Over two years since a proposal for the site at 333 College Street was submitted to the City of Toronto, the BRL Realty project has undergone a redesign. In the past week, the applicants have filed a resubmission with City Planning, bringing to light a scaled-down iteration of a proposal that first came to light in late 2014 (seen below).
With architecture by RAW Design, the initial proposal had a contemporary and articulated "T-shape" design, extending south from College St. A pedestrian bridge connected the two buildings on the 5th floor, providing access for the shared facilities and amenities between the properties. The 13-storey building featured protruding 2-storey boxes, accentuated with varying colours—similar to that of the nearby The College Condominiums—in addition to extended balconies on each face of the buildings. Scaled down from a 6 and 13-storey mixed-use building—consisting of 172 residential units—the new proposal no longer includes the neighbouring property at 303 Augusta Avenue, located to the southwest.
In the new submission (above), the 6-storey building has been eliminated from the plans altogether, while the 13-storey building has been shortened to 11 storeys (128 ft). A 4-storey frontage continues the streetwall along College, before stepping back for 3 more storeys.
As a mid-block development, the bulk of the RAW-designed building extends north-south, with the highest peak centrally located in the site. The new design also features a somewhat more articulated massing strategy, with a series of stepbacks characterizing all four frontages, and pushing the greatest density mid-block.
The 140-unit project now consists of 2 bachelor units, 87 one-bedroom, 37 two-bedroom, and 14 three-bedroom units. 97 parking spaces will be provided in three levels of underground parking, in addition to 177 bicycle parking spaces located on the ground level. About 2,500 ft² of dedicated retail space will line the College Street frontage, while 3,477 ft² of indoor amenity space and 2,723 ft² of outdoor space will be split from levels' 5 through 8.
As a rezoning resubmission, the plans seen here are predominantly indicative of the project's scale and massing. Once a Site Plan Approval (SPA) application is submitted, it is likely that a more detailed architectural design will be presented. Additional information and renderings can be found in the project's dataBase, which can be found in the field below. Want to share your thoughts on the new design? Feel free to write a comment, or join in the ongoing discussion on the associated Forum thread.