​Today we are introducing a new monthly feature report that analyzes applications for new buildings in Toronto. It is one component of an upcoming subscription database service UrbanToronto is launching soon.

For almost three years, UrbanToronto has brought subscribers the latest information on new and updated development applications to the city with our New Development Insider newsletter. The upcoming subscription service is a natural extension of the extensive research that UrbanToronto is are already known for. We're excited to release more details in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

While we put the finishing touches, here's our inaugural report. In this edition, we examine data from the first quarter (Q1) of 2021. Before we dive into the numbers, however, some important caveats: these numbers are for proposals only, and they are subject to change at any time up until (and sometimes even after) completion. Also, due to the early stage of the development process, some documentation may be missing; the numbers for some components of the data might not add up in some cases.

In January 2021, the City had six project submissions. They consisted of 17 buildings, totaling 3,227 units and 2,046 parking spots, across five Wards.

February 2021 resulted in 12 submissions over nine Wards with 28 buildings in total. 2,840 units were proposed along with 2,971 parking spots.

In March of 2021, the City received 14 submissions across 11 Wards. Proposing 4,117 dwelling units and 2,912 parking spaces across 22 buildings. 

In summary, in the first quarter of 2021, the City saw 32 applications across 18 Wards, proposing 67 buildings, with 10,184 dwelling units, 7,929 parking spaces, and more than a million square-metres of Gross Floor Area of development. Below is a map of all the developments proposed in Q1 of the year: 

​Each pin represents a different development in a particular Ward, summarized for the first quarter of 2021

 Here's a chart of some summary statistics: 

​Q1 2021 new developments Summary Box, based on data from UTPro.

Of the total GFA, 910,005 m² is proposed to be for residential use, and 102,527 m² will be for commercial use. 

Finally, here is the distribution of the new buildings across the Wards in Toronto. As a reminder, there can be multiple buildings proposed per project. The project with the most buildings proposed is the William Baker Neighbourhood, developed by the Canada Lands Company, with 11 new buildings.  

Number of new buildings proposed by Ward, for new development proposals from Q1 2021.

To contextualize some of these numbers: 

  • 1.01 million m² (1.01 km²) of GFA is roughly the size of the area between Front Street to Dundas, between University Street and Church. 

1.01 million square metres (1.03 km²) in downtown Toronto (perimeter of 4.06 km)

  • An FSI of 5.68 would be equivalent to the entire proposed GFA built in one giant 5- to 6-storey building on an area one-third the size of the Financial District. 
     
  • 55 Yonge is the tallest building proposed, at 236.2 metres. This will put it 90 metres below the glass floor of the CN Tower. 
     
  • As this is the first stage of the multi-year development process, it's impossible to know how long it will take to bring the proposed 10,487 dwelling units to market. For context, the City's population grew by roughly 25,000 people between June 2019 and June 2020. a big drop from 45,000 new people the year prior. 
    • With an average household size of 2.4 people, that works out to exactly one new dwelling being proposed per new household moved into the city this year, if they were to be built instantly. 

Keep reading for a breakdown of January's numbers. 

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January 2021 in detail:

January 2021 new developments Summary Box, based on data from UTPro.

  • The total proposed GFA of all the developments adds up to 267,392 m². They range from 19,696 m² (2 Temple, developed by Curated Properties) to 64,845 m² (Lakeside Residences Phase 2, developed by Greenland Group). The average GFA was 44,565 m², with an average FSI of 4.59.
     
  • Of the total GFA being proposed, the residential GFA will be 250,041 m² (94%). Only 17,351 m² (6%) will be for commercial use, none of which will be for industrial use. 
     
  • The City of Toronto received six new development applications across five wards, seeking permissions to build a cumulative of 17 buildings. Ward 25 has the most new buildings proposed (10).

Number of new buildings proposed by Ward, for new development proposals from January 2021.

  • All the projects are taking place across five Wards: Ward 4 (Parkdale-High Park), Ward 8 (Eglinton-Lawrence), Ward 10 (Spadina-Fort York), Ward 24 (Scarborough-Guildwood), and Ward 25 (Scarborough-Rouge Park). Of these, Ward 8 has two applications, while the rest have one each.

Each pin represents a different development in a particular Ward, for January 2021

 

  • 3,530 dwelling units were proposed in January 2021. The largest project is Lakeside Residences, developed by Greenland Group, which is proposing 1,147 units. 

  • The projects have proposed a combined 2,088 parking spots.

  • Across the six projects, we have records on 68 companies that are working to bring the projects to life. The project with the most affiliated companies is 3450 Dufferin, with 17. Here is a breakdown of each project's developer and architect of record:

Information on developers and Architects of Record for each proposal in January 2021.

Keep reading for February's numbers. 

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February 2021 in detail:

February 2021 new developments Summary Box, based on data from UTPro.

  • The total proposed GFA of all the developments adds up to 394,696 m². They range from 1515.2 m² (Thunder Woman Healing Lodge, developed by Thunder Woman Lodge Healing Lodge Society) to 147,000 m² (William Baker Neighbourhood). The average GFA was 33,348 m², with an average FSI of 5.82.
     
  • Of the 395,916 m² of total GFA being proposed, the residential GFA will be 346,564 m² (88%). Only 49,352 m² (12%) will be for commercial use, none of which will be for industrial use.  
     
  • All the proposed projects are taking place across nine Wards: 6 (York Centre), 10 (Spadina-Fort York), 12 (Toronto-St. Paul's), 15 (Don Valley West), 17 (Don Valley North), 20 (Scarbough Southwest), 21 (Scarborough Centre), and 24 (Scarborough-Guildwood). Of these, Ward 12 has three applications, Ward 10 has two new projects, while the rest have one each. Despite this, Ward 6 has the most number of buildings proposed, with 11.

Each pin represents a different development in a particular Ward, for February 2021

  • The City of Toronto received 12 new development applications in February 2021, seeking permissions to build a cumulative of 27 buildings.

Number of new buildings proposed by Ward, for new development proposals from February 2021.

  • All the proposed projects are taking place across nine Wards: 5 (York South-Weston), 6 (York Centre), 10 (Spadina-Fort York), 12 (Toronto-St. Paul's), 15 (Don Valley West), 17 (Don Valley North), 20 (Scarborough Southwest), 21 (Scarborough Centre), and 24 (Scarborough-Guildwood). Of these, Ward 12 has three applications, Ward 10 has two new projects, while the rest have one each. Despite this, Ward 6 has the most number of buildings proposed, with 11.
  • The average height of the proposed buildings is 90.9 metres, with median average of 21 storeys. The tallest building is 1900 Eglinton East Phase One (developed by SmartCentres), at 122 metres and 40 storeys.
     
  • Eight of the twelve proposals have a residential component. Only one (71 Talara Drive, developed by Tribute Communities) has a purpose-built rental component. However, the Thunder Woman Healing Lodge, an institutional building, will also provide some short-term transitional housing units for formerly incarcerated Indigenous women. 

 

  • A total of 2,840 dwelling units were proposed in February 2021. The largest project is the William Baker Neighbourhood, which is proposing 1,400 units.
  • The projects have proposed a combined 2,971 parking lots.
    ​
  • Across the twelve projects, we have records on 117 companies that are working to bring the projects to life. The project with the most affiliated companies is 217 Adelaide West (developed by Humbold Properties), with 16. Here is all the information we have on the developers and architects of record:

Information on developers and Architects of Record for each proposal in February 2021.

​Keep reading for March's facts and figures. 

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March 2021 in detail: 

March 2021 new developments Summary Box, based on data from UTPro.

  • The total proposed GFA of all the developments adds up to 345,224 m². They range from 3,040 m² (175 Cummer, developed by the City of Toronto as part of its Modular Housing Initiative) to 67,444 m² (5 Capri, developed by Tenblock). The average GFA was 24,945 m², with an average FSI of 6.29.
     
  • Of the 345,224 m² of total GFA being proposed, the residential GFA will be 313,400 m² (91%). Only 35,824 m² (9%) will be for commercial use, of which 13,564 m² will be for industrial use (the only project with an industrial component is 3524 Dundas West, developed by XYZ Storage). 
     
  • The City of Toronto received 14 new development applications in March 2021, seeking permissions to build 22 buildings.

Number of new buildings proposed by Ward, for new development proposals from March 2021.

  • All the proposed projects are taking place across 11 Wards: Ward 2 (Etobicoke Centre), Ward 3 (Etobicoke Lakeshore), Ward 4 (Parkdale-High Park), 5 (York South-Weston), Ward 8 (Eglinton-Lawrence), Ward 11 (University-Rosedale), Ward 13 (Toronto Centre), Ward 18 (Willowdale), Ward 20 (Scarborough Southwest), and Ward 24 (Scarborough-Guildwood). Of these, Wards 8, 13, and 18 have two applications each, while the rest have one each. Ward 18 has the most buildings proposed, with eight.
  • The average height of the proposed buildings is 66 metres, with median of 8.5 storeys. The tallest building is 55 Yonge (designed by BDP Quadrangle and Partisans for H&R REIT), at 236.21 metres tall, and 66 storeys. 

  • Twelve of the fourteen proposals have a residential component. Five projects propose a purpose-built rental component:
  • The latter two are being built for the City's Modular Housing Initiative, part of the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan. 
     
  • A total of 4,117 dwelling units were proposed in March 2021. The largest project is 5 Capri, which is proposing 924 units, of which 327 will be purpose-built rental. The tenure of the remaining units are TBD. 
     
  • The projects have proposed a combined 2,912 vehicle parking lots.
    ​
  • Across the twelve projects, we have records on 125 companies that are working to bring the projects to life. Bousfields was listed as part of the Planning team for seven of the projects. Below is a chart of the Developers and Architects for the projects.  

Information on developers and Architects of Record for each proposal in March 2021.

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If you would like to keep up to date on the latest development news, sign up for a trial of the New Development Insider. And if you are interested in the data used to generate this report, keep an eye out for more news about the launch of UrbanToronto's new subscription database service. 

For more information, contact Edward Skira.