130 Bloor Street West (High-Rise)

Weir, Stephen. (2006, 16 July). "Condos going over the top, of penthouse". Toronto Star.

The KingStreet Capital Group and Quadrangle Architects are about to begin the dramatic reconfiguration of a downtown building that houses gilt-edged stores, executive offices and a city-designated historic penthouse. If all goes as planned, the consortium will update the building, surgically carve up its 11th and 12th floors and then, without substantially disturbing the two-storey penthouse above it, add six floors of condos. The south face of the 14-storey CIL Building at 130 Bloor St. W. (between Avenue Rd. and Bay St.) houses Gucci, Cartier and a new Lululemon outlet. The north face, at 153 Cumberland St, is home to Hugo Boss and Nicolas Men's and Women's Wear. Upstairs, there are offices for a range of blue chip renters, including the College of Chiropractors, the French and Russian consulates, and the Bronfman-controlled Comweb Group Inc. (a motion picture support company).

It was the Bronfman family that financed the construction of the CIL Building back in 1960.

"Befitting the type of people who will purchase the condos, the project isn't going to have a glitzy name; it will simply be called 155 Cumberland."

Despite all the company's many successes, the CIL building is going to be a challenge. The firm's design calls for the construction of a six-storey building on top of a 45-year-old building without damaging the 10,000-square-foot Torno penthouse, overly disturbing the office tenants and blocking traffic on two of Canada's most prestigious retail streets.

The project begins almost immediately. The first step will be an upgrade of the building's first dozen floors, including modernizing the water and power system. The building will work with the ground-first floor stores along Bloor and Cumberland Sts. to add a "wow" factor to the redesign of the retail space.

The unit designs will be created by J.F. Brennan Design/Build Inc. and prices begin at a reported $4 million to $5 million, with the original Torno penthouse expected to fetch $15 million.

Once constructed, the new six-floor asymmetrical tower will be faced in Indiana limestone. Each floor will be a single condo ranging from 5,000 to 6,000 square feet. Each unit will have 11-foot-high ceilings and large protected terraces overlooking Bloor and Cumberland Sts.

The new residents will use a private elevator with access off Cumberland St. There is a parking garage under the building. J.F. Brennan Design Build Inc., one of the top custom residential builders in Toronto and Palm Beach, Fla., will customize the private residences. Chestnut Park Real Estate is handling the sale of 11 units. Although the consortium is reluctant to talk about prices and sales data, it appears that even at a price rumoured to be $1,500 a square foot, four units already have committed buyers.

130 Bloor Street West Edit Building

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