25 York (TELUS House) office tower in Toronto's South Core district and the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences in Bloor-Yorkville. The company's latest project is a two-million-square-foot development in Toronto's South Core, which features two 65 and 69-storey condominium towers known as Harbour Plaza and a 35-storey AAA commercial office building called One York.

Greystone is a privately-owned, Canadian institutional investment manager. Triovest is a privately held Canadian real estate investment and management company representing institutional and private investor clients.