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First Capital REIT has swapped its previously approved high-rise residential complex plan in North York's Banbury–Don Mills area for a modest retail centre. Designed by Turner Fleischer Architects, the revised plan proposes three low-rise commercial buildings. Conceived as a temporary use that aligns with the property’s existing zoning, the intention is that the development would activate the corner until market conditions once again support high-rise construction.
Occupying the southeast corner of York Mills Road and Leslie Street, the 11,209m² property spans the addresses 801 York Mills Road and 1855 Leslie Street. The site currently contains a three-storey commercial building and a smaller single-storey structure on the Leslie frontage, together covering roughly 5,000m² of built area and surrounded by about 170 surface parking spaces. The surrounding area includes offices and light industrial uses to the north and east, and apartment neighbourhoods west of Leslie Street.
First Capital first approached the City of Toronto in 2019 with plans to redevelop the site into a mixed-use complex featuring two condominium towers of 21 storeys rising from a six-storey podium, alongside a separate nine-storey mid-rise building on the 1855 Leslie parcel. That version proposed 636 residential units and 2,000m² of ground-floor retail for a total of 51,700m² of Gross Floor Area (GFA), achieving a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 4.6 times coverage of the lot.
Following City feedback, a redesign was submitted in 2022 that scaled the towers back to 16 storeys and replaced the mid-rise with a five-storey townhouse block, trimming the FSI to 3.9 and the unit count to 508. A 994m² public park was added to the southeast corner. That settlement was ratified by the Ontario Land Tribunal in 2023 with minor height adjustments to 15 storeys.
Bousfields has now submitted a Site Plan Control application to the City of Toronto on behalf of the developer. The new plan entails a trio of low-rise buildings arranged around a central surface parking area. The buildings would rise one to two storeys, with heights ranging from 5.2m to 10.6m, and together deliver 4,071m² of GFA for a FSI of 0.36 times lot coverage.
Building A, positioned along the east property line, is planned as a single-storey 2,029m² structure designed to accommodate a grocery tenant. Fronting York Mills Road to the northwest, Building B would rise two storeys, providing 1,663m² of space, with its ground floor divided into seven retail units and the upper level housing a daycare with 470m² of indoor space and a 251m² outdoor play area. The smallest of the three, Building C, would stand one storey on the Leslie Street frontage, offering 379m² for restaurant or retail use.
The design introduces 111 surface parking spaces, including eight accessible stalls and four short-term pick-up and drop-off spots for the daycare. A total of 33 bicycle spaces (26 short-term and seven long-term) are planned.
The site is positioned steps from TTC bus routes along York Mills Road and Leslie Street. These include connections to Sheppard Line 4’s Leslie station, about 2.2km away, and York Mills station on Yonge Line 1, about 3.8km west. Dedicated bike lanes along York Mills connect to Lesmill Road and the Betty Sutherland Trail to the north and the Leaside Spur Trail to the south.
The surrounding area continues to see steady redevelopment activity. To the west, construction is underway at 740 York Mills on a series of three-storey townhomes. East of the site, the York Mills Industrial Distribution Centres call for six single-storey commercial and industrial buildings, while 850 York Mills has been proposed as a nine-storey office building. Further east, the Westin Prince Redevelopment proposes six buildings ranging from five to 32 storeys, and 865 York Mills plans six towers between 20 and 38 storeys.
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: | Bousfields, First Capital, Janet Rosenberg & Studio, RWDI Climate and Performance Engineering, Turner Fleischer |
