Among the flood of development applications submitted to the City of Toronto in the final days of 2016, a proposal from Allegra Homes and 1 Blue Goose Developments Inc. is seeking to densify the site of Mimico's Blue Goose Tavern. At the corner of Manchester and Blue Goose Streets, the establishment has long been a mainstay of Mimico. Originally constructed in 1892 as the Windsor Hotel, the tavern is right across the rail corridor from Mimico GO, and where the village's original train station was also located. After the original Windsor Hotel was destroyed by fire in 1905, it was rebuilt and opened as The Windsor Public House in 1909. Years after the 1958 sale of the property, the building became the Blue Goose Tavern in 1971.

Aerial view of the subject site, image retrieved from Apple Maps

Now, nearly 11 decades after the current structure was built, the new proposal—dubbed The Mimico—aims to restore and incorporate the 1909 building while redeveloping the surrounding surface parking lot. Though the Blue Goose isn’t listed or designated as a heritage building, it has been earmarked for potential inclusion on Toronto’s Heritage Register, and its importance is being taken into account by the developers of the 2,239 square metre site.

The Blue Goose elevation, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

Plans by Thomas Payne Architect for the restored Blue Goose Tavern building would see it live on as commercial and residential space. The lower level of the existing Blue Goose Tavern is expected to host a restaurant and micro-brewery, while 18 existing rental units on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors of the building would be converted into 16 one-bedroom and 2 one-bedroom plus den units. The surface parking lot would be redeveloped with low-rise housing including 2 single-detached units, a semi-detached pair, and nine 4-storey townhouse units spread across five blocks.

Townhouse elevation, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

The project's total of 31 residential units would be served by a new internal drive aisle and a private driveway, connecting with the block's 19 parking spaces and 5 bicycle parking spaces. Pedestrian walkways are proposed throughout the site, while a 41 m² ‘pocket park’ is proposed along the south side of Manchester Street, acting as an outdoor amenity space. An additional 803 m² of outdoor amenity space (61 square metres per unit) is provided as private rear decks and balconies.

Illustration of the project, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

We will return with additional details as new information about the project emerges. In the meantime, you can check out the project's dataBase file, linked below, for more project facts and renderings. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.