July 21, 2008

PAUL CASSELMAN

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences in Toronto included a performance by Circus Orange, above.

Aerialists soar at Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences groundbreaking

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

It isn’t every day that circus performers participate in a groundbreaking ceremony.

But aerialists from Circus Orange did just that at an event celebrating the official start of construction of the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences in Toronto’s tony Yorkville neighbourhood.

The performers swooped from the sky and handed engraved shovels to dignitaries who included Alan Menkes, president of the High-Rise Residential Division of Menkes Developments Ltd. and Isadore Sharp, founder and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

“The reality is that if you want to have a ceremonial groundbreaking for a project like the Four Seasons, it has to be spectacular,” said Rhoda Eisenstadt, managing partner of The Communications Group, which organized the event.

PAUL CASSELMAN

Breaking ground at the Four Seasons Hotel and private residences in Toronto are, from left, Alan Menkes, president of the High-Rise Residential Division of Menkes Developments Ltd., city councillor Kyle Rae, Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Jim Watson and Isadore Sharp, founder and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

Located at the northeast corner of Bay Street and Yorkville Avenue, the two-tower development includes a hotel and more than 200 private residences. The project was designed by Peter Clewes of architectsAlliance.

The 55-storey West Residence is comprised of a 253-room hotel on the first 20 floors and 101 residences above.

The 26-storey East Residence will contain 103 residences. It will be connected to its sister building by an elevated pedestrian bridge.

The two glass-sheathed towers will share a courtyard designed by Montreal-based landscape architect Claude Cormier.

The developer is Bay-Yorkville Developments Ltd., a partnership of Menkes Developments Ltd., Lifetime Urban Development Group and Alcion Ventures.

Menkes Construction Ltd. is building both the hotel and residences.

Condominiums range in size from 1,000 to 9,000 square feet and start at $1.9 million. More than 70 per cent of the units have been sold.

Scheduled for completion in late 2011, the project is expected to create an estimated 1,600 construction jobs.

Print | Email | Comment