One City Hall Place

111 Elizabeth Street has an interesting — unsettling, even — history. On May 3, 1977, the Italian Mafia set off a bomb in Wah Kew Chop Suey House, a restaurant then inhabiting the building’s ground floor retail space.

While this was a result of some issue involving gambling and money owed, the history of setting off explosives at 111 Elizabeth did not stop there. Later, filming for the American-Canadian series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues took place in the parking lot here. At one point, producers even set up a fake market and blew it up while filming an episode.

And finally, the building was finally blown up on purpose, this time to make space for a new set of condos.

Today, One City Hall Place graces the land at 111 Elizabeth Street. And the 2007-built structure shows no signs of being destroyed any time soon, thanks to its reception by both Toronto Star architecture critic Christopher Hume and the residents who live in the building. Hume, who calls the building “sleek” and “retro-modernist,” gave One City Hall Place an A grade, surprising for someone known to be difficult to impress.

Perhaps this is partly because the façade at 111 Elizabeth Street is interesting enough that it doesn’t look like every other building in the city. The geometric, horizontal patterns are reminiscent of a game of snake played on a Nokia flip phone (which even happen to be cool again in the minds of some hipsters).

Designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects and Young + Wright Architects Inc., One City Hall Place features 521 downtown Toronto condos spread out over 16 storeys. The building was developed by Diamante Development Corporation, with interiors by Cecconi Simone. And thanks to this interior designer, communal spaces are playful and in tune with nature: entire walls are filled with plants, while others have water flowing down them.

As for the amenities, these are yet another selling point for prospective buyers who fall for the these condos. Not only do the concierge and security have a good reputation as far as Toronto condos are concerned, but the building also boasts a gym, sauna, pool, party room, guest suites, rooftop garden, and visitor parking — a useful lineup that somehow comes without exorbitant maintenance fees. And to top it all off, residents have access to the on-site car share program, as well as bicycle storage.