3.2K 
Well north of the City of Toronto's boundary at Steeles Avenue, a Richmond Hill stretch of Yonge Street is subject to a development application to build an 8-storey residential building. Now appealed to the OMB following a lack of decision by the Town of Richmond Hill, the 81-unit development at 10217 Yonge takes on a site just southeast of the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts.
Designed by Architecture Unfolded, the brick and precast structure would be fronted by a pair of low-rise commercial buildings on Yonge Street. Currently occupied by commercial retail, the buildings at 10217 and 10225 Yonge would be partially retained and incorporated as the new development's commercial frontage. Most of the heritage house-form structure at 10217 (below, centre) would be retained, with the rear garage demolished to make way for the new condominium.
In the works since early 2015, the proposal was put forward by Pennytech Inc. and Robert Salna Holdings. The flat, rectilinear building attempts to reference the more intimately scaled context of Richmond Hill's Yonge Street through the use of red brick accents along the lower levels. Otherwise, the building envelope consists of beige cladding and glazing, with another small cosmetic extrusion along the higher levels of the Yonge Street frontage.
Planned on a 0.46-acre site, the development would have a GFA of 72,000 ft². Commercial uses would be retained at grade, with the remainder of the development occupied by residential condo units. Following a series of pre-hearings throughout 2016, a final OMB hearing has been scheduled for March 6th.
The surrounding stretch of Yonge Street retains a mostly low-rise character, with the fairly fine-grained concentration of storefronts interspersed by institutional and cultural facilities. If built, however, the new development would not be the area's first condo, joining Tridel's nearby 'Renaissance of Richmond Hill' complex—located just north of Major Mackenzie.
We will keep you updated as the project moves through the approvals process, and more information becomes available. In the meantime, make sure to check out our dataBase file, linked below. Want to share your thoughts? Leave a comment on this page, or join the ongoing conversation in our associated Forum thread.
