Just shy of three years since a commercial parking garage on Merton Street east of Yonge in Midtown Toronto was proposed to be replaced, the proposal from developers bcIMC and QuadReal Property Group has evolved with a new submission to the City. The proposal at 30 Merton Street calls for a 37-storey, Sweeny &Co Architects-designed tower that would bring hundreds of new rental units, while replacing the existing commercial parking within the redevelopment. 

An Official Plan Amendment (OPA) and rezoning application was filed on June 5, 2017, followed by a resubmission and corresponding Site Plan Application filed in October, 2018. Additional OPA and rezoning submissions followed in October, 2019, and most recently again in April, 2020. The two most recent applications have introduced an updated design, as well as several other revisions as the project gets closer to its final form.

Previous and current versions of the proposal, images via submission to City of Toronto

The overall massing introduced in the original submission remains, now planned to rise 124.3 metres, a slight increase over the initial proposal's 121.9-metre height. The latest renderings depict changes to the design including a simplified exterior expression and balcony arrangement, with tower details of precast concrete framing window wall cladding, rising above a podium finished in a mix of manufactured stone panels, recessed brick detailing, and glass.

Skyline, 30 Merton, image via submission to City of Toronto

The plan now proposes a total gross floor area (GFA) of 32,440 m², broken down into 23,964 m² of residential GFA, or 74% of the total, 8,150 m² of commercial parking space to replace the current above-grade garage, and a newly-added 326 m² of retail space fronting Merton Street in place of previously-proposed townhomes. This marks a significant drop over the initial proposal's total GFA of approximately 42,768 m², which would have included approximately 28,173 m² of residential space.

Podium, 30 Merton, image via submission to City of Toronto

In the updated proposal, 334 rental units are now proposed, increased from the 315 tabled in the initial plan. The units are now proposed in a mix of 183 one-bedrooms, 114 two-bedrooms, and 37 three-bedrooms.

You can learn more by visiting the project's Database file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread or leave a comment in the field below.

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