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Across our coverage of the various aspects of Amexon's North York master-planned development, The Residences at Central Park, one thing that stands out as a defining element of the 12-acre mixed-use community project is its location. Perched on the edge of the East Don Parkland, the future community enjoys immediate adjacency to one of the City’s hidden gems: the extensive ravine network. Hearing about it though, it’s hard to understand just how connected the site and the ravine really are; you have to see it to believe it.
To offer some visuals of the location and its spectacular backyard ravine network, we took a trip to the site of Central Park, just northwest of the corner of Sheppard avenue and Leslie Street, and documented it with our video drone. Check out our footage in the video below.
Viewing the site from the sky, we can see the extent of the greenspace that engulfs the plot of land, particularly to the east and north. The East Don Parkland connects to a total of roughly 500 acres of nearby greenspace, and as you move further up or down the valley, represents one of the largest concentrations of public greenspace in the city. Beyond offering a network of walking and cycling trails and lanes that connect travelers through the ravine system and neighbourhood streets all the way to the lake, the East Don Parkland is a thriving ecological hub that is home to countless native species of plants and animals.
Another thing that stands out in our video is the rail corridor occupying the site’s western border. This north-south span of tracks, also pictured in the image below, is part of GO Transit’s Richmond Hill Line, which stops at Oriole Station located just a few hundred metres to the south. A relocation of the station, however will soon bring it directly to Central Park's doorstep. We can also see the bus terminal at Leslie subway station, from where a short ride along Sheppard Line 4 will get you to Yonge Line 1.
Together, this compound of transit infrastructure provides Central Park with a depth of sustainable transportation options to serve this future high-density community while quelling auto-dependency. While the site is just far enough from downtown to enjoy the luxury of greenspace, short train rides will bring future residents right to Union Station, or anywhere in between.
Finally, our drone video also offers the first update in months on the status of the site itself, which is expected to begin construction on the first phase of development in the near future. From what we can see, the site is cleared, but may require some grading work before shoring can commence. A number of heavy machines are already parked on site, along with a stack of large steel piles (seen in the video) that will presumably be put to use as shoring gets underway.
In its entirety, The Residences at Central Park comprises a total of four towers, a mid rise building, and two retrofitted low-rise office buildings. The community will eventually deliver nearly 1,500 new units to North York’s Bayview Village Neighbourhood, while creating a lively pedestrian realm through a variety of grade level retail programming.
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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UrbanToronto has a research service, UrbanToronto Pro, that provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Toronto Area—from proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.
