In the bustling neighbourhood of Yonge-Eglinton, an infill proposal at 50 Broadway / 55 Erskine is moving forward with a site plan application after it survived its recent LPAT hearing. First proposed back in 2017, Frastell Property Management is looking to construct an infill mid-rise rental tower on an existing surface parking lot. The project has been revised twice since, and was recently approved for rezoning in July, 2019.

50 Broadway, 55 Erskine, Frastell Property Management, Martin Simmons, TorontoRendering of revised 50 Broadway, image via submission to the City of Toronto.

The property in question is a narrow surface parking lot fronting onto Broadway Avenue. The lot is owned by Frastell and serves as parking for their building at 55 Erskine, located immediately to the north. The proposal would replace the surface lot with a new building that would match the mid-century slab apartment towers surrounding it, while moving all parking underground.

50 Broadway, 55 Erskine, Frastell Property Management, Martin Simmons, TorontoAerial view of the property immediately east of St. Monica's Church, image via Google Maps.

Designed by Martin Simmons Architect, the original 2017 proposal would have seen a 17-storey rental building constructed containing 147 units. That number was revised down to 126 units in 2018 to meet the City's standard of including 10% of the total units as having three bedrooms.

50 Broadway, 55 Erskine, Frastell Property Management, Martin Simmons, TorontoRendering of the previous iteration of 50 Broadway, image via submission to the City of Toronto.

Following the LPAT hearing, the building was revised again, this time shrinking down to 11 storeys with stepbacks at the 5th, 9th, and 11th levels to reduce the massing along Broadway. The exterior expression has also been adjusted, with a more uniform aesthetic featuring vertical white precast fins and grey infill metal panels as opposed to the flat white, grey, and black patchwork facade of the previous iteration. As well, the balconies on the building have been altered from protruded balconies to recessed balconies.

50 Broadway, 55 Erskine, Frastell Property Management, Martin Simmons, TorontoRendering of revised 50 Broadway, image via submission to the City of Toronto.

The unit count has also been reduced down to 104 units. The unit mix includes 9 studio apartments, 49 one-bedroom apartments, 36 two-bedroom apartments, and 10 three-bedroom apartments. There will be 96 parking spaces provided (92 of which will be underground) to replace the 108 existing parking spaces on the property.

We will keep you updated as the building moves through the late stages of the planning process. In the meantime, you can learn more from our Database file for the project, linked below. If you'd like to, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.

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