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A new development has been proposed at the current site of the popular Morningside Crossing Shopping Centre in Toronto’s east end West Hill neighbourhood. With a variety of stores currently on the 17,949m², First Capital-owned property at 255 Morningside Avenue, the area is central to West Hill’s development. On behalf of the owners, Bousfields has submitted a Zoning By-law Amendment for the first of several redevelopment phases on the site, this one right at the northeast corner of Lawrence Avenue East and Morningside, or in the very southwest corner of the plaza. Diamond Schmitt Architects is the designer.
The first phase site makes up the rectangular southern portion of the shopping centre, at about 4,617m² in area.
The proposal would result in two residential towers standing together on a podium of six storeys. The taller south tower would rise to 25 storeys and have a total height of 89m, with the smaller north one rising to 15 storeys and a height of 60.5m. There would be 456 residential units in all in a mix of 207 one-bedrooms (45%), 202 two-bedrooms (44%), and 47 three-bedrooms (10%), more than meeting the city's percentage of family-size units.
The ground floor of the podium would be a mix of residential, amenity space, and street-facing retail, and floors two and up would be residential. More amenity space is planned on the 7th level, including on the rooftop of the podium.
Both towers would step back at least three metres on all four sides, while the north tower would have step back 12.6m on the east side. There would be a space of 26.2m between the two structures. The two buildings would have an amenity level on the seventh floor, with an outdoor amenity space of 734m² at the north tower. With two levels of underground garage, the design calls for 230 motor vehicle parking spaces and 344 bicycle spaces.
As part of the proposal, Bousfields has prepared a Block Context Plan for the full block. As part of proposed future developments, there would be mid-rise buildings along Kingston Road, as well as towers along Morningside Avenue and Lawrence Avenue East. The plan also shows future potential for parkland and new roads to further diversify the area. The plan is a companion document as part of the official application for the site.
Also part of the plans for the area is a potential Eglinton East Light Rail Transit (LRT) stop within a short walking distance at Morningside Avenue and Kingston Road. The two towers proposed would be one of the early steps in capitalizing on the increased accessibility of this already popular intersection and neighbourhood.
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: | Bousfields, Diamond Schmitt Architects, First Capital, Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, STUDIO tla |
