Sixteen years later: St. Lawrence Market North
Posted on July 1st, 2026 – Comments Off on Sixteen years later: St. Lawrence Market NorthI have some history with this subject.
A little over 16 years ago I posted about the start of the St. Market North redevelopment project. If you’re not familiar, the north building sits directly across the street from Toronto’s historic St. Lawrence Market — an adjunct, if you will.
Initially, five teams identified only by colour put forward their proposals for the upgrade. About 2 months later, City Council chose the “Red Team” consisting of Adamson Associates Architects and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.
The following is a panorama I took of the north market at the time. For comparison, below it is the original “Red Team” design from about the same angle:
I stand by my earlier description of the then-existing market as “a stripped-down school gymnasium”. Built in 1968 as a “temporary” measure, it was basically a concrete enclosure into which folding tables, camping chairs, and local farm products (antiques on Sundays), were dragged on a weekly basis.
No matter which team’s design was chosen, the redevelopment was bound to be an aesthetic improvement.
The new north market finally opened about a year ago, in early April 2025. The following image is probably also a rendering (too many suits in the area!) but this is pretty much exactly how the building looks today — same angle as that initial 2010 pano:
A budget for the redevelopment was estimated at $58 million and the building was expected to be finished in 2014. Unofficially.
The official budget was nearly $75 million, revised in 2013 to about $95.5 million, and the final approved cost in 2024 was about $128 million.
An official timeline for the project’s completion may exist but I haven’t yet found it. There was the whole “archeological finds” thing but that accounted for only a couple of years of delays.
In short, based on the available metrics the St. Lawrence Market North project was close to a decade behind the estimated schedule and close to 70% more expensive than the official outlook.
... with pictures
... with sounds
... with videos
... with opinions
... that's shorter
... that's longer
