A revised proposal has been submitted to the City of Toronto by Linwood Management Corporation for a tower-in-the-park intensification project at the rental company's Oak Heights project. Southeast of the intersection of River Street and Gerrard Street East, it was originally submitted in December 2013 as a 35-storey tower with a mix of residential uses. City staff were concerned with issues including tower height, lack of three-bedroom units, and separation from existing buildings. The revised submission from the past Summer attempts to address these concerns with a scaled-back 32-storey residential apartment building to rise above an existing 3 level underground parking garage. 

The Sweeny &Co Architects Inc.-designed infill development is proposed immediately southeast of an existing 22-storey low-to-mid-income rental tower, which would be retained and renovated as part of the project. The new building would rise atop an existing three-level underground parking garage containing 286 parking spaces. To accommodate the redevelopment, this garage will be substantially modified to house 253 car parking spaces and 649 new bicycle parking spots. 272 of these car parking spaces and 47 visitor bicycle parking spaces will be reserved for the existing 22-storey tower.

Southeast view of Oak Heights, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

Atop the modified garage, the project will feature a single-storey plus mezzanine podium containing residential lobbies, indoor amenity spaces, and bicycle parking areas. 660 m² of indoor amenities will be housed on the first and second levels of the podium. An additional 660 m² of outdoor space—including a 130 m² green roof—will be provided on the second floor. Amenities in the new building will be complemented by improvements to the existing adjacent rental tower, most notably a renovation that will create a new 295 m² daycare facility on the building's ground floor, as well as additional residential amenities on the B1 level below. 

Above the podium levels, the tower would rise to a height of 104.25 metres (including the mechanical penthouse level) and contain a total of 330 units. These apartments are proposed to come in a mix of 60 bachelor (18%), 120 one-bedroom (36%), 90 two-bedroom (27%), and 60 three-bedroom (18%) suites.

Northwest view of Oak Heights, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

A major element of the project will be the improvement of the complex’s connectivity with Gerrard Street to the north. Currently somewhat isolated from the street by a change in grade, and blocked from view by a row of trees, the existing rental development’s only at-grade connection with the surrounding street grid is a pathway linking to River Street. To create a more permeable site with a better relationship to its surroundings, the Oak Heights redevelopment aims to construct two bridges to Gerrard Street. One of these bridges will be connected to the base of the new tower, with the other linking Gerrard west of the existing building. 

Oak Heights viewed from the east on Gerrard Street, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

Additional information and images can be found in 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.