Easy as 1-2-3
‘We think we’ve struck a good balance for people to live, work and play in the neighbourhood,’ say 123 Portland developers
Toronto’s King West neighbourhood already seems built for today’s upwardly mobile, lifestyle- focused professionals. It has swish restaurants ( Lee, Buca, Patria), boutique gyms to burn off the excess calories ( Elle Fitness, Totum, SoulCycle), and spas and beauty bars (Her Majesty’s Pleasure, Body Blitz, Hammam Spa) to get primped post- workout. And for anyone who has time left over for a job, there are three Shopify offices within a three-block radius.
Yet the area between Wellington and Adelaide streets, from Spadina to Bathurst, is about to get even lifestyle- ier. A new Ace Hotel is set to open in fall 2020, kitty- corner to a former City of Toronto waterworks facility being redeveloped into a condo tower with a 20,000-square-foot food hall and a YMCA — a fitting mix.
Then there’s 123 Portland. Due to be completed in 2022, the 14- storey, 114- unit structure ticks many of the usual King West boxes — there will be at least one restaurant at street level, for instance. But a close look at the plans suggests the neighbourhood’s demographics might be subtly shifting. Instead of catering to first-time-buying millennials — the 20- somethings who flock to the area’s many bars and lounges on Friday and Saturday nights — 123 Portland is being built for more-established buyers, like tech entrepreneurs who want to be near Shopify or downsizing empty- nesters who’d like to be steps from the best restaurants without the hassle and expense of a standalone home.
“There’s only one studio,” says Minto’s Chris Black of the units in the building. “There will be a lot of two bedrooms over 800 square feet. And 20 per cent of the suites are three bedrooms — twice the proportion common in new condos.”
Because the apartments are larger – the average suite is 800 to 1,000 square feet – Black expects the building will attract more end- users who live in their units, and fewer landlords investing to rent out to others.
To underscore the idea
of a condo as place for longterm living, “we looked to European cities,” says Black, “where apartment life is completely normal, even aspirational.” At 123 Portland, architects Sweeney & Co. punch the cast- concrete facade — a nod to the neighbourhood’s history as a manufacturing hub — with the Juliette balconies common among Parisian walkups, though here they are modern and clean-lined.
Continental influences continue inside. “We tried to see what would happen if we crossed rich European ornamentation with a Toronto warehouse,” says Neil Jonsohn, who oversaw the interior design. In the lobby, brass accents and minimal grey walls contrast soaring arches, a coffered ceiling and an inlaid marble floor. Likewise, in the penthouse- level party room, carved ceiling rosettes, which look ripped from an Old World Italian villa, encircle stream- lined brass pendants lights, while modern furniture below sits on hardwood floors in a classic chevron pattern.
Any references to bygone luxury belie the modern plan for the party room, however, which is set up for the tech execs who will likely use it.
“We really put our heads together to think how we could create well-used amenities,” says Black. “So when the party room isn’t booked for an event, it will be used for co- working, with Wi- Fi and power outlets discreetly dotted throughout. It’s what a lot of today’s work- fromanywhere people are looking for. And it’s a bit like many new tech offices, where you can work during the day in an interesting, unusual atmosphere, but also have room to unwind.”
To decompress postcrunch time, residents can hit the gym, which will be free of free weights — and the accompanying noise of dumbbells dropping — or head up to the rooftop terrace overlooking the city skyline to the east. Spanning the top of the building, the cabana- lined space will include manicured hedges in copper pots and interlocking stone pavers, consistent with the European esthetic throughout.
Overall, there are fewer amenities at 123 Portland than in many of the new, larger buildings going up downtown. There’s no steam room or billiards hall or movie theatre. But Black thinks that’s fitting for what he describes as the “intimate scale of the building. The suites are the right size for people who want to entertain and have overnight guests,” he explains. “The gym is small, but many residents will likely also be taking advantage of the adjacent yoga studios and spinning classes . There’s a kitchen in the party room but also so many great restaurants on King West. We think we’ve struck a good balance for people to live, work and play in the neighbourhood.”
Suites from the $ 700,000s. For more information, visit the condo centre at 534 Queen St. W. or 123Portland.com.