Toronto's Parkdale community is an eclectic mix mostly made up of Victorian homes and mid-century apartments. Some of it is rough-around-the-edges, but the area is also a magnet for gentrifiers. Largely attributable to the thriving real estate market and the neighbourhood's proximity to Downtown, Parkdale's makeover is slated to continue with the proposed redevelopment of a 0.85-acre site at 57 and 65 Brock Avenue by Block Developments.

Located two and a half blocks north of Queen Street, the site on the east side of Brock backs onto the rail corridor to the east. It is currently occupied by a single-storey Beer Store location at the east end of the lot behind a surface parking. In its place, the proposal calls for a 7-storey mid-rise residential building with architecture by RAW Design and landscaping work by Thinc Design. The proposal would also dedicate 976 square feet of land to the City of Toronto, which would be used to widen the existing laneway along the south side of the site.

Subject site and surrounding context, image retrieved via submission to City of Toronto

The building would contain 106 residences, a two-level above ground parking garage, and additional surface parking at the rear to act as a buffer between the active rail corridor and the proposed building. Units would come in a mix of 9 townhouse-style units (five of which feature front doors on Brock Avenue), 53 one-bedroom units, 8 one-bedroom plus den units, 26 two-bedroom plus den units, and 10 three-bedroom units. Residents of these units would have access to 390 square metres of indoor amenity space and 517 square metres of outdoor amenity space on the first and second levels of the building.

57 Brock Avenue, image retrieved via submission to City of Toronto

The aforementioned above-ground parking garage would contain 73 parking spaces, of which 57 would be reserved for building residents, with the remaining 16 parking spaces set aside for visitors. The parking garage would also contain 22 short term bicycle spaces, while the south end of the building's ground floor would house 108 long term bicycle spaces.

57 Brock Avenue, image retrieved via submission to City of Toronto

As proposed, the mid-rise would reach a height of 23.45 metres to the top of the roof and 28.9 metres to the top of the mechanical penthouse, which is just over double the 14-metre height allowed by the current zoning. Set in an established community of low-rise Victorian semi-detached houses, the development aims to integrate itself with a streetwall of brick-clad townhomes rising 11.05 metres to the top of level 3, falling in line with the heights of the surrounding structures on Brock Avenue.

Townhome frontage at 57 Brock Avenue, image retrieved via submission to City of Toronto

Above the third floor, the structure steps back to reference the multi-storey bay windows of adjacent homes. Starting at the 4th floor, the cladding changes to a lighter masonry with more glazed portions for a series of terraces in a zigzagging pattern, meant to concentrate the massing towards the centre of the site and away from the smaller scale of Brock Avenue. This will help to accomplish a reduction in both the building's impact on the streetscape and shadowing of adjacent properties. 

Terraced upper levels at 57 Brock Avenue, image retrieved via submission to City of Toronto

The property is currently zoned as Employment Lands, so it will face the added hurdle gaining residential zoning during the planning process. We will return with updates as further details of the project emerge. In the meantime, you can view facts and renderings by visiting the project's dataBase file, 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.
Related Companies:  McIntosh Perry, Myles Burke Architectural Models, Qoo Studio, RAW Design