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North York's Flemingdon Park neighbourhood is recognized for its "Towers in the Park" typology, a style of land use planning applied in high-density neighbourhoods across Toronto throughout the 1960s and 70s. Residential slab towers built a distance from the street, surrounded by surface parking and wide lawns, were once seen as the suburban apartment ideal. Issues became apparent over the years though, as residents of these towers were separated from local amenities, resulting in long walking distances to anything beyond their own building, while the green spaces themselves were under-utilized.
In an effort to combat these issues, the City of Toronto's Tower Renewal Program is now encouraging the redevelopment and intensification of such properties. Now, the Preston Group has filed a Site Plan and a submitted a Zoning By-law Application for 25 St. Dennis Drive. This is to allow the construction of a 44-storey (417 ft) mixed-use residential tower, along with an 8-storey base building at the southern end of the property, and a 10-storey apartment building on the north end of the site.
The proposal would add 727 new rental residential units to the 297 units in the existing 17-storey apartment building. A proposed 592 residential units would be in the south development, 132 units would be in the north development, and 6 units to the existing building. The breakdown of the units include 381 1-bedroom, 202 2-bedroom, and 144 3-bedroom units. The size of the units range from 560 ft² to 970 ft².
The development would have 488 underground spaces accessed through a garage in the south building, while 179 surface parking spaces remain. In answering the increasingly popular cycling question, 806 bicycle parking spaces would be provided throughout the two development blocks.
The total gross floor area of the project is 83,041 m², of which 647.9 m² would be retail space, and 655.9 m² would be institutional space. As the existing site only has 251 m² of indoor and 74 m² of outdoor amenity space, this project will add an additional 1,254.5 m² of indoor and 1,374 m² of outdoor amenity space.
In relation, landscaping throughout the property would be improved. The current east-west driveway at the south end of the existing apartment building would be replaced by an east-west pedestrian connection, and the current north-south pedestrian connection would be enhanced.
Located just east of the Ontario Science Centre, this infill development is a mere 600 m away from the proposed Wynford Green (Celestica) development, and would have access to the Crosstown LRT's Science Centre Station at the intersection of Eglinton and Don Mills Road.
We will keep you updated as this project circulates through City Staff. In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment in the space provided below, or join in the conversation on our associated Forum thread.
