The Golden Mile, a stretch of big-box retail, industrial, restaurants, and office space along Eglinton Avenue in Scarborough, is poised for transformation with the coming of the Crosstown LRT. Redevelopment proposals covering much of the land on either side of Eglinton between Victoria Park and Warden avenues, that include land-use changes and significant density increases, have been submitted by developers and land-owners looking to find the new highest and best use for these expansive sites.

A consortium of property owners tied to the Madison Group has proposed an official plan amendment to bring 21 towers to 1920 Eglinton East. Bounded by Eglinton Avenue to the south, Hakimi Avenue to the west, Warden Avenue to the east, and Ashtonbee Road to the north, the development would bring 3,888 residential units, 74,229 ft² of office space, and 205,739 ft² of retail to 7.95 ha/19.64 acres on the redeveloping corridor.

Streetscape along Eglinton, image courtesy of City of Toronto

Currently occupied by a five-storey office building, 2 restaurants, a strip mall and a shared parking lot, 1920 Eglinton East is one of many car-dominated sites along the Golden Mile. Toronto City planners have been working on a Golden Mile Secondary Plan since 2017 to provide a framework within which developers can concentrate density. While all three of the secondary plan alternatives currently being studied support density at the proposed site, Alternative 3 (below) sets the Hakimi-Warden node as the central hub of the district. If City Council votes to approve this alternative, the developers say that their 1920 Eglinton East proposal would fit directly in line with the guidelines of the Secondary Plan.

Alternative 3 of the Golden Mile Secondary Plan with density centred around Warden Ave, image courtesy of City of Toronto

The development is subdivided into 3 blocks; A, B and C. Block A, abutting the Centennial College Ashtonbee Campus and Ashtonbee Reservoir Park, has a mid-to-high-rise character with towers rising 8 to 20 storeys. Block C, at the intersection of Hakimi and Eglinton has four buildings rising from shared podium, as well as a 25-storey tower accessible from a new private road. The largest portion of the development, Block B, is twice the size of the other blocks, spanning from Ashtonbee to Eglinton along Warden Ave. 10 towers are proposed here, with the largest reaching 40 storeys at the corner of Eglinton and Warden. 

Overview of the 1920 Eglinton East plan, image courtesy of City of Toronto

The buildings are arranged so that each block has a central park space, articulating the urban form and breaking up the massing of the development. The site will be serviced by Crosstown LRT stops at Hakimi and at Warden once the line opens in late 2021.

Rendering of 1920 Eglinton East at the corner of Warden and Eglinton, image courtesy of City of Toronto

Concept renderings by Turner-Fleischer Architects are included in the application. One shows the potential for retail offerings at the corner of Eglinton and Warden, the other visualized from the central park of the Hakimi and Ashtonbee Block.

View from Hakimi and Ashtonbee looking south, image courtesy of City of Toronto

Specifics such as the unit mix, tower designs, materials and floorplates will be included in subsequent applications after an approval of the Official Plan Amendment. The city is currently in deliberation on the specifics of the Golden Mile Secondary Plan, the result of which will ultimately have a deciding effect on the fate of this application. A decision is projected to be reached in the early half of 2019, after which this, and other related applications, will be fully considered.

Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.

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