Category: Sunnybrook Plaza Redevelopment

Reader Virginia Lennox Kelly has messaged that the new branch of the CIBC planned for a storefront in the office building at 1820 Bayview Ave will replace the long-standing CIBC in the Sunnybrook Plaza. Customers of the branch may know this but The Bulldog learned of it through planning documents. The branch will be a loss for Sunnybrook landlord RioCan as it waits out the period before work begins on its residential-commercial makeover of the plaza. The space has been a CIBC branch since the day the bank was created by a merger in 1961. Before that, it was a branch of the Canadian Bank of Commerce from the day Sunnybrook opened in 1952.  The new location is on Bayview between Roehampton and Glazebrook Aves. Also coming to 1820 Bayview is the Endeavor Sports Clinic which will open on the second floor of the building.

CIBC MOVES BELOW THE TRACK

And CIBC is moving its headquarters south on Bay Street below the railway to towers to be built at 81 and 141 Bay.  The connected spires will rise 49 floors each and are known together as Bay Park Centre.. One building is scheduled to be finished in 2020, the other in 2023. CIBC will leave behind Commerce Court built in 1962 and the 1930s Bank of Commerce building which at 34 storeys was once the highest building in the British Commonwealth.

Now that agreement has been reached between the City and RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) on how to rebuild Sunnybrook Plaza, tenants ranging from the Source to the UPS store are looking at their options. For some, the choice may be to look south to the South Bayview business district where there are lots of empty locations. But as in all things, timing will be critical.

TOWERS 11 AND 16 FLOORS

Yes, the parties have agreed that the towers of Sunnybrook Plaza will go just so high and no further. The deal struck late last year at the Ontario Municipal Board set the height at 11 and 16 floors. But wait, the tenants of Sunnybrook Plaza have leases. And some, including heavy-hitters like Rexall Pharma Plus and Home Hardware, are thought to extend nearly to or beyond 2020. If they are kicked out now, RioCan will pay a pricey penalty.

FINAL APPROVALS MAY WAIT

The lease factor, plus a concern on the part of the Ontario government (Metrolinx) that construction on private developments should not interfere with LRT progress, may delay final approvals for Sunnybrook. In the end, the  closure of the 1951 plaza may be a boost for the South Bayview business district to the south as tenants seek locations near Bayview Ave. and Millwood Rd. Sunnybrook Plaza deal calls for towers 11 and 16 storeys 

There is a meeting scheduled for today (Saturday, December 10, 2016) between north Leaside neighbours of Sunnybrook Plaza and members of the Leaside Property Owners Association about the still-confidential deal as to what Sunnybrook Plaza will look like after its redevelopment. The eagerly-awaited (and possibly feared) results of this negotiation at the Ontario Municipal Board will establish the height of towers previously proposed at 13 and 19 floors. The City was a party to this deal as was the LPOA. Just what has been done, no one knows, but the details are expected to be released by or on Monday. As this goes on, retailers in the plaza will be waiting for notice of just what time remains for them in locations that many have had for decades. In particular, area residents will want to know where they will be banking at the CIBC, where the Rexall Pharma Plus will go and what on earth they will do for a good neighbourhood hardware store.

A recently created Twitter account @Leaside660 is dedicated to defeating the proposed towers at the RioCan owned Sunnybrook Plaza. At recent negotiations with the OMB it was agreed that the Leaside Property Owner’s Association will be granted Party status along with RioCan and the City of Toronto. The Chair refused to allow a request from RioCan and the City for mediation, which was emailed to the Chairman the day before hearing, because the Board procedures for establishing mediation had not been followed. Leaside660 says on its site, “from our perspective this was a relief as this might have occurred without the LPOA and residents being part of the discussion. Now that the LPOA is a Party, in future we will be part of whatever goes on.” It is also noted that Leaside660 must engage a lawyer. Readers may recall the perilous position of ratepayers if the city decides to settle with RioCan allowing towers that insult the neighborhood. Leaside660.com  Hope and harsh relaity for opponents of Sunnybrook towers

https://twitter.com/leaside660/status/759800249124737032

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About 40 residents of North Leaside met on the lawn at 281 Bessborough Saturday morning to hear messages of both hope and harsh reality around the approaching OMB hearing on the plan for high-rise towers on the Sunnybrook Plaza site. John Burnside (Ward 26) said planning decisions already made have provided the plaza’s owner, RioCan, with a wedge of precedent at OMB. While Sunnybrook was designated mid-rise (8 storeys or so) the deeper property owned by Metro Inc across the street was called suitable for high-rise. It is enough for aggressive developers to argue their case.

15 STOREYS

Mr. Burnside mentioned 15 storeys as possibly the lowest height for the higher of the two towers, now loitering in the 12 and 19 storey range in the proposal. Resident Wayne S. Roberts said the community could forget about eight storeys. He seemed to feel that 15 storeys was the lowest anyone could expect. And as Burnside made clear, the decision to settle before the OMB hearing is in the hands of the City’s planning department. The Councillor said such a settlement would be very difficult to fight. “They (the planning department) are working on behalf of the City, not us,” said Burnside. Ed: a reminder again that the municipality to which we pay taxes is seldom really in the hands of the voters. 

GARBAGE?

The Councillor spoke in frank but dispiriting terms about the effectiveness of the City’s planning. He called the Eglinton In Focus paper “largely garbage”. He suggested that planning frequently inspires visions which are not good planning and set off a development frenzy like the one now seen  across Eglinton Ave. The discussion raised questions about why the Bloor Danforth transit line has been in place for 40 years but has not seen the high-rise fever witnessed in Leaside. The answer seemed to be that there is land here and, foot for foot, it is probably worth a good deal more money at market.

SCHOOLS AND TRAFFIC

There was concern about crowded schools. One mother said Northlea Public School is bursting. Once again, Mr. Burnside was quite candid. He said TDSB “planning” was based not on forward-looking expectation of population but on how many portables had been thrown up behind the school.  This was policy.  Bessborough residents and others north and east of Sunnybrook were warned about the traffic associated with the Sunnybrook changes. They will see  traffic on Bessborough from the north seeking to avoid the corner of Bayview and Eglinton. Burnside also spoke about attempting to maintain a right hand turn westbound on Eglinton Ave at Bayview.  Fund raising appeal to stop Sunnybrook towers