At the turn of the 21st century, a profound idea took root in Toronto’s downtown east. The idea to take an international sporting event, the 2015 Pan Am Games, and build a visionary new community on its foundations.
When our client Dundee Kilmer came to us in 2011, we envisioned a soaring brand inspired by a Cherry Street landmark, The Canary, a greasy spoon restaurant that stood on the site for four decades. Canary District is a groundbreaking example of how we took an up-and-coming downtown east neighborhood and completely transformed it into a young, hip and urban community through effective planning, branding and marketing.
As the site of the 2015 Pan Am Games Village, Canary District exemplified sports, health, wellness and active living. We took a well-known restaurant’s name and made it the face of an exciting new brand and a spectacular new community, with courtyards and promenades, new transit, next generation communication technologies and diverse educational opportunities.
The phenomenal success of Canary District, which sold out in record time, was matched in subsequent phases, Canary Park and Canary Block, which also sold out quickly. Future phases are planned in this visionary community.