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Developers First Capital and Greybrook Realty Partners have submitted the latest version of a residential/mixed-use tower plan with a ‘jewelled’ element that acts as a gateway into the Village of Yorkville. UrbanToronto covered the previous submission for the Yorkville condominiums in March, 2020 and tracked the project evolution (and the various teams behind the proposal) since proposals here at 33 Avenue Road initially surfaced in 2012.
This rezoning resubmission addresses comments following discussions with City Planning, the Councillor, and local residents’ associations, and the more detailed requirements of the Site Plan Approval application. The project team, led by Brisbin Brook Beynon (BBB) Architects, has made numerous changes to the drawings, reports, and studies for this striking project at the prime northeast corner of Avenue Road and Yorkville Avenue.
The fundamental details of the application remain unchanged. Replacing several low-rise buildings (including some designated heritage) on the site, it proposes a redevelopment with a 29-storey mixed-use building with a standalone retail “jewel box” at the street corner.
Key changes include an increased 5.5-metre setback along Avenue Road, alternations to the pedestrian underpass between Avenue Road and York Square, a reduction in the number of dwelling units (from 100 to 78) and a slight reduction in the total GFA (from 29,332 m² to 29,122 m²).
The building comprises 3,868 m² of retail space (reduced from 4,454 m²) on the mezzanine level and floors 1-3, with 25,254 m² (increased from 24,879 m²) of residential space above.
The proposed ground-related elements—retail, community space, pedestrian mews, and York Square POPS—are organized to create pedestrian connections across the site to Yorkville Avenue and Avenue Road. Designed in response to the adjoining buildings in scale, context and openness, the 7-storey podium has varying terraces to protect these pedestrian connections and open York Square to the sky. The built form isn’t that of a traditional tall building typology. The sculpted podium gently transitions between the base podium and the tower element.
In addition, the tower is oriented at an oblique angle to the street, with an articulated floor plate and a curvilinear shape. This “twist”, a defining characteristic of what is intended as an iconic design and a departure from the city’s grid, would create a distinctive profile in the city skyline.
The tower portion of the building involves a series of setbacks and step-backs, most notably at the 9th and 27th floors. The height to the main roof is 117.5m with an additional 4.3m to accommodate the mechanical penthouse.
The building is in good company with the surrounding towers, including the 31-storey (100m) “Residences of Yorkville Plaza” at 155 Yorkville Avenue, and the recently completed 40-storey (125m) “The Cumberland” at 200 Cumberland Street.
Owing to the luxury nature of the building, no studio nor single-bedroom units are planned among the 78 suites, which otherwise will consist of 66 two-bedrooms (85%) and 12 three-bedrooms (15%). Suites are larger than typical, averaging 2,225 ft² for a 2-bedroom and 3,096 ft² for a 3-bedroom. They are complemented by three-metre-deep balconies that can accommodate the planting of large shade trees—reinforcing the “Vertical Forest” theme established in an earlier design.
The architectural drawings indicate 1,065 m² of indoor and 443 m² of outdoor residential amenity space, primarily situated on the 3rd floor. The rooftop level shows a party room, outdoor terrace and a glass pool. Enlarged elevations and sample boards reflect a material palette with warm and cool tones: limestone colour precast/stucco; bronze for mullions, channels, metal fins; wood finish for metal soffit; and grey spandrel panel.
The parking and bicycle counts have also been revised. The four-level underground parking garage now provides space for 187 vehicles (decreased from 220) with of those as 116 LEV/EV spaces and 7 reserved for visitors, along with 102 bicycle spaces (decreased from 126).
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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