A new development proposal for a mid-market rental and affordable housing development to 80 Dale Avenue has been submitted to the City of Toronto. Next to Kingston Road in Scarborough's Guildwood neighbourhood, the application from Podium Developments seeks rezoning and an Offical Plan amendment to permit a purpose-built rental development consisting of a 27-storey tower and four blocks of stacked townhomes with a total of 386 units.

Site of 80 Dale Avenue, image via submission to City of Toronto

The tower and underground elements are designed by architectural firm Standard Practice, while the townhomes are designed by Peter Higgins Architect. These high and mid-rise components would be separated by a new public park, to feature a design by The Planning Partnership.

Aerial view looking south to 80 Dale Avenue, image via submission to City of Toronto

The tower design features floor slabs that project from the east and west facades the tower’s mid-section, forming a bump-out from the 9th through 14th levels. Metal balcony railings have a waveform design, forming an exterior scrim. The more slender north and south facades are marked by staggered punched windows with no more than 30% glazing for better thermal performance. 

80 Dale Avenue, image via submission to City of Toronto

The tower rises from a four-storey podium, containing a total of 320 rental units, in a proposed mix of 63 studios, 145 one-bedrooms, 108 two-bedrooms, and 4 three-bedrooms. 56 of the apartment tower’s rental units are proposed as affordable housing. The remaining 270 units in the tower will be maintained as Mid-Range Affordable units as defined under the City’s Official Plan.

Aerial view looking north to 80 Dale Avenue, image via submission to City of Toronto

The low-rise townhomes are meant to transition to the existing single-family housing to the west. The 66 townhome units—all targeted to be affordable housing—would be housed in four blocks, labelled A through D. Blocks ‘A and ‘B’ would each contain 16 stacked townhouse units, while Blocks ‘C’ and ‘D’ would each contain seventeen 17 stacked townhouse units. 13 would have three bedrooms and 53 would have four bedrooms, creating much-needed affordable housing opportunities for families.

Looking northeast from Dale Avenue, image via submission to City of Toronto

Residents would have access to approximately 792 m² of indoor amenity space, housed within the ground floor and 4th floor of the tower's podium. These spaces include 584 m² of at-grade amenity space, including 264 m² of community flex space currently proposed as a daycare, connecting with an at-grade outdoor amenity area. A 207 m² indoor amenity space on the 4th level would connect with a 288 m² outdoor amenity area on top of the tower’s podium. An additional 813 m² of outdoor amenity space is proposed as landscaped areas.

Looking north to 80 Dale Avenue, image via submission to City of Toronto

The site—approximately 300 metres west of the Guildwood GO Station—would allow for easy access to the heart of the city. Those with cars would be served by a two-level underground garage with a bicycle repair station, lockers, and 408 parking spaces. 328 of these spaces—including 11 accessible spaces—are proposed for residents, while 80 spaces are proposed for visitors. 386 bicycle parking spaces are also proposed in the garage, consisting of 10% short-term spaces and 90% long-term spaces.

Podium, 80 Dale Avenue, image via submission to City of Toronto

Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.

Related Companies:  Aercoustics Engineering Ltd, Arcadis, MHBC Planning