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New plans are in the works for 281 through 301 Front Street East, envisioning a pair of mixed-use residential towers rather than the previously planned data-centre expansion. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects for BRL Realty, the proposal within walking distance of the future Corktown station on Ontario Line 3, introduces 44- and 46-storey towers in an of central Toronto area zoned Reinvestment Area, permitting residential use.
On the southeast corner of Front and Parliament, the site is at the western edge of Corktown, and sits directly north of the TR2 data centre, a five-storey Equinix facility completed in 2016. The property was transferred through a land swap intended to consolidate First Parliament holdings to the west, a process later overtaken by the Province’s expropriation for Corktown station. Today, the parcel remains tied to the former data-centre program. The previous proposal for the site was for another four-storey/38.5m data centre, in that case designed by WZMH Architects and Arup for Equinix, planned before a new subway station was to be built virtually across the street.
The block has a long industrial history as part of the city's first industrial area. While industries mainly relocated to larger properties further from the original settlement site, some patchy commercial redevelopment occurred over the twentieth century, in recent years sites have been transforming to mixed-use development with multi-family residential leading the land use.
The new plans' residential towers of 44 and 46 storeys would stand 145.5m and 152m above a shared U-shaped, four-storey podium. The development would boast 64,975m² of Gross Floor Area, including 64,325m² of residential area and 650m² of commercial space, yielding a Floor Space Index of 16.83 times coverage of the 3,861m² lot. This represents a major increase over the former 13,220m² data-centre program.
Amenity spaces would be concentrated on the fifth floor. At grade, the plan incorporates a 526m² POPS (Privately-Owned Publicly-accessible Space) and a mid-block courtyard, either directly on the ground plane or above a structured parking deck, depending on the final garage configuration. The landscape approach would emphasize stormwater capture through planters, green roofs, and underground cisterns, with stored runoff reused for irrigation. These measures accompany full brownfield remediation.
The new plan introduces 898 residential units in total. Each tower would be served by four elevators, or roughly one cab for every 112 units across the project, requiring high speed motors for acceptable service promptness. Parking is planned for 259 vehicles, with the option of up to four underground levels; above-grade parking remains under review but would reduce space available for the courtyard. Bicycle facilities entail 990 spaces.
The site is about 200m from the future Corktown station, a walk of roughly three minutes. Existing TTC service along Parliament and King provides additional north–south and east–west connections, while the surrounding West Don Lands and Canary District offer an established network of cycling lanes and multi-use paths.
The proposal lands within a rapidly intensifying pocket of Corktown. To the east, Cherry Place and Cherry House at Canary Landing rise to 13 storeys, with a Curio by Hilton hotel slated for 31 storeys. To the south, The Goode Condos rises 33 storeys and No. 31 Condos is heading for 46 storeys, alongside a 49-storey unstarted proposal at 31R Parliament. West of the site, King East Centre plans 39 storeys, 296 King East would reach 46 storeys, and the Corktown Transit Oriented Community plans towers from 22 to 58 storeys across its North and South blocks.
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, Diamond Schmitt Architects, Grounded Engineering Inc., STUDIO tla |
