Little Portugal and the nearby Dufferin Street area have undergone significant changes in the past decades. Now, Hullmark is proposing a new mid-rise building for this part of western Toronto. The developer has submitted a Zoning By-law Amendment application for 450 Dufferin Street, situated at the northwest corner at Alma Avenue, between Dundas and Queen streets.

Looking northwest to 450 Dufferin Street, as designed by superkül for Hullmark

The design by superkül would bring a mixed-use, mid-rise development to the site. Standing at 57.6m with 15 storeys, there would be 143 residential units in total. The mezzanine would feature 930m² of commercial space, and residents would have access to 290m² and 286m² of indoor and outdoor amenity space respectively.

As part of the proposal’s transportation demand management (TDM), there would only be 34 total parking spaces with 12 of them for visitors and/or commercial use. All residential spots, and three of the visitor/commercial spaces, are planned to support electric vehicle charging infrastructure. For those who rely on bicycles to commute, there would be 158 bicycle parking spaces, of which 29 would be for short-term use.

Looking southwest to the podium of 450 Dufferin Street, as designed by superkül for Hullmark

The design features podium and tower components. The podium would contain four storeys plus a mezzanine, set back 1.4m along Dufferin Street for pedestrian space. The upper component would have a smaller floor-plate in comparison to the podium floors at 729m². It would have a step-back of 7.4m from the structure’s frontage on Dufferin. The step-back and setback are intended to give visual prominence to the podium and help transition from the smaller buildings in the area.

The current one-storey commercial building at 450 Dufferin Street, image from Google Street View

The site is currently home to a single-storey commercial building with surface parking. The site has a total area of about 1,495m². The surrounding area has shifted over the years from industrial to a mix of residential and commercial. The application notes a pattern of mixed-use developments in the area standing anywhere from three to 21 storeys, along with new proposals up to 25 storeys, specifically listing 14 nearby development proposals.

An aerial view of 450 Dufferin Street and the surrounding area, image from Google Maps

In the application, Urban Strategies Inc provides an overview of potential future structures that do not yet have active developments. The estimates demonstrate an upward trend of greater intensification and taller buildings standing at 15 storeys or higher.

Isometric view of proposed and approved developments in the surrounding area, image from submission to City of Toronto

There are TTC serving Dufferin Street, connecting to Dufferin and Wilson Stations, as well as the Exhibition GO Station. Residents would be within a 10-minute walk of streetcars on Dundas Street, Queen Street, and King Street West. The proposal is also be near bike lanes on the surrounding streets for cyclists, including Brock Avenue and Argyle Street.

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:

EQ Building Performance Inc., Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, HGC Engineering Inc, Urban Strategies Inc.