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In the 17 years that have passed since the Sheppard subway line opened in 2002, developers have slowly but surely started to take advantage of the rapid transit access provided by the line, resulting in applications for infill developments near most of the short line's stations. One of the nodes where this has been particularly evident is the area surrounding Don Mills Station, recently in the block at the northwest corner in particular, bounded on the north side by Leith Hill Road and on the west side by St. Timothy's Catholic School and Church.
The block is made up of four properties, one of which is a gas station, convenience store, and car wash, while the other three are tower-in-the-park style apartment buildings. Two of the tower-in-the-park sites have submitted rezoning applications to the City to build infill development. To better coordinate the intensification proposals, the City initiated an area context plan. Recently presented with an updated submission for one of the infill applications, it proposes to add three new public streets to improve access to the new buildings in the centre of the block: an east-west street intersects with Don Mills, while a street connects south to Sheppard Avenue, and another connects north to Leith Hill Road.
The owners of 1650 Sheppard Avenue East, 2076203 Ontario Limited and 2076204 Ontario Limited, have altered their initial application for an infill building. Located just north of the existing 15-storey slab rental tower fronting Sheppard, the proposed building has been resubmitted to the city after three LPAT pre-hearings and a refusal from the City for the first plan. The revisions include a reduction in height from 35 to 31 storeys, and a 4,256 m² reduction in total Gross Floor Area.
The revised Rafael + Bigauskas-designed plan is still in the preliminary design phase, with only the massing of the buildings clear so far. Stepbacks previously included at the upper levels of the tower have been removed since the height reduction, opting for a more consistent floor plate. The plot of land to the east of the tower abutting the Esso gas station, previously proposed as a three storey above-ground parking garage, is now proposed for a 12-unit townhouse building: parking would go underground.
Compten Management, owners of the 19-storey Hunters Lodge Apartments at 2600 Don Mills Road, are also at the LPAT with their infill proposal, the City opposing Compten's first plan for that site. The proposal calls for a 39-storey Quadrangle Architects-designed building with 364 rental units.
The two developments, as well as the context plan were scheduled for pre=hearings at the LPAT in March and June of this year, however both meetings were cancelled and rescheduled for December, 2019 with a full hearing in May, 2020.
Just north of the boundaries of the context plan at 12- 24 Leith Hill Road, Starlight Investments is proposing a 12-storey Architecture Unfolded-designed rental tower with 159 units and four blocks of three storey stacked townhomes. The new buildings would join a 16-storey apartment tower to the west on site. An 11-storey tower is on the property to the east.
Stay tuned, as these projects head further through the development process as deliberation about intensifying this area continues. Until then, check out the database files and associated Forum threads, linked below, for any one of these projects to learn more. You can add your voice in the threads, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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| Related Companies: | BDP Quadrangle, Bousfields, Ferris + Associates Inc., Goldberg Group, Groundwater Environmental Management Services Inc. (GEMS), Starlight Investments |
