The Sapphire Tower Edit Building

Identification

Approximate Address - 66 Temperance Street [map]

City - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Region - Greater Golden Horseshoe

Nearby Buildings - 56 Temperance Street, 350 Bay Street, National Building, 357 Bay Street, 360 Bay Street, 365 Bay Street, 335 Bay Street, Bay-Adelaide Centre - West Tower, Wongas Tower, 330 Bay Street

Technical

Type - Skyscraper

Designation - Condominium, Hotel, Office

Status - Never Built

Height - 196m643feet

Floors - 58 above ground and 6 below ground

Units - 200 suites

Suites - From 70m²759feet² to 399m²4300feet²

Total Floorspace - 163475m²1759636feet²

Residential - 93798m²1009636feet²

Other - 69677m²750000feet²

Companies

Architect - Turner Fleischer Architects Inc.

Developer - Stinson Properties

Electrical Engineering - LKM Consulting Engineers Inc

Mechanical Engineering - LKM Consulting Engineers Inc

Structural Engineering - Halcrow Yolles

Soaring 80 storeys into the skyline, the structure consists of two connected cylinders clad in a smooth curtain wall of shimmering blue glass. The more slender tower is 57 stories, providing a terrace at the 58th floor for the indoor/outdoor pool.

The base of the building is a 15 storey, square podium of Jerusalem Gold limestone, which floats over a landscaped parking courtyard.

Glass-walled shuttle elevators deliver guests to the 15th floor sky lobby and reception area, a double height space providing a 'picture-postcard' view of Toronto's classic City Hall. Similar views are enjoyed from the 16th floor restaurant and terrace, which is open 24 hours a day.

Building Record History

2008 - Never Built

Reference Material

Contributors: Jonathan Martins, Mark Simpson, Rod Taylor

• "Sapphire Tower (Downtown Plaza Hotel), 66 Temperance St, M5H". (2007, 29 March). Reed Construction Data - KeyMail Report.

  Project: structural steel frame, fuel fired heating system, glass and limestone exterior; glass walled elevator; proposed const of a multi-use tower, atop a 15-storey podium which will house lobby and reception areas and market and retail space; lobby café. Building uses will include: 716 two-, three-and four-bedroom "family" condos on floors 11 to 40. Floors 41 to 58 will house penthouse condominiums; two per floor. Retail and commercial offices will be located on floors 3 to 7; a museum will be located on the 8th and 9th floors; 10th floor spa; banquet halls on the 13th and 14th floors; parking on floors three through 12, six levels underground parking.

  Owner: Stinson Developments Ltd

  Architect: Turner Fleischer Arch Inc

  Structural cons eng: Halcrow Yolles

  Mechanical cons eng: LKM Consulting Engineers Inc

  Electrical cons eng: LKM Consulting Engineers Inc

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• Harness, Allison. (2007, 24 February). "Western downtown is now brimming with 32 projects". Toronto Star.

  SAPPHIRE TOWER: 56 Temperance St., just west of Bay St. A 65-storey glass building with about 200 units. Builder: Harry Stinson. Prices (parking included): from $459,000 for 759 sq. ft. to $3.5 million for 4,300 sq. ft. Fees: about 50 cents per sq. ft., plus hydro. Amenities: fitness area, restaurants, daycare service, pool, terrace and 24-hour concierge. Sales: just opened. Status: construction not started.

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• "HOTEL/APT/COMMERCIAL OFFICE BLDG". (2006, 20 October). Reed Construction Data - Keymail Report.

  Owner: Stinson Developments Ltd

  Architect: Turner Fleischer Arch Inc

  Structural cons eng: Halcrow Yolles

  Mechanical cons eng: LKM Consulting Engineers Inc

  Electrical cons eng: LKM Consulting Engineers Inc

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• Daly, John. (2005, 26 August). "DONALD TRUMP LITE". Globe and Mail.

  Tale of the tape 94 storeys, 322 metres tall

  The gimmick The tallest residential building in Canada, at least it was until it was Trumped The bucks Of the 1,135 suites, the entry-level is priced between $200,000 and $300,000; mid-levels will go for between $500,000 and $1.5 million; the eight penthouses will sell for $7 million each

  The bling Spa, pool and greenhouse; a restaurant overlooking City Hall; high-end convenience market; helicopter pad for quick shuttles to Pearson

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• Kidd, Kenneth. (2005, 13 March). "Trumping the Donald". Toronto Star.

  So Harry has, in recent weeks, quietly forked over the down payment on a $4.5 million deal to add a small adjacent property to his site. He's wrapping up a deal to buy the rest of the land on which Sapphire would sit for something ``in the mid-teens'' from the Sheppard Group, another developer. And he's got the architects busy adding another eight storeys, which would take the Sapphire (including antennae) to a league-leading 337.5 metres. The building's 88 floors would be "a good, sexy number," says Harry. "It's a Chinese lucky number."

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• Cowan, James. (2005, 14 February). "Builder may stretch his tower to top Trump's". National Post.

  Current plans call for Mr. Stinson's Sapphire Tower, on Bay Street near Richmond Street, to stand 320 metres tall, a mere four metres shorter than Donald Trump's project. But Mr. Stinson said he is considering stretching his structure, though he adds the extension is not central to his business plan. "Quite frankly, the whole exercise is pretty silly, but what the heck," he said.

  In contrast, Mr. Stinson's complex at Bay and Richmond streets boasts two linked cylinders topped by a giant, translucent blue sphere. Currently slotted to be 81 storeys and 320 metres tall, the Sapphire Tower is to contain 900 condominium and hotel units.

  While Mr. Landsberg could not reveal sales figures for the Trump development, Mr. Stinson said 150 of the units in his building have already been sold. He said the height of his building increases not only its notoriety, but also the value of its individual condos.

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• "Preliminary Report" [1.38MB]. City Hall.

• "Staff Report" [960.22kB]. City Hall.