A late 2018 proposal submitted to the City of Toronto for Zoning Bylaw Amendments has resurfaced with a completely reimagined plan for a condominium tower at 25 Mabelle Avenue. Located across the rail corridor from Islington subway station, the previous plan designed by +VG Architects • The Ventin Group has been replaced by a design by Quadrangle. The new building is to rise on the under-utilized west half of 25 Mabelle Avenue. On the east half os the property is a 30-storey apartment tower designed in tower-in-the-park style.

Site of the proposed development, image via submission to City of Toronto

Originally proposed at 55 storeys with a height of 176 metres/576 feet, the updated proposal has been scaled back to 49 storeys and a height of 159 metres/522 feet to reduce shadowing on the nearby Etobicoke Collegiate Institute field. At this height, the building would be the tallest in the area near Islington subway station, exceeding the 145 m/476 ft height of the tallest towers in Tridel’s three-building Islington Terrace development, under construction to the east of the proposal property.

Looking south to 25 Mabelle, image via submission to City of Toronto

The reduction in height from the earlier plan results in a decreased unit count, with 486 condominium units representing a significant reduction from the previous iteration's 606 unit count. The units are now proposed in a mix of 257 one-bedrooms, 188 two-bedrooms, and 41 three-bedrooms. The previous proposal's 817 m² of retail space has also been scaled back, with the plan now calling for 154 m² of ground-floor retail space.

Looking southeast to 25 Mabelle, image via submission to City of Toronto

A report by Urban Strategies, planners for the site, explains the reasoning behind the changes to the plan: "While maintaining the defining features of the original proposal, the revised proposal improves the site design by consolidating loading and waste collection [staging] functions of both buildings at one location to increase the landscaped areas. The proposed parking access for the new building is sited closer to Mabelle Avenue to minimize conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians within the site. The shared pick-up and drop-off circle has been optimized to reduce the required paved area, with proposed improvements to the existing building’s secondary entrance. The base building and underground garage are reconfigured at the southwest corner to preserve 37 more existing healthy and mature trees. The revised proposal continues to deliver a series of landscape enhancements to improve the quality of the site and offer new amenity opportunities. The landscape design preserves the opportunity for a potential pedestrian connection to Islington Station [under the rail corridor, and from the southeast corner of the property]."

Comparison of 2018 and 2019 proposals, image via submission to City of Toronto

Parking for the development would be provided in a four-level underground garage with 318 parking spaces—a reduction from the pervious plan's 350 spaces—while 161 bicycle parking spaces would be housed in the P2 parking level.

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 below.

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