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Almost 15 years after the first post in the UrbanToronto forum about the redevelopment of 34 Southport Street in the Swansea area of Toronto, a Site Plan Approval application for what is probably the final scheme has been submitted to the City. The site is located in just north of The Queensway and east of the Humber River. Originally proposed in 2006 as an 18-storey PoMo-style slab condo building by Georgian Homes, the first design featured a yellow precast elevation with a decorative clock on top. After Georgian received zoning approval from the OMB, the firm sold the site to State Building Group in 2009, who then began developing a new plan for the site which they renamed Southport Square. In the meantime, the ageing strip plaza on the site was demolished.
State Building Group submitted Site Plan Approval documents in Spring 2018, focusing on Phase 1 of the project, a 26-storey residential tower. Phase 2 has now been submitted, adding a 29-storey residential tower and 16 townhouse units to the tabled proposal. The updated Site Plan Approval finalizes details from the 2018 phase 1 submission, adjusting the floorplate size to meet City restrictions, rotating the building to increase the public realm area and adjusting the unit mix in accordance with the modified floorplate.
The most recent architectural plans come with a full set of renderings outlining the Richmond Architects design. The ground floor plan features dark grey precast panels framing storefront entrances. Upper levels are clad in a glass-and-spandrel window wall accentuated with precast segments elongating the tower.
The community was looking for some retail uses to compensate for the spaces lost in the demolition of the previous strip plaza, particularly a small grocery store. As such, 2,200 m² of retail has been allocated to the ground floor of the buildings.
The project is proposed to have 658 suites in total, in a mix of 425 one-bedrooms, 216 two-bedrooms, and 17 three-bedroom live-work units. 707 parking space are proposed below grade along with 724 bicycle parking spaces.
The design of the new buildings certainly differs from Georgian Homes' 2006 'Kings Way' proposal, seen below:
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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