Marlin Spring Developments has submitted a Site Plan Approval application (SPA) to the City of Toronto, proposing a 22-storey tower designed by IBI Group on a 1.2 acre lot at 5 Cosburn Avenue in the city's East York area. This is not the first proposal that this site is seeing, though; in December of 2020, previous site owner Trolleybus Urban Development proposed a 15-storey tower, also designed by IBI, on the same lot.

Looking north to the new version of 5 Cosburn, designed by IBI Group for Marlin Spring

The site is a consolidation of eight detached single family homes and four semi-detached buildings, 16 units in total, at 5 through 19 Cosburn Avenue and 8-40 Gowan Avenue to the south, which are all proposed to be demolished to make way for the new building.

Some of the buildings currently on site, image via Google Street View

The first proposal was appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) by the developer after the City did not come to a decision within the prescribed time. City Council is preparing to oppose that original application; City Planning took no issue with 15-storeys, nor with a 456m² parkland dedication on the site, but they disapproved of the massing, for which they want more setbacks and step-backs in order to be more consistent with the massing of the surrounding buildings of the neighbourhood. 

Looking southeast to the original proposal for 5 Cosburn, designed by IBI Group for Trolleybus Urban Development

The recently submitted SPA by new site owner Marlin Spring notes that the proposal has been increased to 22 storeys tall, with the building height increasing from 54 metres to 74.6 metres, but with a smaller floor-plate. The proposal has a residential gross floor area of 25,650m².

Looking south to the new version of 5 Cosburn, designed by IBI Group for Marlin Spring

The unit count of the building rises from 316 units to 376 while the parking spaces decrease from 192 to 187, with 148 reserved for residents and 37 for visitors. 339 long-term and 38 short-term bicycle parking spaces are also proposed.

There is 570m² of outdoor amenity proposed on a terrace on the 9th floor, as well as 597m² of indoor amenity space on the ground level, split into two separate areas on either end of the building.

Site plan of proposal with landscaping, image from submission to the City

More information on the development will come soon, but in the meantime, you can learn more from our Database file for the project, linked below. If you'd like, 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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