UCEL reaches to the top of Transit City in Vaughan

Equipmentjournal.com
July 24, 2020

Transit City in Vaughan, Ontario has reached two major construction milestones, with two of the three 55-story condominium towers topping out.

Transit City is part of the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC), a 100-acre purpose-built business district along the Toronto-York-Spadina Subway Extension.

The project -- a partnership between SmartCentres and CentreCourt, with construction management by Mutliplex -- is designed to move Vaughan from a bedroom community to a destination and business centre, by offering luxury, residential condos, restaurants, entertainment venues, shopping and retail shops along the six-stop subway extension, which connects the suburb to downtown Toronto.

Under construction since 2018, the first three 55-story condominiums are rising above the skyline adjacent to the newly opened TTC subway station, while work on towers 4 and 5 is underway.

Transit City is also part of the Master Plan for SmartCentres Place, which envisions a 9-acre development, including 929,000 square metres of residential space, 464,500 square metres of office space and 185,800 square metres of retail space.

The first two Transit City towers include 1,110 residential units and seven levels of above-ground parking. The third tower includes 612 condos and six levels of parking.

To move personnel and materials throughout the 55-storeys of each of the three towers, Multiplex partnered with UCEL Inc. to devise a plan for the required construction hoists.

“We started working with Multiplex in 2014 to look at the buildings and locations to erect the hoists,” said Jason Lang, general manager at UCEL.

To meet the construction needs of Transit City, UCEL provided the Stros 3242 F9 construction hoist, which is capable of lifting up to 3,200 kg. With an independent car on each side of the hoist, the 3242 F9 moves personnel and materials up to 90 metres per minute.

“We have one on each of the three towers,” said Al Fockler, UCEL’s rental manager.

UCEL will begin installing a construction hoist when a project reaches its sixth level. The initial installation takes about two weeks.

“After that, we go up every three floors as the building progresses,” Fockler said.

For Transit City, the hoist has already been removed from the first tower, with the second tower’s hoist schedule for removal in August.

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“The Tower 3 hoist will be coming down before the end of the year. We probably only have three or four more jumps there and then Tower 3 will be topped out,” Fockler said.

UCEL is Canada’s first construction hoist company. Formerly Urban Construction Equipment Limited, UCEL has provided hoist solutions for residential and ICI projects across Canada for more than 55 years.

With a fleet of more than 70 lifts available for rent, projects like the 55-story towers at Transit City are a standard jobsite that request the services of UCEL.

“That’s in the range of the majority of what we do, but there is a 90-plus storey project we’re gearing up for that will be in the exclusive company of the tallest buildings in Toronto,” Lang said.