On the west side of Tecumseth Street south of Niagara Street in Toronto's King West neighbourhood, the site where The Yards will be built has a rich past that includes the disused Wellington Destructor and the buried Garrison Creek. It is here that a planning resubmission looks to advance the proposal designed by Giannone Petricone Associates (with Adamson Associates as Architect of Record) for TAS and Woodbourne Canada Management, Inc., The updated Site Plan Approval application calls for mixed-use buildings now reaching as high as 40 storeys.

Looking south to The Yards, designed by Giannone Petricone Associates (with Adamson Associates as Architect of Record) for TAS and Woodbourne Canada Management, Inc

The site at 2 Tecumseth Street, an irregularly shaped parcel spanning 1.98 hectares, was previously home to the Toronto Abattoir and Quality Meat Packers. Their closure and demolition, along with similar changes of land use in The Junction area in the city's West End, have marked the end of Toronto's history as a prominent pork producer that led to its nickname "Hogtown." The site is now cleared and surrounded by a mix of residential, commercial, and cultural uses.

An aerial view of the site and surrounding area, image retrieved from Google Maps

TAS acquired the site in 2016, and an initial proposal was submitted to the City in 2017. Over the years the vision has been refined through ongoing dialogue with City staff and the community. Following a resubmission in April, 2023, a third submission from this past month contains further, substantial updates.

Previous design, The Yards, image from submission to City of Toronto

While the 12- and 32-storey towers retain their storey counts, (with the former increasing slightly in height to 42.5m and the latter decreasing slightly to 108.61m), the resubmission now seeks 40 storeys/132.8m for the tallest building (increased from the approved 33). These changes come with a notable increase in residential units — from 1,054 to 1,217 — while shifting entirely from condominiums to market-rate rentals.

Zoning diagram, image from submission to City of Toronto

The project would be built in three phases, with the 12- and 40-storey towers comprising Phase 1, and the 32-storey tower Phase 2. There would be a POPS (Privately-Owned Publicly-accessible Space) central to the site, with a proposed parkland at the west end, totalling 1,493m². The public park would be situated near the future Phase 3 for a 7-storey office building not included in this application.

Ground floor plan for the 40-storey building, image from submission to City of Toronto

The project now proposes a total Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 85,192m², primarily allocated to residential use of 81,828m², along with 3,364m² of retail at grade. Both phases were previously set to include office space, which has been removed entirely. The design’s total vehicular parking has increased from 418 to 444 spaces; Phase 1 is set to have 204 resident and 38 non-resident spaces, with Phase 2 accommodating 137 resident and 65 non-resident spots. The redesign maintains a robust bicycle parking plan, expanding from 1,308 to 1,315 spaces, including 636 long-term and 123 short-term spaces in Phase 1, and 546 long-term and 10 short-term spots in Phase 2.

Ground floor plan for the 32-storey building, image from submission to City of Toronto

Indoor amenities entail 1,353m² for Phase 1 and 2,717m² for Phase 2, with outdoor amenities totalling 1,363m² for Phase 1 and 1,008m² for Phase 2. There would be four elevators in the two tallest towers, with each having an additional elevator for the two levels of underground garage. The 12-storey tower’s two elevators would result in one elevator for every 85 units, indicating reasonable wait times. However, the 32- and 40-storey would have approximately one elevator for every 126 and 136 units respectively, resulting in much longer wait times.  

Ground floor plan for the 12-storey building, image from submission to City of Toronto

The Yards is a 4-minute walk east to the Bathurst streetcar, offering a direct route to Bathurst station on Bloor Line 2, or a 2-minute walk north to the King streetcar, offering a direct route to St Andrew station on University Line 1. The site is also an 8-minute walk from the intersection of King and Bathurst, where a forthcoming Ontario Line 3 station will facilitate more efficient west-east travel once it is complete in the early 2030s.

POPS space, image from submission to City of Toronto

The area’s development activity is indicative of its closeness to Downtown and its general attractiveness to young professionals, and it has only increased since the Ontario Line's development was greenlit. To the east, the 12 and 14-storey West Condos are now occupying. Further east, the 17-storey 88 Bathurst is under construction, while 18 Portland is proposed at 18 storeys. To the north, proposed developments at 778, 689, and 675 King Street West are set to introduce progressively taller structures close the future Ontario Line station, standing at 17, 18, and 19 storeys respectively. Right at forthcoming station site, buildings that form the King-Bathurst Transit-Oriented Community will eventually be under construction once the subway station is built below, and will feature two 25-storey towers at its North and South Sites.

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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