The redevelopment of Regent Park, Canada's oldest and largest public housing project, is only part-way done, though the transformation of this community has already largely erased age-old stigmas while highlighting the area's rich cultural vibrance. Led by The Daniels Corporation and Toronto Community Housing Corporation, the five-phase plan is moving along methodically, with the first phase complete, the second phase now partially built with just a few plots of land left to develop, and the third phase now started, having gotten under way last year.

The One Park Place complex with the Toronto skyline in the background, image by Michael Muraz

The ongoing second phase of the Regent Park Revitalization has already brought us TCHC buildings and market conddevelopments like Paintbox, which was completed a couple years ago, and the now completing two-tower complex One Park Place to the east, which is now filling up with new residents. Stage two also brought us the namesake park itself in the middle of the Regent Park area and its many facilities, particularly the Aquatic Centre and the arts-based community centre across Dundas called the Daniels Spectrum.

The One Park Place complex with the park and aquatic centre, image by Michael Muraz

To the immediate west of the One Park Place site, a vacant site on the south side of Block 24, formerly occupied by a recently demolished community centre, will eventually be redeveloped into a new TCHC building. The plot west of that is already in the process of being redeveloped, as construction recently began on The Daniels Corporation's mid-rise market condo development, The Bartholomew.

As shoring work begins at the 13-storey, Quadrangle Architects-designed Bartholomew, construction is just finishing up on its neighbour to the south, TCHC's Giannone Petricone Associates-designed affordable housing development on Block 22.

Construction of The Bartholomew (foreground), Block 24 (centre), Block 22 (right), image by Michael Muraz

To the south of Block 22, the future site of The Daniels Corporation's Sutton Collection townhouse development has been cleared, and marketing for the project has commenced. Across Sackville to the east, construction is wrapping up at the site of the new Regent Park South Community Centre, which will replace the former facility which was recently demolished a block to the north. The new community centre backs onto the newly-restored field of Nelson Mandela Park Public School.

North facing view over the Regent Park community, image by Michael Muraz

In the southeastern quadrant of Regent Park, work is well under way on third phase projects like the Regent Park Athletic Grounds which will include an ice rink and a cricket pitch, plus future residential developments which will border it on Blocks 28 and 30, which were cleared in 2014 to make way for redevelopment. 

To the immediate north of the Athletic Grounds, the redevelopment of Block 28 will be Van Elslander + Associates Architects Inc’s third collaboration with Toronto Community Housing, bringing 24 affordable five and six bedroom back-to-back townhouses to the community.

Map of the Regent Park Revitalization, image courtesy of The Daniels Corporation

Directly northeast of Block 28, Block 27 will add a 28-storey 200-unit highrise building and a 10-storey 100-unit midrise building, both designed by RAW Design, to the corner of Dundas St. and River St. We expect to learn more about Block 27 in the coming weeks as more information becomes available.

The development of Block 32, located in between Nelson Mandela Park Public School and the site of the Regent Park Athletic Grounds, will add a 12-storey seniors residence to the neighbourhood with 332 new units spread out across 23,250 square-metres, as well as support services. The project will also include 657 square metres of retail uses fronting Sumach Street, opposite the Athletic Grounds.

Site of the Regent Park Athletic Grounds, image by Michael Muraz

Phase 3 will continue north across Dundas Street and also involve the redevelopment of Block 1, a plot of land located at the northwestern corner of the community at Parliament and Gerrard Streets. Initial planning for those developments is starting now, and we will report on them as information comes together.

Want to know more about Regent Park? UrbanToronto's Projects and Construction section has threads covering each phase of work. You will find the Phase 1 thread here, Phase 2 here, and Phase 3 here. Want to know more about current market condos in Regent Park? Click on our dataBase file for One Park Place or The Bartholomew, linked below. Want to talk about the neighbourhood? Leave a comment in the space provided on this page.

Related Companies:  BDP Quadrangle, Cecconi Simone, Counterpoint Engineering, Diamond Schmitt Architects, entro, Hariri Pontarini Architects, NAK Design Strategies, RJC Engineers, U31