It is time we took another look into Toronto’s past to pay homage to a condominium building that has contributed to the city by both adorning our skyline and improving a pocket of land.  This week, we would like to highlight Spire The Condominium by one of our favourite developers, Context.

Spire was a 300,000-square-foot project that launched a decade ago.  Before the planning of the tower, Context spent a lot of time working with St. James Cathedral and the Anglican York Rectors, helping to achieve funding for renovations at St. James, a city landmark.  After they helped restore St. James, Context launched their 45-storey condo on a nearby site at the corner of Church and Adelaide, naming it Spire, after the shape of the iconic cathedral.

Designed by architectsAlliance, Spire rises in a modern fashion, boasting glass-on-glass facades.  There are a few things that make the building stand out.  For one, at the time of construction, it was one of the only high-rises on the street, and it still is.  Its slender body makes it seem even more isolated.  If you look at it from the south, it looks completely alone, but if you are standing on the north side, the view is comprised of a few more developments, like the Distillery condos Clear Spirit and Pure Spirit by Dundee Realty and Cityscape Development.  Another factor that makes the building stand out is the dark teal tint of some of the glass, a colour that no other building in Toronto seems to have.  In 2009, Spire The Condominium was the recipient of the City of Toronto’s Urban Design Awards’ “Award of Excellence.”

Spire rises from a four-storey podium that has a public court on the west side.  The podium also supplies a significant amount of much-needed retail space along Adelaide and Church.  Any building that opens up opportunities for new retail is helping the neighbourhood.

Context is a developer with many years of experience building in Toronto.  They are pioneers, trendsetters.  They were one of the first ones to design open kitchens, trashing the idea of a formal dining room, and making the kitchen visible from the living spaces.  Craig Taylor, Context’s director of marketing, says that they were among the first ones to offer stainless kitchen appliances and granite countertops as standard finishes.  As you know, these finishes are now expected in almost every new downtown condominium.

Context seems to have a way of predicting what future buyers will want.  We at the Toronto Star’s NewInHomes.com are very excited to see their current developments start to take shape.  Right now, they have Library District and Market Wharf under construction, and their highly anticipated Context King West is still in the preconstruction phase, but is scheduled to open this March!

Stay tuned, for we will be releasing construction updates on all of Context’s developments as they move along.