Photo: James Bombales
Toronto’s suburbs are growing up as condo development booms outside the city’s core.
While condo construction in downtown Toronto continues to make headlines — there are still more cranes there than in the three biggest US cities combined — there are actually more of the mighty machines outside the core.
In fact, of the 246 cranes across the GTA, 126 of them are outside downtown Toronto, according to Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), a firm that advises developers worldwide.
Twice annually, RLB counts cranes in 13 major North American markets, all the cities on the continent that the consultancy operates offices out of.
Why drive around cities crane spotting? The firm suggests the crane count is a good gauge of confidence in a market.
“The spring season has seen an increase in cranes in Toronto’s downtown; however, most development is happening outside the core area,” reads the July 2019 RLB Crane Index.
“Currently, residential and mixed-use projects command the local construction market; in the future, increased infrastructure spending is anticipated to trigger additional activity,” RLB adds in the report.
The RLB Crane Index only tracks stationary tower cranes, which are bolted to a foundation and most commonly used for tall buildings or other large projects, such as stadiums.
Toronto’s downtown core (the suburban cranes are not included in the main index) topped all North American markets by a wide margin with 120 cranes.
Los Angeles and Seattle trained in a distant second-place tie with 49 cranes apiece.
Los Angeles is a hotbed for cultural and entertainment developments in addition to housing projects, while the construction of tech-company offices helps prop up Seattle.
Calgary, the only other Canadian city included in the index, ranked fourth with 34 cranes.
“High-rise multifamily projects are making an impact on the Calgary skyline,” says RLB.
“The downtown area sees additions in the University District, East Village, and the Beltline areas, echoing that increase with office, commercial, mixed-use, healthcare, and infrastructure construction underway,” the firm adds.
