First comes a shiny new Toronto transit station. Then comes applications packed with development plans that make space for an influx of new neighbourhood residents. Toronto’s Mount Dennis is no exception. The west Toronto neighbourhood – which is located along Eglinton Avenue between the Humber River and the Kitchener commuter rail line – could see towering residential developments dot its landscape in the not-too-distance future, if all goes according to plan.
On January 22, KingSett Capital filed set of development applications for two sites located on the block bounded by Weston Road, Locust Street, and the CPR/CNR rail corridor. Toronto architects Giannone Petricone Associates Inc — the team behind a diverse array projects that range from hotels and condos to restaurants and retails spaces — are at the forefront of bringing the project to life.
One development site sits on southeast corner of Weston Road and Locust Street and would house a 38-storey residential building, while another is east of here, on the south side of Locust Street (7-17 Locust Street) and will feature a 48-storey tower. As the application highlights, the two development sites are physically separated by a T-shaped parcel of land that’s currently owned and operated by Toronto Parking Authority as a surface parking lot.
Tellingly, the development will sit just 150 metres walking distance to the upcoming Mount Dennis station, a stop on the infamous Eglinton Crosstown LRT line that transformed the intersection at Eglinton Avenue and Weston Road. The station will become a major multi-modal transit hub. Plans for towering residential towers in the vicinity of this station (whenever it may finally open for service), are consistent with those seen throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), where the area within 500 metres of transit stations – called Protected Major Transit Station Areas (PMTSA) – are seeing low-density, single-family homes demolished to make way for towering developments.
KingSett Capital
Calling the development site currently “underutilized” – especially with the area’s proposed designation as a PMTSA – the application outlines how the more eastern development site is currently occupied by vacant two-storey dwellings along Locust Street. These will become a thing of the past when the building – comprised of a 46-storey tower atop a two-storey base building (a total of 30,512 square metres of residential gross floor area) – rises from the ground. This building will feature a total of 517 residential dwellings comprised of a range of unit types. It will also come with a new parkette.
Meanwhile, a 38-storey mixed-use building comprised of a 36-storey tower atop a two-storey base building along Weston Road and Locust Street with retail space fronting Weston Road is proposed. This tower, containing 382 condo units, will replace the existing partially vacant commercial and mixed-use properties along Weston Road. The new development will also bring ground-level retail opportunities.
Exact details of what the planned indoor and outdoor amenity spaces will house are not yet available, though a healthy amount of real estate is dedicated to common spaces. We do know from the architectural plans that the buildings are set to house things like pet washes, a bike elevator, and bike maintenance areas.
Like in many areas in the immediate proximity of transit stations, the application requires amendments to City zoning bylaws in order to increase the permitted height and density. This type of development marks a stark contrast for the neighbourhood, which has historically been known for its rows of single-family homes. On that topic, back in July, KingSett submitted plans to demolish a row of 14 detached homes on the nearby Denarda Street – a quiet, dead-end road – to make way for a pair of glossy residential towers.
If moves like these aren't signs of the transit-oriented times, we don't know what is.
