First Capital Realty plans to transform Toronto’s Liberty Village area with new retail, housing, and office space, as well as an overhead pathway inspired by New York City’s popular The High Line. The Toronto project’s retail component will include space for a large anchor retailer, as well as several smaller retail spaces. Hundreds of residences will be located directly above. Adding value to this project is the King High Line itself, which will provide accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists from Liberty Village to trendy West Queen West.
The entire Liberty Village area is under transition, and First Capital Realty will be integral to its future. Much like its plans for Yorkville, First Capital Plans to buy up much of the area’s retail, creating a world-class neighbourhood to live, shop and otherwise enjoy. First Capital certainly has a vested interest in the Liberty Village area, as its corporate headquarters is located on-site.
The video, above, shows the location and functionality of the King High Line connection. Linking trendy West Queen West to Liberty Village, across King Street West and over the Georgetown rail corridor, the King High Line will connect the neighbourhoods of Parkdale, Liberty Village, West Queen West and King Street west with a cycling and pedestrian bridge, as well as expanded community green space. Starting at Liberty Village near Hannah Street, the King High Line will run over King Street, then along the back of the residential/retail development before rising over the rail corridor and descending at Sudbury Street, just east of Abell Street.
The video below provides details of the configuration of King High Line’s retail, as well as an overall view of the new project. In total, about 160,000 square feet of retail will be built, including space for an anchor which could measure up to 80,000 square feet.
First Capital partnered with Toronto-based homebuilder Urbancorp for the project’s residential component. About 300,000 square feet of residential space, housing between 450 and 500 condominium and rental units, will be built above the project’s retail component. Formerly named Kingsclub Condominiums, the newly-named King High Line development is being designed by TACT Architecture. A selection of units will be large enough for family living, as the developers recognize that some prefer inner-city living over suburban communities with lengthy commutes.
Besides retail and residential, First Capital will build about 20,000 square feet of new office space in the area. First Capital already owns about 110,000 square feet of office space in Liberty Village, and it seeks to further enhance the area as not only a place to live and shop, but to create a desirable area for companies to do business. In essence, First Capital is setting out to create a comprehensively integrated neighbourhood where one can work, live and play.
Today’s Retail News From Around The Web: January 19, 2015
When will they start construction on this?
toronto: insecure city without it’s own identity. It really needs to stop chasing NYC…
I would never buy anything from UrbanCorp.
The concept sounds good, but Toronto doesn’t have the density yet. It will just end up being another ghetto, if not another abandoned plan