Music icon Pharrell Williams is heading to Yonge and Eglinton.
News of a new residential development dropped this morning, which features the acclaimed artist collaborating with the project team to deliver a “new vision for residential living.”
The 750-unit project, dubbed “untitled” was announced at a press conference in Yonge-Dundas Square on Nov. 5. Sales will begin in early 2020.
“The opportunity to apply my ideas and viewpoint to the new medium of physical structures has been amazing,” says Williams, detailing his involvement in the project. “Everyone at the table had a collective willingness to be open, to be pushed, to be prodded and poked, to get to that uncomfortable place of question mark, and to find out what was on the other side. The result is untitled and I’m very grateful and appreciative to have been a part of the process.”
The Grammy Award-winning artist has made a habit of high-profile collaborations with brands such as Chanel, Adidas and Human Made. ‘
For untitled, which marks Williams’ first foray into multi-residential development, he is collaborating with Reserve Properties, Westdale Properties, IBI Group and U31.
“It’s a tremendous honour to announce our collaboration with Pharrell Williams,” says Sheldon Fenton, President and Chief Executive Officer, Reserve Properties. “The partnership was born out of a desire to do something really unique for Toronto and architecture as a whole. We believe by bringing in a cultural icon with vision and ideation from outside the realm of real estate it will allow us to break the mold in terms of what has traditionally been done. The experience has been off the charts and beyond our expectations.”
The project location is one of the busiest hubs for development in the entire city if not the country. The area’s popularity is only bolstered by the Crosstown LRT transit project that is set to open in 2021.
Reserve Properties and Westdale Properties also collaborated on the Line 5 condo, located in the same neighbourhood.
“Yonge and Eglinton is in the midst of a tremendous transformation that is unlike anything else happening in North America”, says Mitchell Cohen, Chief Operating Officer, Westdale Properties. “We were one of the first to invest in the area and to see just how far midtown has come since then has been a highlight. As developers with a long track record in this neighbourhood, collaborating with Pharrell is about pushing ourselves to do better. But it’s also an opportunity to give back to a community that has given us so much.”
The philosophy behind the brand “untitled” speaks to the idea that “physical space is only a backdrop.”
“To live your life untitled means not having to live up to something or perform beyond a standard. For the standard to literally just be this beautiful matrix that allows people to create their own world,” explains Williams. “How could we as designers ensure the essentials were really thought out and expertly crafted, but delivered in a way that left everything else up to the imagination of the person occupying the space.”
