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The first prospective renderings for three staggered 13-storey residential buildings at 251 through 285 The West Mall, Etobicoke have been submitted to the City of Toronto's Planning Department by MHBC Planning on behalf of developer NJS Capital seeking Zoning By-Law Amendment and Site Plan Approval. The 0.95 hectares (2.34 acres) site is located south of Bloor Street West and adjacent to Highway 427 in the Bloordale Gardens neighbourhood.
The plans seek to demolish 11 two-storey apartment buildings (comprised of 66 rental units), ancillary buildings, and associated surface parking for three distinctive residential buildings designed by BDP Quadrangle that each rise to approximately 131ft / 40m.
The design is informed by The City of Toronto's Performance Standards for Mid-Rise Buildings and the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario's mandatory setback of 14m from Highway 427 that runs parallel to the site. The form is achieved with a hypothetical 45-degree angular plane taken from a height equivalent to 80% of the Right-of-Way width, in this case, 27m. This gives the buildings' first seven levels a total height of 21.5m before BDP Quadrangle implements a series of staggered external terraces lined with foliage from levels eight upwards. In doing so, they provide an appropriate transition to the adjacent single-storey bungalows lining The West Mall to the west and ensure these existing dwellings aren't starved of natural daylight.
The three buildings share a similar gross floor area of just over 15,000m² each resulting in a total GFA of 47,432m² and a floor space index of 4.98 across the subject lands.
The uppermost storeys are setback 14m from the site boundary to the East and softened by Alexander Budrevics & Associates' extensive landscape proposal. The lowermost stories to the west are setback 0.5m from the boundary and again benefit from strategic landscaping. From level 8 upwards, external terraces ranging from 4.5m – 5.8m in depth create a series of three defined plateaus that serve levels 8, 10 and 12. A fourth plateau comes from an extensive green flat roof that caps the proposal. A combination of masonry cladding, metal architectural cladding, and precast concrete cladding clads the entirety of the facades and seeks to tie the proposal in with the local vernacular. By applying differing masonry cladding colours, BDP Quadrangle have given each building its own distinctive appearance and prevented the risk of creating a monotonous street front.
The proposed development consists of 610 residential units comprising 121 studios (20%), 300 one-bedrooms (49%) and 127 two-bedrooms (21%) and 62 three-bedrooms (10%) which aligns with the City of Toronto's aspirations for the number of family-sized suites. The proposed tenure of most of the suites is still unknown, but there will be at least 66 rental units, replacing those that exist on the site now.
248 parking spaces will be spread across two underground levels that run below the entirety of the three buildings, and will be accessed via a proposed ramp leading off the existing Leavenworth Crescent at the north end of the site. 468 bicycle parking spaces will also be provided.
Public transit service to the site is provided by the 112 West Mall bus route and the 49 Bloor West bus just to the north. Both serve Kipling subway and GO station.
In regard to the buildings' adjacency to Highway 427, two supporting documents have been prepared for the submission regarding potential air quality and roadway traffic noise.
The Air Quality Study conducted by Terraprobe states:
"There were no exceedances of the Ontario Ambient Air Quality Criteria (AAQC) detected in any of the ambient air samples during the air quality study. With no exceedances of the applicable AAQCs, it can be concluded that no unacceptable risks exist to those exposed to ambient air at the property."
Whilst the Roadway Traffic Noise Assessment prepared by Gradient Wind Engineers and Scientists states:
"Results of the calculations also indicate that Building A, Building B, and Building C will require central air conditioning, or similar mechanical system, which will allow occupants to keep windows closed and maintain a comfortable living/working environment. A Type D Warning Clause1 will also be required on all Lease, Purchase and Sale Agreements."
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, 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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| Related Companies: | BDP Quadrangle, EQ Building Performance Inc., Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, MHBC Planning, TAS |
