Below was the scene at the DUKE Condos site in The Junction last Saturday morning at 7:00AM. Michael Bros. mobilized their equipment to begin site preparation so that shoring and excavation can begin. The plan is to be at the bottom of the hole by the beginning of next year.

We’re all very excited in the office and so I half jokingly told our VP Construction that I would meet him on-site at 7:15AM with beers. He responded with a one word email saying: champagne. In the end, I decided to go swimming instead (probably a better decision), but I am sure we’ll have a drink soon.

There are still some killer suites available at DUKE, so feel free to drop into the sales office at 2800 Dundas Street West, give the sales team a call at 416-800-7738, or tweet the TAS team with any questions.

I first heard about Mjölk a few years ago. Located in the Junction, it’s a gorgeous gallery & store dedicated to Scandinavian and Japanese craftsmanship. It has everything from furniture to hand crafts. It’s well worth a visit if you’re into clean lines and the “pure aesthetic of the north.”

Started by a husband and wife duo, the couple also own the building and live above the store. They recently renovated their home and it was just awarded a 2013 Toronto Urban Design Award. You can see all the photos here. I particularly like the third floor inner courtyard:

If you’re curious as to what brought them to the Junction, check out this response from a Dwell interview dated 2011:

“Downtown became so expensive, and that pushed people either east or west. In the past five years, this area has really become a destination. A lot of young, independent businesses have popped up, starting with reclamation stores Smash and Post and Beam. There’s also Crema Coffee Co., Pandemonium Books & Discs, Junction Fromagerie (a Quebecois cheese shop), and Bunner’s gluten-free vegan bakery, to name a few.”

I like to think of residential properties as a leading indicator for gentrification. Sometimes it’s easy to miss the change taking place behind closed doors though.

As many of you know, I recently made the move to a new real estate development firm here in the city called TAS. Well, actually, it was a return for me. I interned here one summer while I was in grad school at Penn. I was always a big fan of the company’s philosophy around city building and so it felt then, as it does now, as a really good fit for me.

As a returning member of the TAS team, I’m excited to announce the launch of our latest condo project called DUKE. It’s located in the Junction (near Dundas & Keele), which is arguably one of the hottest up-and-coming neighbourhoods in Toronto. And, it’s a stone’s throw away from Playa Cabana Cantina, which just so happens to be my favourite Mexican place in the city (although sometimes I think it could be Grand Electric).

In all seriousness though, and with as much bias aside as possible, I think it’s a fantastic project. I obviously wasn’t around for its formative years, but I’m thrilled to be a part of it now. If you’ve read any of my blog posts over at Dirt (thedirt.co), you’ll know that I’m a huge supporter of more midrise development in Toronto. It’s a European scale of buildings that I think we’re largely missing in our fantastic city.

So if you’re in the Junction area, I would encourage you to pop into our sales office and say hello to the team. We’re located at 2800 Dundas Street West. The tile as you walk in is awesome (I can say this because I didn’t choose it) and I think you’ll find that the design of the place is very much of the Junction. Much of the materials, fixtures and labour that went into the sales office were sourced locally from the hood.

If you do go check it out, let me know what you think by commenting below, tweeting me, or tweeting @tasdesignbuild.