And there could be considerable development. In August, Choice Properties REIT submitted an application for the No Frills site on part of the old Kodak lands, for seven towers climbing between 20 and 49 storeys, with a new food store, and a total of 2,356 residential units.
That’s expected to be the first of many as Mount Dennis is not only the terminal station for the Eglinton Crosstown — it will also have a stop on the Union Pearson Express, and the GO Georgetown line, effectively transforming it into the city's second largest transit hub, after Union Station.
Laura Alderson is the co-ordinator of the Mount Dennis BIA. She said she took the job because she “saw tremendous potential for the development of a community that was almost utopian."
“I had a model mid-rise community in mind when I took the job — Mount Dennis was a blank canvas,” she said.
Alderson is not entirely comfortable with the prospect of 49-storey towers looking down on Mount Dennis. But with the level of higher-order transit coming in, she said it’s probably inevitable, particularly as the provincial government has loosened the restrictions around development near transit stations.
And she said an influx of new homeowners could spell a turnaround for the business district.
“The transit hub has given us a huge opportunity, because without density, we can’t have a thriving retail district,” she said.
York South Weston Coun. Frances Nunziata said the LRT and spinoff developments could lead to a number of changes in the area, including a possible post-secondary institution, a new community centre, daycare and other services.
“We have lots of industry along Industry Street looking at expanding, which would bring in hundreds of jobs,” she said.
But Nunziata said she also wants to see affordable housing included in new developments.
“We are going to have to be careful that we get good development and that we do get affordable housing — mixed housing — and that we can revitalize the retail strip that’s been dead for many years,” she said.
Rick Ciccarelli, who heads up the Mount Dennis EcoNeighbourhood Initiative, said it’s crucial to leverage not only affordable but also sustainable development.
“The neighbourhood is on the lower scale of affluence within the City of Toronto and this development intensification is geared to people who aren’t the Mount Dennis people — who aren’t living there right now,” he said.
“We have to find the way to guide development to create a sustainable neighbourhood, and an equitable participating community that’s got a range of opportunities for everybody,” Ciccarelli said.
