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Development plans for the Yonge Street corridor continue with Zoning By-law Amendment and Site Plan Approval applications for a 50-storey mixed-use building designed by BDP Quadrangle in the Newtonbrook area of North York, just metres from Toronto's boundary with Markham and Vaughan. The application submitted by WND Associates on behalf of Longevity Properties Limited facilitates the intensification of 6979 through 6691 Yonge Street, immediately adjacent to the future Steeles subway station, with a 30,869m² development containing 427 proposed residential units.
Located on the southeast corner of the Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue intersection, the orthogonal 1,131m² plot is in a Mixed-Use designated area in the City of Toronto Official Plan. It is currently comprised of a 2-storey commercial building with associated surface parking that would be demolished as part of the proposed development. (Only the gray-painted building between the two white-painted buildings below is part of this proposal.)
The site currently benefits from Toronto Transit Commission and York Region Transit services that provide frequent bus access to Finch Station on Yonge Line 1, 1.75km to the south. A forthcoming extension to the line will see the introduction of five new stations, including Steeles station which will abut this site, allowing for residential intensification as per the Toronto City Council's Yonge Street North Secondary Plan. Intensification will also be fast-tracked with the neighbouring Centrepoint Mall master plan development immediately across Yonge Street to the west, which could see an influx of high-rise structures ranging from 12 to 50 storeys.
Consisting of a light concrete-clad 6-storey base building with a red brickwork-clad 44-storey tower above, the 155.8m tall proposal covers most of the lot with a single 4m setback providing visual relief from Yonge Street along the western property line. The tower is positionally off-centre; by skewing it towards the northern portion of the site, BDP Quadrangle are keeping the vertical density close to the Yonge and Steeles intersection, mirroring the philosophy implemented at the Centrepoint Mall master plan and other neighbouring developments.
The building's entrance fronting Yonge Street is framed by a light concrete-clad frame that considerately articulates two separate retail spaces collectively measuring 239m² and the main residential lobby from the upper floors. This 'L' shaped frame is then carried through into the podium floors above. Arranged in a hit-and-miss configuration, the framing defines individual residential units and provides some relief to the rectangular podium mass.
At grade level, the proposal is completed with storage, garbage, servicing areas and a designated car elevator accessed from the adjacent public laneway to the east, which in turn is accessed from both Steeles Avenue East and Nipigon Avenue. This serves three levels of underground parking providing the scheme with 39 residential vehicular parking spaces and some 391 bicycle parking spaces.
The proposed development consists of 427 residential units intertwined with 1,649m² of indoor and external amenity space on levels 2, 7 and 50. The unit mix for 6979 Yonge Street is as follows: 188 one-bedrooms (44%), 196 two-bedrooms (46%), and 43 three-bedrooms (10%), which meets the City of Toronto's requirements for percentages of family-sized unit types. A proposed Gross Floor Area of 30,869m² would give the site a density of 27.27 FSI.
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, Crozier Consulting Engineers, EQ Building Performance Inc., Ferris + Associates Inc., Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, LEA Consulting, WND Associates Ltd |
