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New owner Carttera Private Equities has submitted revised plans for a tower at the northeast corner of Queen Street West and Noble Street in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood. Featuring a new 27-storey design by BDP Quadrangle, the developer acquired the site following the previous owner Republic Developments obtaining rezoning approval for a 24-storey proposal. The site is located within walking distance of the future, unfunded Liberty Village GO station.
The irregularly shaped site at 1266 Queen Street West is currently home to a vacant two-storey commercial building and surface parking. It is flanked by a mix of low-rise commercial buildings, mid-rise apartments, and community services, with the Parkdale Amphitheatre public space to the east and Metrolinx's Kitchener rail corridor to the north.
An initial application in 2017 proposed a two-storey addition to the existing commercial building, followed by a 2020 resubmission and attempts to lease office space on the upper two proposed storeys through 2022 so as to trigger the built.
Later in 2022, however, Republic Developments became involved and eventually submitted plans in 2023 for a 25-storey, BDP Quadrangle-designed condominium tower for the property, later revised to 24 storeys and approved by City Council in 2024.
Since then, the property was sold to Carttera, who has submitted a Site Plan Approval application, but not a Zoning Approval application which would have required Council approval again. The new proposal only needs Site Plan approval as despite it having three more floors, the revised tower reaches 90.84m in height, within the overall height approved in the previous plan. due to adjusted floor heights, but especially a reconfiguration of the building's HVAC system, equipment that normally takes the uppermost storey (often double height) in average buildings, but which is being moved to the base of the building here as part of a geothermal heating and cooling system for the building.
Notable changes include that the podium setback has increased, and the tower has been reshaped with a narrower east-west profile and increased depth toward the rear, producing a floor-plate of 923m², exceeding the City’s 750m² guideline for tall buildings, but smaller than the previous iteration when balconies are factored in (south-facing balconies have been removed entirely).
The tenure of the building has been converted from condominium to purpose-built rental, now proposing 362 purpose-built rental units, up from 331 condo suites in the previous plan, and includes a higher proportion of two- and three-bedroom units, plus a single four-bedroom unit. Three elevators are proposed, yielding a ratio of approximately one elevator per 121 units, requiring high-speed motors to ensure adequate service.
The total Gross Floor Area (GFA) has increased from 22,104m² to 26,326m², resulting in a Floor Space Index increase from 10.36 to 12.31 times coverage of the 2,132m² lot. Of the GFA, 26,056m² is allocated to residential uses and 180m² to retail, a reduction in commercial space from the earlier 563m². Amenity space has been expanded in the revised proposal, with 724m² of indoor and 600m² of outdoor amenity area, up from 662m² and 448m², respectively. Indoor spaces would be distributed across the ground floor, mezzanine, and fourth level, and outdoor amenities would be located on the podium rooftop and courtyard, the latter replacing the previously proposed north-side public walkway.
A single level of underground garage would accommodate 23 resident spaces, 7 visitor spaces, and 1 car-share stall. Proposed bicycle parking has increased to 429 spaces, with 326 long-term and 103 short-term spots.
The 501 Queen streetcar stops in front of the building, while the 29 Dufferin bus stops about 120m to the east. The site is roughly 1.3km to the northwest of Exhibition GO station, to be joined in the 2030s by Ontario Line 3’s western terminal. The planned but unfunded Liberty Village GO station may be built approximately 500m to the southeast in the future. Cycling infrastructure includes signed cycling routes along Dunn Avenue, with additional long ditance connections through the area expected via upcoming extensions to the West Toronto Railpath.
The proposal joins a wave of intensification reshaping the surrounding neighbourhoods. Multiple nearby mid-rise proposals include the Parkdale Hub to the west planned at 16 storeys. North of the site, 450 Dufferin is proposed at 18 storeys, while to the east are 27- and 28-storey proposals at 1153 and 1117 Queen West. Southwest, 1304 King West is proposed at 21 storeys. Nearby to the south Radiator envisions three towers ranging from 9 to 29 storeys, while XO and XO2 Condos recently reached 14 and 19 storeys, respectively.
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: | Batory Planning + Management, BDP Quadrangle, Carttera Private Equities, EQ Building Performance Inc., Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, Jablonsky, Ast and Partners |
