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H8 H TORONTO STAR H SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2011 ON ON2
All prices & specifications are subject to change without notice.E.&O.E. All Illustrations are artist’s concept only. 16406
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NEW IN HOMES
Tarek Sobhi felt that Eglinton Ave.near Bathurst St. was in seriousneed of a nice new condo project,having not seen anything in the wayof multi-family development fordecades.
Finding an appropriate site onwhich to build one, however, re-quired a fair bit of effort.
“When we looked at the area, wefound it was difficult to get ourhands on enough land to accommo-date a development,” explains Sob-hi, a principal with BSäR Group ofCompanies.
Eventually he and his BSäR part-ner, Tyler Hershberg, came uponthe site that until last summer was
home to China House, the iconicold-school Chinese food joint onthe southwest corner of Eglintonand Chiltern Hill Rd., which hadbeen in operation for more than 50years.
BSäR was able to acquire the prop-erty, then worked out a deal to buythe adjacent Green P parking lot. Itwill reintroduce that parking spaceon the top floor of the garage of thecondo it plans to build on the half-acre site: The Hill, a nine-storeymidrise with 93 units.
“It’s a great spot to intensify,” saysSobhi, noting that the condo will beafive-minute walk to Eglinton Westsubway station and a short drive toAllen Rd.
Plans for construction of the un-derground Eglinton LRT — with astop to be located just down thestreet from The Hill at Bathurst St.and Eglinton Ave. — make BSäR’sproperty deal all the more fortu-itous. “There’s been no shortage of
phone calls (from other developers)to see if we’re willing to sell theland,” Sobhi says. “It’s been unbe-lievable.
“To us it was already a good site.But with the LRT, if it wasn’t obvi-ous before, now it’s smacking you in
the face.”Units at The Hill range from 500-
square-foot studios to 1,800-square-foot three-bedroom suites.Prices start in the mid-$300,000sand go up to $1.5 million. The salescentre is scheduled to open in mid-
November. Occupancy is slated for2014.
The project is aimed at local olderbuyers who are looking to downsizebut still remain in the area. “Theywant a space that doesn’t havestairs or the things you don’t wantto deal with as you get on in years,”Hershberg says. “At the same time,it’s also for those looking to moveinto the area but can’t afford a de-tached home.”
Suites at The Hill, designed byMike Niven Interior Design, willhave nine-foot ceilings, engineeredhardwood floors and floor-to-ceil-ing glass windows.
Kitchens come with natural stonecountertops and islands, and astainless steel appliance packagethat includes a fridge, wall oven,microwave and dishwasher. Bath-rooms will have natural stone vani-ties and oversized showers withglass enclosures.
Amenities include a multi-pur-pose room and an upper-floor ter-race with barbecue area, privatedining room, guest suite and gym.
Designed by Core Architects, TheHill blends traditional with mod-ern. The building’s base, which willhouse 10,000 square feet of retailspace, will feature glass windowswith black granite framing, abovewhich will sit a limestone-clad po-dium that reaches up to the fifthfloor. A glass box wraps around thetop of the condo.
The rear portion of The Hill stepsback to transition into the existingneighbourhood to the south. Thiscreates a series of three-metre-deep terraces, ranging from 200square feet to 2,000 square feet.
The Hill’s architect, Charles Gane,also designed BSäR’s debut resi-dential project, 12 Degrees. Locatedon Beverley St. north of Queen St.W., the condo features a series ofstacked glass cubes with a cantile-vered middle section that’s jogged12 degrees off centre.
Gane got the gig for The Hill, Sobhinotes, because the developers knewhe would be able to design a condothat respected the esthetic of ForestHill Village but wouldn’t be boring.
“With Charles, he’s always push-ing the envelope with modernbuildings, so hiring him was a safetymeasure to ensure we have a build-ing that is contemporary while atthe same time fitting into the neigh-bourhood.”
Gane says he based his design forThe Hill’s masonry portion as if hewas recreating an older bank build-ing one might find in the area.
The glass and punched-out balco-nies at the top of the building,though, are more in keeping withGane’s minimalist contemporaryesthetic. The result is a project thatis “not totally modern and not total-ly traditional,” he says. “We’re of-fering a new take on what a midrisebuilding can be.”
FOREST HILL
Bringing condo lifeto an establishedneighbourhoodMidrise project willbenefit from newEglinton LRT
RYAN STARRSPECIAL TO THE STAR
Architect Charles Gane, from left, and principals Tyler Hershberg and Tarek Sobhi on Eglinton Ave. W. atBathurst St., where a nine-storey luxury condominium known as The Hill is planned.
TIM FRASER FOR THE TORONTO STAR
Developer: BSäR Group of Compa-nies, www.bsargroup.comArchitect: Core Architects, www.corearchitects.comInteriors: Mike Niven Interior Design, www.mnidonline.comSize: 9 storeysUnits: 93, from 500 sq. ft. to 1,800sq. ft.Price: Mid-$300,000s to $1.5 million.Sales centre: 925 Eglinton Ave. W.Sales start mid-November.Information: 416-546-6409, [email protected], www.thehillcondos.ca
WHAT THE HILL?
