The Yonge and Eglinton area has grown to become one of Toronto's hottest development nodes, spurred by unwavering demand and a major transit expansion. Increasing land values in the neighbourhood are evidenced by increasingly ambitious proposals, such as an early-2016 submission for a new high-rise rental tower at 89 Roehampton Avenue.

Aerial view of subject site, image retrieved from Apple Maps

The proposal, submitted on behalf of Pabs Corporation & Roehampton Apartments Limited, seeks to intensify a tower in the park-style site just northeast of Yonge and Eglinton. Located on the south side of Roehampton Avenue between Yonge Street and Redpath Avenue, the subject site is currently occupied by a 19-storey apartment building containing 129 rental units, which would be modified and retained.

Existing rental tower (left) and infill site (centre), image retrieved from Google Street View

Adjacent to the southwest corner of the existing building, a below-grade parking garage and two-storey house would be replaced with a new Quadrangle Architects-designed 36-storey rental tower along with a new shared lobby between the two towers. Rising from an 8-storey podium, the new addition would reach an overall height of 111.6 metres. One new rental unit would be added within the existing apartment building, while 11 units would require modifications to window locations due to a new shared wall between the two buildings.

Rendering of 89 Roehampton, image retrieved from City of Toronto submission

236 new rental units would be housed within the new tower, consisting of 30 bachelor units, 93 1-bedroom units, 102 2-bedroom units, and 11 3-bedroom units. Along with the existing 129 rental units next door and the new rental unit that will be built on the existing tower's ground floor, the site would contain a total of 366 units. New indoor and outdoor amenity spaces would also be added, serving the site's greatly-increased population.

North elevation diagram, 89 Roehampton Avenue, image retrieved from City of Toronto submission

The existing below-grade parking garage would be extensively expanded and reconfigured, housing 183 parking spaces on two levels, as well as 54 at-grade spaces. A public realm enhancement is also proposed along the west side of the site, taking the form of a landscaped area. 

In the Planning Department's Preliminary Report on the application, it states that "City Staff do not support the proposed building in its current form", and it expands upon that by listing various issues, mostly stemming from the form created by placing the new building up against the corner of the existing one:

City Planning Staff have generally not supported this form of intensification within the Apartment Neighbourhoods as it tends to create or exacerbate negative impacts from 'slab style' buildings. 

We will return with updates as the development continues through the planning process. In the meantime, you can learn more by visiting our dataBase file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.