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Cadillac Fairview and Shape Properties are pressing ahead with the multi-phase redevelopment of Fairview Mall’s surface parking areas, with a resubmission to the City of Toronto of plans for part of Phase 1. The shopping mall takes up an approximately 18.8 hectare site at the northeast corner of Sheppard Avenue East and Don Mills Road in North Yorks’s Don Valley Village area, and hosts the eastern terminal of the TTC's Sheppard Line 4 subway. The new application focuses solely on the southern portion of Phase 1 where previously two towers were planned, reduced now to a single 48-storey purpose-built rental building. Designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects with Adamson Associates as Architect of Record, the proposal was reconfigured to recognize constraints on the site related to a parking deck and the TTC’s bus access lane at Don Mills subway station.
The original phase 1 proposal from April, 2022 was for an area of 14,628m², mostly surface parking lot, planned for redevelopment along the Sheppard Avenue East frontage east of the subway station facilities. Three towers were planned of 58, 48, and 38 storeys; two on the south portion of the site closer to Sheppard, and one on the north portion of the site, closer to the mall. The Gross Floor Area (GFA) would have been 104,831m², making for a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 7.17 times lots coverage.
A 2023 resubmission scaled the proposal back with tower heights lowered to a maximum of 52 storeys and a GFA of 97,209m² and FSI of 6.64 times lots coverage. City staff ultimately recommended refusal in early 2024, prompting Council to direct a broader planning exercise for the whole site.
That planning exercise work culminated in the approval of Official Plan Amendment 775 in November, 2024, establishing new policies for the mall property and paving the way for this phase 1 resubmission. The masterplanned redevelopment of the mall ultimately envisions seven buildings.
The new Zoning By-law Amendment application made to the City by Urban Strategies Inc on behalf of the developers now looks for for a single tower on the 6,086m² or 0.6 hectares portion closest to Sheppard Avenue where two were previously planned. The reconfigured 48-storey proposal would rise to 161.9m from atop an eight-storey podium extending to the west. The new submission proposes 38,813m² of GFA at an FSI of 6.4 times lot coverage.
Currently functioning as a surface parking lot with about 60 spaces, the reduced site is bounded by Don Mills station and its five-storey parking structure to the west, mall surface parking to the north, more surface parking to the east, and Sheppard Avenue to the south. The building would accommodate 579 purpose-built rental units, with 562 market rentals and 17 affordable units secured for at least 40 years. Residential space would make up 38,644m², complemented by 169m² of at-grade retail. Amenity space would be split between 1,045m² indoors and 1,105m² outdoors, reduced from a total of 5,860m² in 2022 and 5,292m² in 2023. Vertical circulation would be served by six elevators, establishing a ratio of about one elevator for every 97 units.
Public realm improvements include a 1,060m² POPS (Privately-Owned Publicly-accessible Space) positioned along the west side of the site, connecting Sheppard Avenue East, Don Mills Station, and the reconfigured TTC pick-up/drop-off zone. Unlike the smaller 978m² Village Green plaza planned in 2022, the new POPS would include weather-protected space beneath the TTC parking deck and introduce landscaped pathways, crosswalks, and boulevard plantings.
Below grade, three levels of parking would accommodate 129 resident spaces, a sharp cut from the 794 spaces in 2023 and the 850 spaces in 2022, owing to the building's location at Don Mills station which, besides being served by Sheppard Line 4, also includes a bus terminal served by ten TTC and YRT routes, all of which will lessen car dependency for those living in the building . Bicycle parking entails 400 long-term and 32 short-term stalls, down from more than 1,063 spaces in 2022.
Earlier iterations of the plan contemplated reconfiguring the TTC bus lane and removing part of the mall’s parking deck to accommodate new buildings, but further study deemed both moves unworkable. The current proposal retains the transit facilities in place, with site circulation redesigned around them. In the meantime, Metrolinx is planning on potential extensions to Sheppard Line 4 Subway further to the east to Danforth Line 2, as well as well over to University Line 1.
Fairview Mall is located within an intensifying pocket of Don Valley Village. Southeast of the site, VIA 123 Phase 2 is proposed at 33 storeys, while to the north, 20 Godstone is planned at 12 storeys. Just northwest, 5 Fairview Mall Drive calls for three towers ranging from 35 to 47 storeys. West of the mall, a 9-storey building at 12–24 Leith Hill is under construction, with nearby proposals including 25 Leith Hill Road at 31 storeys, 1650 Sheppard Avenue East at 35 storeys, 2600 Don Mills Road with four towers from 42 to 47 storeys, and 2500 Don Mills Road at 43 and 52 storeys.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about its phases from our Database files, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversations in the associated Project Forum threads or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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| Related Companies: | Adamson Associates Architects, Hariri Pontarini Architects, Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, RWDI Climate and Performance Engineering, Urban Strategies Inc. |
