6K 
This instalment of our Growth To Watch For series picks up from where we left off, heading southwest on Kingston Road from Sheppard Avenue's eastern terminus, and reviewing the various projects along the way, whether under construction or working through the planning and approvals process. Now in Central Scarborough, we will follow a route moving west on Ellesmere Road with a short diversion onto Progress Avenue through Scarborough Town Centre, then sweeping back east on Lawrence, before returning back onto Kingston Road and passing through the Guildwood and Cliffside neighbourhoods.
About 200 metres west of the 401, our first project is at 6480 Kingston Road, where a proposal for a subdivision was submitted to the City in early 2016. The plan for 9 single-detached houses and 3 townhouse units from developer Valmount and Richmond Hill-based firm Uni-Vative Designs was resubmitted in late 2017, and more recently has been appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). An OMB prehearing is scheduled to take place on June 18th.
Slightly to the east is where Ellesmere Road starts, so we'll double back and then follow it west to the University of Toronto's Scarborough Campus (UTSC). Much of the space on this growing campus is still open, while surface parking lots take up much land too. On the north side of the road at 3300 Ellesmere, a proposal to rezone part of one of the parking lots for a new student residence was submitted to the City in September, 2017. Very early in the planning process (it won't be bizarrely green like this!), the Kearns Mancini Archtects design for the 10-storey building will be refined. The building will provide 750 beds, while removing far less than 750 parking spaces, putting more students on campus in total.
Where to teach the new students? Just to the south on Military Trail, construction is in full swing on the Perkins + Will-designed Highland Hall, expected to wrap up this year. The building will introduce new lecture halls, classrooms, offices, and student common space to the growing campus.
West of UTSC, a privately-led plan to introduce new student housing for it (and Centennial College—it has a campus here too) at 3070 Ellesmere Road appears to have hit a snag. LeMine Investment Group broke ground on The Academy Condos back in December 2016, but construction of the 26-storey Kirkor Architects-designed tower aimed at students renting from investors never progressed any further. The project site—just west of Morningside Avenue—has sat abandoned ever since, with the project-branded hoarding also having since fallen into disrepair. UTSC and Centennial students sill need more housing in the area, so another firm could revive a plan here in the future.
Further west along Ellesmere again, and just south on Markham Road, construction is well underway at the first phases of Lash Group of Companies' ME Living Condos. Construction for the Turner Fleischer Architects-designed initial phases will continue throughout 2018. The whole community will eventually include 7 new buildings and well over 1,000 residential units.
A new phase continues to work its way through the planning and approvals process. Originally proposed at a height of 39 storeys, the plan was refused by the City and resubmitted at a 34-storey height last year.
North of Ellesmere on the west side of Markham Road, the former parking lot of the Global Kingdom Ministries Church is being redeveloped with a 29 and 27-storey tower life-lease seniors' community called Trinity Ravine Towers. Construction of the development's first phase—designed by Reinders + Rieder—commenced in October, and work here will continue throughout 2018.
Returning to Ellesmere and moving west of Bellamy, a proposal dating all the way back to 1995 was revived in 2017. The plan for 1744 Ellesmere Road seeks Site Plan Approval (SPA) for a 13-storey mixed-use building by CGL Architects, containing 150 affordable housing units and ground floor commercial. Following the May 2017 resubmission, the plan is now under review by City Staff.
Continuing west to Grangeway Avenue, we turn north, and dip under the east en of the Scarborough RT line. On the left side of the road, a pre-application plan by Gates of Scarborough Town Centre Inc—a subsidiary of the Goldman Group—calls for six towers constructed on two shared podiums measuring 34, 35, 45, 48, 50, and 52 storeys in height on a site formerly owned by Build Toronto. The Richmond Architects-designed plan for 120 Grangeway Avenue faced the Design Review Panel (DRP) in mid-2017, where it was met with criticism from panel members. We expect to see further refinements and a possible application to the City this year.
Turning east on Progress Avenue, one property along on the south side we come to the site of 675 Progress. A 7-building development by SvN Architects + Planners was approved for the site by the OMB in 2016, and the A.G. Simpson metal stamping plant occupying the site was demolished in late 2017. With approvals in place and the site cleared, there is a good chance we'll see the start of shoring and excavation happen this year.
Directly across the street from 675 Progress, a late 2017 proposal from Fieldgate Homes seeks to redevelop 670-690 Progress Ave with a collection of towers designed by TACT Architecture, reaching heights of 48, 35, 28, 26, 23, 14, and 14 storeys. The project's applications for rezoning and subdivision approval are currently under review by City staff, and a public consultation meeting is expected to take place in Q1 2019.
Moving west along Progress we cross McCowan Avenue and the site of the proposed Scarborough Centre Subway Station, we pass around Scarborough Town Centre, and then soon arrive at Brimley Road, where another large multi-tower development for the area, known as Brimley & Progress Towers, is planned by Atria Development and designed by A & Associates Architects. The proposal, seeking towers with heights of 36, 39, 44, and 47 storeys, containing a total of 1,591 residential units, was approved via settlement in an OMB decision dated October 25th.
Moving south, we find ourselves at Ellesmere Road again. Here on the northeast corner, Zoning Bylaw Amendment (ZBA) and SPA applications were submitted to the City in November 2017 for a development by called Nexxt Condos. The 15-storey project from Galaxy Communities is designed by TACT Architecture, and is proposed to contain 262 residential units, with retail at grade.
We turn west again on Ellesmere Road and continue over 3 kilometres to Warden Avenue, before dipping south roughly 3 more kilometres to arrive to the site of 971 Warden Avenue. This 2016 plan for 27 single-detached houses by Turner Fleischer Architects was revised last year, resulting in a November 2017 resubmission for ZBA, now seeking 26 units. The plan is still under review by City staff.
Doubling back just over a kilometre to the north, we reach Lawrence Avenue, and then head east to Birchmount Road, where VHL Developments' completed first phase 2150 Condos project is being joined by the second 19-storey second phase by architects Master Building Inc. Phase two of the development will be under construction throughout 2018, to be followed by a final 19-storey third phase in the future.
On the opposite side of Birchmount, a project formerly known as evo Condos + Towns was submitted to the City in early 2016 by Lalu Canada. The evo plan was dropped, however, and an updated plan was resubmitted last year. Now known by its address of 2180 Lawrence, the Kohn Partnership Architects-designed project would consist of 4, 7, and 21-storey buildings with a combined 288 residential condominium units. With the plan now under review by City staff, a public meeting at Community Council is being targeted for Q2 2018.
Continuing east on Lawrence, we cross over the Scarborough RT and Stouffville GO Line before arriving at the expansive grounds of 1380 Midland Avenue. Currently occupied by 3 slab-style apartment towers from the 1970s and plenty of vacant greenspace, a Quadrangle-designed proposal for Arsandco aims to redevelop unused space with nine new buildings—fitting in six towers and three mid-rise buildings among the existing buildings—the new ones ranging in height from 8 to 27 storeys tall. The proposal has been appealed to the OMB, though no hearings have been scheduled yet.
Just over one block to the north on Midland Avenue, the TDSB's Bendale Business and Technical Institute, along with David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute are being rebuilt into one new school at the current Bendale BTI site. Ground was broken for the new four-storey building in June 2017 to the rear of the existing school, which will remain operational until the new facility's completion in September 2019. The new facility will accommodate 1,500 students from grade 9 to 12.
Returning to Lawrence, on the first block to the east there is a plan to redevelop a single-storey commercial building at 2655 Lawrence Ave East. It evolved in 2017 with a ZBA resubmission that included many revisions, now seeking zoning for two towers with heights of 18 and 28 storeys, and providing 412 condominium units. The new plan is designed by Scott Shields Architects, replacing the previous iteration by Stevens Burgess Architects.
Just over 7 kilometres to the east, we arrive at the Collinsgrove Road and turn north, arriving at Kingston Road. Just east of Collingsgrove on Kingston, Mutual Development Corporation's plan for 4569 Kingston Road underwent some changes in 2017 culminating in a resubmission for SPA. The previous 2016 design for a 12-storey mixed-use condo by Onespace Unlimited has been replaced with an 11-storey design by Kohn Partnership Architects, containing 265m² retail space at grade and 101 condominium units above. The new plan is under review by City staff.
Now we begin heading southwest on Kingston Road, arriving shortly after at the site of Your Home Development's SweetLife Condominiums. The Onespace Unlimited-designed proposal at 4434 Kingston Road was resubmitted for SPA last year, and then again in January, 2018 to finalize details for the 3 and 6-storey buildings with 120 condominium and townhome units. With the project in sales and building permit applications filed in late 2017, this project should begin construction this year.
Just west of Galloway Road on Kingston, an SPA application was filed in July 2017 for a property at 4206 Kingston Road. The plan from Time Development Group calls for three buildings by architects AJ Tregebov, each rising three storeys and containing a combined total of 17 stacked back-to-back townhouse units. Now under review by City staff, we expect to learn more details about the project this year.
Doubling back and turning south onto Galloway Road, we continue to Guildwood Parkway, where we turn west. 2017 saw the opening of the revitalized Guild Inn Estate, a $20 million event venue conversion and addition by Dynamic Hospitality and Entertainment Group, and designed by Queen's Quay Architects International and Giancarlo Garofalo Architect. Following on the heels of the first phase, a proposal was submitted last year for the estate's "Building 191." The application for SPA—currently under review by City staff— seeks to expand the existing structure with a three-storey rear addition by Taylor Hazell Architects for future use as The Clark Centre for the Arts.
Following Guildwood Parkway west, we eventually ascend an inland section of the Scarborough Bluffs, arrive back on Kingston Road, and turn west again. At 3655 Kingston Road, Hazelton Development's The Guildwood has been subject to a few resubmissions since the conclusion of last year's Growth To Watch For article. The Gabriel Bodor Architect-designed condominium development has been approved for 8 storeys with 99 condominium units, a reduction from the 10-storey, 112-unit plan we reviewed last year. Sales for the project are now underway, the City is reviewing he SPA, and building permits were filed for late last year, all meaning that this project should begin construction in 2018.
Directly across Kingston Road is Markington Square, a large suburban plaza at the eastern terminus of Eglinton Avenue. At the time of last year's Growth To Watch For article, City Council had recently placed a Holding Provision on site as plans for the development of new roads and other services are worked out prior to a phased redevelopment of parts of the site. No news has materialized since the Holding Provision was put in place, though we'll be sure to keep an eye out for movement.
Two blocks north of Markington Square on Markham Road, a proposal from mid-2016 seeks permission up to 13 low and mid-rise residential buildings designed by RAW Design to a Build Toronto-owned site at 253 Markham. The proposal for OPA and ZBA remained idle in 2017, and no new information has become available so far in 2018.
Back onto Kingston Road, an application for SPA was submitted in early 2016 for a stacked townhouse development by Time Development Group at 3310 Kingston Road where it meets Mason Road. Designed by AJ Tregebov, the project called Opal Urban Towns was resubmitted for ZBA in June 2017, taking a step back from the previous application for SPA. The new plan calls for 101 condominium units, a reduction from the previous 104, along with other revisions. The on-site sales centre also appears to have closed and been fenced off last year, presumably on pause as a result of the revised planning application.
A block further west where St. Clair Avenue East ends, the site at 2815 Kingston Road was partially cleared last year, with additional demolition permits filed early this year. Here, Skale Developments is advancing a project called The Bluffs through the planning and approvals process. An SPA submission from January 2016 for a 9 storey, RAW-designed mixed-use condo with 182 units and ground level retail evolved again in late 2017 with a resubmission. The updated plan implements a series of minor revisions, now under review by city staff. With sales for the project well along, construction permits were filed for this month, pointing to an imminent start.
Further southwest on Kingston Road, construction of VHL Developments' Haven on the Bluffs Condos topped out at 11 storeys last year. The 250-unit Master Building Inc-designed development is expected to wrap up construction in the Cliffside Village area later this year. While renderings of the project indicated that a brick-type cladding would be used on the lower levels of the building, apparent stucco finishes and an application before the City to revise the exterior cladding, the final look of the building remains unclear.
Another couple of blocks southwest, a fork in Kingston Road brings us to Highview Avenue, which we follow for just shy of 200 metres before arriving at the quiet two-lane terminus of Kennedy Road. 2.5 kilometres to the north on Kennedy, we find the next development on our route, a proposed mid-rise residential building from Harplin Inc. at 599 Kennedy Road. Designed by Architecture Unfolded, the plan for an 8-storey residential building with 29 units would replace a small commercial building immediately north of the Pine Hills Cemetery. The plan was appealed to the OMB in 2017, though no hearings have been scheduled yet.
Immediately north this proposal, the single-storey Corvette Plaza at 611-631 Kennedy Road has survived another year. A 2012 proposal for a 10-storey, 110-unit mixed-use residential building by Cando Properties and Icon Architects was approved in 2013. Years after approval, no follow-up submissions have been made, the retail plaza remains open, and no signs of redevelopment exist besides aging City notification boards.
From here, we are going to turn around and proceed south to Danforth Road, turning to the southwest again, and positioning us for our next instalment, taking us into The Danforth, The Beaches, and Leslieville.
+ + +
That's a wrap on this instalment of Growth To Watch For. Stay tuned as there are still plenty more areas yet to cover in the instalments yet to come throughout February and March. In the meantime, feel free to check out the database files below where you can find additional information for the listed projects. Want to share your thoughts on some of these projects? You can join in the ongoing conversations in the associated Forum threads, or you can comment in the space provided on this page.
