Zoning By-law Amendment and Site Plan Approval applications for a 16-storey mixed-use residential tower have been submitted by Goldberg Group to the City of Toronto for developers Blacktusk Group. The proposal is to demolish and redevelop the single-storey commercial building and surface parking lot at 673 Warden Avenue, located on the northeast corner of Warden Avenue and Bell Estate Road in Scarborough's Warden Woods area.

Looking southeast to the current site, image retrieved from Google Street View

Designed by IBI Group, the redevelopment would provide 274 residential units in a mix of 10 studios (4%), 113 one-bedrooms (41%), 124 two-bedroom (45%), and 27 three-bedroom (10%). The development would have a total GFA of 18,965m² and a 6.9 FSI on the site.

The 16-storey proposal reaches a height of 57.24m, similar in height to a building to the west across Warden Avenue. This stretch along the east side of Warden Avenue was previously industrial, but is transitioning to mostly residential with recent redevelopments, although the property immediately to the north is subject to an application for redevelopment into a storage facility. Immediately to the east are four-storey apartment buildings, with two-storey townhomes and single family homes making up the bulk of the housing in the surrounding area. More ambitious redevelopment proposals closer to Warden station are being reviewed by the City.

Urban design guidelines in the Warden Woods Community Secondary Plan call for increased streetscape frontage along Warden Avenue from new buildings, while having minimal sun shadow impact towards neighbouring existing low-rise buildings. This proposal respects those guidelines by remaining under the 45° angular plane extending from the base of adjacent buildings. 

Building section with angular plane, image from submission to the City of Toronto

Retail space is proposed at-grade facing Warden Avenue. Amenity space totals 1,246m², with 54% (671m²) of it indoors on the ground floor and the mezzanine. Outdoor amenity space of 575m² is planned on the second floor, and sixteenth floor rooftop. Green roofs are proposed.

Looking northeast across Warden Avenue and Bell Estate Road to the proposal, designed by IBI Group for Blacktusk Group

Parking would be situated on three underground levels with driveway access off of Bell Estate Road, with 133 residential parking spots and 15 for visitors. Bicycle parking spaces would be distributed among secured rooms on the ground floor, with 188 resident spaces and 20 for visitors. The site is also served by high frequency TTC bus routes, and is located 650 metres south of Warden subway station on Danforth Line 2.

Location of the site in relation to Warden subway station, image from submission to the City of Toronto

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:

Arcadis, Goldberg Group, Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, Land Art Design Landscape Architects Inc, LEA Consulting, MCW Consultants Ltd