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Completed in 2016, Alchemy Properties' FXFOWLE-designed, 35XV Residences, comprised of a 25-storey glass tower built atop a Catholic high school, has a been a project long in the making with plans for the development going back as far as 2008. In a major windfall for both Xavier High School and Alchemy Properties, the developer paid the school $13.7 million for their air rights, and then purchased the former Union Hall at the back of the school for $16.6 million. The demolition of the Union Hall allowed the school to expand from its current frontage on W 16th St through to W 15th St, while the new arrangement with the school or "community space" directly below the proposed new condo tower allowed the developer to build higher and denser than they would have otherwise.
Viewed above from the rear, the tower can be seen rising high above the historic facade of Xavier High School's W 16th St frontage.
Moving a block south to W 15th St, the podium base of the new development is faced in granite. Despite many overtly avant-garde design cues, its massing and window arrangement are much more in line with the rest of the streetscape, though the glass tower above is a bold departure from what came before.
While nowhere near as ornate as the former Union Hall, 35XV Residences has managed to blend into its environment. The granite podium and attached glass tower make an interesting break in what was until recently a very uniform block of low-rise apartments and townhouses.
The 3,369-square-foot penthouse unit is on the market as of March 2017 for a list price of $10.5 million. The development has done well, and the 57-unit, 25-storey residential tower today is as much a part of the neighbourhood as any other.
For more information, check out the associated Database file and Forum thread, and as always, feel free to join the conversation in the comments section below.
