A much-needed addition to this stretch of Eglinton east of Yonge Street, The Madison will help complete the street wall with the inclusion of substantial new retail space. Prior to the clearing of the site in May of this year, the block of Eglinton Avenue East, bounded by Dunfield Avenue to its west and Lillian Street to its east, was occupied by a former movie theatre which cycled through various uses before its sale, as well as a low-rise commercial building and a large surface parking lot. Unlike the western branch of Eglinton, the blocks between Yonge Street and Mt. Pleasant saw a marked change of character in the post-war period. Demolition replaced much of the existing building stock to make way for a succession of office projects which drained much of the vibrancy of the street. Although alterations have been made to provide for at-grade retail space in many of these buildings, the relationship to the towers above are often clumsy and their design mediocre.

The trend, however, is set to change with The Madison. Designed by Kirkor Architects and developed by Madison Homes, this mixed-use project features two residential towers of 33 and 30 storeys supported by an eight-storey podium. With an abundance of glass and high ceilings, the retail space will do much to animate the street and serve the growing community. Given the deficit of grocery stores in the neighbourhood, area residents will surely be pleased with the announcement that Loblaws has signed on as an anchor tenant, occupying much of the second storey of the podium.

Retail podium of The Madison, image courtesy of Madison Homes.

With a scheduled completion date of 2015, however, we have a way to go before we will be able to see the finished product. In the meantime, we have a quick photo update for you that shows shoring work continuing on the site.

Looking northeast across the construction site from Dunfield Avenue, image by Jack Landau

Looking east acoss the site from Dunfield Avenue, image by Jack Landau

Finally, a rendering of the project to give an idea of what to expect once construction is completed.

Rendering of The Madison, image courtesy of Madison Homes.

Want to learn more? Additional information and renderings can be found at our dataBase listing below. To follow construction as it progresses, join our Forum discussion here.