Facade Retained, Greenland’s King Blue Is Ready To Rise
Crews made final cuts last week to preserve the heritage facade of the Westinghouse Building at King Street and Blue Jays Way, a milestone in the development of the King Blue mixed-use project, bought in 2014 by Greenland Group (Canada). Senior project manager Paul McMurray notes this is Canada’s highest historical facade ever retained, a complex process that involves separating the facade from the rest of the building and leaving it standing in place (secured by bracing to protect terra cotta details) as it awaits reintegration into the new two-tower complex.
Some 30,000 brick pieces reclaimed from dismantling the 1920s facade will be incorporated into King Blue, and Paul's crew is salvaging beams and other structural elements to add a splash of industrial chic to the new structure. King Blue will have a hotel (Qube) and theatre museum. The 910-unit project is Shanghai-based Greenland's first Canadian foray; it acquired the development from Easton's Group of Hotels and Remington Group for $113M. It's slated for a 2018 completion.
