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It’s been two years since Tenblock initially proposed a redevelopment of their 24-storey 1960s apartment building at 25 St Mary Street, near the Bloor-Yonge intersection, and in that time the developers have been working closely with the community to refine the two-tower project. Scheduled to meet with the Toronto-East York Community Council later this month, a positive outcome would give the developers the green light to move forward with their proposal to construct towers of 54 and 59 storeys located strategically in the Bloor-Yonge area, delivering a supply of 1,024 market apartments as well as 259 replacement apartments, plus another 50 apartments priced at affordable rental rates.
With a number of consultations held to invite feedback from working groups, as well as close engagement with City staff Councillors since their initial submission, Tenblock has done the legwork to vet their proposal and have positioned it well to earn a positive staff report.
Throughout the engagement process with the City and stakeholders, the original vision of project architects gh3 for the site and its role in the surrounding neighbourhood has remained largely intact. The development team was careful to ensure that the key components of the proposal were retained in the latest plans, and has confirmed that elements like a 500m² public park, a City-operated daycare, and an adjacent POPS (Privately Owned Publicly accessible Space), a mid-block courtyard, and the project’s bicycle-oriented infrastructure, were all maintained in the latest plans.
Additionally, the open space on the west side of the site will be designed in cooperation with the neighbouring development at 1075 Bay Street to deliver a contiguous landscaped space spanning between Bay and St Nicholas streets. The project also includes 310 m² of community retail space along St Nicholas Street, which is currently envisioned as a bike cafe.
According to Tenblock, a significant participant in the creation of this neighbourhood vision was the Bay Cloverhill Community Association. Working closely with the community group allowed the developers to gain a greater perspective on what neighbours wanted to see in a family and pedestrian-oriented development here, and how to better achieve those goals.
Tenblock has also been able to focus on creating a strategy for those living in the 259 existing rental apartments on the site today. The plan outlines an approach that will allow eligible tenants to return to a replacement unit of similar size, with the same number of bedrooms and a similar rent price, and tenants will also be entitled to a number of additional compensation items as well. These include move-out and move-back allowances, relocation support from leasing agents, and rent compensation of three to seven months. Eligible tenants will also receive an upfront cash compensation in the form of a rent gap payment that represents the difference between a tenant’s rent and the relevant market vacant rent, per CMHC, multiplied by the estimated construction period of 36 months, and will be given a minimum of six months notice to vacate the building.
Beyond replacing the existing rental apartments, Tenblock is working with City Councillor Chris Moise and City Planning and Housing staff to deliver 50 new affordable apartments in the proposal as well. These apartments will reflect the City’s targets for unit type mix, with 15% of them 2-bedroom layouts, and 10% having 3 bedrooms. “Given that we are in a housing crisis, I am happy to have worked with Tenblock and City staff to secure fifty new affordable rental units at 25 St. Mary Street, in addition to the 259 units being replaced," Moise commented. "This is exactly the kind of outcome I would like to see from every rental replacement project in Toronto. While any sort of displacement is never ideal, the City is working within the provincial framework and securing the best possible outcomes for our tenants.”
With these important aspects of the project now addressed, Tenblock is focussing in on sustainability standards as the next step in improving their proposal after rezoning is approved. The developer intends to provide heating and cooling for the project through a sustainable geo-exchange system, as part of its goal of achieving at least Tier 2 of the Toronto Green Standard. Meanwhile, emissions are also being cut in other areas as well, with the project reducing the number of underground levels from four down to one, which is expected to reduce construction time and tenant displacement by 12 months.
The developer also tapped energy strategy firm Footprint to prepare a Carbon Analysis Report for the project which revealed that, compared to the existing building, the proposed building would deliver a 75% reduction in carbon emissions per unit annually, and concluded that the new development will become carbon positive after approximately eight years of occupancy.
Offering zero residential parking spaces, 25 St Mary is set to join the emerging class of developments in Toronto working to deemphasize vehicle use with a direct approach. The project instead views cycle infrastructure as the infrastructure that will best serve its residents, and plans include a dedicated bike ramp, a bike elevator, bike repair spaces, and parking for e-bikes and cargo bikes.
Pending approval at Toronto-East York Community Council on April 12, the project will go before City Council at its May 10 session.
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, or from the project website, linked here. 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: | CCxA, EQ Building Performance Inc., gh3, Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, Grounded Engineering Inc., Mulvey & Banani, Scott Shields Architects, Tenblock, Urban Strategies Inc. |
