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Plans have changed for a proposed 3-building development in Willowdale that would redevelop a number of assembled properties under the municipal address of 48 Avondale Avenue. Site owners Oulahen Team Realty Inc submitted their proposal to the City first in the summer of 2021, but since that time have made several key acquisitions of adjacent properties that have allowed them to expand their project. Most recently, three more properties have been added to the proposal in an October, 2022 resubmission, inciting increases in height as well as the conception of a public park.
The three properties acquired before the late October resubmission — 57, 61, and 63 Glendora Avenue — directly border the northeast corner of the site, and add almost 1,100m² to the total site area, marking an increase from 7,467m² to 8,564m². Like several of the pre-existing properties encompassed in the proposal, they face north with frontages along Glendora Avenue, one of three streets which the development would have frontage on (Bales Avenue and Avondale Avenue are the other two). This addition comes after an extended holdout over the purchase of the property at 37 Glendora, which was ultimately acquired and incorporated into the proposal earlier this year.
The impact this expansion of the site has on the Turner Fleischer Architects-designed towers is seen most notably in the respective proposed heights. Tower A, the tallest of the group, jumps from 42 to 45 storeys, adding just under 10m to its total height which now sits at 145m. Tower B grows from 37 to 38 storeys, while the 26-storey Tower C sees a height increase of under a metre, resulting in the same floor count. As a result, the development’s gross floor area (GFA) climbs from 77,366m² to 81,180m², while the density drops slightly from an FSI of 10.36 to 9.49, due to the increased site area.
Externally, the design of the towers remains unchanged aside from the height increases. An L-shaped shared podium of five storeys covers the majority of the site area and connects the three towers. A mix of dark grey metal paneling and grey and white precast brick paneling clad the towers on all elevations, with the brick seeing more coverage overall. The metal is employed more as an accent material, running down the elevations in vertical bands starting from the roof and meeting the brick at different heights to create an angled motif. Meanwhile, down on the podium, precast panels of red brick interrupt the extensive grey coverage, while a hint of white precast brick is thrown in to clad the 7-storey volume extending out from Tower C.
Inside the towers, however, some notable changes were made to bump up the unit count from 1,137 to 1,238. About half of the 101 new units were laid out in the new floors added by the height increases, but the existing floor-plans of each tower also had to be revisited in order to create space for the new additions. The distribution of the units remains almost identical, with single-bedrooms accounting for 63% of the total, 27% slated as 2-bedroom, and the minimum standard of 10% for 3-bedroom units.
Finally, the updated site plan outlines a 767m² park to be created on the recently acquired properties of 57, 61, and 63 Glendora Avenue. According to the landscape plans, the park would be lined with 10 planted trees, while two existing trees would be preserved. The surface of the park would be grass, and a fence would be installed along both the east and south boundaries to divide the area from the neighbouring properties.
An insignificant increase of parking spaces accompanies the resubmission, adding 10 to the previously planned 546. As the proposal is a short walking distance to Sheppard-Yonge subway station, and the City has dropped minimum requirements for parking so as to discourage private road use, there will be no opposition to the number of added parking spaces. In fact, in the current climate, a parking space ratio of approximately 0.45 spaces per unit can be considered on the high side for a development so close to a subway station.
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: | Counterpoint Engineering, EQ Building Performance Inc., Ferris + Associates Inc., Goldberg Group, Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, Turner Fleischer Architects |
