Category: UrbanToronto

Urbantoronto compiled a summary of new developments that received approvals in July. Included in the mix are some midtown towers and businesses.

Visit UrbanToronto for all the details and the full list.

Four two-storey retail plazas designed by Turner Fleischer Architects for SmartCentres REIT on Wicksteed Avenue at Laird Drive were approved. The main amendment was an ask by the City for $1.25 million from the developer to be put towards the expansion of Leaside Memorial Community Gardens and/or streetscape improvements in the vicinity of the site.

A 35-storey, 398-unit mixed-use residential building designed by Rosario Varacalli for Bazis will be located near the southwest corner of Mt Pleasant Road and Eglinton Avenue East in Midtown.

13, 27, 39, and 44-storey mixed-use condominium buildings will have a total of 1,361 units. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects for Wittington Properties Limited and Capital Developments, the development will be located on the southeast corner of Heath Street East and Yonge Street, in Toronto’s Deer Park neighbourhood.

A 40-storey, 419-unit mixed-use condominium building designed by IBI Group for Metropia will be located on the west side of Yonge Street north of Balmoral Avenue, in the Deer Park neighbourhood.

Designed by Kirshenblatt Urban Architecture for The Broadview Group, the eight-storey, mixed-use rental and condominium building will house 89 condo and 18 rental units. Located on the northwest corner of Broadview Avenue and Pretoria Avenue just north of Danforth Avenue.

Source: UrbanToronto

Capital and Metropia have applied to build a 46-Storey tower that would replace a mid-rise co-ownership building at 170 Roehampton Avenue. UrbanToronto update.

legalline.ca explains the concept of co-ownership buildings:

An alternative to co-operatives and condominiums is co-ownerships. Instead of shares in a corporation that owns the building, purchasers buy a percentage of the building’s real property, or “title”, becoming an “owner in common” with every other purchaser. This also comes with the right to occupy a specific unit.

In the co-ownership system, buyers are legally bound by the terms in their contract rather than by any legislative provisions, such as the Condominium Act. Like the co-operative, the co-ownership involves only one mortgage and one tax bill for the entire property, with each person being responsible for his or her proportionate share of the costs.

Here’s a collection of development updates that we think may interest Bulldog readers. All information from UrbanToronto, a website that contains an exhaustive wealth of data about GTA developments.

Three Towers, Public Park Proposed at Laird Crosstown Line 5 Station

The Pemberton Group has submitted Zoning By-law and Site Plan Approval applications to the City of Toronto for its 1.42 hectare site located it 849 Eglinton Avenue East. The developer is proposing a redevelopment of the site with three buildings including a 32-storey residential mixed-use building, a 21-storey residential building, and a 6-storey office building, in addition to a new public park and private road. The site is located on the south side of Eglinton, east of Laird Drive. It is currently occupied by a Mercedes-Benz car dealership and its associated surface parking. https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2022/07/three-towers-public-park-proposed-laird-crosstown-line-5-station

12-Storey Mixed-Use Building Proposed at Yonge and Roxborough

North Drive Investments Inc has submitted a Zoning By-law Amendment application to the City of Toronto to construct a 12-storey mixed-use residential and commercial building at 1086 Yonge Street, on the southwest corner with Roxborough Street, a short walk north of Rosedale Subway Station. https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2022/06/12-storey-mixed-use-building-proposed-yonge-and-roxborough

The Hampton Soars Onto Midtown Skyline
Have a look at the breathtaking image showing the view over The Hampton (89 and 101 Roehampton Avenue) by UrbanToronto Forum contributor Lamor. https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2022/06/hampton-soars-midtown-skyline-grows-over-roehampton-rental

31-Storey Proposal Would be a Record Mass Timber Height

Unix Housing Group have proposed a 31-storey rental building at 191 College Street in Downtown Toronto constructed with a mass timber structure. 154 Wicksteed Avenue, coined The Leaside Innovation Centre, was slated to be one of Toronto’s first mass timber buildings taking advantage of recent changes in the Ontario Building Code allowing the use of heavy timber structure up to 6 storeys. https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2022/06/31-storey-proposal-would-be-record-mass-timber-height

Gupta Settles With the City, Resubmits SPA for 4050 Yonge at York Mills

The Gupta Group has submitted a revised Site Plan Approval (SPA) application to the City of Toronto on behalf of the property located at 4050 Yonge Street in North York. The developer is looking to build a mixed-use complex consisting of condo, hotel, institutional, office, and retail spaces, within two towers connected by a podium upon land that is currently used as a commuter parking lot at York Mills subway station. https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2022/06/gupta-settles-city-resubmits-spa-4050-yonge-york-mills

One Delisle’s Jeanne Gang Talks to Alex Bozikovic About Designing Tall
‘How can tall buildings be good neighbours?’ a Fireside Chat between internationally acclaimed Chicago architect Jeanne Gang and Alex Bozikovic, The Globe and Mail’s Architecture critic and an UrbanToronto Forum contributor. https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2022/06/one-delisles-jeanne-gang-talks-alex-bozikovic-about-designing-tall

A 35-storey brick condominium is proposed for 214 Merton St west of Pailton Crescent. Urban Toronto

Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment application has been submitted for a 35-storey mixed-use building having a non-residential gross floor area of 452.7 square metres, and a residential gross floor area of 25,208.50 square metres. 346 residential dwelling units are proposed.

Revised plans for a 40-storey tower on the site of the Sobey’s Urban Fresh grocery store at 22 Balliol St just east of Yonge St are shown at Urban Toronto.

A zoning by-law amendment has been submitted to facilitate the redevelopment of the site for a 50-storey residential building having a gross floor area of 35,867 square metres. 623 residential dwelling units are proposed, of which, 81 are rental replacement dwelling units. UrbanToronto

An application has been submitted to redevelop 16-26 Cosburn Avenue with a proposed 27-storey condominium building designed by BDP Quadrangle for KingSett Capital on the north side of Cosburn Avenue west of Logan Avenue, in East York. UrbanToronto, Application Details

The folks over at BlogTO seem impressed by the proposal. What do you think?

Beautiful condo tower set to replace a tired old block of Toronto homes https://t.co/783c5oUvUr #Toronto #TorontoRealEstate #RealEstate

— blogTO (@blogTO) May 22, 2022

Cadillac Fairview has announced its intention, if approved, to remake its long-time Sheppard Ave shopping mall into a combination high-rise heaven with stores down below. The so-called Phase One would see towers 38, 48 and 58 storeys. The company hasn’t released what it has planned for further phases. Urban Toronto

The Ontario government’s reconstruction of the Go Transit line will carry the green and white commuter cars over the CPR mainline and bring an end forever to the railway intersection known for more than 130 years as Diamond Junction. That’s how the west-end neighbourhood got its name. There will be new bridges all along the GO line in the Junction. One will greatly improve the look of Bloor St W and another will permit cars to travel under the GO line for the first time ever on Wallace Ave. Generations of Junction residents have resigned themselves to climbing the pedestrian stairs at Wallace to cross the tracks. It’s all outlined at Urban Toronto with some compelling photos and other images.

Treehugger website has written a glowing review of a proposed development in the Leaside Business Park as the future of post-pandemic offices. Treehugger is self described as “the only modern sustainability site that offers advice, clarity, and inspiration for both the eco-savvy and the green-living novice”.

The developer has promoted the project at 154 Wicksteed Avenue as The Leaside Innovation Centre, “a state-of-the-art boutique office building designed to meet the needs of the high-tech industry in southern Ontario with innovation and sustainability as guiding principles. … The building will be one of Toronto’s first mass timber buildings taking advantage of recent changes in the Ontario Building Code allowing the use of heavy timber structure up to 6 storeys.”

• This Toronto Building Is a Model for a Post-Pandemic Office, Treehugger
• Sustainable Office Building To Rise in Toronto’s Leaside, Planetizen
• Leaside Innovation Centre, specs on UrbanTO

Architects and builders turn to "mass timber"—an engineered wood product similar in strength to concrete and steel—to build multistory buildings. “When you come inside, the smell of the timber is almost like you enter a forest.” https://t.co/RwyPPlTTxm

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 11, 2022

A sign has gone up at the long-time plaza on the southeast corner of Eglinton East and Brentcliffe Drive telling of a high-rise development proposal. It’s the location of the long-standing Staples as well as Marshalls and HomeSense. These last two stores (and Winners) are operated by the US conglomerate T.J. Maxx. It’s across Brentcliffe from the sky-scraping Upper East Village towers. Application to building department is for 4 new residential buildings (containing 1,279 units) ranging in height from 16 to 28 storeys. UrbanTO, Streets of Toronto