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With Toronto's Crosstown LRT opening around a year from now, the lands along the new transit line are hotbeds for intensification. The section of Eglinton Avenue East between Victoria Park Avenue and Birchmount Road, know as Scarborough's Golden Mile, in particular has seen many proposals for redevelopment over the past couple of years, with the most recent of the bunch being a mixed-use development addressed to 40 Eglinton Square, on the southwest corner of Eglinton and Pharmacy avenues. The property is 1.97 ha/4.86 acres in area, and currently contains a 1-storey Metro grocery store and its associated surface parking lot.
Metro Ontario Real Estate Limited has submitted applications to the City of Toronto for Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment, and Site Plan Approval for the property, in hopes of developing several buildings; a 13-storey mixed use building of 27,653m² GFA with a food store of 2,842m² and retail units at-grade; a 25-storey residential building of 20,800m² GFA; a 30-storey residential building of 24,714m² GFA; and parkland of approximately 593m². The total GFA for the proposed Turner Fleischer Architects-designed development is 74,427m², with a density of 3.79 FSI.
The 13-storey mixed-use building would have 304 residential units, the 25-storey building would have 262, and the 30-storey building would have 326 for a total of 892 residential units on the property. The buildings would host 2,007m² of indoor amenity space.
1,017 total parking spaces are proposed, with 20 at-grade and 997 underground. 965 bicycle parking spaces and 6 loading spaces are also proposed. Access to the property would be from Eglinton and Pharmacy Avenue, as well as through the future road network to the south and west.
40 Eglinton Square joins many other projects in the area.
To the west of the same block is 1 Eglinton Square, a proposed 7-building, mixed-use condominium and rental complex designed by BDP Quadrangle for KingSett Capital. The collection of buildings ware proposed to reach heights between 20 and 50 storeys, along with a limited number of 6-storey townhouse buildings, and will be home to 3,578 units plus 40 townhomes.
East of the 40 Eglinton Square site on the other side of Pharmacy Avenue, is 1891 Eglinton Avenue East, a proposed five-building complex at the southeast corner of Eglinton and Pharmacy Avenues masterplanned by Kirkor Architects Planners for Mattamy Homes. The buildings would rise to heights from 10 through 48 storeys, and be home to a combined 1,850 units.
The rest of the nearby proposed developments lie on the north side of Eglinton, with the westernmost property just north of the 40 Eglinton Square site; the Golden Mile Shopping Centre Redevelopment site at 1880-1892 Eglinton Avenue East and 1523 and 1525-1545 Victoria Park Avenue. This proposal is for a new mixed-use, transit-oriented neighbourhood that would include a new network of streets and blocks, open spaces and parks, community-oriented retail including a new food store, and a variety of housing options. Designed by Giannone Petricone Associates for Choice Properties REIT and The Daniels Corporation, the first phase would include 38- and 48-storey condominium towers with a total of 926 units, a 44-storey rental tower with 524 units, as well as an innovation hub.
Heading east, the next proposed development lies across Pharmacy Avenue, at 1900 Eglinton Avenue East. Being redeveloped by SmartCentres REIT, an Official Plan Amendment application was submitted to the City of Toronto for this site in August, 2019, outlining the framework for a masterplan vision to transform this property 'from Shopping Centre to City Centre.' A Site Plan Application for the first phase of this masterplan was submitted February, 2021, proposing a high-density, mixed-use development consisting of two residential towers developed by SmartLiving (SmartCentres’ residential sub-brand). These towers, designed by architects—Alliance, are 38 and 40 storeys respectively. They would accommodate a combined total of 900 residential units, as well as 1,219m² of retail space at-grade along Eglinton Avenue East.
On northeast corner of Eglinton and Hakimi Avenue is 1910 Eglinton Avenue East, a proposed 34-storey mixed-use rental building including 338 units, designed by Turner Fleischer Architects for Yorkreal Holdings Inc.
Adjacent to the east of that is 1920 Eglinton East, a proposed 21-building redevelopment designed by Turner Fleischer Architects for Madison Group. Buildings are proposed to reach heights of 40 storeys, and would have a combined 3,888 units.
Further east, on the east side of Warden Avenue, is 1960 Eglinton East, a proposed five-tower, mixed-use development designed by IBI Group for Cosmetica Labs. The towers would come to stand between 30 and 45 storeys, plus there would be a separate commercial 6-storey building for Cosmetica included as part of the mixed-use development. The combined total number of residential units would be 2,545 between the five towers.
The plaza next to the east at 1966 Eglinton East is proposed to be redeveloped with towers of 12 through 48 storeys in a mixed-use condominium complex designed by Kirkor Architects Planners for RioCan REIT. The buildings would hold 2,434 residential units.
The final, easternmost proposal is at 2200 Eglinton Avenue East, where a mixed-use residential complex would consist of 6 towers designed by BDP Quadrangle for Dream Unlimited on the northwest corner of Eglinton at Birchmount Road. The buildings would stand between 8 and 46 storeys tall, and house a combined total of 2,363 units.
The Crosstown LRT will travel initially from Mount Dennis in the west to Kennedy Station in the east. Five LRT stops will serve the area between Victoria Park Avenue and Birchmount Road where these ten proposed developments lie. The City is looking for new coordinated road network north and south of Eglinton to service the sites and provide neighbourhood-scale blocks more attractive to pedestrian use (where there is currently much larger industrial-scale blocks).
As proposals are reviewed by the City, we will soon see what is approved to be built along the new transit line, creating much needed density in Toronto's east-end.
More information on the mentioned developments will come, but in the meantime, you can learn more from our Database files for the projects, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum threads, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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