Akin Studios, Canada’s largest artist-run provider of shared studio space, is one of our favourite tenants at the Auto BLDG. at 158 Sterling Road. Here they run the Akin Studio Program, which is a unique one-year residency program for new and emerging Toronto-based artists.

As the weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic turned into months, Castlepoint reached out to see how we could assist the artists to continue to work through the pandemic. Paying rent was identified as the most immediate pressing concern, so we made rent-controlled relief effective immediately and for a further three years to provide the artists with peace of mind.

Specifically, measures include a 75 percent reduction in monthly rent for the next three years from September 1 on and for rent that has already been paid during the period of March 1 to September 1st, a credit has been applied to future months. The 25 percent paid over the course of Covid-19 will be issued towards future community programming. And the rent is fixed at a below-market rate.

With the Akin Studio Program on the fourth floor and MOCA on the first, second and third floors, the Auto BLDG. continues to strength the cultural ecosystem of artists within the Greater Toronto Area and has far reaching impacts nationally and internationally. Castlepoint is proud to support these artists!

See this July 29, 2020 article in Retail Insider for more information: 

https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2020/07/castlepoint-numa-sterling-road-landlord-offers-extended-rent-relief-to-artist-tenants-in-toronto/

20 Artists Guaranteed Studio Space at 158 Sterling Road

Rent Relief for Akin Studios

In order to offset the carbon footprint of our development at 158 Sterling Road, which focused on the restoration and adaptive reuse of a 10 storey former aluminum foundry building, we purchased and are protecting 400 acres of land known as East Buck Lake Forest in Bracebridge, Ontario. East Buck Lake Forest contains 20 species of trees over 321 acres of forested land, two lakes, and 2.4km waterways preserved. It is home to beavers, muskrats, deer, woodpeckers, moose and wolves among other animals, birds, and fish.

This act of preservation is equivalent to a 9,640 tonnes of CO2 sequestered!

For the 100th anniversary of the Auto BLDG. at 158 Sterling Road, our incredible tenant MOCA [insert link] had an exhibition called “The Life of a Dead Tree” by artist Mark Dion. A massive, fully-grown dead tree and its living inhabitants were observed and autopsied from May 24, 2019 to July 28, 2019 to bring attention to our collective role in observing and caring for Ontario’s natural ecosystems. Castlepoint believes that there is an intrinsic connection between caring for our ecological systems while creating new homes and workplaces for our growing human population. That is why we support these creative connections across geography and disciplines!

Offsetting our Carbon Footprint at 158 Sterling Road

East Buck Lake Forest

Krystal Ball is a Jamaican visual artist based in the Weston neighbourhood. We commissioned Krystal to paint a mural along a large laneway between 1804 and 1806 Weston Road and inspire the Frontlines community, a not-for-profit organization offering a variety of programs to hundreds of children and youth from Weston and surrounding neighborhoods that Castlepoint Numa also supports, as well as create a welcoming space for the larger community. Her recent body of work has focused on urging viewers to consider a new standard for beauty focused on independence and defiance rather than conformity to cultural norms. We love the new mural!

Meet Artist Krystal Ball 

Given the difficulties of the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, we wanted to support local musicians who have not had many opportunities to perform over the past year and a half, as well as our community who have not had many opportunities to gather and listen to live music!

Over the summer of 2021 we supported the Woolverton Music Festival, a series of regular free concerts outside of the Woolverton House at 13 Mountain Street, Grimsby. We transformed the existing surface parking lot with a new stage, moveable seating, and planters to create a welcoming and comfortable environment for attendees. Special thanks to Grimsby Music, who are the tenant on site, for organizing the musician line-ups and creating these memorable afternoons together!

Woolverton Music Festival in Grimsby

Around The Bend: Office building anchors waterfront community

Globe and Mail coverage on 300 Queens Quay East

On Saturday August 14th, 2021 community members gathered to celebrate the creativity and talent of Weston youth in an event called “Weston Youth POPS”. The event was sponsored by Castlepoint Numa, Frontlines, Urban Arts, Shakespeare in Action, Community Place Hub, the Weston Village Residents' Association, Toronto Police Service Division 12, Early Childhood Development Initiative, and Weston Park Baptist Church. The free community celebration featured a cooking competition with celebrity judges including the food critic from the Toronto Sun, a series of 10-minute performances by Weston’s Shakespeare in Action, the unveiling of two new murals, live music, children's games, and art-making stations. It was a gorgeous day to eat tasty food and cheer on the young talented chefs, actors, and musicians from Weston!

A community event celebrating the creativity and talent of Weston youth

Weston Youth POPS 2021

Castlepoint Numa is proud to sponsor the Urban Land Institute’s annual event “Meet the Chiefs”, which celebrates public sector planning leadership across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area. The event provides opportunities for frank conversations between leaders in the public and private sector on pressing current issues in planning and real estate development. Given that our industry’s best work comes out  of collaboration, we have sponsored this event a number of times including in 2020 and 2021.

In 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic required that the event go virtual. Instead of sitting at tables, participants were placed in breakout rooms with a one of the featured “chiefs” that participants pre-selected. Even though the pandemic has kept us apart physically, technology has allowed us to continue to discuss how we can work together to address issues such as:

Future proofing proposed and existing buildings for future pandemics;

Addressing climate change through planning and design.

 is a global organization with the mission to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide by facilitating a network of interdisciplinary professionals in land development and providing members with independent forums for discussion and debate about city building issues and best practices.

Cross-pollinating with the movers and shakers of the real estate development industry across the GTHA. 

Meet the Chiefs with the Urban Land Institute 

 is a registered non-profit, independent arts producer founded in 2016 by curator Gelareh Saadatpajouh and landscape architect and professor Victoria Taylor. Among their initiatives, DeRail has investigated how to turn the West Toronto Rail Path – a beloved multi-use path that connects from Davenport Road to Dundas Street West – from “a place to move through” to “a place to be”. Besides our financial support of this initiative, Castlepoint has also participated as a critic for graduate student studio proposals to transform this public thoroughfare into a series of gathering spaces through site specific installations. We heard some incredible ideas and are looking forward to their fruition!

We're proud to sponsor DeRail and its installation adjacent to Lower Junction. 

Supporting the creation of gathering spaces along the West Toronto Railpath

====\\DeRAIL Platform for Art + Architecture

Nuit Blanche, for those who are unfamiliar, is an annual one-night festival in Toronto where art installations transform the city from sunset to sunrise in late autumn. In 2019, local artist Sara Torrie approached Castlepoint to do a site-specific installation on the Lower Junction lands commemorating a nearby rope-making factory that had been present in the neighbourhood in the 1800s. Called Powerline, the installation had community members donate personal items of clothing and textiles to literally twist them into a rope symbolizing strength and cooperation. A gorgeous and inspiring work we were proud to support!

A site specific installation that symbolically tied the community together across space and time. 

Powerline by Sara Torrie: Nuit Blanche 2019

The GBF (formerly known as the Grimsby Benevolent Fund) is a critical organization that supports Grimsby’s most vulnerable families. For many years, the organization has entertained ideas to expand its programming beyond its food bank and second-hand furniture and clothing warehouse, but had no opportunity to test these ideas.

On October 6, 2020 Castlepoint Numa met with GBF Board president Irene Podolak and executive director Stacy Elia and quickly realized the importance of GBF’s work in the community. Castlepoint Numa then offered the GBF leadership an opportunity to realize some of these aspirations. 

Castlepoint quickly mobilized a renovation team to upgrade the space inside the Woolverton Hall at 19 Elm Street (formerly a billiards hall prior to its purchase by Castlepoint). In just 48 days, Woolverton Hall was upgraded and ready to be the new home to the GBF Wellness Hub.

In addition to providing Wolverton Hall to the GBF for their Wellness Hub, Castlepoint continues to support their fundraising initiatives, including their most recent Food Drive.

The GBF Wellness Hub focuses on improving the physical, mental, emotional and environmental health of their clients and the community. Learn more about the organization here: 

The Woolverton Hall is now home to the GBF Wellness Hub, where new mental, physical, and emotional health-related programs are piloted.  

GBF: Supporting Vulnerable Families in Grimsby

Castlepoint was thrilled to provide the public an opportunity to visit and take in the views from the top two floors of the Auto BLDG during Doors Open Toronto in 2017 and 2019.

The Auto BLDG, which celebrated its centennial in 2019, was, for a brief time, the tallest building in Toronto when it was completed in 1919. Designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, this historic landmark building was rehabilitated by Castlepoint Numa in partnership with Greybrook Realty Partners and is now home to 

, and a number of other fantastic tenants.

In 2017, alongside MOCA, we provided tours of the entire building just as the historic restoration work was getting underway. Visitors could really see how the historic components in the interior of the building were getting some much-needed TLC!

In 2019, the extensive renovations to safeguard the historic building were completed, but tenant fit-out had not commenced, so we were able to once again showcase the space to visitors during Doors Open Toronto!

 is an annual event in which spaces that are typically closed to the public become accessible such as the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant, Osgoode Hall, and Bay Lower Subway Station - did you know there’s another subway station underneath the existing Bay Station?!

Like the Lower Bay Subway Station, the Auto BLDG at 158 Sterling Road was a little known gem in the Lower Junction neighbourhood until it was acquired and rehabilitated by Castlepoint Numa in partnership with Greybrook Realty Partners. During the years preceding its acquisition by the partnership, it had been left vacant and exposure to the elements had destroyed the roof, top floors, and many other parts of the building. Working with architects Alliance and ERA Architects, we developed a plan to rehabilitate the building as a new home for MOCA (formerly known as the Museum of Canadian Contemporary Art) as well as offices for numerous creative tenancies above and retail space at grade.

The top floor of the building was once occupied by the Northern Aluminum Company (ALCAN). They manufactured aluminum products in the warehouses connected to the west side of the building for almost 100 years. Those warehouses have since been removed, but the physical scars they left on the Auto BLDG have been preserved as evidence of their existence. The zig-zag shaped scars were inspiration for the new entrance motif on the west side. Other building upgrades included a new roof, new mechanical and electrical, and new windows. Most importantly for our Doors Open visitors, the new elevators were operational!

We hired students from the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University to act as docents for the Doors Open visitors and they did a fantastic job sharing the history of the building, the evolution of the neighbourhood, and the work we put in to ensure the building will be with us for at least another hundred years!

A hundred years ago this was the tallest building in Toronto and we loved sharing the view with the public!

Doors Open 2017 and 2019: The Auto BLDG at 158 Sterling Road

Castlepoint thinks so, which is why we are proud to have made a five-year commitment to supporting Canadian Stage through the City Builders program.

For over thirty years, Canadian Stage has been the leading contemporary performing arts organization in the country, employing thousands of artists and creating hundreds of new productions. We believe that the arts community is a vital part of Toronto’s identity and is a large part of what makes this city so special.

The City Builders program is a recent initiative that brings folks working in urban design, real estate, and architecture together to fund new Canadian Stage productions. In 2019-2020, the program underwrote Susanna Fournier’s 

. The brain child of architect Drew Sinclair of SvN Architects + Planners, we believe that the City Builders program will not only facilitate the funding of new productions, but also discussions in our industry about the vital importance of theatre as city-building. 

We look forward to being back in the theatre when public health guidelines allow!

Castlepoint believes that theatre is crucial to Toronto’s success

Canadian Stage: City Builders 5-Year Commitment

For over 30 years, Frontlines has provided a safe place for youth in Weston Village to socialize, get assistance with their homework, have a snack or meal and learn new skills. In the spring of 2020, the roof at their rental building at 1844 Weston Road was damaged by a storm and the building was declared unsafe. Local Councillor Frances Nunziata reached out to us to see if we could be of assistance to help find Frontlines a temporary home.

Castlepoint readily agreed to the request from the Councillor and facilitated the use of 1798-1804 Weston Road, just south of its original location.

In addition to upgrading the building for Frontlines, Castlepoint secured the rear yard so it was safe and clean for kids to play, engaged a local artist to paint a bright mural called “Weston Flows” on its south elevation, in effect gutting and rehabilitating the  building for its new users. A new restaurant quality kitchen was built to support Frontlines initiatives including their Catering Careers/Frontburners program that provides free 8-week courses to young adults aged 18-29 to prepare them for careers in the hospitality and restaurant industries. We have since also revitalized a once derelict laneway to the north painting it a bright bubblegum pink to create a welcoming area for eating lunch and other Frontlines outdoor activities. Dubbed the Pink Alley, it will provide a fresh opportunity for new murals by local artists. 

We are thrilled to support this incredible organization that continues to play a vital role in the Weston community.

*Photograph of the new mural at Frontlines with the artist taken in 2020. 

A beloved youth community organization needed a new home at the outset of the pandemic when their building was damaged by a storm. 

Relocating Frontlines in Weston, Toronto

A new office building on Toronto’s eastern waterfront features a sustainable design, green features and flexible indoor and outdoor work and social spaces.

Daily Commercial News coverage on 300 Queens Quay E

Castlepoint has been a long time supporter of Foodshare, an organization dedicated to inspiring sustainable solutions for a food system in which everyone has access to affordable, fresh, nutritious food. Every year Foodshare reaches over 260,000 people affected by food insecurity and poverty.

During the spring 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, it took Castlepoint less than three minutes to discuss and agree to the request to assist funding the purchase of a new food delivery truck on top of our regular contributions. During this time of increased need due to the ongoing pandemic, Castlepoint will continue to support Foodshare in addressing the needs of our neighbors throughout the Greater Toronto area.

Every year Foodshare reaches over 260,000 people affected by food insecurity and poverty.