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The coming of Eglinton Line 5 — whenever it finally opens in the coming year — is helping to intensify development in Toronto’s Midtown area. Walking distance to Mount Pleasant, one of the new Line 5 stations, one proposal has seen a massive transformation now that its site has been declared to be within a PMTSA. Protected Major Transit Stations Areas, or PMTSAs, are a new tool the City has adopted following Provincial legislation that sets out minimum densities in a 500m to 800m radius of a station, and which allows the City to impose affordable housing unit percentages in new developments within that area.
In that regard, following an earlier rezoning application submitted in 2021, Goodmans LLP has resubmitted an application on behalf of the landowner for 136 Broadway Avenue that reflects the new expectations of the City for developments within a 10-minute walk of a major transit station.
Located just west of the intersection of Mount Pleasant Road and Broadway Avenue, there is currently a 1962-built six-storey apartment building at the site. The application includes a Heritage Impact Statement concluding that demolishing the building would not result in lost cultural heritage value. The surrounding neighbourhood has seen plenty of such intensification and development applications, with this resubmission aiming to be in line with that growth.
In 2021, the proposal from developer Reserve Properties called for a 12-storey building with 111 residential units. The revised proposal roughly triples these numbers, with a 35-storey building and 366 units, standing at 116.85m. With three elevators included in the architectural plans, that would mean one elevator for every 122 units, just one more elevator than was planned in the 111-unit version, and somewhat higher than the threshold of one elevator for every 100 units.
These changes have meant a significant revision in the design by IBI Group, with the proposed gross floor area jumping from 8,061m² to 21,967m². The revisions are primarily aimed at making more efficient use of the land as part of the PMTSA within an “Urban Growth Centre." The proposal notes reviews showing how the site can accommodate greater height and density. At the same time, the resubmission is massed to try to limit shadow impacts on nearby buildings.
The design has revised the podium from five storeys to four, allowing for a much larger tower element of 31 storeys. At grade, there would be a larger POPS (Privately-Owned Publicly accessible Space), increasing in depth from 5.54m to 7.50m along the frontage of the site. The proposed combined amenity space in the proposal is more than doubled, from 444m² to 1,098m², with much of that being the 732m² of indoor amenities.
Two levels of underground parking also see more parking spaces in the resubmission, going from 19 to 42. However, the resubmission does away with short-term and car-share parking, with the proposal noting that 124 Broadway Avenue — another Reserve Properties site just to the west, significantly larger — is to provide short-term parking. Meanwhile, bicycle spots would more than triple from 111 to 367, with 330 of them long-term spots for residents.
As mentioned, the major factor in these changes is the present and future transportation for the area. The site is already well-served by transit options, being about 750m from Eglinton subway station and within 550m of multiple bus stops along Mount Pleasant Road and Eglinton Avenue. Cyclists have limited access to trails and bike lanes, but Bike Share Toronto offers short-term rentals for the area, and the site is 1.5km away from the Kay Gardiner Beltline Trail.
The neighbourhood’s evolving transportation is highlighted by the imminent (but undated) opening of Eglinton Line 5. The light rail transit service in its initial phase is to have 25 stations and surface stops along its 19km stretch across Toronto from Weston Road to Kennedy Station. The station at Mount Pleasant Road is just 400m from this site.
Looking further ahead, while the crowded Yonge Line 1 subway is to be extended north into York Region and attract yet more riders, the coming Ontario Line 3 is meant to open first and take some of the pressure off of Line 1, diverting those headed downtown from east of Don Mills Road to the new Line 3. Cyclists can look forward to better routes too, with the City’s Cycling Network 10 Year Plan in place to improve cycling infrastructure for the neighbourhood and throughout Toronto.
With a massive increase in size and density, this resubmission looks to capitalize on a heavily developing neighbourhood and increasingly connected city, while reflecting the City's desire to bring more density close to higher order transit.
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: | Aercoustics Engineering Ltd, Arcadis, Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, NAK Design Strategies, Reserve Properties |
