Bayview Village, an emerging hot spot in the development of Toronto’s North York borough, is once again in focus in the planning news, following a recent proposal from Sky Property Group seeking the intensification of the addresses surrounding 720 Sheppard Avenue East. Featuring the designs of Kirkor Architects Planners, the proposal puts forward plans for a 20-storey mixed-use development with grade level retail, a new public park, and a total of 432 units to be built on the lands on the northwest corner of Sheppard Avenue East and Burbank Drive. 

Looking Southeast at the complete design of the proposed development, image from submission to city of Toronto

The 7,800m² site is currently occupied by seven semi-detached houses and a vacant lot, all of which are situated facing south onto the long stretch of roughly 181m of street frontage on Sheppard Avenue East. The built form of the surrounding area encompasses a mix of single family homes and commercial/employment areas that have historically characterized the suburban neighbourhood, while a more recent wave of development has seen an increase in residential development at the mid-rise scale, with a sprinkle of high-rise scattered around the wider area. 

Map view of built form in the surrounding area, site outlined in red, image from submission to City of Toronto

From a policy perspective, the proposal asserts that the proponents have put forward a project that is consistent with the guidelines of transit-oriented development. Located within 100m of Bessarion Station, servicing the TTC’s Line 4, the proposal argues that the development can play a direct role in increasing ridership at the station, which currently experiences the fourth lowest daily use of all TTC stations, with an average of just 2,990 riders per day (based on 2018 stats). By offering a vehicle parking ratio of 0.65 spaces per unit, the development hopes to attract residents that will take advantage of the existing infrastructure.

Stats on Sheppard Line 4 ridership, 2018, image from submission to City of Toronto

Looking more closely at the design of the proposal, the 20-storey tower volume on the western edge of the site makes up a smaller-than-expected total of the development’s offerings. The design team was creative with their application of the site’s east-west length, and came up with an extended podium volume that almost doubles as a mid-rise of its own next to the tower. 

Looking northwest at the eclectic Sheppard Avenue East frontage, image from submission to City of Toronto

The design features a visual medley of cladding and massing that appears to adhere loosely to a stylistic goal of emphasizing the overall imprint of the building. From the tallest point of the tower at the western edge, the building steps down incrementally in a staircase pattern, while the materials transition from white cladding with offset windows, to window wall with balconies, to the next motif and the next one after that. The result is an eclectic streetwall along the Sheppard Avenue East frontage that is certainly not burdened by a formulaic or repetitive design, however the age-old debate of whether “less is more” comes to mind. 

The grade level of the proposal would feature three retail units amounting to a total of 1,415m² of retail area. The two larger units would occupy the majority of the Sheppard Avenue East frontage, interrupted by the residential lobby and entrance in the middle, while the third unit would be found around the corner on the eastern frontage, with access from Burbank Drive.

Plan view of ground floor level with retail spaces, image from submission to City of Toronto

With a total of 2,956m² of amenity space offered, the development proposes a large rooftop outdoor amenity area built above the podium, offering a substantial outdoor activity area that is coupled with indoor amenities at the grade level. Meanwhile, the new park will provide another 1,135m² of publicly accessible greenspace on the western-most edge of the site. The 432 available units would be broken down into a mix of single to 3-bedroom layouts, with over 50% slated as single bedrooms; the development would also offer four garden units. 

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:

KIRKOR Architects and Planners, o2 Planning and Design, RWDI Climate and Performance Engineering, Sky Property Group