Toronto Star- Condo Design Salutes CHUM Radio

'·~t
Seeds of Change
Backyard biodiversity and
how toget it: Mark Cullen, H2
SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2015 SECTION H
CEON2
Planted on famed landmark's ground
Where pop music fans once screamed and fainted, boutique condo aims to take buyers' breath away
RYAN STARR
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
The J ack promises to bring revolution to
Rosedale.
Yet with that promise, the new ll-storey
condo from Aspen Ridge Homes will stay
tme to its storied location. The 153-unit
boutique condo will be built at 1331 Yonge
St,just south ofSt Clair Ave. in Deer Park,
on the the site of the old CHUM Radio
headquarters.
In its heyday - before CHUM sold the
property and moved downtown to 250
Richmond St. W. - the building was the
city's rock 'n' roll mecca. Aitists such as
Paul McCartney, Elton John and Frank
Zappa dropped by for interviews. When
the Bay City Rollers and the Osmonds
showed up to go live on air they triggered
fan m ayhem on Yonge St, recalls CHUMFM morning host Roger Ashby.
The old CHUM building is being demolished to make way for the J ack, but the
development team vows the project taking
its place will create a big buzz of its own, a
"revolution in lUXU1y living!'
Site ofsignificance: Given the rich history of the Jack site, its fate has been the
source ofsome speculation.
''Eve1yone always asks us about this location;' says Christ ene DeGaspe ris, vicepresident of Aspen Ridge Homes, which
acquired the prope1ty seven year·s ago. "So
ANDREW FRANCIS WALLACE/ TORONTO STAR
we realize the significance of what the site
m eant t o the city. It's probably one of the Aspen sales reps Ri chard Schmidt and M ichelle Jalservae, centre, meet with CHUM -FM morning man Roger Ashby, right, and architect Les Klein.
most impo1tant sites we've had, and we
knew all eyes would be on us."
Each suite, designed by II BY IV Design, For example, one purchaser has tumed
"We realize the
will have outdoor space: a lar·ge terrace three units into a single suite that's over
Her !earn went to great lengths to ensure
significance
of
for upper-level units facing south and 2,000 squar·e feet.
the development does justice to its highprofile history. They would have liked to the site ... we
west; balconies on the building's eastYet it's not only move-down buyers the
keep the iconic "Dial 1050 CHUM" neon
facing side; and J uliette balconies on the project is appealing t o, DeGasperis note&
knew
all
eyes
4 , - -- -~ ~
sign that once adorned 1331 Yonge St., but
The Jack also tar·geting young profeslower-level street-facing side.
L l: . ~"·
that went with the st ation when it moved would be on
Who's buying: Given the project's prox- sionals wh o m ight have grown up in the
imity t o Rosedale and Forest Hill, it's area, left for a bit, and are now looking to
downtown.
j
us."
(I
What's on offer: Units at the Jack range
largely catering to a move-down, empty- retmn.
5.,
from 590 square feet to the 3,500-squar·e- CHRISTENE
''But it's definitely for people in the
nester mar·ket transitioning from spa•
v
foot penthouse, which has yet to be re- DEGASPERIS
neighbourhood;' she says.
cious homes.
Buyers have the oppmtunity to comleased. Prices start at $450,000 and go to ASPEN RIDGE
VICE-PRESI DENT
more than $3.5 million for the penthouse.
bine smaller units to make a larger one. JACK continued on HlO
The old CHUM building on Yonge St.
r\~~~~
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HlO ITORONTO STAR SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2015
» HOMES & CONDOS
CEON2
> Q&A: ROGER ASHBY
1
A lot of history
in those halls'
Roger Ashby started at B31 Yonge St. in
969, doing the all-night show on 1050
CHUM radio before taking the helm in
985 as morning man on CHUM -FM, the
No. 1station for more than a decade. A
member of the Canadian Music and
Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame and o
0-year morning host, Ashby talks about
the building he came to love.
The emphasis in The Jack's external design is on a strong street presence, with a vibrant retail facade and widened
sidewalks. In a nod to t he CHUM Radio sign, a band of bold red metal will run along the top of the retail level.
Condo design salutes CHUM radio
JACK from H1
Amenities: The Jack will have a fitness centre and a party room that
opens onto an outdoor tenace with
barbecue and lounge seating. The
> THE JACK
Location: 1331 Yonge St.
Developer: Aspen Ridge Homes
Architect: Quadrangle Architects
Interior design: II by IV Design
Units: 153, fro m 590
to 3,500 square feet (penthouse).
Prices: From $450,000
to $3.5 million (penthouse).
Info: thejackcondo.com
condo will have one guest suite and
there will be 10,000 square feet of
retail space at ground level, animating the street between Yonge and St
Clair and Summerhill, with the "Five
Thieves" fine-food stlip and landmark LCBO, among other shopping
and dining destinations. "We're
heaiing lots that the neighbourhood
is looking forward to having retail at
the base here," DeGasperis says.
''Right now there's no real connectivity. This will add some stJ·eet life:'
Personal project: The Jack is very
much a personal project for its designe1; Quadrangle Architects p1incipal Les Klein.
"First, I worked on the existing
building on and off for yeai·s;' he explains.
"We renovated the building put an
addition on, then put another addition on, and now I'm about to teai·
down a project I worked on for 20
years."
Plus, as a bomner, "rockand roll was
a window onto the world." Klein
didn't grow up in Toronto 01e moved
here from the U.S. in the '80s to cofound Quadrangle), "but I know lots
of people who did, and they viewed
the CHUM (Top 40) chart as a connection to the world outside Toronto, awayofbreakingout ofone's local
condition and touching the world So
I feel a lot of affinity toward that
cultural history."
The p1iority in the Jack's design is a
strong mainstreet presence, with a
ibrant retail facade and widened
idewalks: "an mban landscape with
trees and places for people to sit,
potentially a cafe;' Klein explains.
In a nod to the CH UM Radio sign, a
band ofbold red metal will mn along
he top of the retail level, around the
om er on Jackes Ave., and back up
the building vertically to define the
ondo's side-street entrance.
Above thestreetwall, the condo will
tep back each floor from levels six to
l, creating large tenaces with views
ade extra-spectacular by the fact
l1e site is on an escarpment that
lein notes once formed the edge of
ncient Lake Iroquois.
"It's on the shoreline overlooking
owntown."
Plus, he points out, the Juliette balonies feature glazing etched with
hadows ofleaves and trees.
"We wanted to have details that
ould intrigue people as they walked
long," Klein says; "give them the
ense there's a lot to look at, rather
than Uust) a single glance."
Was it a cool building?
It was never a gorgeous building; or
state-of-the-art in any way. I believe it
was an old warehouse where pharmaceuticals were stored at one time,
prior to (CHUM Ltd. co-founder)
Allan Waters purchasing it in the
950s (the station moved there in
959).
The southern section was later
joined onto 1331. That building had
belonged to an insurance company,
then CHUM bought it and linked the
two with a parking lot in the middle. If
we were going over to somebody's
office, we said we were going to the
insurance wing.
How did you feel when it was sold?
In 2008, when it was announced the
property had been sold (to Aspen
Ridge) and we would be moving; that
was a realshocker to me; that made
me sad, because I'd spent 40 years of
my life there, and it really was a second home. I loved that building.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to the
launch for The Jack . . . Iwalked behind where the servers were putting
the hors d'oeuvres together and
noticed the old outside brick and it
brought back memories. I went over
to (Aspen Ridge chief) Freddy DeGasperis and said, 'please save me a
brick when you knock the building
down,' and he's promised to do that
for me.
A lot of important music moments
took place there. The Osmonds came
by and Bay City Rollers - and when
each of those acts visited it was pandemonium on Yonge St.
When the Bay City Rollers came
(authorities) actually had to close off
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"Save me a brick when you knock
the building down," Roger Ashby
(1985 and now) asked developer
Freddy DeGasperis.
that section of the street there were
so many kids. I remember them climbing on top of the group's car. When
the Osmonds came, we snuck them
in the back door and kept them in a
small section at the bottom of a staircase, to get them away from the
crowd. After they left, that room
became known as the Osmond
Room, because that's where everybody would go to smoke a joint when
they had the opportunity. The code
was, "Do you want to go the Osmond
Room?" and everyone knew what
that meant.
What other big names dropped by
the CHUM building?
Well, Elvis was never in the building;
he played Toronto in1957, .. . two
months before the station changed to
rock 'n' roll format. Paul McCartney
was in the building and Elton John,
and on the FM side Frank Zappa and
Supertramp. A lot of history in those
halls! Did you ever hear the story
about the two guys who cut the wire
to our transmitter tower?
What happened there?
It was Aug. TI, 1986; Iwas on vacation. Just before our show began at
5:30 a.m., two guys from across the
street who thought our transmitter
was interfering with their TV signal
came across, went up on the roof, cut
the wires, and the tower that fed the
CN Tower (transmitter) fel lacross
Yonge.
It hit the (Chevy) dealership across
the street, damaged a couple of cars,
but nobody was inj ured. Butthe
Yonge bus, which is jammed at that
hour because the subway isn't yet
running; had justgone past the building. The antenna would have hit that
bus.
Ryan Starr