Earlier this month, Starlight Investments submitted an application to the City of Toronto seeking a Zoning By-law Amendment to permit redevelopment on the site at 25 Fisherville Road. The proposal would intensify the North York tower-in-the-park apartment site, which is close to a wide variety of services, facilities, and amenities, including local employment, retail, and public transit infrastructure.   

3D view of the site on Fisherville Dr, image via submission to the City of Toronto

Located near the intersection of Bathurst and Steeles, the site features a typical 1970s slab-form rental residential building of 18 storeys along with surface parking and open space. The infill proposal consists of adding two 18-storey residential rental buildings and public park space, contributing new rental units to the existing 214, and bringing the total to 672 dwellings on site. The 458 new units would consist of 6 studios, 296 one-bedrooms, 125 two-bedrooms, and 31 three-bedroom family-sized units.

View of the site facing northwest, image via submission to the City of Toronto

WND associates have prepared the planning work on the application, while IBI Group are responsible for the architectural work. One building is located to the south of the existing residential tower, the other to the north. The proposal equally outlines plans to work on the existing structure, adding amenity pavilions and aboveground walkways as a means of connecting the buildings. Plans include ground-level townhouses fronting onto Russfax Drive, plus a small public park as part of a larger green space on the west side of the site. The underground garage is proposed to be expanded to accommodate 493 vehicles, with 7 spaces dedicated for car-sharing. Additionally, 371 secure bicycle stalls are located on level P1, in addition to 60 surface spaces. 

Looking southeast toward the site, image via submission to the City of Toronto

Building A is located on the south side of the property and could be accessed by pedestrians from Russfax Drive, and by vehicles from Fisherville Road. The east-west oriented building consists of an 18-storey tower, a 1 storey amenity pavilion connected to existing building, and a 3-and-7-storey podium that includes ground-related townhouse units. The building has a series of stepbacks allowing for a transition between the tower and the neighbouring low-rose neighbourhood homes and the green space, meant to achieve comfortable pedestrian scale, minimal shadow and wind impacts.

Southwest facing view of the site, image via submission to the City of Toronto

Building B, also mainly oriented east-west, is located on the northern edge of the site and primarily fronts onto Fisherville Road. The 18-storey building steps down into an L-shape, with the Russfax Drive frontage consisting of 3-storey townhouses. The townhomes also partially wrap around to the west side of the existing apartment building, forming an “L” shape contouring the site.

Northeast facing view of the site, image via submission to the City of Toronto

The proposal includes 1,063 m² of indoor and 1,701 m² of outdoor amenity space. The indoor amenity space will be distributed throughout the ground floor of all 3 buildings, including the existing one, either directly in the buildings or in the proposed single-storey amenity pavilions. South of the driveway off Russfax is a proposed greenspace, 455 m² of it a public park, the rest an outdoor amenity space, in order to foster a sense of connection between the public and private realms. 

Additional information 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 at the bottom of this page.